Simple Rules:
1. Please name book and author, using Touchstones.
2. Describe your reason(s) for being disappointed in said book.
3. Remember that these are personal opinions, which may or may not reflect your own.

Okay, I'll go first since you insist.

Sophie's Choice by William Styron

I had seen a smidgen of this movie on television at my daughter's house and thought that the book must be enthralling in a sad sort of way. Later I read a review of this book, and it was hailed as a great American masterpiece and as Styron's best work. I bought one and saved it for a while -- anticipation, doncha' know.

This book was not anything like I had expected. It was mostly a treatise in which the narrator spun boring tales about his sex life, or rather the lack thereof. The descriptions of his lamentable escapades were quite ridiculous.

Also contained in the book were many stories of Sophie's mistreatment by her lover, who was mentally ill, but apparently neither Sophie nor the narrator realized it until it was too late. These stories were also bordering on the obscene. I can tell you right now that if a lover of mine had ever bounced in the door, half drunk, and said "Let's f**k," I would have pushed him out the door and never spoken to him again. But, you see, Sophie was a pathetic, dependent creature, made so by circumstance, so she immediately fell into bed with him.

I had expected a book about the heartbreaking choice Sophie was forced to make. Instead, the book was as described above, with only a fleeting mention of her soul-crushing dilemma. To be fair, some of her experiences during WWII leading up to this choice were discussed, but not in much depth. Also there was not enough character development in some cases. I felt the need to know two of them better.

Perhaps I expected the author to have the same thoughts about Sophie that I had about her. Big mistake.

I was really disappointed with The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman, because everyone talked about it like it was the greatest book ever written and then when I read it, it was stupendously, incredibly, unbelievably boring. You'd think Gaiman of all people could make a coming-of-age story interesting, especially with the ghost premise and everything, but apparently he couldn't.

You can also take a look at these:

http://www.librarything.com/groups/books...

...and these:

http://www.librarything.com/groups/books...

Message edited by its author, Nov 2, 2009, 8:23pm.

Oops! Well, I suppose people can just ignore this thread, then.

Hmm. Maybe not. I wondered why I didn't find a similar topic when I glanced through the topics. It must have been because neither of these threads has been posted on in over a year. Go figure.

So, I leave it up to other LibraryThingers. Post here if you like or revive an ancient thread. Or, don't post at all. :: laffin' ::

Message edited by its author, Nov 2, 2009, 8:47pm.

The Lord of the Rings. I loved The Hobbit, I was into fantasy, everyone loves Lord of the Rings.

My mother used to re-read it every year because it was her favourite fantasy. My mother had excellent taste in books. She gave me a beautiful box set when I was in my late teens. I read it eagerly. My expectations were high.

And it was okay.

I didn't hate it. I was just disappointed. It just went on and on and on. I found it hard to keep track of all the dwarves and elves and ents and orcs. People kept changing sides, and they kept travelling here and there. I recognized that it was well written, and that Tolkien accomplished something spectacular, but it just didn't thrill me.

>4,

Oh no, let's go on! I just thought those old fossil- beds-of-threads, may have had some comments of interest.

Nature writing is on of my favorite genres. So why not that masterpiece A Pilgrim at Tinker Creek?

It is lyrical. It is beautifully written. It won the Pulitzer. It is revered by nature writers.

It is Gawd-awful boring.

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova. This book got so many rave reviews and friends whose opinions I trust (when it comes to reading :P ) thought the book was fantastic.

The only reason I finished it was so I could write a bad review and know what I was talking about because I had read the whole damn thing. It's booooooooring. And anti-climatic. Really, really anti-climatic.

I shudder just to think of it...

#7 - I'm reading this at the moment, full of the knowledge that there are very divergent opinions on it. I am enjoying it greatly, and am a little over half way through.

The Melanin Apocalypse

is one of the worst pieces of junk (and I'm just using that word instead of the phrase I really want to use because kids might see this thread).

The author even "apologizes" in the Afterword for the content of the book! And sadly, the book is bad enough that an apology is the least he could do.

Man... I can't even express how horrible (content, writing, style) this book is without frothing. (reminder - must go check for signs of Zombification)

>8: I'm glad you're enjoying the book :) I did have the feeling that me not liking the book was more a matter of personal taste than the author's lack of ability to write a story. Parts I did find interesting but they were few and far between. I hope you enjoy it all the way through. Maybe if you do, we could discuss it together. It's always fun to have a friendly debate with someone who has a different opinion :)

I loved The Historian, but my dad (who seemed to be the perfect person to read it, loving Europe the way he does) is doing nothing but complain to me about how boring it is!

Life of Pi by Yann Martel

I think, for me, it was a case of being let down after hearing all of the hype. I kept hearing that it was this deep philosophical / religious allegory, and a couple of people told me that they found it really inspirational.

I don’t think I’ll ever really be into the postmodern world view, and I experienced the book as being nearly the opposite of deep or inspirational. In my interpretation, Martel’s philosophy was all about embracing surface appearances, not seeking depth or meaning. Parts of the story could be construed as being insulting to just about anyone -- believer, atheist, or agnostic -- who takes a serious stance on spiritual issues. I honestly don’t understand why some religious people really seemed to like this book.

The thing is, I actually liked the lifeboat section a bit. I think if all I had been told about the book was that it was a fantasy castaway adventure I probably would have enjoyed it as entertainment. As it was, my expectations left me feeling rather annoyed the entire time I was reading.