It’s a question inspired by this post https://www.reddit.com/r/books/s/s2jK2DzFrA by u/oh_sneezeus

Is there any book that is considered a classic or regularly shows up on the “100 books to read before you die” lists and such, you had high expectations before reading and then you ended up absolutey detesting?

For me it’s Blindness by José Saramago, it started off good and then page after page it was becoming more unbearable for me to read, I hated the characters, the things they were doing and the conclusions of the book. I was really disappointed because the plot seemed really good and all I ended up with was frustration.

Is there a book that did the same to you?

  • Baptor@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    The Sword of Shannara

    Not sure if considered a classic. But I was told for years and years that, as a fantasy fan, I really needed to read it. Here’s my book review of it:

    This book was over-hyped. Many of the fantasy authors I read recommended it and even quoted it as being their inspiration for writing fantasy. Maybe it inspired them because it proved any fool could write a half-baked, half-plagiarized book and make a killing off of it, because otherwise inspirational it isn’t. Look, I know nothing is new under the sun, but the general premise of this book and the plot within it are almost direct rip-offs from Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings.
    First, you have two smaller-than-normal people who are visited by an old bearded wizard with a cloak and staff who tells them they must flee their cozy agrarian community to avoid undead monsters who’ve come to kill them. The wizard does not go with them but agrees to meet them later (an appointment he misses). The two small heroes soon pick up a dashing adventurer and a reluctant leader who turns out to be the son of the king (whose capitol is a highly fortified city built into a hill). They also pick up an elf and dwarf companion, whose antics know no end. They are charged with acquiring a powerful artifact which is the only thing that can defeat the Warlock Lord, an insubstantial wraith with untold powers who has tried to divide and conquer the world many times, has almost been beaten many times, but now really must be beaten. He also has a “black land” to the north that is his personal dominion where he commands legions of gnomes (orcs) and his undead Skull-bearers (ring-wraiths) who hunt down the last heir who can wield the artifact. This is only scratching the surface, there are more specific examples of Brooks directly lifting ideas and themes from LotR. It’s absolutely sickening. What’s worse, he doesn’t even do it well, but turns Tolkien’s great ideas into so much immature slapstick. I have never been more disappointed in a novel in all my life.