# Compellingly Bad Writing



## Dabnorfish (Aug 10, 2007)

Have you ever felt compelled to read a book for the wrong reasons?  I recently I started reading one of the 'Left Behind' books.  So terribly written and full of intolerance...


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## BlackWolf (Aug 10, 2007)

Hell yeah. I read a romance novel once. It was awful.

I read a Left Behind book, too. It was awful. Blatantly ridiculous, no understanding of anything. Twit. Entertaining in all the wrong ways.


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## enron1982 (Aug 10, 2007)

I actually read 3 of the left behind books and they seemed to get worse. THe moral of them is great i suppose though. Despite the lack of good writing, i thought the story was actually fairly good, and i read through them pretty fast. after the third book though, the characters became quite ridiculous and a little too sentimental. then again, they also became born again, so i guess that's how they were supposed to become. The root of the story was decent i guess, but the bad/way too simple writing made me put them down.


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## ClancyBoy (Aug 10, 2007)

I liked when Russia nuked Israel because it had become valuable and they wanted to take it over.

The books are just hilariously awful.

Edit:
Oh yeah.  Israel became super rich by shifting to an _agricultural _economy.


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## -Sambo italiano- (Aug 11, 2007)

ClancyBoy said:


> I liked when Russia nuked Israel because it had become valuable and they wanted to take it over.
> 
> The books are just hilariously awful.
> 
> ...



Hang on it was valuble, so they did the one thing that meant no one could go there for about a hundred years.

How did this shit get published.


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## ClancyBoy (Aug 15, 2007)

-Sambo italiano- said:


> Hang on it was valuble, so they did the one thing that meant no one could go there for about a hundred years.
> 
> How did this shit get published.



The power of Christ compelled them.


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## enron1982 (Aug 15, 2007)

ClancyBoy said:


> The power of Christ compelled them.



After re-reading the subject of this thread, I realized just how clever that statement was, especially within the context.


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## Raging_Hopeful (Aug 15, 2007)

Cuz Clancy is one clever mo-fo :-D

And yes, the Left Behind books are CRAP. I read the first one because the concept was intriguing.. but way to butcher a great idea. Kinda like the "Children of Men" movie.


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## Kest (Aug 16, 2007)

Don't know what you mean by wrong reasons but if curiosity of what will happen next in the story or the thought of some character in that book resembling my own self is that, then I have read really badly-written books a number of times, most of them belonging to romance genre.


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## wmd (Aug 16, 2007)

Even as a Christian I dont like the Left Behind books... poorly written and way too preachy.


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## ClancyBoy (Aug 17, 2007)

Raging_Hopeful said:


> And yes, the Left Behind books are CRAP. I read the first one because the concept was intriguing.. but way to butcher a great idea. Kinda like the "Children of Men" movie.



I'm glad I'm not the only one who profoundly disliked _Children of Men_.


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## SFeigley (Aug 17, 2007)

ClancyBoy said:


> I'm glad I'm not the only one who profoundly disliked _Children of Men_.


 
Trust me your not. I'm right there with you on that.


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## BlackWolf (Aug 17, 2007)

I'll add my vote to that. Children of Men was a good idea, but you'd think with a cast like that they'd be able to hire some decent writers.


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## Tomokato (Aug 21, 2007)

What are the wrong reasons? I read bad books all the time. Then I make my friends share my pain, as I review them, MST3K style. :wink:


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## Raging_Hopeful (Aug 21, 2007)

Omg, I'm so glad everyone agrees about Children of Men! Bwahahaha! 
Let's unify around an idea of hatred. That's always fun. And yes, I'm pretty sure the writing was actually produced by a sequence robot, rather than a live person.


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## SFeigley (Aug 21, 2007)

Ok since nobody else has beat me to it... my new favorite worst writer ever is Nickolaus Pacione. Seriously... most compelling bad writing I've seen.

p.s. Children of Men quite possibly was the worst execution of a compelling premise that I have ever seen. I stand in unity with you RH.


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## The Backward OX (Aug 22, 2007)

And Clive Cussler constantly cobbles together compellingly bad chronicles.


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## Raging_Hopeful (Aug 22, 2007)

SFeigley, glad I have your support and I think you articulated the disappointment well! Oh, and I would have to second you on Pacione... good grief!


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## Julianne (Aug 22, 2007)

Ditto on Nick Pacione. I tried to get more than a couple of paragraphs into some of the stuff he has posted on AuthorsDen and couldn't.


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## BlackWolf (Aug 22, 2007)

This is about compellingly bad writing, not plain bad writing.


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## Raging_Hopeful (Aug 22, 2007)

Well he does write doesn't he? And I still adamently insist that the Left Behind series is the best example of bad writing... it actually made me hate God a little. Even though it's not her fault... I couldn't help but feel a little resentful.


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## Truth-Teller (Aug 22, 2007)

Just read the pieces on this board and you'll see compellingly bad writing..


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## Michael (Aug 26, 2007)

I pick up _Asimov's_ occasionally and the pieces that get published in there often compel me to start writing more.  If those can get published in one of the few readily available short SF mags, there is hope for us all.


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