What was the worst book you ever read in your life and what made it so bad?

Answer 1

I really hated _Madame Bovary_ by Flaubert, but I think it might have had to do with the fact that I had to read it. So many of my colleagues love it so I'm giving it another try this summer.

However, even worse was TRobyn F. Spizman's _The Thank You Book : Hundreds of Clever, Meaningful, and Purposeful Ways to Say Thank You_. The book is totally unoriginal, written very basically, and doesn't offer anything that I hadn't already thought of.

Answer 2

The Favored Child by Philippa Gregory

It tricked me into liking the story and the characters - and then about two-thirds of the way in, there's this traumatic event where the heroine's life completely changes and she finds out her whole past is a lie. Oh yeah, and there's incest. Lots and lots of incest. The book ends on a real down note, which was a bummer because I had been really enjoying it up until that point. I still can't get past those feelings that the author betrayed me even to read her bestseller "The Other Boleyn Girl," that everyone says is so good.

Answer 3

I'm with C.R. - every time Stephanie Plum narrowly avoided disaster, I felt like "well that's what you deserved, *****!"

But the VERY WORST book was some random science fiction book I got at a yardsale when I was little. The premise was that mankind finally starts adventuring in outer space - only to find that Native Americans got there first in magical birchbark canoes, and have declared war on our new spaceships. I didn't get very far in, because the writing was even worse than the plot.

Answer 4

The Da Vinci Code. I read it right after I started working at a bookstore to see what the big deal was...and didn't. Controversial, certainly, but below average plot development, character development, and his mechanics were irritating. Angels and Demons was more of the same. I'm just praying it won't start a trend of substandard books with controversial content.

Answer 5

Ethan Hawke's book called Ash Wednesday was bloody awful. Some of the worst writing I have ever come across- really bad cliches and descriptions.
One good thing- it made me realise that most fiction by famous people is really bad- it only gets published on the strength of their name.

Answer 6

The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough

It was SOOOO bad, I couldn't finish it. If you are ever marooned, alone on an island in the Pacific with one long book, pray it isn't
that one (although, you would need toilet paper, I suppose.)

It is full of yucky, sickeningly sentimental characters, situations and dialog.
On the other hand, if you DO like soap operas, give it a try.

Answer 7

I'm gonna have to agree with wraithinif and say the Da Vinci Code. I could not BELIEVE how incredibly bad that book was...it read like some of my 7th-grade attempts at a novel.

Answer 8

The Rule of Four by Ian Caldwell & Dustin Thomason. The writing was terrible, the story dismal and utterly banal. I am usually the one girl who once she picks up a book, always finishes. I am very selective. I love historical fiction and non-fiction. I picked up this book on the recomendation of a very good friend. I totally wanted to kick her a** and I asked her for my three hours back.

Answer 9

I agree with a couple other answers.

Hannibal.

Left me with a creepy feeling.

One I saw mentioned was Stranger in a Strange Land. I liked that one as much as I disliked Hannibal. I think it's considered one of the classics in sci-fi lists.

I was out of school when I read it so it wasn't a assignment plus I used to read a lot of science fiction.

Answer 10

The Maiden of Mayfair By Lawana Blackwell. I started out liking it, but it is so long. By the time, I got to the middle of the book I forgot what the first part was about.