RE Parfum- I don't understand what people want from this. Stylistically it might not be your cup of tea, but boring?
Anyway, I thought this thread was going to head in a different direction. Currently (and coincedentally) reading On Garbage by John Scanlan, Paris Sewermen by Donald Reid, Rubbish Theory by Michael Thompson and various others on rubbish/waste. All quite enjoyable.
Another vote against Dan Brown. I did see the film but that was just to watch Audrey Tautou.
But I loved Perfume, Life of Pi, Tractors in Ukraine and Iain Banks.
I've not managed to wade through Sartre's The Age of Reason. Had a few goes at it but it beats me every time. The Rainbow started off well but that beat me as well. The Catcher in the Rye has to be read at a certain time in your life otherwise it just doesn't work. I read it in one sitting overnight but I doubt I'd go back to it. Ian Rankin's Rebus series starts pretty badly but gets a lot better by the 4th or 5th one.
Still remember all these bad books are a lot better than most of the rubbish on here. 
Whilst I'd agree that 'The Da Vinci Code' has less literary merit than 'The Hardy Boys, I have to say that Umberto Eco's intellectual tour de force 'Foucault Pendulum' was one of the most turgid, pretentious piles of toss I have ever read. I read it after reading John Fowles's stunning 'The Magus', and was hoping for something similar, but I've avoided anything by Eco ever since.
And as for 'The Catcher in the Rye', it is indeed superb if you read it when you're 16 - as I did - but I read it again recently and found myself just wanting to forcibly drown the narrator in a vat of his own wee.
IMO
The fowler family business by jonathan meades - wonder why I even persevered with it.
Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance by robert pirsig - never finished it, got bored.
Meteor by dan brown - awful plot.
And the ass saw the angel by nick cave - its so flippin difficult to read!
Oh I forgot -
Anything by Clive Cussler. Badly written (apart from very precise descriptions of cars) and completely stupid plots. Non-sequiteurs rule!
TenMen, good call on the Magus, is a fantastic book.
Post Office by Charles Bukowski
A miserable book, with miserable characters written in a miserable way.
(Highly recommended to any Smiths fans out there)
I'm constantly disappointed by so called classics that I feel I have to read in order to call myself educated and literate. Maybe I'm just a philistine. This includes.
Tale of Two Cities- did they really make a film about this turgid nonsense
Moby Dick- found out a lot about the New England whaling industry but not a lot else
Heart of Darkness- same as for Tale of Two Cities only the movie (Apocalypse Now) was much better
I just bought the Heart of Darkness.
I'll put it on the bottom of the pile
Just goes to show, etc, etc, half the books mentioned here are amongst my favourites!
Am still amazed that we continue to force kids to read completely unsuitable books at school:
Cider with Rosie can only be appreciated when looking back at childhood from an adults perspective. Similarly, I was forced to read The Pearl by Steinbeck as a kid and hated it. Re-read it as an adult with lots of life experience and loved it.
School put me of Thomas Hardy as well - making a young lad read Far From The Madding Crowd is tantamount to abuse in my opinion. I'll try and re read it this year!
I can't grasp why Cathcer in the Rye is best read at a stage in a persons life. Cna anyone explian? I'm genuinely interested.
Cheers
it's a coming of age sort of effort which angsty teenagers can relate to
I read it, and it didn't do anything for my spelling......
Mugsy, think it resonates with teenagers best as they may be experiencing the exact same feelings/emotions as Mr Caufield, the fear of the transition from childhood to adulthood etc.
Can be read in a nostalgic, yearning for lost youth way by adults, but you'll never get that 'YES HE'S SPEAKING TO ME!' surge of identification that I imagine makes the book such a hit with adolescents.
Was originally written as a book for adults BTW, but quickly adopted by younger readers.
Actually I think I'm getting confused between 'Catcher in the Rye' and 'Of Mice and Men'. What's the outline of Catcher in the Rye?
Also I've read the Time Travellers Wife, can anyone remind me of that was about? I remember it being trashy easy reading, but not tooooo bad, but nothing to write home about.
Rancid Aluminium by James Hawes - doo doo of the highest order
A Prayer For Owen Meany.
It never fails to astound me that so many people like this book. Turgid, prose, dull narrator, utterly predictable conclusion and an over-dose of quasi-religious nonsense.
Of Mice & Men .... was written as a play and so is more of a short story. Farm workers in America's Wheat Belt during the Great Depression. Bad Lenny the retard. Soft hands for the Mrs. Bang! The End.
Does that help?
I read Of Mice and Men as my GCSE book and loved it! Maybe not if I read it now though, who knows.
Right just finished Perfume, the lat 40 pages were brilliant, why couldn't the whole book be like that! But having to read the preceeding 220 pages just to get to the last 40 doesn't make it worth it .. .shame!
IanMunro - Member
I just bought the Heart of Darkness.
I'll put it on the bottom of the pile
Definitely worth reading it - especially if you've enjoyed Apocalypse Now and the film about the making of Apoc Now (forget the title - Hearts of Darkness?) Fantastic quotes on every page, and lots to think about if you are reading carefully.
So many of the authors/books mentioned are poor because they are aimed at a mass market rather than a knowledgable audience. Why would you expect a Dan Brown book to be a great book - they are literary bubble gum, same as Clive Cussler, Nick Hornby etc. No great thought or research goes into them and the writers are at best entertaining. The best that I can think about Harry Potter is that kids might enjoy better books once they've read those derivative best sellers.
I'm always disappointed when I read so-called classics and find them to be terrible. I threw 'Death in the afternoon' by Hemingway across the room swearing at it because it was written so badly.
I'd agree that Ia(i)n Banks is mostly excellent - reading Matter at the mo. I've only read a few that I didn't enjoy. (The Steep Approach to Garbadale was very poor, though.)
it is indeed superb if you read it when you're 16 - as I did - but I read it again recently and found myself just wanting to forcibly drown the narrator in a vat of his own wee.
You know I'm so glad that it isn't just me that thinks that.
I thoroughly enjoyed Matter once you get into it (takes about 200 pages!)
Also, anything by Hardy
I'm always disappointed when I read so-called classics and find them to be terrible. I threw 'Death in the afternoon' by Hemingway across the room swearing at it because it was written so badly.
What do you mean by "badly" ?? If you don't like Hemingway - and that seems strange to me, but there ya go - then fair enough, but to say he wrote "badly" is just perverse.
Yeah, DrJ. Other Hemingways I've read have been great - this one irritated me no end. I read it (half way through) a couple of years ago, and vaguely remember getting really mad about the fact that he kept repeating himself. The rest has just disappeared out of my head.
I was brought up to think that books are almost sacred, so to throw a book is a terrible 'sin'. I think I tried ripping it in half as well. 
Feel free to tell me that I'm thinking of a different book........
to say he wrote "badly" is just perverse.
have you heard about when he was challenged to write a story of six words?
"For Sale. Baby Shoes. Never Worn."
Awesome.
Not sure about all this trashing of the "classics" going on here. You might not be able to relate to a book in any way, shape or form but that doesn't mean it's rubbish. It's also not a good idea to dive in with the weightiest book a person has written. I did find Moby Dick to be very hard going but Melville's short stories are great - "Bartleby" in particular is a proper one off.
Without Warning by Oliver Sudden
Feel free to tell me that I'm thinking of a different book........
Maybe Death in the Afternoon by Dan Brown? That would certainly deserve throwing across the room.
On the subject of Dan Brown, who can possibly say that DVC is a rip-off of Foucault's Pendulum? You may as well say that Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep is a rip off of Beethoven's 9th.
And breathe ....
Also, anything by Hardy
You jest - anything that makes me think of Nastassia Kinski's mouth has got to be good.
I went on a 2 week jungle trip in Borneo and took Robert Twigger's 'Big Snake' with me, thinking it may be useful (his first book, 'Angry White Pyjamas', was very good indeed). 'Big Snake' was so dreadful that the only useful thing it provided was extra toilet paper when I succumbed to dysentery.
A short history of Time.....it's soooo long
The Silmarillion (Tolkein) - uh!
I remember 'Organization Behaviour' being a particularly dull too.
(Hi-Fidelity is okay, as was 'Prayer For Owen Meaney' although there are far better books by John Irving (including W.A.T Garp))
Angry White Pyjamas is one of my top 10 books ever. Big Snake was OK, but not a patch on AWP. His later stuff has been a bit patchy - Voyageur (I think) was OK though.
Sadly Jack Kerouac's On The Road. One of the great disappointments of my life. After eight years of trying I still haven't got more than two thirds through.
Too true the post about making kids at school reading inapproriate books. No wonder so many people never read once they leave.
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