h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

inspired by SpaceCadette in the "what are you reading right now" (or whatever it's called) thread...

I propose that we nominate books by authors who should (on the evidence of their other work) be better... or maybe not.

In any case: first nomination by me is Full Blast by Janet Evanovich and Charlotte Hughes.

Sorry, Janet. Stephanie Plum and her extended family and friends are fab. As for this one (and, apparently the others in the Full XXXXX series) are a total waste of trees (not to mention the €9 I am out of pocket)

who's next?

The lord of the rings and all that fantasy nonsense.

A group of elf men, its always men unless there is a sprinkleing of plucky beautiful but tom-boyish young women go off on a quest helped by a handsome prince, a wise wizard and a small in stature but big hearted dwarf.

Honestly fantasy books make Bruce Willis cop films look original and challenging.

Their quest will take them past volcanoes, dark forests, sometimes enchanted seas,fdssssssssssssssssssshuioveeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee, oops nodded off and my head hit the key board

Where we're we?

Oh yeah, across the planes of unpronouncable land....onto the castle of dark wizard Too-consonants.... sneak into a big castle guarded by evil ogres....steal ring/sword/amulet/crystal/magi-mix of power...and through a combination of righteousness and fortitude etc etc...good wins the day and evil is banished from the kingdom.

Looks like someone read Sho's post about as thoughtfully as they read Tolkien...

The point here is books that stink by the author's ordinary standard, am I right, Sho?

It's a harsh judgement to trash any book, particularly one by an author who lived for their work and who invested their spirit in it.

The book I can't forgive, though, is a fantasy work, and one by a friend of Tolkien's, C S Lewis. 'The Last Battle', as the final Narnia book, upset me so much as a child that I'm not sure I've ever quite recovered.

Authors need to be mindful of the reality of the worlds and characters they create. If a series becomes a burden, as Narnia presumably did to Lewis, then the reader is still owed a respectful conclusion, particularly when the reader is a child.

At least Douglas Adams had the decency to START with the end of the world.

Hmmm. good point, Pinniped. I was very, very disappointed in Clifford D. Simak for a couple of years there for his little foray into the realms of overindulged Questdom (a book whose title I have thankfully forgotten!)

A fine writer; I loved a lot of his books, but that effort was jarringly ... dare I say it? ... formulaic.
SC

I can't believe I actually went to Amazon and looked up the title ..

"Where the Evil Dwells".

At least in MHO.

Truly a "crime against trees".

SC

Iain M Banks, the best author in the world, (subject to challenge ) once collected some of his early musings and short stories into a collection entitled "The State Of The Art". Honestly, it wasn't.

RF

Umberto Eco - The island of the day before and about fifty pages of Baudolino. Self indulgent nonsense compared with his earlier work or indeed his essays.

sprout

Sprout, you beat me to it. Eco's earlier stuff is great, but that 'Island' thing leaves me cold.

*ponders, hoping to come up with something else*

Oh, OK, I'll drop Isabel Allende in it. 'The Infinite Plan' isn't much good.

Ivan.

State of the Art had the redeeming feature that the chapter headings in the story State of the Art were the names of Ships and the more Ship names the better, at least in Mr Banks' work 'Ultimate Ship the Second' makes it worth at least one tree Until later....
BCNU - Crescent

To Kill A Mockingbird - Harper Lee

I know that a lot of people like it, and it's considered a great novel, but I just found it to be dull.

Oh, and throw in the Harry Potter books too.

I’d say „Das Schloß“ (The Castle) by Franz Kafka. actually I don’t like Kafka’s style at all, but “Das Schloß” was really the worst book I’ve ever read. Nothing happens, the characters are terribly boring and dislikeable, and the story doesn’t even have an ending. that makes the whole thing a lot worse, cause everyone who read the book until the very last page DESERVES to know how K. (the main character) ends up.
In my opinion Kafka is highly overrated.

yes, Piniped... I'm specifically thinking (even if SpaceCadette wasn't) of books by authors who are usually good to brilliant.

And thanks for the Kafka tip - I'll make sure and read that only as a last resort. I only have 2 German books, that is one and Tin Drum is the other. I'll read that first... unless it is, of course, deemed to be a crime against trees also?

Sho:
I suppose you’re talking about „The Tin Drum“ (Die Blechtrommel) written by Günter Grass? it’s definitely no waste of trees! I can highly recommend it to you! it’s some years ago that I read it, and it’s one of the (very) few (German) books I want to read again some time.
maybe you should wrap up “The Castle” and give as a present to someone you don’t like at all! (and if you really really hate him or her, tell them that the end of the story is so great, that it’s well worth reading until the very last page!)

ohhhh evil! I like it

And, yes, Die Blechtrommel. I've had it for yonks, and really should have read it by now. But so far, there are very few books I've read and enjoyed in German. Actually, only Die Kleine Hexe.

Oh, and I'll nominate Good Wives and Little Men. They really were a letdown after Little Women.

“Die kleine Hexe”!!!!! that was my favorite one when I was a little girl! I loved it so much, and now I don’t even remember what it was about! must have a look if I find it somewhere at my parents’ place!

although I study New German Literature at University, there’re hardly any German books I’d recommend. strange thing, but English literature seems so much more preferable to me.

'Persuasion' by Jane Austen is an atrocity even by her distressingly low standards.

Almost as bad as 'The Pilgrim's Progress'