Unpopular Opinions

[Mystery]

 

I personally love the concept of time travel and will read anything on the subject

You might like Connie Willis's books The Domesday Book and To Say Nothing of the Dog. I waited more than eagerly for her followups and (topic) LOATHED them. 

 

I find the George RR Martin books unreadable. 

 

I love P&P and hated Wuthering Heights. I guess it really does take all kinds! 

[Kalliste]

I never was able to finish wuthering Heights or The Great Gatsby, I think I got about a chapter in and just couldn't keep going.

[Haleth]

I too hated Wuthering Heights because of the repulsive characters. Another reputed epic romance that I hated because of terrible characters is A Farewell to Arms. Couldn't find any sympathy for anyone.

I am just finishing up reading Gatsby which I haven't read since High School. Yeah, most everyone is horrible but the language is so rich and description so lush I'm really loving it. Unpopular opinion? Great literature is wasted on teenagers.

Edited July 21, 2014 by Haleth

[psychoticstate]

You might like Connie Willis's books The Domesday Book and To Say Nothing of the Dog. I waited more than eagerly for her followups and (topic) LOATHED them.

 

 

Thank you, mystery.  I am going to check these out!

[Mystery]

Cool! I spelled the first one wrong, it's Doomsday Book. Its sequel is To Say Nothing of the Dog but they're completely different styles (time travel to the Middle Ages and the Victorian era, respectively). 

[psychoticstate]

Cool! I spelled the first one wrong, it's Doomsday Book. Its sequel is To Say Nothing of the Dog but they're completely different styles (time travel to the Middle Ages and the Victorian era, respectively). 

Can you read them out of order? I checked them out on Amazon and didn't realize they were a series.  Doh.  The second one appeals to me moreso than the first although I do want to read both.

[Mystery]

Yes you can; there are tiny spoilers if you read To Say Nothing of the Dog first (you know a little bit about something that happened in the Doomsday Book, but nothing affecting the main plot) but go ahead and read it. Please give it a chance at the beginning; it's SUPPOSED to be kind of confusing. They have two completely different vibes, the second one is much more lighthearted. I hope you like them. I love them both even though they're so different. 

Edited July 22, 2014 by Mystery

[ExplainItAgain]

4. Pride & Prejudice is boring.  Great novel, don't get me wrong, but that doesn't mean it isn't boring.  I would much rather read the Bronte sisters than Jane Austen.

 

OK, them's fightin' words now ;)

 

Gone, Girl is a stinking piece of obvious shit and if I have to read that inane "cool girl" paragraph one more time, I might become a sociopath myself.  It's a stupid women who hate women book and

who the flying fuck didn't know the diary was faked?

  Poorly written, simplistic, drivel.

 

I really don't get how anyone could like this book. Piece of shit. And the hype is starting all over again thanks to the movie.

 

This is probably not an unpopular opinion around here (because y'all so smart and witty!) but more the population at large: 50 Shades. If I hear one more of my friends refer to these books as "romantic" I'm going to rage. I could not even make it past 100 pages of this - possibly the worst written book I've ever read. And even though I haven't read them, I got the gist. Romantic? You keep using that word...I do not think it means what you think it means.

[millennium]

Didn't 50 Shades get its start as a piece of Twilight fanfic tripe?

[AntiBeeSpray]

Didn't 50 Shades get its start as a piece of Twilight fanfic tripe?

Yea I think so, iirc.

 

I couldn't stand Grapes of Wrath. It was just bland. Yes it took place during the depression, but it nearly put me to sleep during parts. And those were just the ones the teacher had us read. He didn't like it either.

[purplex15]

This is my first post on this site, (I've been lurking since the TWOP demise), and I felt the need to post because one book series I'm currently reading has made me feel crazy for its universal love.

The series being The Maze Runner triliogy by James Dashner.

I've finished the first 3 and am almost done with the prequel, and I haven't disliked a series of books so much since Twilight. This is almost worse, because most can agree that Twilight is crappy. I actually read a lot of YA, and maybe since my last series was written by Tamora Pierce, this was just doomed to be a letdown from the start. I listened to the whole series through audio book, I don't know if that played a role (first audio book I haven't liked either). I had a hard time picturing the world Dashner tried to build, I hated Thomas and almost the every other character, and worst of all, the endgame with WICKED made no sense and was not worth the work of reading all that Dred.

[Athena]

Yea I think so, iirc.

 

I couldn't stand Grapes of Wrath. It was just bland. Yes it took place during the depression, but it nearly put me to sleep during parts. And those were just the ones the teacher had us read. He didn't like it either.

 

I really like Steinbeck's style, but I found Grapes of Wrath my least favourite of the three I've read from him.

 

50 Shades did start as a fanfic and she basically changed the names. I read all three books because my friend said we could make fun of it. It was nice to snark about the first couple of books, but I had difficulty finishing the second and third book due to sheer stupidity. There are some hilarious and snarky recaps of the books on the web though.

[AntiBeeSpray]

I really like Steinbeck's style, but I found Grapes of Wrath my least favourite of the three I've read from him.

Yea he's decent with dialogue, but the pacing seemed sluggish somehow.

50 Shades did start as a fanfic and she basically changed the names. I read all three books because my friend said we could make fun of it. It was nice to snark about the first couple of books, but I had difficulty finishing the second and third book due to sheer stupidity. There are some hilarious and snarky recaps of the books on the web though.

Wow. Yea there are, saw one awhile back that made me laugh my butt off. Read way better fan fic.

[GHScorpiosRule]

I couldn't stand Grapes of Wrath. It was just bland. Yes it took place during the depression, but it nearly put me to sleep during parts. And those were just the ones the teacher had us read. He didn't like it either.

Oh lord, this is one book I just could NOT get into. I don't think any of us in my class, who had to read this thing as part of required reading, managed to get past the first two chapters. Even showing us the movie with a very Hawt looking Henry Fonda didn't help. I've only ever been able to read through and enjoy Of Mice and Men by Steinbeck.

 

 

50 Shades did start as a fanfic and she basically changed the names. I read all three books because my friend said we could make fun of it. It was nice to snark about the first couple of books, but I had difficulty finishing the second and third book due to sheer stupidity. There are some hilarious and snarky recaps of the books on the web though.

 

I didn't read this tripe out of sheer stubbornness. I could only roll my eyes when I read about how many "women" and "wives" were making sure that their husbands and boyfriends, etc., would also read this to show them "this is how a woman wants sex" or whatever shit the media was peddling. I have a friend on FaceBook, who, bless her, would painstakingly type out several pages and we'd snark about it. The hideous dialogue, the eye rolling "Inner Goddess" crap, and the horrid, horridly written text.  I guess these women and wives had never heard of Robin Schone, Thea Devine, Susan Johnston (to name a few)--now that's how you write Erotica. But I guess it was a dirty little secret to actually venture into the Romance section, and romance wasn't "mainstream."  UGH.

 

And I will take this stance--I'll take Jane Austen over either Bronte sister. There, I said it. Now, where's my flak jacket?

 

[Athena]

I didn't read this tripe out of sheer stubbornness. I could only roll my eyes when I read about how many "women" and "wives" were making sure that their husbands and boyfriends, etc., would also read this to show them "this is how a woman wants sex" or whatever shit the media was peddling. I have a friend on FaceBook, who, bless her, would painstakingly type out several pages and we'd snark about it. The hideous dialogue, the eye rolling "Inner Goddess" crap, and the horrid, horridly written text.  I guess these women and wives had never heard of Robin Schone, Thea Devine, Susan Johnston (to name a few)--now that's how you write Erotica. But I guess it was a dirty little secret to actually venture into the Romance section, and romance wasn't "mainstream."  UGH.

 

And I will take this stance--I'll take Jane Austen over either Bronte sister. There, I said it. Now, where's my flak jacket?

 

 

The popularity of 50 Shades depresses me a lot because not only do these not know good erotica and romance, they actually think Grey is a dreamboat when he's really controlling and creepy. The depiction of BDSM is negative and without basis.

 

I prefer Austen to the Brontes too, but I like Anne Bronte as well. I don't mind Charlotte. I can't stand Emily.

[Etta Place]

I had to read Grapes of Wrath in high school, too, and it made me think I just hated Steinbeck. Which was sort of unfortunate, since I grew up partially in the Monterey Bay area, including Salinas - aka Steinbeck's backyard. As a kid, the library I went to was the Steinbeck library for goodness' sake!

 

But then I read East of Eden and absolutely loved it. And Of Mice and Men, and I went on a bit of a Steinbeck bender a couple of years ago and read several more. He's actually got a very appealing style (as long as you like description), but I doubt I'll ever give Grapes of Wrath another shot.

[Jamoche]

I am still trying to figure out the appeal of Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norell 

Only book I've ever read where the tertiary characters were the only ones I had the least bit of interest in. The rest of them could fall off the end of the earth for all I cared.

 

And speaking of 8 Deadly Words books: The Golden Compass. When people were complaining about how much had been cut in the movie I was confused, and then I realized the writers had done what I'd done - halfway through I'd just started skipping any scene that wasn't about Lyra.

Edited July 24, 2014 by Jamoche

[lucindabelle]

Yes. UO I got really annoyed with Pullman when he showed his hands that the books were all about religion, only not about religions but his understanding of Christianity, with a deity that was completely unlike the one in Judaism not to mention all the other faiths in th he world. Simplistic drivel. And I love the hidden allegories in Narnia, which went way over my head because they served the story (well until the Last Battle, which sucked).

UO: I skip large sections of Tolkien when I reread. I hate descriptions. I like The a hobbit best.

UO: I cannot remember one thing about Donna Tartts Secret History except I thougt it was overwritten and overrated. I dimly remember it had a classics department and I was in one and thought classics majors were just no, never like that. But then I may be thinking of Tam Lin instead which had the fairy queen be the head of a classics departmental I am not kidding. Ellen Kushners book is very good but that part of it? Wishful thinking.

[OakGoblinFly]

That would have been interesting.  I personally love the concept of time travel and will read anything on the subject - - which is why I picked up the book.  I was very, very disappointed.

 

Have you read Hollow World by Michael J. Sullivan; it's a novel about time travel.  

[ramble]

Speaking of, ick, 50 shades, my teen daughter told me she counts points against intelligence based on one's love of this series. She told me this & then added that her stepmother loves it so much she has more than one copy. Ha. She also noted her stepmother told her once she's a bit older she should read it because it's so romantic. First, shut it step. My child is still thankfully more interested in her academics than worrying about romance. Second, romantic? The hell? I'm with @ExplainItAgain regarding this series & romance. You keep using that word, I do not think it means what you think it means.

[Pickles Aplenty]

My theory: People think 50 Shades is romantic because Ana has this handsome, handsome man- did I tell you he's handsome?- take care of her and buy her things so she doesn't have to worry about anything at all.  I think it appeals to people who have busy lives or might be living paycheck to paycheck.  I don't think it's a coincidence that Christian Grey, a man so rich he practically shits money and owns ALL THE THINGS, became popular at a time when people aren't doing so well financially.  So, yeah, people mistake fantasy for romance.  Happens all the time.

[psychoticstate]

Have you read Hollow World by Michael J. Sullivan; it's a novel about time travel.  

I have not read Hollow World but am checking it out.  It sounds right up my alley.

 

Thanks so much for the recommendation!

[Jazzy24]

I don't know if this is unpopular but I did like "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies"

[Athena]

I don't know if this is unpopular but I did like "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies"

 

I didn't hate it to the point where I read the sequel (it was worse). I think my main with it was Elizabeth was a bit heartless. I also read Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters. The books have a couple of funny moments if you don't take it seriously.

[VanillaBear85]

I enjoyed Gone, Girl up until around halfway or so, I am guessing but I did skim through quite a bit, and I know I didn't like it because I can't remember the ending. I saw a woman at a water park reading it and wanted to tell her to not even bother.

[psychoticstate]

I enjoyed Gone, Girl up until around halfway or so, I am guessing but I did skim through quite a bit, and I know I didn't like it because I can't remember the ending. I saw a woman at a water park reading it and wanted to tell her to not even bother.

 

Oh no!  I'm listening to this on audio now.

[VanillaBear85]

Oh no!  I'm listening to this on audio now.

I certainly hope you enjoy the book! It may translate differently through an audio book or just personal preference, but for me it kind of went off the rails and into hokey territory. I really wanted to like it and did generally enjoy the story up until a point however.

[wanderingstar]

I don't get the popularity of the Divergent series. I read the first two and found both to be terrible. Tris is a pretty unappealing heroine, IMO. And don't get me started on the awful romance.

[GaT]

I don't get the popularity of the Divergent series. I read the first two and found both to be terrible. Tris is a pretty unappealing heroine, IMO. And don't get me started on the awful romance.

Stop while you're ahead. Trust me, you don't want to read Allegiant.

[purplex15]

The Divergent series is the first series I have not forced myself to finish. Not even because it was bad, it was just boring. I forgot almost everything about that book after I was done with it.

[wanderingstar]

Stop while you're ahead. Trust me, you don't want to read Allegiant.

 

 

Part of me wants to read it just to be a completist, but I was completely turned off by Tris in Insurgent, so I've avoided the final book.

Edited July 26, 2014 by Gillian Rosh

[fishcakes]

I really disliked Eleanor and Park to the point where I almost take it personally when people gush over it. I find the depiction of Park, his mom, and Eleanor's girlfriends unintentionally racist, and while it's harmless enough in itself, it really bothers me that Rowell has given interviews praising herself for writing non-white characters when, if I were to guess just based on how she's written them, she's never actually met any people that weren't white.

 

And just to jump into the "Austen or Bronte" skirmish, I'm going to go with George Eliot.

[psychoticstate]

But then I read East of Eden and absolutely loved it.

 

 

East of Eden is my favorite Steinbeck work.

 

I tried reading Ann Rice's Interview with the Vampire many years ago and I just couldn't get into it.  I gave it 100 or so pages before I gave up.  I had heard how awesome it was so I was very disappointed that it didn't do it for me.

 

Jane Austen will always be my very favorite classic author.  I love her.

[GHScorpiosRule]

I tried reading Ann Rice's Interview with the Vampire many years ago and I just couldn't get into it.  I gave it 100 or so pages before I gave up.  I had heard how awesome it was so I was very disappointed that it didn't do it for me.

 

You are me, @psychoticstate !  Although I think I only made it to page somewhere in the 70s. It was that mindnumbingly boring.

[psychoticstate]

You are me, @psychoticstate !  Although I think I only made it to page somewhere in the 70s. It was that mindnumbingly boring.

 

Hooray, @GHScorpiosRule!  I'm so glad I'm not alone in my inability to read IWTV!

[Joe]

I tried reading Ann Rice's Interview with the Vampire many years ago and I just couldn't get into it.  I gave it 100 or so pages before I gave up.  I had heard how awesome it was so I was very disappointed that it didn't do it for me.

 

I didn't like Interview either, but I enjoyed Lestat and Queen of the Damned.

[Lovecat]

Oh no!  I'm listening to this on audio now.

I certainly hope you enjoy the book! It may translate differently through an audio book or just personal preference, but for me it kind of went off the rails and into hokey territory. I really wanted to like it and did generally enjoy the story up until a point however.

I enjoyed it on audio; I listened to part of it on a plane and got some funny looks when I let a "Whaaaaat?" and an "Oh no she di-in't!" slip out loud.  No doubt I hated both of the leads with the fire of a thousand suns, and I know it's not great literature, but I did enjoy the story.  I think the whole "read me a story!" experience of an audiobook helped in this case.  MMV, obvs.

 

  I really disliked Eleanor and Park to the point where I almost take it personally when people gush over it.

I was sort of meh over that one, too, and the ending enraged me.  I also didn't care for Fangirl too much, which is like heresy in my circle of...Fangirls.  I guess I've just encountered too many real-life fangirls who just can't get their shit together to read about another one. 

[purplex15]

I also listened to Gone Girl on audio book and don't seem to hate it as much as others. I ultimately didn't love the book because I felt it just didn't go anywhere. The last third of it felt like Flynn just kept adding on really messed up things for characters to do each other.

[joanne3482]

BookSnape is very much not a Woobie.  His horrible personality and actions aren't rewarded by anyone in the story or excused because of ManPain.

 

Yes and no. Up until the epilogue, he isn't Woobiefied, but the epilogue totally throws that out which irritates me so much. I love the epilogue, but to my mind they basically rewrite Snape with it. 

I can't forgive his double agent status because only switched sides because he was in "love" with Lily. Had Lily not been targeted he would've kept on being a Death Eater, quite probably killing many other wizards. He was basically Voldemort's right hand man. He may have gotten that status by feeding Voldemort the information Dumbledore told him to feed.

 I do agree that Alan Rickman's portrayal of him definitely Woobifies him far more than the books do. 

[angelwoody]

This isn't so much an unpopular opinion as much as it will be viewed as an absolutely bonkers opinion, but (here goes) not only did I not hate 50 Shades of Gray, it reminded me a little bit of a modern and very smutty version of Jane Eyre.  There I said it and now I will duck to avoid the rotten tomatoes I deserve to be pelted with!

 

Don't get me wrong, the books were horribly written (the JE comparison is not about the writing, that's for sure) and a lot of the characters could be really annoying at times.  OK, most of the characters.  The whole "inner goddess" thing was just awful and don't even get me started on the atrocious third book.  But...

 

I'm a sucker for the whole tortured-man-is-healed-by-the-love-of-a-decent-woman kind of story.  I consider myself to be a feminist and so I feel huge guilt about liking this book, but God help me, Christian Gray reminded me of Mr. Rochester and Anastasia Steele reminded me of Jane Eyre in a modern, not nearly as well written, gratuitously smutty way.

 

Maybe my confession belongs in the "Guilty Pleasures" thread, lol. 

Edited July 31, 2014 by angelwoody

[GHScorpiosRule]

Oh @angelwoody , if it's the whole tortured-man-is-healed-by-the-love-of-a-decent-woman kind of story. you're wanting, get thee to books by Linda Howard and Ann Stuart. For Stuart, try her ICE series, especially the first Two Black Ice and Cold as Ice.

[angelwoody]

Oh @angelwoody , if it's the whole tortured-man-is-healed-by-the-love-of-a-decent-woman kind of story. you're wanting, get thee to books by Linda Howard and Ann Stuart. For Stuart, try her ICE series, especially the first Two Black Ice and Cold as Ice.

Thank you for the recommendation, GHScorpiosRule.  I will check them out!

[GHScorpiosRule]

Thank you for the recommendation, GHScorpiosRule.  I will check them out!

PM me and I'll give you a list of all of Linda's books and Ann's books that will give you your fix!

[Rick Kitchen]

I tried reading the Mortal Instruments three times.  I tried reading the first one twice, and I tried reading one of the other ones, and I couldn't get more than maybe five chapters in and gave them up as boring.

 

I *adore* Connie Willis.  But the newcomer to her works needs to be forewarned.  "Doomsday Book" is devastating.  "Black Out" and "All Clear" (which are basically one long book) will tear at your heart.  And "To Say Nothing of the Dog" is hysterical.

Edited August 3, 2014 by Rick Kitchen

[Kalliste]

I never really understood the hype behind the Vampire Chronicles either.. Anne Rice's style is so. slooooow. I did read much of the Witch ones though and found them ok.

[Chip]

I hated the fact that there was a huge cliffhanger at the end of the first witch book. That book took me a looong time to get through.

[Kalliste]

I hated the fact that there was a huge cliffhanger at the end of the first witch book. That book took me a looong time to get through.

I can't even remember it now.. it must have left a good impression on me :P I accidentally read Taltos first not realising it was part of a series. I actually liked it better than most of the other even though I didn't have the first 2 books to go by.

[nodorothyparker]

I loved both the Vampire Chronicles and the Mayfair Witches when I was a teenager.  I thought they were soooooo amazingly profound.  Twenty years later, I still enjoy Anne Rice from time to time but for most of that time I just want her to get on with it.  Her recent werewolf series is a prime example.  She had the start of a really good avenging werewolf superhero stalking the streets of San Francisco story going (like, remarkable to think that a woman in her 70s was writing this) and then pulled a classic Anne Rice and stopped all the action for a hundred pages or so of backstory and for the characters to sit around talking about The Meaning of It All.  I know she has a new vampire Lestat book coming out later this year and I'm already preparing myself to be disappointed by it.

 

I know they're classic lit, but I hate hate hate Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre for the same reason I detest the Twilight/50 Shades of Gray amalgamation.  Men acting like abusive assholes to women who keep loving them anyway in hopes that they can change them is not sexy.  I don't care that he has a shiny new everything or broods prettily.  An asshole is still an asshole.

[AntiBeeSpray]

East of Eden is my favorite Steinbeck work.

 

I tried reading Ann Rice's Interview with the Vampire many years ago and I just couldn't get into it.  I gave it 100 or so pages before I gave up.  I had heard how awesome it was so I was very disappointed that it didn't do it for me.

 

Jane Austen will always be my very favorite classic author.  I love her.

Same here. Couldn't get into her writing at all. Something about it just rubbed me the wrong way.

[kathyk24]

I loved the Mayfair Witch saga until she felt the need to insert Lestat. I wish she would do a book on the Talamasca. I would love to read about them.