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Worst HF you've ever read
- diamondlil
- Bibliomaniac
- Posts: 2642
- Joined: August 2008
Madamoiselle Victorine was pretty dire!
I would probably have to say Music and Silence by Rose Tremain. I thought I would totally love that book - it had an interesting setting in Denmark in the 1600s, but oh boy.....
It's not often that I don't finish a book, but this was one of the few that have that honour!
I would probably have to say Music and Silence by Rose Tremain. I thought I would totally love that book - it had an interesting setting in Denmark in the 1600s, but oh boy.....
It's not often that I don't finish a book, but this was one of the few that have that honour!
My Blog - Reading Adventures
All things Historical Fiction - Historical Tapestry
There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.
Edith Wharton
All things Historical Fiction - Historical Tapestry
There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.
Edith Wharton
- sweetpotatoboy
- Bibliophile
- Posts: 1641
- Joined: August 2008
- Location: London, UK
My all-time worst HF read (in fact, one of my all-time worst reads full stop) was 'Soldier of God' by Diane Brenda Bryan. What could have been an interesting story about a family of secret Jews in Mexico was ruined by some of the worst writing I've ever read and just so many things that were downright wrong.
I read one book so long ago that I can't give specifics, even as to the author and title, save that it was a mainstream historical romance set in New England at the time of the witch trials. (I don't think it was set in Salem.) The author made a point of calling an accused local witch a devil-worshipper and a "Wiccan," and equated many of the witch's beliefs with those of modern neo-Paganism. There are so many things wrong with this; I was horrified.
[quote=""MLE""]If it's really bad, I don't finish it. I try not to remember it at all. Usually over the top gross or perverted sex scenes will get me to ditch a book pronto. This does not mean that I want books to avoid difficult subjects, but there are ways to write them that are tactful and serious and other ways that remind me of conversations in the military that I had to listen to because I was stuck in the same barracks... mostly for shock value.
Pillars of the Earth got chucked at the first one of those.
Poorly researched history and just downright lousy writing will lose my interest pretty fast, too. I can stand a mediocre book with good history getter than good writing with poor research. I know I'm in the minority there.[/quote]
I'm pretty much the same way which is why I don't remember other titles. I think I remember Pillars because there was such acclaim for the book, and it still seems like its popular. Go figure, I only read half of it btw. 500 pages was enough And no, you are not in the minority. Lousy writing, poorly researched, over reliance on gratuitious sex and violence that do little to move the plot, stereotypical characters with no depth, 21st century thinking, are things that have changed a book to a wallbanger (and Misfit, you need to copyright that soon, coz I'm using it!)
Pillars of the Earth got chucked at the first one of those.
Poorly researched history and just downright lousy writing will lose my interest pretty fast, too. I can stand a mediocre book with good history getter than good writing with poor research. I know I'm in the minority there.[/quote]
I'm pretty much the same way which is why I don't remember other titles. I think I remember Pillars because there was such acclaim for the book, and it still seems like its popular. Go figure, I only read half of it btw. 500 pages was enough And no, you are not in the minority. Lousy writing, poorly researched, over reliance on gratuitious sex and violence that do little to move the plot, stereotypical characters with no depth, 21st century thinking, are things that have changed a book to a wallbanger (and Misfit, you need to copyright that soon, coz I'm using it!)
Last edited by Ash on Wed September 17th, 2008, 1:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.
- princess garnet
- Bibliophile
- Posts: 1595
- Joined: August 2008
- Location: Maryland
[quote=""Telynor""]Hmm. That could be a very lengthy list!
...
Margaret George's novel about Mary Magdalene
...
The Crimson Petal and the White by Michael Faber (I know, people love it, but I hated it...)...[/quote]
I'm with you on these two. I enjoyed some of George's other novels, but the Mary Magdalene one was bad enough that I never even picked up Helen of Troy. I don't remember quite why I didn't like it, but just that I was really ready for it to be done.
I think The Crimson Petal and the White was well done, but I hated reading it. It's one of those novels where you can tell that the characters are on a huge spiral into disaster, and the overall mood is bleak.
...
Margaret George's novel about Mary Magdalene
...
The Crimson Petal and the White by Michael Faber (I know, people love it, but I hated it...)...[/quote]
I'm with you on these two. I enjoyed some of George's other novels, but the Mary Magdalene one was bad enough that I never even picked up Helen of Troy. I don't remember quite why I didn't like it, but just that I was really ready for it to be done.
I think The Crimson Petal and the White was well done, but I hated reading it. It's one of those novels where you can tell that the characters are on a huge spiral into disaster, and the overall mood is bleak.
It's a tie between Helen of Troy by Margaret George (I wanted to slap Helen and that wimpy little Paris so bad!!) and The Other Boleyn Girl (just an awful novel!!).
Books to the ceiling,
Books to the sky,
My pile of books is a mile high.
How I love them! How I need them!
I'll have a long beard by the time I read them. --Arnold Lobel
Books to the sky,
My pile of books is a mile high.
How I love them! How I need them!
I'll have a long beard by the time I read them. --Arnold Lobel