Books NOT to read-

[perrykm2]

A potentially fun take on the other topic. Since you're going to be checking GradCafe every day, you might as well post in a fun/casual/social thread.

What books would you NEVER recommend to anyone, regardless of how relevant or canonical it might be?

I had to read An American Tragedy my senior year of HS. Everyone in my class collectively agreed it was horrible. The book takes about 600 pages to establish that the protagonist is, in fact, poor but doesn't want to be poor! All of the symbolism and imagery is really trite, but it doesn't stop Dreiser from explaining it in extreme detail, multiple pages of JUST detail. The central message of the novel (which is positive/agreeable) gets completely buried in wave after wave of just kind of bad/unimaginative writing. My friend described it as a really long and really bad version of the Great Gatsby, which is pretty apt.

Edited February 16, 2012 by perrykm2

[jma310]

Ah I loved An American Tragedy, though I believe our edition was closer to 900 pages! I also loved Sister Carrie, also by Dreiser.

I can however add to this list the obligatory Lord of the Flies and a Kathy Acker novel called Pussy: King of the Pirates.

[jma310]

Different strokes for different folks, as they say.

[perrykm2]

So was ours, but I was only counting the first two parts (right?,) not the third after he's been arrested.

[perrykm2]

I don't know if each edition is divided into 3 parts.

[marlowe23]

Don't read Beloved. Ever.

Kidding, but it's probably not a good idea to read it at Christmas, or to read five Toni Morrison books in a row, and, if you have a choice, read Song of Soloman and not Beloved.

Anything we post on here is going to be someone's favorite, so no hard feelings...right?

[perrykm2]

Of course. It's not meant to offend anyone! We all have different interests.

I always thought Beloved would be a good horror movie or, like, a psychological thriller.

[DorindaAfterThyrsis]

Will I get tarred and feathered if my response is "any novel written in the 19th century"?

Just kidding. I love me some Victorian hand-wringing prose.

[Julianne Pigoon]

I fucking hate Kindred by Octavia Butler.

[jywayne]

Anything written by Gertrude Stein. Tender Buttons is worth little more than pleasant bathroom reading. DH Lawrence is pretty horrible too. My angst might be from having to read Women in Love in one weekend in a grad seminar though.

[user_name]

Underworld by Don DeLillo. There were good parts, I almost cared for some of the characters, but it wasn't focused. It would have been better 3-400 pages shorter (this coming from someone who thought Infinite Jest could have been 3-400 pages longer).

[DorindaAfterThyrsis]

Anything written by Gertrude Stein.

As someone who just fabricated an entire paper on The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas, I cannot agree strongly enough with this statement. The woman should be purged from the collective consciousness and never spoken of again.

*shudder*

[user_name]

DH Lawrence agreed. I was expecting something vulgar, not a snorefest.

[jywayne]

Another book that I absolutely loathe--Clarissa. Now, I know its importance in the canon per se, but it was one of the most painful things I've ever read in my life. And, to think, Richardson doubled the book almost in its unabridged version. The 18th century up until the Romantics should've just stayed content reading Shakespeare, Milton, and the classics.

[jma310]

Clarissa is on my *list* if only for its importance in the eating disorder/self-starvation conversation. Now, if only I could crack page 1...

Another Richardson, Pamela, was a page-turner up until 2/3 of the way through when she gets married and becomes boring.

[perrykm2]

jma, what is your concentration? What is your interest in eating disorders?

[jma310]

@perry- 19th c British and American, specifically issues of body image/self starvation in Victorian texts, and food studies. Do we share an interest?!

[marlowe23]

Oh--Charlotte Temple. My professor tried to make it interesting by asserting vehemently that every time she fainted it was "code" for an orgasm.

Wouldn't make a difference either way, although I did have a hard time seeing the parallel there.

[perrykm2]

No, not at all. Haha. Unfortunately, my sister is anorexic and severely underweight; it seems like an interesting illness to approach from a literary standpoint.

[perrykm2]

Oh--Charlotte Temple. My professor tried to make it interesting by asserting vehemently that every time she fainted it was "code" for an orgasm.

Wouldn't make a difference either way, although I did have a hard time seeing the parallel there.

Yes, I went through this with Dante, "the little death." Really? People talking to him makes him orgasm, crying makes him orgasm, the smell of poop and rot makes him orgasm? What were the Italians doing in the 14th century?

[jma310]

Ah I'm sorry! I know the hurt that can cause. It is interesting. I work mainly on identifying anorexic behavior in 19th century texts and how early instances of a disease called "anorexia mirabilis" (divinely inspired starvation) strikingly evoke the modern disease, and how texts deal with huger/starvation.

[marlowe23]

jma310-- I did some work on Virginia Woolf, eating disorders, and food. I struggled with an eating disorder growing up, so naturally I see it in the literature. I went a different direction ultimately, but I still enjoy reading about it! Clarissa wasn't one of my favorites though. What texts are you looking at in 19th century? (You can PM me if you don't want to stray too far from the topic of this thread).

[veniente]

Well, a couple of days ago (on the books to read thread) I said Junot Díaz's The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao was one to avoid (a somewhat lazy verdict given I had only read five pages). However, such was this community's love for it, combined with my respect for this great community, I'm thinking I might have to give it another go!

While there's lots of books I just didn't much like or didn't think were that good ( Portnoy's Complaint, Atonement , White Teeth, Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Stuart: A Life Backwards, The Lovely Bones, Women as Lovers, any Dan Brown), I bestow upon Irvine Welsh's Filth the dubious honour of being a book that I would recommend not reading. I read it when I was a teenager. It's vile.

[marlowe23]

It's referenced a lot in Renaissance literature -- Edward II comes to mind (I am in love with Marlowe, after all). Gaveston's "upon his breast I die" speech is one of the main passages in queer readings.

I didn't make that connection. Huh--now I'll have to rethink this. Still don't like the novel though.

[marlowe23]

Well, a couple of days ago (on the books to read thread) I said Junot Díaz's The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao was one to avoid (a somewhat lazy verdict given I had only read five pages). However, such was this community's love for it, combined with my respect for this great community, I'm thinking I might have to give it another go!

While there's lots of books I just didn't much like or didn't think were that good ( Portnoy's Complaint, Atonement , White Teeth, Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Stuart: A Life Backwards, The Lovely Bones, Women as Lovers, any Dan Brown), I bestow upon Irvine Welsh's Filth the dubious honour of being a book that I would recommend not reading. I read it when I was a teenager. It's vile.

I met Junot Diaz and he kissed me on the cheek. So--I'm biased, but I love his work. Drown is more entertaining though.