• BigBananaDealer@lemm.ee
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    2 hours ago

    of mice and men. its only 100 pages with large lettering and i still couldnt get through it because it was so boring

  • inb4_FoundTheVegan@lemmy.world
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    5 hours ago

    Court of Thorns and Roses. It came highly recommended by my sister and many others.

    I get the appeal, an adult retelling of classic fantasy. But it felt like it was written just to be edgey, sexy and proactive. Which is fine if that’s what you are wanting, lots of media does this. I was just hoping for a new angle or dimension on Beauty and the Beast, not just a sexy B&B. I guess that does count as a new angle, but not one for me.

  • Soapbox1858@lemm.ee
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    10 hours ago

    Catcher In The Rye

    What a miserable experience reading the whiney thoughts of that little shithead.

    Maybe it would have been more relatable if I read it at 15, but I read it at like 28 and it was insufferable.

    A close second is The Great Gatsby. I kept waiting for something interesting to happen and then just like that it was over.

    • inb4_FoundTheVegan@lemmy.world
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      5 hours ago

      Yuuuup. I enjoy Catcher, it’s one of my faves but it’s greatest asset is also it’s biggest flaw. Holden is a convincing mind and thought process of a spoiled teenager. It’s great as a character study, but the charcter is an naive and arrogant jerk so being in his mindset is just frustrating.

      Honestly reminds me of Lolita, which is a horror story told from the point of view from the monster. You really gotta read in between the lines because the character is actively lying to you. Holden does the same.

      I don’t fault anyone for not liking either, they are rough reads. But if you’re a fan of unreliable narrators then they are a lot of fun.

      • punkaccountant@lemm.ee
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        2 hours ago

        I actually am a fan of unreliable narrators, but they can’t also be insufferable assholes. I can’t stand that book and I did read it when I was 15!

        That said, I understand it’s not really meant to be a cherished story…but if I’m gonna read about someone I would actively hate, I’ll stick to non-fiction for that.

  • InputZero@lemmy.ml
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    11 hours ago

    Foundations by Isaac Asimov. It’s a great story but it’s a tough read. Way better as an audiobook.

    • boatswain@infosec.pub
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      5 hours ago

      I really enjoyed the first three: they were pretty obviously just a bunch of short stories set in the same universe. The later books where he tried to write actual novels were not great though. He could do great short stories, but IMO wasn’t much of a novelist.

    • NauticalNoodle@lemmy.ml
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      7 hours ago

      I like it but i noticed while reading it that Isaac Asimov has such an optimistic 1950s view, it can be challenging to keep reading with such limited conflict.

  • kubok@fedia.io
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    8 hours ago

    I recently hate-read Foucault’s Pendulum by Umberto Eco. I had started reading it twice and stopped after a few chapters. I am aware that the book is meant to be satire, but the point of satire is to be to the point instead of having to slog through 600+ pages of drivel.

  • SanguinePar@lemmy.world
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    11 hours ago

    Of books I’ve completed, Thomas Hardy’s The Mayor of Casterbridge. Read it at school, hated it (as well as Far from the Madding Crowd and Tess of the D’Urbervilles) - full of ridiculous coincidences. And also utterly miserable to boot.

    I started reading The Da Vinci Code, but gave up after the very first page.

    • Sadbutdru@sopuli.xyz
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      46 minutes ago

      I… actually liked the Da Vinci Code 😶‍🌫️. I think I even read the sequel/ the author’s next book. I mean, I was a teenager at the time it came out, looking for some light holiday reading… I think my mum had read it and thought I would enjoy it…

      • SanguinePar@lemmy.world
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        2 hours ago

        Exactly. And I’m not being a book snob here, I’ve read plenty of books that weren’t the height of intellectualism. But it’s so BAD… 😁

  • Dagwood222@lemm.ee
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    11 hours ago

    I just noped out of a book called “Exquisite Corpse” by Poppy Z. Brite. It’s torture porn with necrophilia and sadism by the ton. It’s actually well written, but I just got sick of it.

  • funkforager@sh.itjust.works
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    15 hours ago

    Rich dad poor dad. Rich dad never existed. It’s all made up grift and, consequentially, people fall for it and make expensive life investment decisions after it.

    • CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org
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      3 hours ago

      Vaguely remembering what that craze was about, the basic idea that if you have savings you should invest them was good. Not sure if he ever added the diversify and wait patiently bit. Generally all “rich guy books” belong in the trash.

    • Dagwood222@lemm.ee
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      11 hours ago

      I saw it as a play, and it was amazing. Never understood why English teachers have students read plays. The whole point of a play is to have it performed. It’s like trying to teach swimming in an empty pool.

  • PolandIsAStateOfMind@lemmy.ml
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    14 hours ago

    Harry Potter. I tried to read first book but couldn’t, the cringyness was high and the naming convention was straight up from 90’s bad fantasy book parody. It’s like one of the few books i not finished after i started, and i read a lot. And while the others are just forgettable experiences, HP is constantly in my face in media, reminding me of it.

  • NauticalNoodle@lemmy.ml
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    8 hours ago

    the scarlet letter. I found it extremely unrelatable, and generally boring. I think The Crucible play by the same author arthur miller* conveys the same overarching principles about religious hypocrisy and herd mentality in a much more interesting way.

    • SanguinePar@lemmy.world
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      11 hours ago

      Possibly showing my ignorance here, but The Crucible is by Arthur Miller, and The Scarlet Letter is by Nathaniel Hawthorne - did either of them write a work with the other title as well? I can’t find anything to suggest they did, but I might be missing something.