[Pride male]

There is a good thread about must read books. Here you can post shitty books you didnt enjoy. I will start

Dianetics by Steve Hubbard. Couldnt make it past the first chapter.

The Koran.

[The Beast1]

(02-06-2016 02:40 AM)Pride male Wrote:  

There is a good thread about must read books. Here you can post shitty books you didnt enjoy. I will start

Dianetics by Steve Hubbard. Couldnt make it past the first chapter.

The Koran.

I beg to differ. If you're looking for arguments against something these two books are gold for shutting down "true" believers.

Must not read books include:
The Hunger Games
Eat, Pray, Love
50 Shade of Grey

[whateverfuckit]

This thread is negative and serves no purpose.

We're men. We don't need to be told what "not" to read. I think any man on this forum can decide for himself if a book is unworthy of his time.

[debeguiled]

(02-06-2016 07:44 AM)whateverfuckit Wrote:  

This thread is negative and serves no purpose.

We're men. We don't need to be told what "not" to read. I think any man on this forum can decide for himself if a book is unworthy of his time.

No, this is a great idea for a thread.

Even before the internet, when I was in college and then later researching things for myself, I was struck by the sheer mass of information out there, and it soon became clear that you can't read everything, and that, in a way, deciding what not to read is just as important as deciding what to read, or the search for understanding becomes a war of attrition that is waged against your limited days on the earth.

The fact of the matter is that we have to make judgements about all sorts of ideas and issues in this world, just to make our way in life, without ever becoming an expert or even educated on the subject. Our time, our lives, are limited, and there is no way that you can take the time to completely educate yourself on every single subject that affects you in a meaninful way. You would endlessly be researching and never acting.

The value of a thread like this is that it can give you a shortcut to understanding by saving you from wasting your time on something that is either unnecessary, or doesn't do what it claims to do, and that is very valuable to anyone.

I doubt very much the OP was suggesting that anyone is trying to tell you what you can or cannot read, so I think you are misreading his intentions.

There are many men here from all walks of life with expertise in many different areas, and if someone can tell you, because he knows and can explain why, why a book isn't worth your time, he is doing you a great service.

It would be even better if he lists all the reasons why the book doesn't measure up, as well as better books to read, but at least if he has some expertise, or even a nose for bullshit, he is helping you by giving you a heads up.

No one is telling you what you can or cannot read. That is how the SJWs respond when you disagree with them, they exaggerate what you are saying to make things look worse and themselves look better. Like when Roosh said he would bang that writer chick and she said, oh no, scary, he is threatening to have sex with me.

Read what you want. No one is stopping you or ordering you. If someone can save me some money or time by steering me away from something pointless, they are giving me something valuable, not being:

Quote:

negative.

If I can do the same for them, I would be happy to do so.

This is a good idea for a thread.

[debeguiled]

On a lighter note, comedian Stewart Lee doesn't think you should read Harry Potter books:

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/187f52b...e8b30b0d2a

[brob]

This thread is fine. Being a critic is not the same thing as being a hater.

I would say avoid books that advocate an approach of "what should work in an ideal world" rather than "what does work in the real world".

We can day dream and idealize about utopia all day or we can be pragmatic and acquire knowledge of how the world really works.

I recently finished Modern Romance by Aziz Ansari. There was a lot of interesting analysis of dating trends over the last few generations. However, in the end he advocates a blue pill "equal partners" relationship that leaves the reader with a warm fuzzy feeling but when put into practice, will lead to boring your girl into the arms of another man.

[emuelle1]

I actually liked the Hunger Games books. At least, outside of the teenage love triangle crap. I thought they were really insightful as to how tyranny and rebellion work.

One of the supposedly popular books I can't stand is Catcher In The Rye. I forced myself to read half of it, then looked up some cliff's notes to see how it ended. I couldn't stand the main character. I read an article recently claiming it's an encoded Freemason ritual, but I'm never picking it up again to verify that claim.

[Pride male]

The thread was more tongue in cheek than serious. There is the other thread about must read books and I thought this would complement that thread. Maybe the thread should be called books you hated.

I did read Eat, Pray Love. I dont believe she didnt bang any of those dudes she 'dated'.

What about Sex at dawn, the Communist Manifesto and Guns, Germs and Steel? I have read some people say that spout nonsense.

[debeguiled]

The Book of Mormon. Or if you must, open anywhere and read a few paragraphs. It reads like a reasonably intelligent teen who had been raised on the King James bible tried to write his own version.

"Verily, verily. . . "

Completely unconvincing as writing inspired by God. Unless you were raised Mormon you have no excuse taking it seriously.

[emuelle1]

I figure I'll get around to the Book of Mormon someday. I have a friend that's a pretty dedicated Southern Baptist who claims it's a good read.

Did anyone see the South Park episode "All About Mormons"? "Joseph Smith he was a prophet, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb, dumb,..."

[EDantes]

120 Days of Sodom by Marquis De Sade

Worse than any horror film ever made; I couldn't finish it on my first try, but read it if you dare

[Pride male]

I know a guy who is crazy (no pun intended) about 120 days in Sodom. He is rereading Philip K Dicks Valis for the 100 th time now.

[Uhondo]

Posting here without actually having completed a book is just.......prejudicial

[Paracelsus]

Rich Dad, Poor Dad. Robert Kiyosaki. Although it was a bitter lesson learned and it took me years to realise it: this book is straight out hucksterism and in some cases directly advocates insider trading, which is illegal. If you want the very, very lengthy list on why it sucks, try Googling John T. Reed and Robert Kiyosaki on the subject. Do not excuse the book for "getting you motivated to think about your finances": if someone lied to you that there was a chest of buried treasure somewhere in your backyard and you busted your ass for three days looking for it, would you really excuse the lie on the basis "Hey, at least I got you interested in physical fitness!"?

Money Secrets of the Rich, John R. Burley. Basically it's Robert Kiyosaki without the obvious illegality.

The Mists of Avalon, Marion Zimmer Bradley. Sometimes a female author in the field of fantasy is tolerable. This one is not. It's feminist screed in the time of King Arthur, and it was written by a paedophile.

Anything written by Kevin J. Anderson, or anything he co-authored with anyone else, including Frank Herbert's kids. Seriously. If you like your more treasured franchises trashed by a serious hack -- everything from Dune to X-Files to Star Wars -- read him. If not, avoid.

[Hannibal]

Anything written by Stuart Mcrobert. The man is a defeatist; you will be convinced that you're a hardgainer by reading his works. His books are a collection of pisspoor mentality and a loser's hamsterizations for why he's not an elite pro-level bodybuilder. Unless you have some crippling injury, your lower body work shouldn't solely consist of trap bar deadlifts.

Other forum members might have different opinions, but I'll have to include Dave Ramsey. The guy got out of debt and made 55 million dollars by telling other people how he got out of debt. I read one of his books years ago based on a recommendation from a family member and all I saw were wishy washy solutions and pointless goal setting (save $1000 for an emergency fund, pay the smallest debt down first, etc). You want to pay off your debt? Then go do it. Put in overtime, cook your own meals, bike to work, cut the cable bill, get a roommate, and derive enjoyment from a cheap hobby. Rinse and repeat, give me 55 million dollars.

[Phoenix]

Anything that appears on the first page of Google search results, to a social topic question.

Try it. Just type anything like:
- Do women like...
- Do women prefer...
- How to make women...
- How to make men...
- Why don't women...

I guarantee you that anything you click on that first page will be the emptiest, most meaningless, unhelpful garbage you could possibly imagine. I wish I could blacklist the big 'authority sites' from my search results. They all compete with each other to produce the highest ranking piles of wishy washy bullshit they can. The guy with actual quality answers to things is probably on page 22.

[debeguiled]

(02-08-2016 09:46 AM)Paracelsus Wrote:  

Rich Dad, Poor Dad. Robert Kiyosaki. Although it was a bitter lesson learned and it took me years to realise it: this book is straight out hucksterism and in some cases directly advocates insider trading, which is illegal. If you want the very, very lengthy list on why it sucks, try Googling John T. Reed and Robert Kiyosaki on the subject. Do not excuse the book for "getting you motivated to think about your finances": if someone lied to you that there was a chest of buried treasure somewhere in your backyard and you busted your ass for three days looking for it, would you really excuse the lie on the basis "Hey, at least I got you interested in physical fitness!"?

Money Secrets of the Rich, John R. Burley. Basically it's Robert Kiyosaki without the obvious illegality.

The Mists of Avalon, Marion Zimmer Bradley. Sometimes a female author in the field of fantasy is tolerable. This one is not. It's feminist screed in the time of King Arthur, and it was written by a paedophile.

Anything written by Kevin J. Anderson, or anything he co-authored with anyone else, including Frank Herbert's kids. Seriously. If you like your more treasured franchises trashed by a serious hack -- everything from Dune to X-Files to Star Wars -- read him. If not, avoid.

This is the kind of post that will make this a very useful thread.

[Hades]

I have a couple, mostly in the realm of fiction.

***Michener is a great author, but I'm going to have to put "The Drifters" on the list. It's not his best work. It's about a group of six hippies hanging out in Torremolinos, most of them are dodging the draft. There's an obvious author insert character that adds nothing. They do a lot of drugs and hang out, but somehow even that was made boring. The characterization is underwhelming. Apparently all hippies score >160 on an IQ test. You can live a completely unproductive alternative lifestyle as a parasite on whomever sends you money but still live with the satisfaction of being the smartest person in the room.

There's a surprising amount of fat chick fucking and queerness in the book.

It would not have been as big of a letdown had Alaska, Centennial, The Source, The Covenant, Texas, and Alaska not been brilliant works. I still want to read Space and a few others.

If you're interested in the 60s, then it's probably the best book you could possibly read, but I skipped about a dozen pages total.

**** Kate Chopin's "The Awakening" - don't read it. It's considered a feminist text, which is readily apparent since there's almost no content or plot. Everything by Kate Chopin sucks.

**** Some of Edgar Allen Poe's lesser known works are just god awful. The literary style of the type had to do with endless description of places and events, so these short stories just fucking drone on forever.

I have more but have to get back to work.

(02-06-2016 07:44 AM)whateverfuckit Wrote:  

This thread is negative and serves no purpose.

We're men. We don't need to be told what "not" to read. I think any man on this forum can decide for himself if a book is unworthy of his time.

I'm going to put this under "Must Not Read Posts".

Ha. Seriously though, reading a book is a big time investment, why waste your free time on shitty books? A 'real man' values his time.

[godfather dust]

The Koran is a must read.

I haven't read the whole thing (very boring/poorly written) but I've read parts, and I have a copy to check when I read criticism of it.

The fact that the majority of people know nothing about Islam allows the elites to claim bullshit like:

Islam is the religion of Peace

ISIS are not real Muslims (when in fact they are the most pious ones, following Mohammed's teachings and example to the letter.)

[Paracelsus]

1421: The Year China Discovered The World, Gavin Menzies and its followup 1434. While I'm amenable to the odd conspiracy theory, these books are straight out historical fiction and have been refuted by pretty much every reputable archaeologist out there. You get your first warning from the fact Menzies starts writing in the first person on the subject. Heed this warning. The books are rubbish.

The Celestine Prophecy, James Redfield. Redfield calls himself a "therapist turned author", so that should be your first alarm bell. This book is New Age bullshit from beginning to end. If you really want the book's major message from it, just read the non-fiction psychological text Games People Play by psychiatrist Eric Berne, which Redfield admits he plagiarised was heavily influenced by in writing it.

The Way of the Peaceful Warrior, Dan Millman. See The Celestine Prophecy above for the basic format of bullshit parable purported as some sort of quasi-non-fiction. Practice mindfulness and live in the moment and take very literally the "Life is just a dream" part of the children's fable "Row, row, row your boat": I just saved you $20.00 and a few hours of reading.

[Days of Broken Arrows]

John Green's "The Fault in Our Stars."

It's an account of what it's like to grow up with an illness by someone who it seems like never actually spoke to a sick kid or set foot in a hospital. And then there's the White Knighting, which marred his earlier books (especially "Paper Towns) but is on steroids here.

A friend of mine from his school said his (butt-ugly) daughter thought this book was brilliant, just brilliant, because of its character development and that's why it was a mega hit. I countered that the American people also made hits out of crap like "Dallas," the empty-calorie books of Danielle Steel, and novelty music like "Bend Me, Shape Me" and sales do not = quality. We haven't spoken since.

[EDantes]

(02-07-2016 12:37 AM)Pride male Wrote:  

I know a guy who is crazy (no pun intended) about 120 days in Sodom. He is rereading Philip K Dicks Valis for the 100 th time now.

It's "good" in the f-ked up sense of the word.

Makes films like Hostel (or even the movie version of Salo) look like a Spongebob Squarepants cartoon in comparison.

If it were written today it'd probably never even get published; might technically even be illegal under state obscenity laws since it's basically "sadist porn".

[debeguiled]

(02-08-2016 08:34 PM)Paracelsus Wrote:  

The Celestine Prophecy, James Redfield. Redfield calls himself a "therapist turned author", so that should be your first alarm bell. This book is New Age bullshit from beginning to end. If you really want the book's major message from it, just read the non-fiction psychological text Games People Play by psychiatrist Eric Berne, which Redfield admits he plagiarised was heavily influenced by in writing it.

The Way of the Peaceful Warrior, Dan Millman. See The Celestine Prophecy above for the basic format of bullshit parable purported as some sort of quasi-non-fiction. Practice mindfulness and live in the moment and take very literally the "Life is just a dream" part of the children's fable "Row, row, row your boat": I just saved you $20.00 and a few hours of reading.

Almost impossible to find a New Age book worth reading except for laughs. Mostly the incompetent or unemployable suddenly realizing they are channeling a great warrior from the past.

Will add this classic to the list:

"Conversations With God" written by Neale Donald Walsch.

From Wikipedia:

Quote:

In an interview with Larry King, Walsch described the inception of the books as follows: at a low period in his life, Walsch wrote an angry letter to God asking questions about why his life wasn't working. After writing down all of his questions, he heard a voice over his right shoulder say: "Do you really want an answer to all these questions or are you just venting?"[2] Though when he turned around he saw no one there, Walsch felt answers to his questions filling his mind and decided to write them down. The ensuing dialogue became the Conversations with God books

God speaks through me now! Line up suckers. And they did.

[la bodhisattva]

(02-06-2016 07:44 AM)whateverfuckit Wrote:  

This thread is negative and serves no purpose.

We're men. We don't need to be told what "not" to read. I think any man on this forum can decide for himself if a book is unworthy of his time.

I also like the idea of this thread. "What not to read," "Don't read x and y," however you wan to interpret it, I don't think the intent was to dictate anything to you. Instead, it seems more like a "What books weren't worth my time and probably your's as well."

[Truth Teller]

I can't believe 50 Shades of Grey hasn't shown up yet.

I read highly technical works in my field for fun, but couldn't get through 70 pages of this shit.