The author that everyone else loves and you can’t abide? Mine is Jane Austen.
The author that everyone else loves and you can’t abide? Mine is Jane Austen.
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The author that everyone else loves and you can’t abide? Mine is Jane Austen.
Elizabeth Strout. I’ve tried and tried, but she is just not for me.
I loved Olive Kitteridge and just finished Abide with Me, but can totally see how her style isn’t for everyone. I think Anne Patchett has a similar style in that it’s appreciated by some, but not all.
Herman Melville. Tried to read his books at different ages. Still can’t get through them.
I truly love reading Austen but it does take a little time to settle in to her writing style. Once there I find her characters witty and charming.
I tried to read King Hereafter by Dorothy Dunnett with my book club a few years ago. One page introduced 19 characters. At 50 pages I threw the book across the room and never tried again. Others in the group loved the book but it was very polarizing.
Mine are the Brontes. Everyone raves and raves, OOOh Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, but I just want to hide.
I’ve read Jane Eyre a few times and I enjoyed the movie, but I just admitted to my mother this week that the book was really boring and I hated Wuthering Heights too.
Herman Melville, Jack London
I just attempted Pride and Prejudice again and I just couldn’t. Like… it’s the Real World. That’s it. It’s a shitty reality show with some fancier language. Like 1850s beach reads. All these interesting and spunky female characters and they just sit around talking about how to catch a husband. It drives me up a wall.
James Patterson
Hemingway
Agreed. I haven’t been able to finish a book of his yet.
Yep
I definitely agree. Hemingway is not for me.
Hemingway’s short stories are his forte. And the influence of his straightforward, clear concise prose is incalculable.
George Orwell.
Dean Koontz
Nicholas Sparks
Yes I agree
I finished one. That was enough.
That was my author too. So schlocky!
I once said that Nicholas Sparks is the Thomas Kinkade of the literary world. He’s just too fluffy and melodramatic for me.
James Patterson
Dickens
Gillian Flynn
Steinbeck. Ugh. I’ve had to read several of his books, but that darn Grapes of Wrath pushed me over the edge. That ending. No more Steinbeck again.
Agreed!
You should try East of Eden; it’s weird, but I like some of his more simple and obscure books (with the exception of East of Eden, which is neither simple nor obscure ). The Pearl is simple, but poetic. Hated The Red Pony, but loved Tortilla Flat. Loved his King Arthur pieces. Grapes of Wrath is one of those novels I can appreciate, like The Jungle, but not really enjoy reading.
Me too. I feel like Steinbeck shoves the plot into about 5 pages and spends the rest on descriptions and random vignettes.
@Suzanne which is maybe why some of his shorter pieces- Of Mice and Men, The Pearl, Tortilla Flat are easier reads-more character focused with speedier plots! I think East of Eden is more of a true epic novel – maybe less obviously political than Grapes of Wrath.
I quit reading Steinbeck. The only book I can say I really enjoyed is Travels With Charley, which I’ve read several times. The other ones I’ve read have left me too melancholy afterward.
Oh my! My fav.
Jack Kerouac…I’ve never been able to make through On the Road
Made it through, but hated it; so badly written.
I listened to the audiobook on accelerated speed!
Stephen King.
Stephen King
James Patterson
I tried Before I Fall, I just couldn’t take it anymore after page 50!
Jane Austen for me, too!
When I was looking at YA books to investigate, I wanted to choose one that was popular with regular YA readers and highly rated, to get something truly representative of the genre. I ended up choosing Rainbow Rowell’s “Fangirl” and… what can I say? It was so dull that it was stultifying. I had to take long breaks every 30-40 pages because the writing was causing my eyes to glaze over. The only time I’ve ever felt anything akin to this was watching Catherine Breillat’s pretentious porno “Romance”. After staggering out of the movie theater, I had to sit in my car for thirty minutes in order to be alert enough to drive home. “Fangirl” caused that same feeling of having overdosed on Novocaine. I pushed myself to finish it, but it was very nearly the worst thing I’ve ever read.
Her book Eleanor and Park is very good though.
I didn’t finish Fangirl either. But Eleanor and Park is amazing!
Kelly Holland Cecil Well, since it was Rowell’s prose that I found to be the major stumbling block, I don’t really see how it’s possible for her to write better in a novel that was published in the exact same year as “Fangirl”. Given that fact, I doubt I’ll like it. At best, I might loathe it slightly less intensely.
I think it’s me, rather than the genre. Plenty of people obviously enjoy it. But to me, the main drawback of writing for an audience of pre-teens and teenagers is that everything has to pitched at their level of understanding. My own preferred reading consists mostly of classics and contemporary literary fiction as well as technical nonfiction (especially on science, mathematics, and philosophy). It’s very difficult for me to appreciate something that’s written at a much lower reading level. Also, misused words, grammatical errors, and other stylistic flaws pull me straight out of the narrative and I found a lot of those reading “Fangirl”. Even when I read genre fiction, I can’t get into it if it’s not well-written, which is why my favorite genre writers are great stylists like Patrick O’Brian, P. G. Wodehouse, John le Carré, Larry McMurtry, etc.
I’ve gotta agree with you–just can’t seem to get in to Austen.
Tolkien
Jane Austen is horrible in my opinion, too.
I always found the Little House on the Prairie books to be a huge snooze.
You are breaking my heart!
Ach me too. My mom and sisters raved over them. I thought Pa was a lazy lout that kept moving his family around instead of doing real work
I can’t make it through one page of any Stephen King book without rolling my eyes. ? Jane Austen isn’t my cup of tea either.
Agreed. I keep trying though! Her and the Bronte sisters, I’m not sure why.
Whoever wrote 50 Shades of Grey
Thank you!
Amen to that.
Exactly. If it was set in a trailer park it would be a Law and Order episode
I love the way you think, Cathi Hess!
@Merilee thank you dear ?
@Cathi ???
John Steinbeck & E.L. James–not that they should be mentioned in the same sentence!
Shannon Ellis E.L. James should never have had any kind of book deal. She’s a literature whore.
I consider it a flaw of mine that I’m not really a Steinbeck fan.
A good friend of mine has her doctorate based on Steinbeck. I admire that.
Mark Twain & Steinbeck ugh
Yes. Mark Twain. Everyone says they are so funny. I could not get into anything.
Hemingway. I’ve tried multiple books multiple times. And Sophie Kinsella and the Bridget Jones books.
Nicholas Sparks
Thank you for saying that!
Harry Potter …
Author?
Rowling
Grisham — I shut the one book of his I tried to read after a passage describing someone “bounding down the stairs with two cups of coffee”.
Not a big fan
I really liked A Painted House. But others, not so much.
Barbara Kingsolver
Noooooo
I love Kingsolver! Fell in love with The Bean Trees when I was in high school.
I really liked Flight Behavior, although I had to work hard. Once I got about half way, I fell in love.
Hunter S. Thompson
Joseph Conrad (Heart of Darkness). Tried multiple times….
Had to read in college,HATE it!! The Horror!!!
I liked Chinua Achebe’s response to Heart of Darkness much better
I had a hard time understanding Heart of Darkness in college.
Mostly with you on Austen. I also cannot stand Dickens. JUST GET TO THE POINT! Though my HS English teacher was correct – Dickens writes exceptionally memorable characters.
Break House is one of my favorite novels!
“Bleak” ?
Maybe I’ll have to try that one. I’ve read several for various classes and while I appreciate his character development, I find his overall style just not for me.
Most of his novels were published as serials and he was paid by the word. Kind of explains it, huh?
Neil Gaiman
Him too. I like him as a person and I love the ideas, but I just dont like his writing.
Gillian Flynn, but I love Austen!❤️
Same here…
And me too. OMG I *hated* Gone Girl.
Very unlikeable characters.
@Frances Right! They deserved each other. We, however, did not deserve to spend time with them. I’m ok with flawed characters but there has to be *some* redeeming quality.
Nicholas Sparks
Dan Brown! I hate to even refer to him as an author- soooo bad!
I forgot about him. I get why people like him, but hes definitely one where I go, “wait, what did i just read”.
see, I love Dan Brown’s novels. Very interesting.
The stories aren’t bad, but the writing isn’t good. But, pleasure is subjective. If you enjoy it, who cares what others think!♡
I’m actually in the middle of his latest novel now. I’ve found them to be kind of hit and miss. Loved DaVinci Code but was kind of “meh” about Angels and Demons. I hated Inferno but couldn’t stop reading The Lost Symbol.
Stephen King
Stephen King
Margaret Atwood
Who writes the Shades of crap?
E.L. James, and I agree it’s crap.
James Patterson
Cormac McCarthy
With you on this one!
James Joyce
Mine’s Jane Austen, too! Kindred spirits!
Charles dickens
Love…
James Patterson
Nicholas Sparks.
E. ALL OF THE ABOVE. And, I AM a READER!!!
Pat Conroy!
Stephen King
Stephen King
Edgar Allan Poe
And all the Bronte sisters
I dont like Jane Austen eithet
Ann Patchett
Nooooo lol. I love her.
I can’t get through Salman Rushdie
Charles Dickens
I agree with Jane Austen….not a fan
Faulkner ??
One of my very favorites
Agree-though a big fan of A Rose for Emily.
I had to read him a LOT for school as an English major. Just wasn’t my thing.
My least favorite author. Ever.
I have unsuccessfully.tried to read Light in August several times.
But The Sound and the Fury is so so wonderful. Best read under a teacher’s tutelage though.
@Frances And honestly that may be the difference in your experience- a teacher passionate and knowledgeable about a book can make it so much more meaningful.
That’s mine too. Totally not feeling the Austen love. Pride & Prejudice in undergrad English major days was torture. Ugh.
WHAT MAKES YOU HAVE SUCH STRONG FEELINGS ABOUT JANE AUSTEN. VEEY INTERESTING, MARI.
Love Jane Austen!
Me too. I had other authors in Brit Lit I disliked.
I do not care for the Brontes
Me too I hate her books
Jane Austen, Margaret Atwood, Elizabeth Strout, Elizabeth LeBan, Fredrik Bachman, Donna Tartt
Heathery Lynne I am halfway through The Goldfinch and I just can’t take any more!
I tried an Emily Giffin book since she seemed popular while I worked at a bookstore, but didn’t live up to the hype.
Danielle Steele.
Stephen King
Mary Higgins Clark
Noooo. I love her books! 🙂
Ayn Rand, Steinbeck and Dickens
Steinbeck?? Say it is’t so:)
Definitely Steinbeck. The only Steinbeck I’ve read is Red Pony as a child, and it is *really* not a children’s book.
Yes!! That poor pony was stuck in my mind forever! And that poor baby from The Pearl ?
@Christi, oh but The Grapes of Wrath is phenomenal.
@Cinda It’s not just the first pony, it’s that he doubled down with the foaling scene, and then never mentioned that foal at all in the last section of the book. (Found out it was written as 4 short stories, and stuck together as a book, but still. )
@Susan I’ve considered trying Grapes of Wrath, since I managed to not read it in high school. And I actually do own a copy of Red Pony – vintage 1944 hardback with Wesley Dennis illustrations.
Ayn Rand. Bleh.
@Ray your thoughts on this?
Yep.
Edith Wharton, Kate Chopin
Robert Jordan
Nicholas Sparks and Rainbow Rowell
Dan Brown
Nora Roberts
YES!!!
Paulo Coelho
J.K. Rowling ?
I’ve tried Harry Potter 3 times. I always give up around page 100.
They take so long in that dang bank. Just get on with it!?
I started on book 4…and fell in love, then I went back to 1, 2 and 3.
Nope. Just not a fan of her work. I think she’s a cool person and I’m thrilled at the number of people who got into reading because of her, HP just isn’t for me. ?
Steven King
EL James
Dean koontz…it’s just the same stuff over and over but people seem to love him….
You are right. I no longer read him for this reason, but Watchers remains a favorite. I also thought Intensity was great.
I am a fan of Austen, but can totally understand why she would not be someone’s favorite writer.
Danielle Steele
same
William Faulkner ?
Janet Evanovich
Nicholas Sparks
Faulkner. Yeah, I said it.
Definitely my least favorite
Same
Alexander McCall Smith. Tried 3x to start that series.
I gave up on The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series half way thru first book, but
I loved 44 Scotland Street series. I saw him speak, too. He is a fun speaker.
Hemingway and Dickens. Also, forgive me, but does William Shakespeare count?
This almost makes me unAmerican and definitely makes me uncool, but Ken Kesey.
Lee Child, James Patterson, dean Koontz.
Ernest Hemingway.
Steven King
Lee child’s, Nicholas sparks, James Paterson
Nicholas Sparks yes! And also Ayn Rand.
Dean Koontz, Ann Rice, Danielle Steele and Nora Roberts
Shakespeare
Yes!
Double yes
so many no’s
In all fairness, he was a playwright and his works meant to be performed. And anything 400 years old can be a challenge…
True. Still never enjoyed reading any of it from high school to college, except Taming of the Shrew.
A lot of the authors who wrote about “manly men” do nothing for me… James Fenimore Cooper, Hemingway, Melville, etc. But, by far, the one I absolutely can’t stand is James Joyce. Can’t follow his stream of consciousness style and fail to see what was so great about his work.
what is it you dont like about jane austen?
Ernest Hemingway makes a better character (The Paris Wife) than writer.
Asimov.
Virginia Woolf
Mine is also Jane Austin. I was so ashamed when I bought the cliff notes to “Pride and Prejudice” but I just couldn’t read her anymore, not even for class. Many years (and classes) have past & I never bought cliff notes again.
Ugh, I just forced myself to finish reading “Emma”.
The plot itself wasn’t bad, but the story could’ve been told in 150 pages.
The first time I read a Jane Austen novel in hs, I struggled with it. For some reason I now have forgotten, I took it up again in my late 20’s and got addicted and ended up reading all her novels.
Cliff Notes saved me from Moby Dick, and I have an English degree. lol
Nicholas Sparks
Technically not fiction, but I’ve never cared for Robert Frost’s poetry.
Love who you love , let others love others .
I would say Melville, but I know many other people who also can’t stand him. Same goes for Austin, actually. I like her writing, but know a whole lot of people who don’t.
Faulkner.
Read a book that Virginia.Woolf,sister wrote.Don’t think like Virginia. Woolf
Jodi Picoult
Why?
The few books I made it through of hers were too predictable and slow. Her style of writing isn’t my favorite.
Robert Louis Stevenson
that was the first book i read when i was 5. i liked it a lot!
@Brenden which?
oh, sorry. treasure island
@Brenden ah — not for me, although I read it as a kid because everyone kept telling me it would be exciting
Joseph Conrad
GASP!
Michele Juza — which are you gasping at?
@Cristina I love Jane Austen!
And for me it’s Dan Brown. And James Patterson.
My response when someone doesn’t love Jane. ?
@Michele I thought you were gasping that I don’t like Stevenson and Conrad.
Nicholas Sparks
Totally agree. I think he is an awful storyteller and I do not like his books.
Ditto!
James Michener
Oh my goodness, 1000 times yes. Every novel takes about 200 pages to get started and then never really goes anywhere.
Charles Dickens. I remember in high school my English teacher was so disappointed that I really disliked Dickens. She was so sure I would be the one student she had who would really enjoy him.
I didn’t in high school. as an adult, I love him
J.D. Salinger. I despise Catcher in the Rye
Mari Mann you should Google her along with Mark Twain and see what he said about her it’s funny
Jane Austen ??
Dan Brown. I found DaVinic Code very predictable.
@Roberta I found it tacky and ludicrous! That de vinvci or any artist hides “codes” in paintings????
@Sophia you learn in art history that he always used triangles to move your eye around the painting. If you know DaVinic, you know he used mirror writing, I read that “clue” before the characters did!
Douglas Adams
Dean Koontz.
i like him a lot but he is hit or miss
@Brenden Oh I’m sorry Brenden.
no worries!
George Orwell. Ernest Hemingway is also not my favorite.
I used to have a hard time with Hemingway, but I’ve “matured” to a point that I can appreciate him nore.
Ernest Hemingway, Dan Brown, and Charles Dickens. I love Jane Austen and re-read all her books annually. #janeite
My response to reports that someone doesn’t love Jane. ?
My favorite hero! I’m sorry, I really love Henry Tilley.
Jeri #TeamTilney here too!
JK Rowling
Yes
Agree also. I am glad she motivated so many students to read long books and stand in line to buy them, but I really don’t care for her writing.
@Debborah , I also love that she encouraged so many young readers.
Ernest Hemingway ?
James Patterson.
What’s wrong with me?!?!? I agree with so many of you!
Steven king
V C Andrews!
Nathaniel Hawthorne; why do we still make students read him?
Said this about Faulkner earlier- I dislike reading his novels, but liked some of his short stories. Same is true about Hawthorne…
I did it hard to dislike a certain author based on my dislike of a. certain genre.
GASP!…blasphemy! How could anyone dislike Jane Austen? Oh my!
Margaret Atwood
Danielle Steel, so predicable.
She is not an authentic author nor is the person who wrote all The Fifty Shades Books.
I would have failed writing class if I had turned in any of her books. Horrible.
Thomas Hardy.
Wally Lamb and I didn’t know why.
She’s Come Undone by Wally Lamb is a top 5 favorite book of mine but didn’t care for any of his others and finally gave up on him.
John Green.
I don’t hate him but I’ve read two books and don’t see what the hype is.
Exactly
Me too ?
Stephen king
F. Scott Fitzgerald.
Me three?
Eckhart Tolle
Stephen King
Stephen King
Vonnegut
John Green and Colleen Hoover
Why do you hate John Green? I have The Fault In Our Stars on my to-read list for the year but I know nothing about his writing style.
@Dana , I don’t hate anyone.. John Green as an author just didn’t appeal to me! That’s all.. ? I read ‘The Fault in our stars’ and ‘Paper Towns’. Nay and Nay! TFIOS had no depth, the characters were annoying.. the ‘okay? okay!’ actually triggered my nerves. And ‘paper towns’ wasn’t exciting as well.
Give it a read and let me know what you think.
Heathery Lynne, some authors are hyped. Or may be am too old for such YA novels. I don’t know. Somehow, there was no pulse. I have ‘looking for Alaska’ on my shelf but am dreading to read it. I will just skip it and may be gift it to a young lass/lad. ??
Dan Brown
Gabriel Garcia Marquez, sorry, I know it’s sacrilege for a lot of people, but I just can’t.
Jodi Picoult, Nicolas Sparks, Robert James Waller
Yup, me too.
William Faulkner
I have to agree with you, @Samanta
hmm..
Yeah, Jane Austen as well
@mari mann and others….What is the reason for your dislike of Jane Austen? Is it the hype that drives you crazy or do you truly dislike her writing style and topics? Thank you!
I don’t like her themes… marriage, class, reputation, etc.
Faulkner
Alice Sebold.
Jonathan Franzen.
I tried 2 of his and just got pissed off at his cynicism
J.D. Salinger
William Faulkner
Hemmingway
I cannot remember who wrote The Horse Whisperer but I thought it was schlock.
Jody picoult
Yes!
He’s not a novelist, but I cannot stand Walt Whitman. I took a course once that featured only his work and Emily Dickinson’s. The contrast made him seem even worse. Leaves of Grass…yuck!
Mark Twain
Faulkner
Paulo Coelho. Okay I’ve only read one of his books, The Alchemist so I won’t say I actually hate the author, I hated the book. I just don’t understand what all the to do is over this book, maybe I’m missing something? It seemed simplistic and for me, it didn’t say anything I hadn’t heard a million times and in a much better way…and oh yeah, it was a stupendously boring read. Good thing it was such a short book.
I didn’t like it either!
Agree
I’ve loved some of his other books but hated The Alchemist. Veronika Decides to Die is good.
I didn’t like it either.
Me too.
I hated The Alchemist. It looks like I need to try his other books. I will do this after I read at least two dozen of the books from this list that I have not yet read.
James Patterson…
Too many to list. I’m very picky about writing styles!
Nicholas Sparks and Rick Riordan. And it’s not that I can’t abide them I just don’t like their characters or, in the case of Sparks, subject matter. I found Percy Jackson to be whiny and annoying after the first book.
The Brontes, Terry Pratchett (sorry, I know people adore him, I tried, I really did), Nicholas Sparks, Jodi Picoult,
LOL at Pratchett. I KNOW he’s beloved. And I typically love that type of book but I tried at least 5 times (twice with Discworld) and I just couldn’t do it.
Hemingway
YES!!!
Kurt Vonnegut
Oh … me too!
@Carol ,I simply can’t stomach his rantings!
Awwww. A fav for me. On the other hand — I can actually see why he would turn some people off.
Lovecraft. I can’t ignore the racism and he never scared me (as a woman, I deal with scarier men on a daily basis; ambiguous many-tentacled monsters made me think about deep-frying because the men I like would totally eat that).
John Irving
Valdimir Nabokov
In English…not his first language!
Try the audio version of Lolita read by Jeremy Irons. Wow!
Jerome K Jerome
Stephen King
Joyce Carol Oates
Exactly, oh, the holes in her storylines! Who edits this stuff?
Toni Morrison
John Green
James Patterson
Toni Morrison
love her!
Dan Brown and Charles Dickens
Danielle steele
Shakespeare. Ugh.
J K Rowling,just don’t get it
Janet Evanovich ?
I tried reading her Stephanie Plum series, nope. The first book was tolerable, the second book not so much, didn’t read anymore after that.
James Patterson
Ditto on Jane Austen for me
Me too.
Stephen King
LaCarre
Dickens
The Bronte Sisters
Stephen King
Dan Brown
Stephen King
James Patterson- ugh
????? … none.
Lucky you!
Janet Evanovich. Just cannot get into her books!!
Same here. I keep asking myself what they see that I don’t.
She had me at first …but she needed to retire Stephanie Plum a long time ago.
Also Jean Auel needed to have Ayla calm down after domestication a lion
Totally agree. I have tried 2-3 times, but Lord, I don’t know why she is so successful!
I cannot see what people like about her!!
Me too
I read the first two Stephanie Plum books, first one was tolerable but I did not care for the second one so I didn’t bother with the rest of the series.
Stephen king
James Patterson – I run from his books!
Yep, James Patterson and Nicholas Sparks.
John Grisham
I loved a Painted House
I am a middle school teacher, grades 7/8 in English and French. My students read silently every day at the beginning of class….they really like James Patterson’s books for adolescents!! I don’t like his adult reads, but I give him kudos for the teens who love him!!
Roald Dahl
Like Steinbeck and Faulkner, some of his most digestible writing were his short stories- I taught “ Lamb to the Slaughter” for many years. Great for POV, dramatic irony and imagery.
I know I’m going to get roasted for this but Hemmingway.
No. We all have acquired tastes. Try A MOVEABLE FEAST…it’s PARIS!!!
@Kathleen ohh now that sounds nice! My friends son took her to Paris for Mothers Day. I’m so excited for her. I barely stepped in France after getting off the chunnel. Travel and read, read and travel! Thank you for the rec. It’s on my list at the top.
Pas de quoi!/De rien!
Nicholas Sparks
Same here! All his books are basically the same plot.
@Kristen exactly! And he kills off characters in every book. Ironically, I do like the movies based on his books.
Both
Neil Gaiman
Vonnegut
I love Jane Austin
Jane Austen and Diana Gabaldon
??
So do I!
They are also favorites of my best friend so I have tried but she doesn’t like Anne Tyler and some of
My favorites lol
@Elsie everyone likes something and dislikes other things it’s all good
Gillian Flynn. I find her books depressing and disturbing.
Agreed…and her characters are so annoying that I don’t care about them
I agree. I find her characters very unlikeable. Though I do think the popularity of her books says something about our culture today.
I heartily disagree. I love them. True, sometimes you hate them all, but still, I read them fast!
Agreed!
JK Rowlings
Oh no
@Laurie I know, I am just not a Harry fan. But I did try. Thank goodness there are so many authors. I really didn’t care for her other books under Robert either?
I don’t read fantasy but I do find Robert Galbraith books to be adequate.
@Estherjane no problems. You’re a reader that’s all that counts in my book
@Estherjane I don’t care for her nonHarry Potter books, either. However, I love HP. It’s really not my “thing” but I just really got into those books. I read book 4 first! ha!
Donna Tartt
Stephen King
Mark Twain
One of my favorites
Yes! They forced us to read Tom Sawyer in either 4th or 5th grade for summer reading. Aka way too young and ever since ive had a vendetta against Twain haha
@Dana please try Huck Finn now that you’re the right age..it might surprise you
John Green, Shakespeare, James Patterson, dean koontz, danielle steele, nora roberts, the 50 shades of grey lady, cassandra clare, and idk who else
Not liking Shakespeare.
….aren’t most plots for everything else based on him?
@Laurie Good point! Actually many of his plots are modified from ancient Greek drama. He didn’t read Greek, but studied ancient Greek drama and mythology via Latin translations.
When I first taught Macbeth to HS seniors, I was startled to find him borrowing heavily from Oedipus Rex ( in the speech after killing Duncan, where he shocked to see blood on his hands) he says [I paraphrase] “Let me pluck out my eyes, so that I never see the results of my crime.”
Oedipus DOES pluck out his eyes, but Macbeth actually lives to commit other crimes, and suffer a different death than Oedipus.
He did copy in many ways, but actually did dig deep into the human psyche to a similar degree as ancient Greeks.
I disliked Shakespeare when I was in HS, when we were required to memorize chunks of Julius Caesar. But many years later, I realized that there’s so much more to Sh than J.C. I read King Lear, the Tempest (straight out of Greek Myth) and others and he was redeemed.
I should add, however, that I completely understand your dislike. ??
@Sophia I didn’t say I disliked him.
.I adore him (although he was actually what the 17th Earl of?)
I agree with your other comments.
When I said not liking Shakespeare I was saying that for other people to not like him was like not giving credit for all those plots
Hemingway.
I do love his short stories, his novels, not so much. I have two English degrees and prefer the magical realism end of the literary spectrum…his sparseness is not my cup of tea, but I respect it was very innovative for his time and that he has influenced many writers.
Too macho for me.
Y’all are breaking my English teacher heart!
They are rebels Carrie …make them read the Outsiders …lol
I’m going to send them all to detention!?
I think, for me, it’s more a particular book i may dislike. … not necessarily the author. It’s also true some writing styles are “my cup of tea” while others are not. It can make it harder and/or less enjoyable to read, but mostly I’ll like it if the story is good and the characters well-developed.
Stephen King
Jodi Picoult, Daniel Steele.
Well, I disliked “Gone Girl” so much I’ll probably never pick up another Gillian Flynn title.
Me too!
The only one of hers I truly liked was Dark Places
To each their own. I ❤️ Jane Austen.
James Patterson
Romance books, James Patterson, John Grisham.
Even if I can appreciate his artistry, I’m not a Hemingway fan.
I’m really struggling to continue a Tale of Two Cities.
What are you having trouble with?
Chris Graham, while its very descriptive of the poverty ,disease and rampant punishments, it’s boring in my opinion.
@Zeanna~See if your public library has the Masterpiece Theater/1989 film. It is AMAZING!! The characters come alive, the events are possible to follow. I taught French and showed it to 8th grade students who begged to stay through lunch to watch more!! It will bring the book alive! Amazon has it, but it is pricey. I bought this a long time ago , and I am so glad to have it. <3
Thank you @Kathleen! I’m still plugging thru the book, determined to finish it!
Zeanna~It is worth reading to fall in love with Sydney Carton!! <3
Jane Austen
Ernest Hemingway
James Patterson, Stephanie Meyer
I despise Twilight.
@Stephanie I knew I’d hate them—I did read page one in a bookstore, to give it s chance. Awful. Bad writing, bad movies.
@Elena I read them when I was in bed rest when I was pregnant. I teach middle school so feel I have to read the most popular books. I’ve never recommended these.
@Stephanie oh me too !
Nicholas Sparks!
George Orwell
Ayn Rand boring!
Also, Diana Gabaldon
Gary Paulsen who wrote Hatchet among others. As I teacher this was one of our read aloud books for our class. I read this 4 times. I cannot stand the book and therefore this author. I do have to admit it got many of my male students interested in reading and they continued to read his other books.
His autobiography is amazing but probably only appropriate for adults.
Joyce Carol Oates
Agreed.
Mine is the chick that wrote 50 Shades.
Andrea Bowling Jamison ..OMG Andrea!
I didn’t want to fess up with that thought,…
But,man,she made a lot of money.
Yes, “inner goddess” and if she “blushed” one more time I was going to lose it. lol
Ugh, no kidding. I tried to read the first book and didn’t get very far. I have read the Twilight series as sort of a guilty pleasure, as sort of like cotton candy for the mind and I would never say it is exactly good literature. But 50 Shades is on another level. I can’t believe it made this list. It is so obviously inspired by Twilight, but is a much worse version. Even the movie screams Twilight knockoff.
@Cassandra Twilight was the 1st worst book…
I read a few chapters and gave it away
@Kelly I agree that Twilight has no literary merit and isn’t very well written. It is fluff. Sometimes I like to read fluff. But, why do so many love the fanfiction knockoff that is 50 Shades? I get that it has erotica in it, but so do other books that are not poorly written fanfiction.
Andrea Bowling Jamison my friend said that she couldn’t finish reading “50 Shades” because , and this is a quote, ‘I felt like I was reading a 5th grader’s notebook that he secretly wrote porn in’.
@Cassandra I could write much better erotica than SHADES.
I have considered it.
@Kelly Maybe you could choose another book you like that is popular and change it around just a little and make it into erotica. That seemed to be a good formula for the 50 shades author. I think I could write it better, too, even though I don’t read erotica. My thing is that I don’t really want to write anything I would be ashamed to show my kids. So, I guess that kind of limits me. But I know not everyone feels like I do, so in no way saying what you should or should not do.
Could never warm up to Jane Austen.
No,myself either Marcia
Me either!
I can’t stand Hemingway. I think he is greatly overrated.
Hemingway is a tough read.
I long ago read many of his novels.
The shorter reads..
The Sun Also Rises
and For Whom the Bell Tolls I liked.
I can’t say I loved them,as he was a perplexing …somewhat intriguing. .writer.
The movies that were made from his books were definatly better.
The Old Man and the Sea was pretty good. Really Good.
I agree , hard read but a joy to me .
Not fond of his writing style either. The Old Man and the Sea is the only one I enjoyed
Agree whole heartedly. He really isn’t hard to read… Just, doesn’t speak to me The way other writers of the time period did like Steinbeck and Henry Miller
Have any of you ever read ‘ Love in the Time of Cholera?
Yes. Re-read earlier this year. Been about 20 years since I first read it. I didn’t like it as much this time.
@Jennifer did you ever see the movie?
How about another oldie..
Pillars of the Earth?
@Kelly I don’t think I ever did. Was it any good?
Loved Pillars of
The Earth and the rest of the series. Still need to read the latest installment.
@Jennifer much better than the book
But of course,it was altered a bit.
It was beautifully filmed
I would say so so
It’s an older book…
Spanish Author
Very very wordy.
One sentence is likened to a couple of paragraphs
Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Andrea Bowling Jamison
Gabriel Garcia Marquez
Allende is great but I need to be in a certain mood to read her work. I spent a month on Marquez’s Love in the Time of Cholera and detested it. Finally gave up.
It was a frustrating read.
The movie was better
@Laura another one of his books was titled Memories of my Melancholy Whores lol
@Laurie ,lol…that was a weird book,hey?
A fter I finshed,I thought…”DUH?”
@Kelly I just looked at a few sentences and thought. Too weird. Lol
Not one, but all three Bronte Sisters….
Dan Brown-sighhhhhhh
I don’t really love Victorian novels. Too many words to get to the point.
I’m afraid it’s J. R. R. Tolkien. I’m listening to The Fellowship of the Ring on Audible, and I just can’t get into it at all.
I read those in the late 1960’s…and, I adored all three, one after the other. My theory is that we were ready for the fantasy war and peace during Vietnam…and, today, so many more wars. It’s not as wishful thinking as it was.
Just for fun and a great series of characters, try RULES OF CIVILITY by Amor Towles. It is F.Scott
But better!
How does it compare with A Gentleman in Moscow? I’m having trouble getting into it.
Totally different. Try it!! 😉
Mine is J.D. Salinger. Overrated to the max.
Yes! I couldn’t stand The Catcher in the Rye.
By accident he caught lightening in a bottle with Catcher. A lot of baby boomers growing up questioning authority. Most teens do. There were a ton of them around when Catcher was at its peak. There is no literary value in the novel. He was a creeper too. He couldn’t match that success again not because he chose not to or because it was so good or because he was a recluse but because he was not very good.
@Janet I use to paint with a group of women in New Hampshire one’s home was across the mountain from Salinger she said the town took great pride and protecting him from the Press. I didn’t tell them this but I remember thinking hey throw him to the dogs.lol
Salinger protected his town from developers by buying property. The townspeople love him. I have read all his novels and enjoy trying to understand his characters a great deal.
I don’t care for his work but love that he thwarted developers!
Charles Dickens.
Stephen King. But I love his son. ?♀️
His son writes?
@Emily– yes! He’s excellent!
Fitzgerald and Hemingway.
James Patterson ?
Dean Koontz
I agree. He is so wordy and drawn out! My friend loves him and I tried to read one of his books she lent me. I gave it back to her and said that I couldn’t read anymore after he practically took 2 pages to describe the glint on a doorknob. LOL
Philip Roth. He has talent but I find much of his subject matter distasteful.
Stephen King
Jodi Picoult
Stephen King……..
@Michele So many of our least favorites are here, lol. But some of our faves, too!
Omg, I had seen this earlier, when not so many of our loves had been mentioned! LOL
Tolkien
Nicholas Sparks
J.R.R. Tolkien
I also dislike V.C Andrews because of the prevailing incest theme.
Don’t read Game of Thrones then!
@Erin I plan to read Game of Thrones. I think it won’t bother me so much in a fantasy book that has a middle-ages feel to it. And, especially, because the books aren’t aimed at teenagers like VC Andrews books are. Her books are creepy, like she had some kind of fettish.
@Cassandra I agree. I always thought it was weird this are so popular among middle school age. Like do the parents know what they’re reading??
Erin Masella I have read some, but I haven’t read a lot of them because my sister read them when she was in middle/high school and then told me about them. I was like “Why do you read that? They all sound the same. And gross.” But she kept telling me about them anyway. Each time I would say “let me guess…. two people have the hots for each other and then find out they are related”. Pretty much spot on every time. She still likes those books even as an adult, the weirdo LOL
GoT is well written, but the VC Andrews stories-for me- well, I grew out of them once I left junior high, I guess. I can’t read them at all now, they seem silly to me.
A Hundred Years of Solitude (It would take that long to try wading through it). The Lonesome Dove series, Jodi Picoult, the Brontes, Cervantes
I think that Jane Austen has a certain type of style that can be hard to connect to. For me, I got caught up in the language, but it wasn’t until I watched “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies” that I understood the universality of her themes.
Nicholas Sparks ?
????
Dostoyevsky
Tolstoy is worse, imo.
I like D-man
I love Dostoevsky.
Austen for me too – I’ve tried to read several of her books and just don’t enjoy them at all. I do like the movies based on them though, so I guess it’s just her writing I don’t enjoy.
How do I find the recommendations for Historical Fiction again?
James Patterson.
John Steinbeck and Ernest Hemingway
Dean Koontz
The first two books I read by Koontz I really liked, but I hated the third book so much I didn’t finish it and haven’t read anything by him since.
@Kimberly I was kind of the same way, like the first one I read by him all the rest were just weird
Koontz is very formulaic.
V.C. Andrews
Anne Rice, VC Andrews
Both too creepy for me too.
@Cecily I just don’t care for their writing style. I love Stephen King and Dean Koontz!
Herman Mellville
Hemingway
Fitzgerald and Hemingway are both awful to me…and let’s not even mention JD Salinger, who surpasses the other two on the spectrum of “can’t abide.” I am SO glad that there is enough of a variety in literature for us to all find authors, genres, styles, etc that we love!
Dean Koontz. I wrote a bad review on one of his older books and people came from everywhere to tell me how awful I was! I made the mistake of saying it shouldn’t be on the library shelves it was so bad, and became a book banner. Please read him if you like, I think he is AWFUL. My personal opinion.
Sorry, but I’m not a fan of the writer of 50 Shades of Gray or the other books.
Margaret Atwood. Hate handmaids tale and have tortured myself with if twice.
Haha! Yep! Although I did *love* Alias Grace! Have you read it?
@Elizabeth i did like that one. I read it a long time ago. Habdmaids tale is just so hard to get over though!
Why twice??
I loved A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving but hated and did not finish the Cider House Rules
John Grisham
Blasphemy! Austen forever
This Shack – poor remake of A Christmas Carol
Bridges of Madison County – words fail me.
The Horse Whisperer – shoot the horse.
Bridges of Madison County! Remember the year everyone was reading it and falling all over themselves? I read it and was left scratching my head.
Oh, you are naughty! LOL!
Mitch Albom
A bit schmaltzy.
Me too! Just never liked Jane Austen.
For those who don’t like Jane Austen, I’m sincerely curious as to what the reasons are? I’m an Austen fan myself, but I do think sometimes the hysteria surrounding Mr. Darcy overshadows Austen’s sharp narration, biting wit and contributions to the development of the novel format. I wish readers would re-focus on her writing style and less on the romance…
Tried, but didn’t care for, Muriel Barbery’s “Elegance of Hedgehog” (my friends adored it)
I’ve always struggled to read Charles Dickens. He’s too wordy for me, which is ironic because I’m a wordy writer.
I absolutely agree. I had to read Great Expectations and Tale of Two Cities in class. I couldn’t stand either of them, but Tale of Two Cities is now one of my close friend’s favorite books. I just can’t see it.
Jodi Picoult, Stephen King…I don’t let them in my house ?
I’m not a JD fan, but I must say I enjoyed LONE WOLF. Have you tried reading that book?
@Ida, I’ll have to look into it. Thanks for the rec.
I usually like Jodi Picoult, but whenever I read “Handle With Care”, I honestly wanted to throw the book across the room when I finished it. The story was great and heart wrenching but the ending was just….omg. it was like she got tired and threw in the crappiest ending possible.
@Geni, My Sister’s Keeper is the one that ended any chance of ever reading her again. As a nurse, married to a physician, there were so many medical errors in that book, I couldn’t stomach it. She needed to do more research…..
When I was in college, my favorite professor said, “There are Austen people and there are Bronte people.” She said you could like them both, but you WERE one or the other. She said I was an Austen person, but at the time I didn’t like Austen at all and loved Charlotte Bronte. I had to grow into Austen, but now I see my professor was right.
Anyway…the popular writer I don’t like is Cormac McCarthy.
I am both! This week I’ve read Mr Rochester by Sarah Shoemaker, and am now reading H: The Story of Heathcliff’s Journey Back to Wuthering Heights by Lin Haire-Sargeant. I guess I’m partial to the Brontës
I can’t stand the retellings and sequels and things like that! But I think it’s cool that they exist, and I’ll bet it was fun to write them.
I think your professor was right. I am Bronte, but do not like Austen.
@Stacy They’re fun to read. Some are better than others
@Louise you might enjoy wide sargasso sea
@Laurie Loved it
I love Jane Austen. Can’t stand Jodi Piccoult or Ernest Hemingway.
David Sedaris
Dean Koontz.
Can”t stand Jane Austin either!
Jodi Piccoult
Agree!
Anne Rice, Charles Dickens, J. K. Rowling.
I’ve read two works by Charles Dickens. One was boring, the other had an easily avoidable conflict, and I hated the writing style in both.
Gabriel Garcia Marquez..no can do.
Mine too!
Faulkner. I have tried to read his works several times and just can’t get thorough them.
Sad for you. Love Austen’s dry wit.
I love austen..but also amused by Mark Twain’s remark about her
I find her tedious
Isn’t it a wonderful big world with so much fiction to read, to love and yes, to dislike? We are truly lucky to have such an embarrassment of riches.
Dean Koontz.
Steven King
Dean Koontz…not really sure why, but every time I try to read one of his books I can’t get past the first few pages.
I could only ever make it through Odd Thomas.
James Patterson!!
Nicholas Sparks
Steven King!?
Nicholas Sparks. I find the stories contrived and corny.
Me too, but sometimes contrived and corny are so much better than the real world.?
@Gayle that’s true!
Yes. I tried but I agree with contrived and corny.
Sorry, but, Toni Morrison
I so agree!!
I so wanted to love Beloved and hated it…
I can’t get into Austen eithet.
Dean Koontz, and don’t care for Maupin either. Also, Hemingway.
James Patterson and Nicholas Sparks. To predictable.
Too
Can’t stomach Austen, Blegh
Noooo lol that’s how I get my historical romance ?
@Dani Babe, no; don’t do it, there are better ones! ??
Ayn Rand. But perhaps I read her books, when I was too young to understand them. But even today, I cannot bring myself to read any book by her.
Dan Brown
Same here!
Although I absolutely adored Faye Kellerman’s stories ???, I couldn’t get into my first (& last) book by Jonathan Kellerman☹️‼️
Don’t like Faye. I think it’s her leading characters. Isn’t it fun that we’re all so different?
Ernest Cline, Stephanie Meyer, EL James, Gregory McGuire and Graham @Dani
Steven King…not scary to me just not interesting.
James Patterson
John Grisham
Oh I will also add, James Joyce, Camu, Kafka.
The Mitford books by Jan Karon
Nicholas Sparks
Alice Walker and James Patterson
Nicholas Sparks
Margaret Atwood
James Michener … just can’t.
Margaret Atwood, James Patterson
Jane Austen for me, too.