Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. This week’s theme is:
May 15: Books I Disliked/Hated but Am Really Glad I Read (maybe just for bragging rights)
This week’s topic is an unusual one, but a good one. I bet we all have books that we didn’t enjoy but like to name drop in conversation for the kudos. I definitely do this on occasion, usually to make a critical point about why I didn’t think the book was good, or issues with genre fiction. These are just a few books that I didn’t really like, but still enjoy mentioning in bookish discussions.
The Road, Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, and The Wangs Vs The World // I’m pleased I read these three books because they offered critical commentary on the nature of our society, but overall I found them pretty dull. The plots of all three were slow-moving and mundane, and I’m glad I read them, but I wouldn’t go back to them.
Talon, A Shiver of Snow and Sky, and The Beast’s Heart // I always name drop these three books as good examples of bad writing. The narratives in Talon and ASOSAS lack fluidity and cohesion, and the style in The Beast’s Heart was just terribly overwrought and full of cliched metaphors.
We Were Liars and With Malice // I’m not even sure if I’m glad I read these books because I ended up disliking virtually all the characters. They were either callous or cruel, or a mixture of both, and these books are examples of poor characterisation ruining a novel for me.
Lorali and Milk and Honey // I’m definitely glad I read both of these to see what the hype was about, but I found Lorali unbelievable and, at times, silly. Milk and Honey I liked slightly more, but, to me, the first three sections lacked potency and flow. The poems are written in free verse and the line breaks seemed to completely break up the natural flow and rhythm of most poems. The fourth section, however, I loved and would happily read again.
Which books are you pleased you’ve read, even if you didn’t like them? Are there any books that you thought you were going to dislike and then ended up really enjoying?
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If I’d done this list, I would include Milk and Honey as well. I’m glad I picked it up to see what the hype was about, but I found the poetry style to be very jarring. However, I can also understand how it would be effective due to the subject matter.
Aha, so it wasn’t just me that thought that about the style. Jarring is exactly the word I’d use. I’d agree that the poet may have purposefully made the poems jarring to represent the jarring nature of the subject matter, but I just didn’t find it effective overall. If one or two poems had had a jarring flow/rhythm and the others had been smoother, I think I would have enjoyed them more on the whole.
Yeah, I would say the same thing.
I was considering doing this week’s TTT, but couldn’t find many books that I didn’t enjoy but was glad I read. But Milk and Honey would have made my list too. I just don’t think it’s very good poetry. Perhaps it would be better performed, but written down, I was disappointed.
Yeah, possibly. I probably still wouldn’t be a fan but one could play with the emotion in the poetry if recited aloud. Hmm…
Yeah, I’d agree with you there. I’ve read other collections that I thought were well-written and well-executed, but I just didn’t think Milk and Honey was. Some of the poems were too simple and the line breaks halted the flow of most poems. I think I’m going to have to write a full review of it because I have a lot of thoughts! I also have to decide whether to read The Sun and Her Flowers now, because I was originally going to but if it’s similar to Milk and Honey they I’m not sure it’s worth the while.
Milk and Honey is the only one I’ve read of these and I agree.
Yeah, it just wasn’t the best poetry I’ve read and didn’t flow very well, but after all the hype I’m still mostly glad that I gave it a chance and formed my own opinion. 🙂
I read one page of Milk and Honey while walking around BN and knew it wasn’t for me. Which sucks, because I have yet to find poetry that I actually like T_T
Aww that’s a shame, but I pretty much felt the same. I’m glad it was short otherwise I wouldn’t have felt it was worth spending the time on. If you’re looking for find some amazing poetry, I’d highly recommend Hold Your Own by Kate Tempest. I read it last year and was stunned by how good it was. It immediately became my favourite poetry collection – ever. 🙂
Nice and interesting post! I really didn’t like We Were Liars either!
Thanks m’dear. Yeah, it was quite disappointing after how much everyone had hyped it up and I just really couldn’t connect with any of the characters.