Books You Shouldn't Read

I would say that the reader's imagination has as much to do with the mental images conjured up as the writer's description.
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You know, that's an interesting point. I tend to have a vivid imagination, but I know others that literally can't conjure up images of characters they're reading about. It would have a large effect on your reading experience.
 
Sephiroth said:
I'm pretty broad-minded, and I can't claim to have been 'damaged' by the experience of reading it...but it contains decidedly unpleasant scenes which, IMO, offer nothing in the way of drama and do not serve to enhance the story - they are simply there to try and shock.
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When it comes to books, I'm a little along the same lines as Seph; no one book is going to "damage" me (at least, I haven't met the book that came close yet!). Not having a commentary on anyone else, of course; we all are influenced differently here.

*looks nervously around for threatening books*
 
Urlik said:
I was thinking of a couple of books which had passages that put images in my head that I wish weren't there, but as I examined the list, I found that I was also adding books that I love and would never dream of telling people not to read them.

I would say that the reader's imagination has as much to do with the mental images conjured up as the writer's description.

one book that had a huge impact on me, which almost made me claustrophobic, was the Weirdstone of Brisingamen
after reading that, I had absolutely no interest in speleology, and if Alice had been able to read it, Lewis Carrol would not have written about anyone's adventures in Wonderland
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Yes, the Earl Delving, I found that hard to forget as well.
 
Huh. The subjectivity of reading. I read Adam Bede for a college course and found it one of the more interesting books I read that semester. I liked it at least as much as Dickens' Hard Times and David Copperfield, and an interesting contrast to Jane Eyre.

I'm not sure I'd ever tell anyone, don't read that book. Even Mein Kampf has a historical value of sorts and legitimate research into German history and the era in and around WWII would require it as a source document.

Books I'd be unlikely to recommend would include The Heart of the Matter by Graham Greene. I think Greene's A Gun for Sale is terrific, and still relevant. But The Heart... features a protagonist who is angst-ridden over not being neither perfect nor perfectly aligned with God's will, and incapable of attaining that level of grace and goes on about it until the book ends, thus depriving us of a novel about the more interesting people who surround him who are aware of their flaws and capable of living with them. As I disagree about Adam Bede, I expect someone else will disagree with this.

As a kid I found John Knowles' novel, A Seperate Peace, to be drudgery and the only book I read in school that after a few chapters I dreaded having to pick up again. On the other hand, I liked A Catcher in the Rye and The Bell Jar which some classmates detested, so there's that subjectivity again.


Randy M.
 
Have to agree with Vince on Catcher in the Rye. Not my cup of tea.

And at the time, Great Expectations. Tried mightily, to no avail.
 
This thread deserves revival!
That being said:
Spell for Chameleon by Piers Anthony. Or anything by him, or in the Xanth universe. I hate it all!
As a misguided youngster I read and enjoyed some of the earlier Xanth novels, but never again.
I bring up SFC specifically because of the monstrously out of place sexual assault trial scene. It's inclusion was a crazy idea, in a bad way.
I would recommend Xanth to no one whatsoever.
 
picklematrix said:
This thread deserves revival!
That being said:
Spell for Chameleon by Piers Anthony. Or anything by him, or in the Xanth universe. I hate it all!
As a misguided youngster I read and enjoyed some of the earlier Xanth novels, but never again.
I bring up SFC specifically because of the monstrously out of place sexual assault trial scene. It's inclusion was a crazy idea, in a bad way.
I would recommend Xanth to no one whatsoever.
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I read the first 3 or 4, but, yeah, don't read these.
 
I would agree with you, almost. However, I was one of the few, the fortunate few, to read 1984 in 1984. This was followed by Brave New World. It's one of the highlights of my secondary school career. Also Lord of the Flies wasn't so bad. But I'm getting off topic.

Don't read On The Road. Ever.
 
Cathbad said:
Xanth is just light reading entertainment. I loved Ogre, Ogre. Although it does get quickly boring, I don't mind something fun like this once in a while.
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The Xanth Series is a fun series to read ! :cool:(y)
 
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