"Popular" Books You Did NOT Enjoy!
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"Popular" Books You Did NOT Enjoy!
| Fri, 03-11-2005 - 10:58am |
Sue Roon brings up an interesting topic..."popular" and/or "classic" books that YOU just did NOT enjoy!
Let's talk about your list of "those" books!
And how do you feel about disliking "beloved" or "popular" books?

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I barely got thru THE NOTEBOOK but I have since watched the movie and I loved it - its usually the opposite with me - i like the book and then i'm critical of the movie - go figure ;)
Other popular books that I didnt like were : Poisonwood Bible and The Lovely Bones ... sorry :(
My sister keeps passing on her romance novels but I cant stand them - they're all the same
I dont listen to Oprah anymore - i havent liked any of her book choices except the recent classics.
I like most classics but I've never been a fan of Shakespear or poetry.
I agree with the romance books, all the same. I know so many people who loved The Notebook, but to me, it was just another romance novel, now that I think of it, I'm not sure if I did finish it. If I did it made such a huge impression, I can't remember if they got together at the ending or not, what actually happened.
Anyway, I read it right after I finished Daniel Deronda by George Eliot, so maybe that's why, too much of downshift in content?
ninipanini
Hi Nini,
How was the George Eliot book, Daniel Deronda?
Yes, George Eliot's real name is Maryanne Evans. Silas Marner is a sort of Scrooge character and one day his money is stolen and a baby girl left in it's place and changes his life. I haven't read Daniel Deronda so I can't tell you about that one.
Julie
Yep you're right. George Eliot was a woman, real name Maryanne Evans.
I loved Daniel Deronda. But I also love Dickens, while they're not the same, it's similar time frames and such. Daniel Deronda is a young man who was raised by his uncle or someone who wasn't his father. He finds out later that he is Jewish. The other main character is a young woman(Gentile) and their relationship to each other, Daniel's relationship to a Jewish family he befriends, as well as to his adopted father. Wonderful!
The characterization of a story is always a focus for me. That's one of the reasons why I liked this book. The themes are strong ones. It's a very well-written book.
The Notebook paled in comparison to descriptions, characters, subtle nuances of time & place that Sparks never came close to in his short romance.
ninipanini
The book that comes to mind for me is "How Stella Got her Groove BAck". I had enjoyed "Waiting to Exhale", so I was looking forward to her next one. But I HATED Stella! I kept reading, thinking that Stella would get her "groove" back by finally facing up to what a shallow, self-centered person she was - but no. Once I realized that probably wasn't going to be the case, I was rooting for her to never get her groove back. I wanted her to get her comeuppance, but instead she had a happy ending. EERGG! I've never read another book by Terry McMillan since.
Liz
Liz
Upton Sinclair was a journalistic writer. He was commissioned in the early 1900's to write an expose about immigrant workers in Chicago, The Jungle. This book broke my heart. It's about the meat packing industry. The filthy work environments, unfair employment practices, early labor organizations, exploitation of immigrants. It actually triggered a govt investigation into the meat packing processes and resulted in what today is the Pure Food Act. The book disgusted me, but more than that I saw the heartbreak and relentless failure of the immigrant working classes.
None of this caputres the true impact of the novel for me, however. You have got to read it.
It's funny Sinclair said he aimed for the nation's heart and hit them in the stomach. Personally, I can't imagine how someone could read this book and not feel the family's despair and utter hopelessness. It's enough to turn a person socialist.
Mainstreet was by Sinclair Lewis, who was influenced by Upton Sinclair. It's about a woman who moves to a small town in MN and the small mindedness she runs into with residents.
ninipanini
Have to admit I didn't care for "The Notebook" either. My Mom gave it to me to read because she loved it but I thought it was Boring, Boring, Boring.
Sheri
I can't think of any "classic" books I haven't liked. Usually, when someone explains them to me I get it finally and end up liking them.
A recent popular book that I really, really didn't like (and yet still paid $25 for due to all the hype around it and the fact that, after 18 BILLION weeks on the NY Times bestseller list it *still* was not in paperback) was "The Da Vinci Code." I liked the incredibly interesting material it was written around--I'll give Dan props for research--but I thought it was horribly written. A lot of people I talk to liked that the chapters are so short (no more than 3-4 pages each), but that annoyed me. Plus also, I know what he was doing when he did that--purposefully trying to make the story move at lightning speed. But it got on my nerves after awhile. I also want to shake him and tell him to get a proofreader before he submits next time. In one chapter, in 3 consecutive paragraphs he refers to a nun as "a small woman." I mean, come on, Dan. Even Microsoft Word has a thesaurus. :-P
There are bunch of other reasons, but we'd be here all day/night and I don't want to offend the Dan Brown fans any further (even though I'm sure I just made some mortal enemies now).
Let's see...what else? Is it easy for me to speak up and give my true opinion? Go read what I just said at risk of Jihad by Brown readers! :-P So no, not hard at all. But it gets me in big trouble sometimes.
And no, I have no guilt about not enjoying certain authors and/or books. But I have a similar reaction to movies, actors, and beverages that are also popular, so I figure it's all good in the end.
:-) Amy
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