What is the Worst Book You Ever Read?

[Rossiter]

I couldn't finish Beyond the Pale by Mark Anthony. I'm sure it wasn't the worst writing I'd ever seen or anything, but it was the only book I couldn't finish.

As for purely bad writing (which I sometimes find highly entertaining) probably this one Nancy Drew book that I don't remember the name of, that no one could put down because it was the most AWFUL thing we'd ever seen.

 

[Jeriel]

I couldn't finish Beyond the Pale by Mark Anthony. I'm sure it wasn't the worst writing I'd ever seen or anything, but it was the only book I couldn't finish.

As for purely bad writing (which I sometimes find highly entertaining) probably this one Nancy Drew book that I don't remember the name of, that no one could put down because it was the most AWFUL thing we'd ever seen.

lol! I know what you mean, sometimes the only reason I've read something is 'cuz I was wondering if the writing could possibly get any worse.

I can remember some short stories I hated. I barely finished "The Man Without a Country".

 

[knownbeforetime]

lol! I know what you mean, sometimes the only reason I've read something is 'cuz I was wondering if the writing could possibly get any worse.

I know you mean too. I felt this way about the last two Harry Potter books. Could it get any worse? A resounding, "Yes it can!"

 

[Jeriel]

I know you mean too. I felt this way about the last two Harry Potter books. Could it get any worse? A resounding, "Yes it can!"

uh oh! better run! I haven't read the books so I don't know myself

 

[Yyharssargyhaell]

I know you mean too. I felt this way about the last two Harry Potter books. Could it get any worse? A resounding, "Yes it can!"

I concur. Harry Potter really ended with the fourth book. The others just slowly get worse and worse. I think the third is easily the best! The seventh year is the worst.

Y.

 

[knownbeforetime]

Prisoner of Azkaban is easily the best book of the bunch. I actually think six and seven are about equal on the bad writing scales but for different reasons. I would go into them but there are people here who haven't read them so I will refrain.

 

[PassionFruit]

There are way too many for me to list.

I'll go with a novel entitled "Nectar" by Lily Prior, probably one of the worst novels I read.

 

[Jeriel]

well, not really talking about the HP books because I haven't read them, but it seems like the longer a series drags on the worse it gets. Anyone else notice that? It seems like they're usually best left as a trilogy, or even just one book. Seems like writers try to hard to come up with sequels when the story was perfect the way it was.

 

[Yyharssargyhaell]

well, not really talking about the HP books because I haven't read them, but it seems like the longer a series drags on the worse it gets. Anyone else notice that? It seems like they're usually best left as a trilogy, or even just one book. Seems like writers try to hard to come up with sequels when the story was perfect the way it was.

In my opinion, the reason why the later HP books got slowly worse and worse is because JK promised the sequels up front, then as time marched on she didn't want to have to complete them. You have to admit that seven books is a very large task. I'm not happy that the last three, especially the last two, were so shoddily done. There was no excuse for that.

Y.

 

[Jeriel]

In my opinion, the reason why the later HP books got slowly worse and worse is because JK promised the sequels up front, then as time marched on she didn't want to have to complete them. You have to admit that seven books is a very large task. I'm not happy that the last three, especially the last two, were so shoddily done. There was no excuse for that.

Y.

yah, I haven't read them though so I don't really know. Some people can write books fast and do a great job, some (like me) would spend ten years writing one chapter.

Totally off-subject, but I'm curious...how did you come up with that funky username?

 

[Jeriel]

In my opinion, the reason why the later HP books got slowly worse and worse is because JK promised the sequels up front, then as time marched on she didn't want to have to complete them. You have to admit that seven books is a very large task. I'm not happy that the last three, especially the last two, were so shoddily done. There was no excuse for that.

Y.

yah, I haven't read the books though so I don't really know. Some people can write books fast and do a great job, some (like me) would spend ten years writing one chapter.

Totally off-subject, but how did you come up with that funky username? Just curious

 

[Nella Fantasia]

I've read so many bad books...A lot of them were required reading for school. However, some of them I can't even remember the titles. I think I can honestly say they were just so bad I didn't want to have to remember them my entire life, so I cut them out from my memory.

But the worst book I read that wasn't required reading was...something or other. I can't remember the confound title. Anywho, it was going along quite nicely when it got to the very end, and I was excited to see what the plot twist was...and it ends with a sex scene. That's apparently the grand ending...

 

[tanya88]

...and I have the grades to prove it.

Thats funny! Me too actually

 

[tanya88]

I had to read this crappy story in 7th grade. It was entirely about a guy who was trying to buy a pair of shoes. I'm not sure, but I think it's by Avi or Ray Bradbary...I'm going with #1. But anyways, it's just how he keeps trying to get the shoes and convincing the store owner how much he needs them. In the end, he gets them and works to pay off the remaining money.

It was my teacher's favorite...it was junk.

I also hated Where The Red Fern Grows. Anybody else read that?

Oh! And The Tell Tale Heart by Edgar Allen Poe. It was SO gross.

I read Where the Red Fern Grows when I was like in Middle School and I LOVED IT!!! I remember crying very hard when the dogs died!!

Oh yeah and I HATE everything by Edgar Allen Poe.

 

[Rion]

Anna Karenina.

 

[Jane_the_Bane]

Anna Karenina.

I haven't read it, but it's on the top of many a "best novels ever" list. So excuse me if I withhold any judgement for now.


I just remembered the worst "non-fiction" book I ever read: "To ride a silver broomstick" by the (hilariously named) fluff bunny Wiccan Silver RavenWolf.
Pure unintentional comedy, mixed with half-wit distortions and a nasty attitude towards those "un-enlightened Non-witches".

 

[Rion]

It's a 19th century Russian Soap Opera, and I mean Soap Opera. Not only does it crawl at a pace that makes snails look like greyhounds, but the ending is completely and utterly worthless.



Spoiler: Highlight at your own risk:

The main character, after spending 1500 pages leaving her husband for another man, then whining about how life now sucks, breaks up with the guy. She then goes and throws herself in front of an oncoming train. But wait, there's more! Just as she realizes that she truly wants to live... the train runs over her.

Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep, that's it in a nutshell.

 

[Jane_the_Bane]

Oh, I know the plot and the ending. It's a classic, after all. Most people laud the novel for its language rather than for its "thrill-packed action sequences", though.

 

[Rion]

It must be missing something in in translation because I can read plenty of novels that have little action, but a great deal of character development and yet... this put me to sleep. Then again, it doesn't help that Russians apparently have nine hundred names, making it nearly impossible to keep up with who is who.

 

[Christian Soldier]

The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins is the worst book I can recall in recent years.