this post was submitted on 04 Oct 2024
24 points (87.5% liked)

Ask Lemmy

26417 readers
1258 users here now

A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions


Rules: (interactive)


1) Be nice and; have funDoxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, and toxicity are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them


2) All posts must end with a '?'This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?


3) No spamPlease do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.


4) NSFW is okay, within reasonJust remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either !asklemmyafterdark@lemmy.world or !asklemmynsfw@lemmynsfw.com. NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].


5) This is not a support community.
It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions. If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email info@lemmy.world. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.


Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.

Partnered Communities:

Tech Support

No Stupid Questions

You Should Know

Reddit

Jokes

Ask Ouija


Logo design credit goes to: tubbadu


founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
top 21 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] setsneedtofeed@lemmy.world 2 points 6 hours ago

Of books I've finished, The Da Vinci Code. It's been a long time since I read it, so I can't recall specifics but I do remember the moment to moments of the plot being contrived and stupid, and the writing to be bland and simplistic.

The only reason I read it was I was stuck somewhere without a book and I found a copy of The Da Vinci code that had fallen behind a shelf. I figured it was super popular so there must be something to it as I slogged through.

[–] yessikg@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 11 hours ago

Controversial opinion but Don Quixote, so fucking long and boring, had a horrible time trying to get through it for class

[–] BonesOfTheMoon@lemmy.world 1 points 12 hours ago

David Foster Wallace, Infinite Jest. It's just a zillion loose threads of a novel that leads nowhere in particular.

[–] gerryflap@feddit.nl 2 points 16 hours ago

"De Grote Zaal" by Jacoba van Velde. For school we had to read many books. In the earlier years this could be anything as long as it was Dutch, so translated versions of English books were fine. I could read stuff like Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, etc. However, at some point the requirements shifted, and we were only allowed to read Dutch (non-translated) works of literature. This shit single-handedly killed all my fun in reading. Dry books about old people or about the war.

"De Grote Zaal" is the one that I remember the most. It's a short book, but it goes pretty much nowhere and doesn't at all speak to the imagination of a teen guy. To me it represents the death of reading as a hobby. I've tried to pick up reading again, but it has since been replaced by other things and I just don't make the time for it anymore.

[–] Tazerface@sh.itjust.works 21 points 1 day ago (1 children)
[–] TimewornTraveler@lemm.ee 1 points 10 hours ago

Can you think of a greater blasphemy than to say that some junk written by mortals is the word of the absolute highest creator imaginable?

Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand.

[–] Knitwear@lemmy.world 1 points 17 hours ago* (last edited 17 hours ago)

The Song of Achilles - Madeleine Miller

Might be controversial, I apologise, but in it's soul and bones it is the straightest "gay" book I've ever read. Straight people keep heralding it as a Queer Classic™®© in a way that queer people don't.

[–] Knitwear@lemmy.world 1 points 17 hours ago

A Little Life - Hanya Yanagihara

At first you give it your good will and chapter by chapter the creeping horror sets in that the emperor has no clothes.

Trash in lit's clothing

[–] DasFaultier@sh.itjust.works 2 points 20 hours ago

"Effi Briest" all the way.

[–] trustyturtle@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 20 hours ago (2 children)

I know this is controversial, but I really hated 'A Confederacy of Dunces', the main character is just so annoying. I had a hard time finishing that one.

[–] Mr_Blott@feddit.uk 1 points 18 hours ago

I tried listening to the audiobook, and the narrator is even more annoying than Wil Wheaton, which I didn't think was possible

[–] fubarx@lemmy.ml 1 points 20 hours ago

I had the same issue, but my wife loved it. We have agreed to disagree.

[–] TheBraveSirRobbin@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Same. I thought it was so dumb

[–] EvilBit@lemmy.world 2 points 23 hours ago

A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius. Only book I’ve ever thrown across the room and used as a craft cutting board.

[–] conciselyverbose@sh.itjust.works 5 points 1 day ago* (last edited 1 day ago)

Tap for spoiler

I had to make a separate exclusive category on goodreads just to keep this piece of trash out of my read pile.

It's called power vs force, it's some dumpster fire pseudo-science that's really just vague ramblings of nothing. Don't read it. Seriously.

[–] Atin@lemmy.world 4 points 1 day ago

Ulysses by James Joyce

[–] Boozilla@lemmy.world 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Runes of the Earth by Stephen R. Donaldson. Couldn't even finish it. Loved some of his earlier books, which I read when I was much younger. Not sure if he changed or if I did. But what I read of Runes was truly awful.

[–] TwinTusks@bitforged.space 1 points 23 hours ago (1 children)

Not sure if he changed or if I did.

Typically it is you who has changed. Many things we remember fondly doesn't hold up when we go back again.

[–] Boozilla@lemmy.world 1 points 16 hours ago

Maybe. But in this case, two decades had passed since he'd written the previous book in the series.