Worst HF you've ever read

Leo62 · Post by **Leo62** » Sun December 7th, 2008, 4:25 pm

I'm with you on the Name of the Rose - film was great, didn't make much headway with the book... yep another DNF (so nice to learn a new acronym

) though I really enjoyed Foucaults Pendulum.

I was very annoyed with Elizabeth Kostova as I ploughed all the way through the Historian waiting for a payoff that never came. I suppose you could call it a FBRI - Finished But Regretted It.

On the film/book front, I think a lot depends on which you see first. If you see an adaptation of a book you've really enjoyed, you're much more likely to be disappointed. Whereas the other way around, you can watch the film without any prior expectations.

Jonathan Strange - I did finish that and I didn't regret it. I think this is a book that people either love or hate. It's very dense - I happened to be just in the mood for it at the time, and it really did pay off persistence with a satisfying ending IMHO

Madeleine · Post by **Madeleine** » Sun December 7th, 2008, 4:29 pm

I quite liked The Historian! It did sag a bit in the middle but on the whole it wasn't a bad read.

didn't like Corelli at all, skipped some pages and think it's one of the most over-rated books I've read. Film looks beautiful but is probably the worst-cast movie I've seen in ages, only John Hurt can hold his head up in that one!

AuntiePam · Post by **AuntiePam** » Sun December 7th, 2008, 5:18 pm

[quote=""EC2""]Yes DNF is 'Did not finish'. The older I gets the more it seems to happen.[/quote]

Me too. Life's too short. I usually give a book 50 pages or so, but I've dumped some after just a few.

I much preferred The Name of the Rose the film, but couldn't get on with the book.

Same here. Usually I can tell the meaning of a word from its context, but not with this book. I had my dictionary at hand but stopping to look up a word on every page really slowed things down. I finally gave up. Loved the movie.

The Historian was a DNF for me, as was Jonathan Strange and Mr Norel. I tried reading them one after the other and it nearly did for me!

I started and stopped Norell a couple of times, and then I read a review that laid out what Clarke was trying to do. It changed my attitude about the book and I was able to finish it. I still wish it had been something else though. I'm sort of a backseat driver/reader sometimes -- I want the author to do it MY way or I get antsy.

Norell needed more magic, more action, more of the fluffy-haired man. How was it she described his hair? Thistledown? Something like that.

chuck · Post by **chuck** » Tue December 16th, 2008, 5:27 am

Stopped and started a couple of times, and finally dnf Edward Rutherfurd's "The Dublin Sagas".....I tolerated ER's "Sarum" and will add a wallbanger "Mists of Avalon"

Amanda · Post by **Amanda** » Tue December 16th, 2008, 7:31 am

The Name of the Rose - FBRI

Dublin - FBRI (though I enjoyed London, Sarum and Russka very much)

Crime and Punishment - DNF (mind you it probably wasn't a great choice to take on a holiday!)

SonjaMarie · Post by **SonjaMarie** » Tue December 16th, 2008, 5:43 pm

FBRI? Explain.

SM

Leyland · Post by **Leyland** » Wed December 17th, 2008, 2:32 am

[quote=""Leo62""]Jonathan Strange - I did finish that and I didn't regret it. I think this is a book that people either love or hate. It's very dense - I happened to be just in the mood for it at the time, and it really did pay off persistence with a satisfying ending IMHO

[/quote]
Good to know! I started the hardcover not long after it was first published and realized I needed to concentrate a lot more than I was able to at that particular time in life. So it's been patiently waiting for another go since I only got a hundred or so pages in. I did buy the paperback for a dollar at a church sale earlier this year which might be easier to hold and will move it up in the TBR pecking order. I'll start from the beginning.

I didn't think it was the worst HF I've read, but not the usual sort though. Love the footnotes and the magic!

Carine · Post by **Carine** » Wed December 17th, 2008, 6:51 am

[quote=""Amanda""]The Name of the Rose - FBRI

Dublin - FBRI (though I enjoyed London, Sarum and Russka very much)

Crime and Punishment - DNF (mind you it probably wasn't a great choice to take on a holiday!)[/quote]

I never read The Name of the Rose, but I liked the film.

Last summer I read Dublin and that was FBRI (Finished But Regretted It) for me too !!! And now I don't know if I want to read another book by Edward Rutherfurd even though I have Sarum on my TBR pile !!

Vanessa · Post by **Vanessa** » Wed December 17th, 2008, 9:31 am

I loved both The Historian and Jonathan Strange. With JS, when I first started to read it I abandoned it as I wasn't in the mood. I don't know whether it might have been something to do with the fact it was the hardback version, it being so huge. I bought it later in paperback and then tried again in a few months - I thought it was fabulous second time round!

Kasthu · Post by **Kasthu** » Wed December 17th, 2008, 5:43 pm

I know I'll probably get a lot of hate mail for this (

), but I really didn't like Gone With the Wind. The romance there seemed too overblown.

Diana Gabaldon doesn't do too much for me, either, though I got through Outlander and the second book in the series without too much trouble. By the third book, I thought the series dragged.

Another not so favorite is Mistress of the Art of the Death; I gave up on it about 100 pages through because of all the anachronisms. It was disappointing, considering that's the type of HF I generally like.