What is all the fuss about? This is a stupid novel

[raybear]

First off, big ups to dommeyourass for her assistance in walking my love- pup, as it's freed up much time for me this evening to get things done. Though several of my errands will end up benefitting her later, but I can say no more.

I'm online looking for the info on a specific edition of a book and this list on amazon.com catches my eye: Books I Hated. It was so fcking funny. Mostly "classic" books (with the exception of Stephan King's Pet Semetary and some posthumous Tolkien book) and the commentary is extremely involved like "I hated this book" or "I couldn't get past page two" or my favorite "I hated the movie too". Anyway, it made me think of my own lists, so I decide to create my own damn meme.

Books I Hated But Didn't Own Up To Hating at the Time I Read Them; OR, Books I Hated But I've Forgotten That Fact:
1. Meridian -- Alice Walker
2. Les Miserables -- Victor Hugo
3. Cavedweller -- Dorothy Allison
4. White Teeth -- Zadie Smith
5. Catcher in the Rye -- J.D. Salinger (well, maybe not hate, but I certainly don't quite 'get' it)


Books I Unexpectedly Loved After Having Low Expectations:
1. Tess of the D'Ubervilles -- Thomas Hardy
2. The Last Temptation of Christ -- Kazantzakis
3. Empire Falls -- Richard Russo
4. The Martian Chronicles -- Ray Bradbury
5. White Noise -- Dom Delillo


Books I Wanted to Love But Couldn't Get Into:
1. Lullaby -- Chuck Palahniuk
2. A Heartbreaking Work... -- Dave Eggers (maybe I shouldn't count this as I've never finished it)
2a. Infinite Jest -- David Foster Wallace (again, I got close to page 100 out of 700, but didn't finish)
3. Crime and Punishment -- Dostoevksy (I love his others)
4. The Waves -- Virginia Woolf (same as above)
5. anything by Jane Austen. Now I don't really care that I don't love her, but I went through a phase where I tried really hard.

Comments

Re:

[raybear.livejournal.com]

oh, i finished the book. read it in maybe two days, pretty much all in one sitting. i'm quite confident in my complaints with the book -- it seemed hastily written and crafted, not fully drawn out, a better novella than novel. also, it was somewhat formulaic if you've read other Palahniuk books.

someone swore to me that his latest, Diary, would win me back to being a Palahniuk fan.

Re:

[http://users.livejournal.com/ruine_/]

Although having seen and enjoyed Fight Club, I had never actually read any of his books. Lullaby was my first, and came at a time when I was in between books. It was perfect. Quick and easy to read, and wonderfully fitted in that gap. Better being a novella? Yes you may be right there.

I have his other books lined up now, so hopefully they will be even more enjoyable.