What is your most disappointing read?

Question

I was expecting Life of Pi to be great and it was awful. The same with White Teeth. The World according to Garp was so bad I had to give up on it.

I have yet to read a book that was hilarious, and would genuinely like to. Any recommendations on good reads genuinely appreciated.

Answer 1

just finished "this book will save your life" by A M Homes and frankly it was a bit pathetic. Didn't live up to the title or hype at all. The only quote in it worth mentioning was, when a character is pissing in the street/beach and someone shouts, "The World is not your toilet, fuckhead."
(I think this is a great put-down which I will try and use.)

As for a hilarious book. Not sure of your sense of humour but i personally find Bill Bryson a complete loon. (His sense of humour always cracks me up - especially the one he did on the UK? "Notes from a small island" maybe???? can't remember sorry.) Alternatively, Terry Pratchet (only read one or two but warped! imagination.)
Enjoy. (If you try any, come visit my Yahoo 360 page and let me know how you get on.)
x

Answer 2

I was pretty disappointed by The Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. I'd liked Dubliners. So it goes.

A couple of books that might make you laugh:

A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff - Christopher Moore
Lost in the Cosmos: The Last Self-Help Book - Walker Percy
Catch-22 - Joseph Heller
The Princess Bride - William Goldman

Answer 3

Well, "The End Of The Tether" by Joseph Conrad was the most depressing book I've ever almost read. A sea captain went blind and kept running his ship, pretending he could see, because he had sent all his savings to support his daughter and her children to open a boarding house. It was really a downer, and I usually love Conrad. But here is a fun book:

"The Enchanted Typewriter" by John Kendrick Bangs. You can read it free on the internet, see link below. He also wrote some other amusing books, such as "Houseboat On The River Styx". Don't give up. There are billions of books out there, it's just hard to find the right one for you. I understand!

http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/etext02/nctyp10.txt

More J. K. Bangs here...

http://www.gutenberg.org/browse/authors/b#a979

Answer 4

House by Dekker and Peretti. It was so bad that when I finished it, I took it back to the store and got my money back. It was just the principle of it. The book didnt have a complete sentence in it. It was horrible. A close second would have to be The Historian. I waited for that book for months and when it came out, I dove into it. What a bunch of crap.

As for a book genuinely hilarious, try some of Carl Hiaasen's books - especially Lucky Me. I couldnt stop laughing while I read it.

Pax - C.

Answer 5

Life of Pi was great! White Teeth was great! The World According to Garp was great!

So you probably won't take my advice...but there's a gem called, "The Roaches have no Kind" by Daniel Evan Weiss...its HILARIOUS...oh and 'E' by Matt Beaumont is very funny.

Answer 6

"The Valley of the Horses". It was so poorly written and I was in such pain after two pages that I threw it away.
"The Celestine Prophecy". More trash that should never have been published. The premise was OK, but any self-respecting English teacher would flunk the guy.
A hilarious novel is "Blott on the Landscape" by Tom Sharpe. It's a laugh-out-loud read. Many of his other books are, too.

Answer 7

Well...if we all like the same that would be tough on the authors. I liked Life of Pi.....but I read it before it won the prize!
The worst book I read has to be "Cold Mountan" cos when I'd finished...I felt ..."so what?" "do I care?"
Been told the film is the same..which is a great pity...the book is good..it just has such a lame ending..in my opinion.
Jasper Fforde and Tom Holt are both funny...so is "13 and 1/2 lives of Captain Bluebear" by Walter Moers

Answer 8

One of the most terrible novels I've ever read is 'On Beauty' by Zadie Smith. I would never advocate the burning of books but for this one I might make an exception!


As for good reads: like you, I rarely find a book that makes me laugh out loud. If you like psychological thrillers though, that are also intelligent and well written, then try: 'The Secret History' by Donna Tartt. For a more commercial read, 'Killing Me Softly' by Nicci French.

Answer 9

My worst top 5 list:
1- Men are from Mars & Women from Venus - hate it from page 1
2. Go where your heart takes you - a stupid drama related by a stupid one gramma
3. Be happy - Cheap motivational crap, at least was a short reading
4. Marianela - I hate romantic style reading (a blind guy and and ugly woman kinda story)
5. Maria - Again another book from the blue period of Mexican writers...hated this **** with my guts (a beautiful girl with epilepsy living with a rich family that rejects her for it...well, I didn´t give a **** for her disease but the book sucks deeply.

My best top 5:
-Hannibal - A true gem from page one, rich in details, you can texture the blood within your hands! by Thomas Harris
-Women runing with the wolfs by Clarissa Pinkola Estes, a must for every woman
-God, Country and Coca-Cola - YOU gotta read this...amazing
-In the name of the Rose - The book that inspired the movie
-The Last Mobster - A true account of probably the last guy in Mafia using the old ways...truly incredible!

Hope you enjoy something, either way, keep reading!!!

Answer 10

I can't remember what the book was, was sometime a go now but I read a book which really made you feel sorry for the main charactor and you were aching to see a happy ending. Then the ending was quite boring and sad!

I hate sad endings, they seem so pointless when you've fallen in love with deserving, nice charactors!

I'd recommend you read a joke book ;)