Most boring books
- Thread starter Miss Chicken
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Moby Dick by a mile. I actually read every book we were assigned in school, I enjoyed reading quite a bit. Moby Dick was the one book I just could not finish. My dislike of the book actually outweighed my fear of getting a bad grade (that's a big deal for me 
). It turned out alright because no one else in the class had been able to finish the book either.
I also find works by Jane Austen to be quite boring.
I did enjoy The Scarlet Letter though, that's one of my favorites. We had to read it at the same time as Moby Dick, so maybe it just seemed so much more interesting by comparison.
). It turned out alright because no one else in the class had been able to finish the book either. I also find works by Jane Austen to be quite boring.
I did enjoy The Scarlet Letter though, that's one of my favorites. We had to read it at the same time as Moby Dick, so maybe it just seemed so much more interesting by comparison.
Have to admit this one was a bit tedious but the ironic thing is that to be realistic you have to have a lot of boredom.
Right. I liked Das Boot a lot, but there is that chapter where they are caught in stormy weather for a month and can't do anything, and it just goes on and on and on. I realize that was the point, but it was a tough slog.
Justin
We had to read The Last of the Mohicans in my high school English class. It was so damn boring I couldn't finish it. I'll stick with the Michael Mann movie.
I also tried to read Dune once and was so bored I put it down. It was just painful to read. I don't remember why as it was over 25 years ago.
I also tried to read Dune once and was so bored I put it down. It was just painful to read. I don't remember why as it was over 25 years ago.
Not true. Edward L. Beach's "Run Silent, Run Deep" covered the same material, was just as realistic, but not nearly as boring to read.
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As someone who loves Dune and has read it at least once a year since I was fourteen, I agree with everyone who said Dune on here. I love Dune more then any other book, but I know it is as dry as the sand of Dune itself. It took me a few tries before I read it throughout the first time, I only did it because my Uncle insisted. He knew I was big time into Science Fiction and said that this is the greatest Sci-Fi book of all time. While I appreciate it now, then at the age of 14 I didn't so much.
seconding Thomas Hardy. Mayor of Casterbridge and Tess of the d'Urbervilles were boring as fuck and the only enjoyment i got from them was calling them the Mayor of Caster Sugar and Tess of the Baskervilles.
Similar but not the same. Ned Beach was a regular navy submarine officer who made a lot of patrols and had a lot of war stories, and the book covers a number of incidents over several years. Lothar-Günther Buchheim was a war correspondent who made one patrol, a chunk of which was apparently extremely tedious. Beach was trying to tell a big story, had a lot of ground to cover and kept the narrative going. Buchheim was trying more to capture the feel of what it was like to live on the boat for a few months, boredom and all. The tedious parts were intentional, because he varies the tempo of his writing in the chapters where the boat is in action. I can definitely see how one could find the book boring, but it's not directly comparable to RSRD.
Justin
I never enjoyed DICK either. And I never will.
Even worse is TO THE LIGHTHOUSE by Virginia Woolf. Virtually nothing happens except the afterthought deaths of three characters. I still don't remember if the others ever got to it.
Even worse is TO THE LIGHTHOUSE by Virginia Woolf. Virtually nothing happens except the afterthought deaths of three characters. I still don't remember if the others ever got to it.
I was at high school more than 35 years ago. I can't remember being bored by any books that I had to read for English. I know I absolutely hated reading The Double Helix but that was because the treatment of Rosalind Franklin by the authors of that book not because the book was boring.
I do agree with people who have mentioned Moby Dick and Dune. I didn't finish either book.
I know when read Lord of the Rings as a teenager I skipped over the more boring bits but I did read it more fully when I was in my mid-twenties. Though I like the story it isn't a book that I will ever read again.
I do agree with people who have mentioned Moby Dick and Dune. I didn't finish either book.
I know when read Lord of the Rings as a teenager I skipped over the more boring bits but I did read it more fully when I was in my mid-twenties. Though I like the story it isn't a book that I will ever read again.
Don't even have to think about it: Tess of the d'Urbervilles. No question. Had to read it in school and saying "it bored me to tears" would be akin to saying "being flayed alive and dipped in salt is a bit uncomfortable". I personally blame this book for my failing English Lit.
The collective works of Ayn Rand.
Or any individual work of Ayn Rand.
Ayn Rand is crap.
Or any individual work of Ayn Rand.
Ayn Rand is crap.
Ooh, good one. I really tried to get through that one, because I genuinely wanted to see what the fuss was about, but, no dice.
Also, it's gotta be said:
Probably the dullest book I actually read full through. (I enjoyed Moby-Dick, but freely admit to skimming and even skipping some of the diversionary chapters.) Would likely never have finished it if I hadn't been intent on keeping up with the cultural conversation.
Only read one Ayn Rand book, out of interest as I was very into Rush at the time. It made me mildly nauseated and above all angry ! Not my take on a civilised worldview...
Glad to see it's not just me with Dune - I did finish it though.
And LOTR and Hitchikers Guide are brilliant !
I must be the only person on earth who really liked War and Peace. I actually got all teary-eyed over Andre.
For sheer and utter torture, I'd nominate Ulysses by James Joyce. God Almighty. Seven sentences that take up 30 pages?!? As one of my college classmates remarked, "Well, that's just being a dick!"
I have fond memories of my friend drop-kicking his book across the quad, screaming "Fuck you, Leopold Bloom!"
Although, to be perfectly honest, I think the most boring book I have ever been forced to read is the Bible. It seriously needs a good editor.
For sheer and utter torture, I'd nominate Ulysses by James Joyce. God Almighty. Seven sentences that take up 30 pages?!? As one of my college classmates remarked, "Well, that's just being a dick!"
I have fond memories of my friend drop-kicking his book across the quad, screaming "Fuck you, Leopold Bloom!"
Although, to be perfectly honest, I think the most boring book I have ever been forced to read is the Bible. It seriously needs a good editor.
The Bible is great if you read it in the voice of Eric Idle.
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