Bored Panda
40 Of The Most Boring Books, As Rated By People Online
CuriositiesJUN 21, 2023

40 Of The Most Boring Books, As Rated By People Online

24
29
You know what they say: don’t judge a book by its cover; leave the judging for the people on the internet instead. And judge, they will! For every Books You Have To Read To Be A Respectable Member Of Society list, there’s a list bashing those very same books into obliteration for being dull, uninspiring, and plain boring. Oh yes, not every classic novel leaves the same imprint on every reader, and we bet you might agree on some of these top choices on the most boring books as submitted in this exciting Reddit thread. 
Now, of course, these famous books did not become literary classics for being utterly dull - they do have extraordinary value and carry significant importance in the literary and cultural worlds. However, each reader feels a bit different about the books they read, even if we’re talking about something as famous as The Great Gatsby or Headless Horseman. I, your humble writer, deemed the latter to be an excruciatingly boring book with its pages-long descriptions of barren vistas that give absolutely no significance to the plot itself. Confusing! 
And what do you think makes these iconic books so dull? Although we’re no literary critics, we think that they come off as so boring because they did not withstand the test of time. They might’ve been novel and daring way back when, but nowadays… A hundred years ago, the story might’ve been like nothing you’d read before, but now much better attempts have been made to tell the very same story. That said, even if some of these books on the list did not keep up with the passing of time, they still are significant pieces of our cultural history. You might want to cross them out of your reading list, though. 
So, ready to take a look at a list of the most boring books ever, as deemed by people who have attempted to read them? If so, you know what to do here! One more thing, though - as of now, these books are in no particular order, so be cool and be kind, and rate them by their dullness!

#1 Twilight By Stephenie Meyer

Twilight By Stephenie Meyer
"I was forced to read the entire Twilight series. The second one is by far the most atrocious. It literally has several pages that just say the name of a month and "I miss Edward.""
43points

#2 Fifty Shades Of Grey By E L James

Fifty Shades Of Grey By E L James
susancol said: "I couldn’t get past the first few pages of Shades of Grey(?). Everyone was reading it and loving it and I compared it to a Harlequin romance that was poorly written."
 
grave_rohl replied: "I tried so hard because I wanted to see just how inaccurate the BDSM culture was, but very early on a paragraph described the woman exiting a freeway, describes her thoughts and feelings, and then ended the exact same way - exiting the freeway... that she already exited? First book I put down without finishing in years."
31points

#3 Atlas Shrugged By Ayn Rand

Atlas Shrugged By  Ayn Rand
"That was when I realized how many douches have read that book for the sole purpose of telling people they read the book. I get it, it's a big book."
23points

#4 Harry Potter And The Cursed Child By J. K. Rowling, Jack Thorne, John Tiffany

Harry Potter And The Cursed Child By J. K. Rowling, Jack Thorne, John Tiffany
Artaxxx said: "Granted it's a screenplay but what a bag of nothing. Reads like bad fanfiction and the plot was beyond ridiculous. I was genuinely angry when I finished it."
 
caralilykins replied: "Extraordinarily bad fanfiction. I wrote better HP fanfic when I was 12. It only reads ok if you assume it’s satire of horrible fanfiction."
21points

#5 The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald
ZombieCrab92 said: "It has always been extremely dull in my eyes. None of the characters are appealing and the whole plot seems like its going nowhere."
OkBobcat replied: "I hated that book in high school, but I've been thinking about trying it again as an adult."
20points

#6 The Catcher In The Rye By J. D. Salinger

The Catcher In The Rye By J. D. Salinger
"Its 25 chapters of the main character whining, complaining and being a hypocrite."
16points

#7 The Man Who Could Not Kill Enough: The Secret Murders Of Milwaukee's Jeffrey By Anne E. Schwartz

The Man Who Could Not Kill Enough: The Secret Murders Of Milwaukee's Jeffrey By Anne E. Schwartz
"You'd think it'd be difficult to mess up a book about a serial killer, and yet... she did. It was mostly Schwartz patting herself on the back for being the first reporter on the scene and how great she was for developing a great relationship with the Milwaukee police department. I wanted to know about the guy who ate people."
12points

#8 The Pilgrim's Progress By John Bunyan

The Pilgrim's Progress By John Bunyan
"Say what you will about classics, but THANK GOD this one had little notes in the margins summarizing what was going on. The allegory in it was so heavy-handed that it was like getting stoned to death with popcorn. I had to read it for my sophomore English literature class in high school. That. Book. It is easily the most boring book I have ever read. I only passed the quizzes because of the typed quick notes in the margins."
9points

#9 The Stranger By Albert Camus

The Stranger  By Albert Camus
"It was boring in a good way, however. I read it for high school and all my classmates complained about how boring it was. But I enjoyed it because of how accurately it depicted apathy which was something I struggled with a lot as a teenager. It’s really written in a way that shows how little the main character cares about literally anything and it gave me something to relate to in a way."
9points

#10 The Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne

The Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne
Commenter said: "Was forced to read it in high school. Adultery bad, Puritans are *ssholes, Redemption is possible. Oh, that was just the first two chapters."
theshoegazer replied: "For me, the writing style was what made it boring. A major plot point is over and done with in a single sentence, and then Hawthorne spends the better part of two pages describing the contents of a room."
8points

#11 Intellectual Character By Ron Richhart

Intellectual Character By Ron Richhart
"Oh God. My employer (school) gave every teacher a copy of 'Intellectual Character', by Ron Richhart.
 
Anyway, I'm flying internationally with a layover in Tokyo. I've got some time to kill, so I pull out this book.
 
I found myself reading the same paragraph, over and over, and over... and had no idea what it said.
 
I turned to a different chapter.
 
Same result. Tried again. Same result.
 
When they eventually called for boarding, I left it on the chair and walked away. My wife looked back, pointed at it and said, 'Is that yours?'
 
'Not anymore.'"
7points

#12 Moby Dick By Herman Melville

Moby Dick By Herman Melville
"Herman Melville's novel is masterfully written. But that seemingly endless discourse on whale blubber and whale anatomy was tedious."
6points

#13 The Last Of The Mohicans By James Fenimore Cooper

The Last Of The Mohicans By James Fenimore Cooper
"I was unfortunately required to read the book junior year of high school and I couldn’t stand reading more than a few chapters. Such a dry and repetitive story."
6points

#14 Doctor Zhivago By Boris Pasternak

Doctor Zhivago By Boris Pasternak
"I didn't actually finish it, either. I got about half-way through, watched the movie (also super-boring), lost interest in THAT, then got the cliff's notes and wrote a 13 page report based on that."
6points

#15 Beowulf By Seamus Heaney

Beowulf By Seamus Heaney
"I was really excited to reading it, and then I honestly just couldn't get into it. I was so annoyed because I wanted to like it but I couldn't."
6points

#16 Jonathan Strange And Mr. Norrell By Susanna Clarke

Jonathan Strange And Mr. Norrell By Susanna Clarke
holyherring said: "It's slow, sure, but it would have been just that I'd not for the footnotes that drag on and on. I was already annoyed at them and when one came that needed two pages since it could not fit, I just couldn't take it anymore."
 
DigitalDefenestrator replied: "I don't mind crazy footnotes and slow starts, but getting through the first half or so of that book was tough. I liked it overall, but I could totally see not being able to make it."
6points

#17 Wuthering Heights By Emily Bronte

Wuthering Heights By Emily Bronte
MetalGilSolid said: "I can't even remember anything but Heathcliff's name, it was that boring."
canIsleep_ replied: "Oh my god i picked up the book, two pages in and i was already confused, the use of language was so tiring and i had to read the same lines again and again just to figure out what it meant."
5points

#18 A Separate Peace By John Knowles

A Separate Peace By John Knowles
Frost-on-the-Willow said: "It was very dull."
salothsarus replied: "I read that in high school. Everyone found the book to be incredibly homoerotic but the teacher got mad if anyone pointed that out."
5points

#19 The Lord Of The Rings By J. R. R. Tolkien

The Lord Of The Rings By J. R. R. Tolkien
TheJesseClark said: "I probably have to give it another read, and I'm sure everyone here will m*rder me for this. Tolkien is a masterful, brilliant world-builder and I love reading other people's summaries of what he's created. And obligatory 'I love the movies.'  But his writing style is SO encyclopedic and dry that I'm sorry, reading page 2,545 of 'The Council of Elrond' was a bit of a chore." 
 
beamishbo replied: "I was a little obsessed with Tolkien in high school but honestly, I never get offended when someone says they don't like him. He IS dry and encyclopedic."
4points

#20 Ethan Frome By Edith Wharton

Ethan Frome By Edith Wharton
User replied: "The worst book I ever loved.
 
I genuinely think it tells an interesting story that was worth telling, and one that's painfully relevant to America today, but good god is it a bleak, boring slog with people you don't care about because they're all so tediously bleak and boring.
 
Ultimately, the idea and synopsis of the story is more compelling than any drama that could come from it (as far as I can see anyway) but I really think a slice of life story from a shrinking town, long past its relevance to the growing world around it, and the feeling of being trapped in that town after coming so, so close to escaping it is closer to more American experiences today than Huck Finn."
4points
24
29