Australian Politics Forum - Worst book you have read

Soren

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Re: Worst book you have read
Reply #45 - Jun 2^nd, 2013 at 8:46pm

Annie Anthrax wrote on Oct 17^th, 2012 at 2:12pm:

Perfume by Suskind. I'm tempted to revisit though and see if time has affected my interpretation.

What???

You must be cloth-eared to an extraordinary degree. I have not read anything that was able to convey in words the experience of other senses, especially smell, so vividly and in such a French (languidly cerebral yet poetic) way as this German book.

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cods Gold Member Offline Australian Politics Posts: 88048	Re: Worst book you have read Reply #46 - Dec 3^rd, 2013 at 9:00am I tried reading Kitty Kellys Oprah... got to the second chapter... and couldnt go any further.. looked like a bitchfest.from people who had spent most of their lives living off Oprah..
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Soren

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Re: Worst book you have read
Reply #47 - Dec 3^rd, 2013 at 9:51am

John Smith wrote on Aug 22^nd, 2012 at 9:36pm:

The word of the rose, by Umberto Ecco ... bought it after my wife went on and on about it ... she read it when she lived o'seas, in another language . ... all I can say is that it must have translated really badly because I really struggled to read about 100 pgs, and after that I just couldn't continue .... from that point on I've avoided any book she recommends. ...

In the postscript of that book Eco says that the first 100 pages are intentionally dense and difficult to serve as a “penance” or “initiation” for the reader, to make sure that only those who are "worthy” of reading the rest of the novel actually do so.

The writers of Indiana Jones must have picked up on this - in the movie about the holy grail, one of the early challenges is summed us as "only the penitent man shall pass".

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« Last Edit: Dec 3^rd, 2013 at 1:22pm by Soren »

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greggerypeccary Gold Member Offline Australian Politics Posts: 131671 Gender:	Re: Worst book you have read Reply #48 - Dec 3^rd, 2013 at 9:58am Annie Anthrax wrote on Oct 17^th, 2012 at 2:12pm: Perfume by Suskind. I'm tempted to revisit though and see if time has affected my interpretation. You should revisit: it's a wonderful book.
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UnSubRocky

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Re: Worst book you have read
Reply #49 - Dec 17^th, 2013 at 1:02am

Mnemonic wrote on Aug 22^nd, 2012 at 5:46pm:

J.D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye.

That book led to the death of John Lennon.

The book is full of swearing and this guy complaining about how everyone else is so despicable and phony and how his life is so miserable, how there's no point and meaning to life and he'd rather be standing at the bottom of some cliff catching children coming through the rye.

The book is so negative, it has so much emphasis on superficial phoniness, it probably caused the Virginia Tech massacre as well.

This book is highly recommended to anyone suffering a mid-life crisis.

Biggest load of crap since a guy tried to claim a sugar rush mitigating circumstances for his homicide charge. The "twinkie defence", and "the book/tv/barking dog next door made me do it" defences hardly get entertained as credible any more. Perhaps you would be better suited living back in 17th century Salem?

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UnSubRocky Gold Member Online Australian Legend Posts: 21763 Rockhampton, Q Gender:	Re: Worst book you have read Reply #50 - Dec 17^th, 2013 at 1:04am I'm reading one sentence of every page in "Don Quixote" just so that I can say I read every page in the book. Perhaps Christmas 2014, I'll get around to reading the book.
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Postmodern Trendoid III

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Re: Worst book you have read
Reply #51 - Dec 17^th, 2013 at 8:13pm

Annie Anthrax wrote on Oct 17^th, 2012 at 2:09pm:

Postmodern Trendoid III wrote on Aug 20^th, 2012 at 3:29pm:

Any book that reduces all situations to language games, an oppressor and oppressed paradigm, and 'it's all America's fault'.

Some suspects include: Jacques Derrida, Judith Butler, Michel Foucault, Francois Lyotard, Herbert Marcuse, Noam Chomsky, John Pilger.

Not a Said fan then?

Not at all. He was in the same league as the other "intellectuals" mentioned. He made a living out of degrading the very culture that gave him everything he had.

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John Smith

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Re: Worst book you have read
Reply #52 - Dec 17^th, 2013 at 9:19pm

Soren wrote on Dec 3^rd, 2013 at 9:51am:

John Smith wrote on Aug 22^nd, 2012 at 9:36pm:

The word of the rose, by Umberto Ecco ... bought it after my wife went on and on about it ... she read it when she lived o'seas, in another language . ... all I can say is that it must have translated really badly because I really struggled to read about 100 pgs, and after that I just couldn't continue .... from that point on I've avoided any book she recommends. ...

In the postscript of that book Eco says that the first 100 pages are intentionally dense and difficult to serve as a “penance” or “initiation” for the reader, to make sure that only those who are "worthy” of reading the rest of the novel actually do so.

The writers of Indiana Jones must have picked up on this - in the movie about the holy grail, one of the early challenges is summed us as "only the penitent man shall pass".

so he only wanted to attract Masochists? Anyone who keeps reading that crap needs their head checked. I've read through bad books before, I've even forced myself to read Mills and Boon when nothing else has been available ... but this was pure torture.

I think Echo knew it was crap and was trying to find an excuse ...

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Sir Spot of Borg

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Re: Worst book you have read
Reply #53 - May 10^th, 2020 at 8:00am

greggerypeccary wrote on Oct 2^nd, 2012 at 2:31pm:

Emma wrote on Oct 2^nd, 2012 at 2:03pm:

aren't they one and the same?

Yes, I believe so.

The Baron who went to jail.

Haven't read any of his stuff, to tell the truth.

Worst book that I've read was 'You Wouldn't Be Dead For Quids', by the late Robert G Barrett. Truly awful.

Not the same guy - i didnt notice the different spelling but im sure i saw those war books with a "jeffrey". . . . oh well they are horrible books

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoffrey_Archer_(writer)

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Sir Spot of Borg

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Re: Worst book you have read
Reply #54 - May 10^th, 2020 at 8:05am

Bertram wrote on Oct 18^th, 2012 at 9:36pm:

did you people all read these books to the end? or is this really a thread about the books you threw in the corner before page 10? because i can't imagine actually finishing a bad book. do people really, really stick it out to the end? seems like a senseless waste of time.

my record - finnigan's wake. chucked it around page 3. maybe even 2 (top of the page).
ulysses - couldn't read it either, although i love listening to others reading it (professional actors).

I read that entire L Ron Hubbard decology on a bet. It was hard going and took a while. Terrible horrible stuff.

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Redmond Neck

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Re: Worst book you have read
Reply #55 - May 10^th, 2020 at 10:16am

Supposed to be a classic but did bugger all for me

The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger

"The novel details two days in the life of 16-year-old Holden Caulfield after he has been expelled from prep school. Confused and disillusioned, Holden searches for truth and rails against the “phoniness” of the adult world."

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John Smith

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Re: Worst book you have read
Reply #56 - May 10^th, 2020 at 10:28am

Redmond Neck wrote on May 10^th, 2020 at 10:16am:

Supposed to be a classic but did bugger all for me

The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger

"The novel details two days in the life of 16-year-old Holden Caulfield after he has been expelled from prep school. Confused and disillusioned, Holden searches for truth and rails against the “phoniness” of the adult world."

I liked that one

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