Not every book is destined to be your cup of tea. Not every book is destined to be your friend. But sometimes it can be surprising to read a book that is zeitgeisty, crowd-pleasing, universally adored—only to discover that — you hate it. Here are six books (two by the same author) that I, personally, deem unworthy of the profuse praise they have received. The final one is recent and is the inspiration for this list.
A Confederacy Of Dunces John Kennedy Toole A satirical tale of the misadventures of Ignatius J. Reilly, an obese, fractious, misanthropic fool of a man. I’m sure, buried deep within its pages, is an interesting critique of— something. Unfortunately its totally absurd and childish humor and its god-awful, sophomoric protagonist succeeded in completely obscuring it from me. I hated it. But then I often find satire is soooo over-the-top, and I despise slapstick comedy. So perhaps not a surprise.
The Paris Wife Paula McLain The story of the first wife of Ernest Hemingway, Hadley, how the two met, their marriage and subsequent move to Paris where they became part of the Lost Generation along with Gertrude Stein and F. Scott Fitzgerald. I can’t say I’ve ever been a big Hemingway fan but I did enjoy learning about his run up to fame. My enjoyment stopped there, unfortunately. For a book set in the hedonistic glamour and glitz of the roaring twenties, with a built in stellar cast of characters known for their wit and intellect, this was shockingly dull. And unfortunately Hadley is not interesting enough as a character, although whether this was because she truly wasn’t or because McLain failed to capture her magic, I don’t know. Sadly, this was a ploddy and flat read with uninspiring dialogue and I gave up reading it about half way through.
Circling The Sun Paula McLain After not finishing The Paris Wife, I slogged ahead with this one, as it too sat waiting patiently on a shelf. I had high hopes that this one would be better. And it was. Marginally. It’s set in 1920’s Colonial Kenya and is about Beryl Markham, who lived an unconventional childhood and went on to become a thoroughbred horse trainer while still a teenager and then the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic in 1936. Exciting stuff. At least it should be. Unfortunately, it would seem that Paula McClain has the singular talent of making fascinating women come across as insipid and dull. Again, I didn’t finish it. No more Paula McClain for me. And as for Beryl Markham, I must read her memoir West with the Night to see if she is as interesting as she surely must be.
The Midnight Library Matt Haig So convinced by literary buzz was I, that I bought this book as a present for a friend. Then my library hold became available, I read it and I was soooo disappointed that gifting it was out of the question. Nora Seed, unhappy, takes an overdose and finds herself between life and death at the midnight library. Here, with the help of a librarian, she has the opportunity to choose different books, each one becoming a doorway to a different life. In each new life she gets to experience a different outcome, if only she had done this, that or the other. It’s a comfortable, easy read with an interesting premise. But I was expecting insight. And depth. And color. And energy. Instead, the book was flat and trite and had absolutely nothing new or interesting to say.
The Alchemist Paul Coelho What simplistic, repetitive thinly-drawn tedious drivel is this? How can this possibly be considered a modern classic? Someone, enlighten me.
Theo Of Golden Allen Levi Goodness, what can I say about this book. It was so, so bland. And flat. And sappy. And formulaic. And stuffed with stereotypes. And bland. Did I mention that it was bland? So bland. I made it half way through. That was enough.