13 March 2012

i did it, but it was painful

For the first time since high school, when I suffered through Watership Down in the name of a good grade, I finished a book that I absolutely did not like. At all. I think I can safely say I hated it. Yep. That strong ... hate. I knew from the moment that green baby Elphaba bit off someone's finger that I wouldn't like the book. I don't even care to take time to tell you all the other things I did not like about it. I usually quickly put books aside that don't appeal to me so early on in the story. I persevered only because I have theater tickets in London; it was my penance for insisting on the best seats in the house. Don't ask me to explain that logic...that's just how I roll.

What was the last book you finished that you didn't particularly like? Why did you do that?

6 comments:

  1. I never could get into "Wicked". I never made it past the first chapter.
    Why do I read books that I don't like? In college I had to read many many books I didn't like (White Noise, anyone?). Now that I read only for fun...well its this whole I've put a couple hours into reading this book, so I might as well finish it. I also read enough to not feel like each book I read is an accomplishment. I don't read out of obligation. Its purely for my own selfish enjoyment. If I'm not enjoying a book even a little bit, or if its too much work, then I stop reading.
    Last book I stoped reading was some trashy paranormal-historical-romance. It had too much sex and not enough story. Yes that's the reading habits of a former English Major.

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  2. I haven't read the book, but I hated the play. I hated the premise that she couldn't help being wicked since everyone treated her so badly. Kind of the same premise of Frankenstein, but I kind of liked Frankenstein and thought Shelley was pretty genius for writting that at 14. I guess you can say you have read it just like I can say I read the Twilight series which I thought was kind of painful to read.

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  3. My all time hated book is "Eat, Pray, Love." I did finish it, hoping she might stop whining. Nope. And then to find out at the end that she was paid to travel and write the book from the very beginning! Funnily enough, I did enjoy the movie as a fictional Hollywood love story.
    I just finished "The Hunger Games" and have mixed feelings about this one. I like dystopian novels and this one had great potential to explore this particular future society (like The Giver does so well) but never really did. It was a thrilling, fast-paced adventure that kept me up late but I didn't find much depth or character development. I'm actually not sure if I'll read the other 2 books in the trilogy.
    Can't like them all I guess!

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  4. Thank GOD that I'm not the only one who hated this book. I refused to read the rest of it. It was just awful!

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  5. I absolutely LOVED Wicked, but I'm a twist-on-the-fairy-tale lover like that. I got through 1/4 of "Eat Pray Love" and got bored. I'm reading "The Hunger Games," "The Great Typo Hunt" and "Black Heels to Tractor Wheels" now and still pretty interested in all of them, so I consider that a success.

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  6. I struggled with Blindness by José Saramago for book club... couldn't stomach one more paragraph with the word "feces" though. -- As for Eat, Pray, Love--- agree with other commenter!! I wanted to scream "Get OFF the bathroom floor" from the get go! I recently read "The Gift of Rain: A Novel" and LOVED it.

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