Reading things because it's so bad you can't stop reading?

1. 65

   Veroniquebeeposted 10 years ago

   Reading things because it's so bad you can't stop reading?
   
   Ever read anything so terrible you just couldn't stop reading, oddly fascinated to no end with the way it was so badly written? What was it?

   replyreport
2. 0

   sheilamyersposted 10 years ago

   Most of the time I stop reading if it's too badly written. Sometimes here I'll struggle through reading answers to questions that are hard to make sense. I guess it's kind of like working word puzzles in those puzzle books you can buy. They could use those confusing answers as a puzzle and you have to figure out if there's anything the person said that actually answers the question. Ok ... I admit I only do that when I'm totally bored and have nothing better to do at the moment.

   replyreport
   1. 65

      Veroniquebeeposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Oh yes - too much time, and one finds oneself doing things they normally wouldn't do.

      replyreport
3. 82

   SweetiePieposted 10 years ago

   Well you have a choice to stop whenever you want.  If you keep reading then on some level you must like the content.

   replyreport
   1. 65

      Veroniquebeeposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I know I have the choice to stop whenever I like - but when I encounter something like that, it's a bit like watching a car wreck; terrible, yet nearly impossible to stop watching.

      replyreport
4. 84

   M. T. Dremerposted 10 years ago

   I've heard the argument that writers should read bad fiction as a way to learn what not to do, but I find that I just can't do it. There are certain stories that are shameless, but are still fun to read. But the ones that suffer from spelling errors, plot holes, and wooden characters, I just can't manage. It's like trying to wade through molasses and I have to abandon it.

   replyreport
5. 85

   wychicposted 10 years ago

   Yes. I've read a few that the only solace was that I could write a review when it finally came to an end. And sometimes I think "It MUST get better somewhere." The absolute worst was probably The Trouble with the Pears by Gia Bathory Al Babel. Not only does it have a really simplistic story, but the writing is absolutely horrendous. There are others that I just didn't like the way it was told, or the story was disjointed, or the information was ill-founded and biased (in the case of non-fiction), but few had quite the same noisome combination of that one.

   replyreport