Books I DON'T Want To Read | Anti-TBR Tag 

HAHAHA yeahhh I understand that. Some books I wish I could just FORCE myself to love. Life would be so much easier

I personally love reading, but is too late for me.. I have never watched a movie or Television growing out, so in order to dream and scape I have reading. I honestly can't watch most things unless they are written down, since I can't focus

@@SieMiezekatze How does your post relate to the thread?

i have this problem with tv.

Literally me with A Clockwork Orange

Isn't it!? One of the saddest parts of life. NO exaggeration

Me too! Haha

Hahaha, glad that tickled you. I'm really great at gathering info on book plots before I record videos, lol

That idea is actually sacrilegious and is punishable by death

Lol, it's the truth!

To be fair, I'm a filthy capitalist, and even I found her books very hard to get through.

Here's an anecdote about Ayn Rand: my uncle was a sociology professor and he had his own publishing company. He bought the rights to Ayn Rand's books, translated them to German and published them. When he died, he left us with 20 boxes of sealed copies of Anthem. Now I am stuck for the rest of my life selling these books that I absolutely hate. Every time I sell one I feel morally conflicted. But at the same time I like money. Which is kind of ironic.

Okay but Noodleborough has got to be one of the best names I've ever read.

@@thelonetraveller lmfaooo

as a scandinavian, I feel this on a deep level. every time I see an interesting looking cover in a bookstore, it’s a gritty crime drama. every. single. time. and it never just *says* that it’s a mystery. I’ll start reading the backside of what sounds like a somewhat interesting book about a kid escaping abusive parents, and then 2/3 of the way through there’s a paragraph change, and it says something along the lines of “in department xoxo, Mattis Olufsen is back to work after being stabbed by the sunscreen killer, and his young assistant Liv is dealing with the trauma of almost being murdered again, but she’s also developing feelings for the new IT guy, Arne. together, can this crack team overcome Mattis’ alcoholism for long enough to find the missing girls?” and I *LIKE* mysteries. just not the types that are popular in my country, I guess.

@@esobelisk3110 Yeah, I can't remember how many times I went to my local bookshop in search of an interesting mystery or whodunit only to leave empty handed because none sounded genuinely investing. At this point I just began writing the books I'd like to read myself because I can't find them somewhere else.

@@esobelisk3110 "the sunscreen killer" has me ROLLING

YES!!! Haha I finally got around to doing this and I'm so glad I did! Oh my god your reddit imaginary hipster loves Ayn Rand and thinks everyone should read Atlas Shrugged only to read Infinite Jest immediately after just to get your mind BLOWN, like rekt dude. It's so funny that I mentioned not wanting to read Addie Larue when RIGHT AFTER I posted this I see you did a review of it I'm still waiting to watch. Gonna SMASH that Like button when I do, holy cow.

@@ManCarryingThing atlas shrugged = Anthem + 800 pages

I had the exact same thought

KDBooks is awesome :) And thanks so much for sticking around!

I understand what you mean. I think it should be read taking in consideration the historical context. There was no TV,. I think of the book kind of as it own version of the discovery channel mixed with some other series regarding the story of some sailors. It wasn't what I was expecting. But if you take it for what it is is not bad.

if the language and the philosophy doesn't do it for you it's tough to get through.

yep, he's my favourite author and I adore his writing yet the modern day Ellis is everything him in the 80s hated. he's not like, full blown conservative but he's what I'd call a light Facebook aunt type conservative

Glamorama is really interesting, but man those first 100 or so pages were hard to get through.

@@harrybehemoth2751 I'd disagree here, I thought it was some of the funniest writing he's ever done. but I understand how you feel that way

He’s gone full reactionary at this point. Unbelievable considering his early work.

@@HakuYuki001 Amazing

lol i'm sorry

@@ManCarryingThing it’s ok. I won’t let them know.

Same for me with trains and Christie - just don't tell him about Murder on the Orient Express

Indeed. It sets out not so much to make a “point” but to get your brain thinking about a thousand things you probably otherwise would not have thought of before. To break you out of the “zones” we arbitrarily put ourselves in, and have allowed others to put us in, even if the “others” are themselves afraid of some “others” that may or may not even exist. Indeed, it seems that Pynchon’s main thesis as a writer is “There is no grand conspiracy, and that’s actually kinda scarier than there actually being one, because that means those that control are just as lost and confused and stupid as the rest of us.” Also, after rereading the final bit of lyrics at the end of the book, I find that it pretty much sums up more or less what the story was trying to convey.

Right on. Gravity's Rainbow is an unforgivingly tough book, but once you sync up with its rhythm it's really rewarding. I definitely wouldn't have finished it had I not been assigned it for a class, though.

I LOVED Infinite Jest. It blew and still blows my mind when I think or talk about it. Hope to reread one day but with a knowledge of Hamlet in mind.

@@jan_Travis infinite jest is amazing. i enjoyed every second.

I read half of it and loved it but all of a sudden roger mexico and pirate prentice were simply no longer mentioned and it only followed slothrop. Those were the best characters. So bizarre what was becoming one of my favorite books soon bored me and I completely lost interest.

Which companion book did you use?

I assume he is referring to the anti-semitism in the Prioress’ Tale.

@@robertdullnig3625 Oy gevalt!!!

@@scorpioassmodeusgtx1811 Congratulations, you've discovered the point of House of Leaves

Dickens...I have to be in a really patient mood for, lol. Addie Larue, I'm not totally sure why I included it, maybe because I've been seeing it all over the place -- I'm actually open to reading it at some point

I tried Vineland and Crying and hated both. I'm gonna try IV though, hope I enjoy because I loved the PTA movie

@@thebasedgodmax1163 I hope you enjoy it too, but I'm biased as Pynchon clicked immediately with me. But if you don't like his writing after 3 books, it might just not be for you.

along with David Copperfield imo

As a leftist, I think reading Mein Kampf is actually very valuable because a lot of the tactics used by the alt-right and neo-fascists today is straight out of that book. It's basically their playbook and most of it is still effective even nearly a century later. Know thy enemy, as they say. I think it helps to be aware of how the enemy thinks and of their tactics.

I read it waste of money good talking piece tho and if you like political reading like I do then I guess it's worth reading once but there is better stuff out there written by dictators

"have you ever read Mein Kampf" "sigh, really" "have you ever read Mein Kampf" "yeah, a couple times--" "a couple times? Were there little ester eggs you didn't catch in there the first time?"

I haven't!

Which books you decide to read is a personal choice. It's an investment of your time and some of your head space. There is nothing wrong with not wanting to read certain books, based on any reason, really. Afterall, reading a book is a very personal experience. Unless you are reading in a class, or reading group where the reading is done aloud, it's just you and that book for at least a couple days, if not several weeks. When there are so many great books out there and only a limited amount of time in a day (or over the span of a lifetime) deciding you won't spend the effort or time on certain works for certain reasons is a perfectly acceptable practice. I personally love HP Lovecraft's work, in spite of how I feel about the man's xenophobia and racism. Some of those flawed beliefs make it into some of his works, but I am able to recognize it for what it is and enjoy the material regardless. However, purchasing an HP Lovecraft ebook isn't going to put money into the pocket of a racist, because the guy has been dead for a long time now. Purchasing books when it isn't second hand, or via some other means where the offer doesn't make money, feels too much like paying them to spout certain deplorable views. With that said, Brandon Sanderson is a Mormon. While there could be some things people interpret as veiled allusions to his religious ideology, I don't think you can say any of his books are hateful toward other real world religions, or attempts to indoctrinate his readers. Then again, being a Mormon and being a bigot aren't exactly equivocal. Maybe I'm a rambling a bit here now, but hopefully you take my point. It should be up to the individual. Nothing wrong with being able to separate the art from the artist. If you can enjoy Heinline, or Easton Ellis, or whomever else we could mention, good on you. Not every can, though. To put it another way: I love LOTR and if Tolkien were found out to have written a bunch of essays demonizing homosexuals and other people, it would be a huge punch to the gut for me, but I'd still read and enjoy LOTR. I just wouldn't want to read those specific essays. If, on the other hand, we were in an alternate timeliness in which Hitler wrote the Hobbit... well, I wouldn't be able to be a fan of the work. It's sort of situation and individual specific, to be taken on a case by case basis. I can see things from both sides is (hopefully) the point I've been trying to make. Lol. Best wishes.

Jeez... typing on a broken phone... the typos are kind of obvious to mentally fill in the correct words though (hopefully). It won't let me edit for some reason.

@@citizensguard3433 I understand and mostly agree with you I would never say you have to read a book precisely because it's controversial (although I think it's a good idea because only through reading different material to the mainstream do you really gain your authentic worldwide). However if I was a book reviewer, I personally would rarely mention that a book is "problematic", as that term is so subjective and it depends on what you believe is a problem. I personally would be amazed if someone could find a book that could actually offend me, and then I'd be even more interested in it for that fact. But of course if you want to read just to enjoy reading and not test your worldwide then that's fine, but by saying 'problematic' your trying to turn something subjective into an objective and this should be left to the reader.

I think there's a difference between reading a serious philosophical work where you disagree with the author and reading a fiction book where some of the author's beliefs have seeped through. Like, I reread Ender's game and couldn't enjoy it that much because the author's sexism made it into the book. It's also completely reasonable to not read something because you think the author is harmful to society and you don't want to support them.

@@liammarshall-butler3384 I don't really see how an author can be 'harmful' to society. Realistically a book doesn't harm anyone, even if a book advocates for a violent act, the people who actually act that out are the ones with agency. To assume that is also to say you know what's good for society which is not a simple decision to make. Of course some claims are obviously harmful to any society but it's usually not so simple. You can have books that you disagree with but I don't think you should call a book problematic, it's just a blanket term that lacks nuisance.

That's great to hear, and I forgot about Less Than Zero! I definitely want to give him a shot since he was so big in the 80s, and I will probably read Less Than Zero at some point. (Lol, even when I do a tag about books I don't want to read, I end up finding more books to read!)

It's funny how much tastes change! especially when you try new things. Totally open to trying pynchon again - maybe vineland soon

Except anything from L. Ron Hubbard

​@@godfunkchallenge accepted. Go read Finnegan's Wake.

@@BladedEdge ordered from Amazon i’ll let you know how it goes lol

@@BladedEdge “He addle liddle phifie Annie ugged the little craythur…” no truer words have been spoken

I believe that just as most people get more conservative as they get older, sometimes comically so, he did too, but on the mormon path. So much so he started believing things literally diametrically opposed to what he used to believe

Ewww.

I'm genuinely curious what you mean by 'genuine'. The seriousness of, say, Vineland was obviously genuine in the sense of sincere and deeply felt so I assume you mean it in some smart way.

​@@peterkerj7357 I suppose I meant something more like genuine darkness and gravitas. Inherent Vice, Vineland, and Bleeding Edge all have very genuine moments but I feel they are more on the order of sentimentality. Gravity's Rainbow has an element of horror that I think lacks in those books - the stakes always feel much lower to me in them. Perhaps it's the WWII setting and the threat of V-2s. Of course, GR is full of irrelevance, indulgence, and the wackiness characteristic of his other books, but I feel it earns the right to be so. The more gravitas the novel successfully evokes, the more it earns the right to be playful, I feel. In fact, even the playfulness is dialled up to 100, so the achievement of the book among other things is that so much of it feels like a statement.

@@SB-lh5xb Good point about the horror. Vineland and AtD are both very dark but I guess they give off more of a feeling of resignation rather than horror.

@@peterkerj7357 currently reading ATD and I like it a lot so far - I appreciate its willingness to get into complex mathematics (which I don't understand but do understand the context/philosophy of at least)

I love A Christmas Carol (maybe because it's short) but I tend to like the movie adaptations of his books more than the actual books!

Same with Rowling... For me it's different when authors are dead and buried, it's a little easier to separate the art from the artist (depending on what it is, of course) But in the case of Card, I enjoyed Ender's Game but there's SOOOOO many books out there I can read instead.

@@ManCarryingThing As someone who doesn't have much of a problem to separate art from the artist, I always found the notion of not reading a book that should be right down one's alley because the author is problematic kind of strange. In my view, I would be sort of punishing myself by depriving myself of a great story rather than "punishing" the author who, let's be honest, would never know whether I did or did not read their book. I guess, I am lucky that I *can* separate authors from their works as I am of course aware that my line of thinking doesn't apply to folks like you who apparently won't be able to enjoy these stories. Anyway, just want to share my perspective. Feel free to disregard! ;-)

Read Anthem & Atlas Shrugged. Their shit.

I still have hope that I will find that one msytery that will change my opinions! Maybe I just haven't found the right book for me.

@@ManCarryingThing Rebecca is a great book and I definitely didn’t see the ending coming.

@@ManCarryingThing , try some English writers. The names escape me right now, I'll come back with them later.

​@@ChristmasLorecome back

AND HOLY SHIT I LOVE V E SCHWAB BUT HAVEN'T READ HALF HER BOOKS CAUSE I FEEL EXACTLY LIKE THAT ABOUT THEM ( I read the color trilogy and loved it, read the first superpower book and it was ok, never touched the others though I own them all. love to support her and plan to keep doing that when money allows tho ).

No, because Philip K. Dick doesn't ally himself politically with him...

Just watch the movies, all the good stuff from the books is there.

If you can push through to the last like third of Fellowship the rest of the trilogy just pulls you in and holds you. I had the same issue myself but the slowness and rather almost relaxed and small scale of the first book adds so much weight later on that you don’t realize until you’re out of the slog