Day 2: My Least Favorite Book

I haven’t posted in a few days. I’m not going to lie; I really had to think about this. I love nearly every book I read, and the books that I don’t love, I don’t necessarily hate. While today’s title is not The Book I Hate, I kind of feel like labeling a book as My Least Favorite Book is almost like saying that I hated it.

I don’t read a lot of fiction, and when I do, I prefer Salinger or Vonnegut. Jacqueline Susann is my dirty little secret. Having said that, I like Stephen King. I think he’s an excellent writer. Both The Green Mile and Shawshank Redemption moved me to tears. Pet Cemetery and The Shining scared the bejesus out of me. So, I grabbed Tommyknockers out of my Mom’s Kleiderschrank,

My Dad paid $100 for this in 1979. It was broken and painted white, but it's solid walnut. He was worried sick that he wasted his money.

in which she has her own small personal library.

Huge disappointment. I didn’t even get through the first half. My mom warned me; she told me exactly why she didn’t think I would like it. She was right (when are Moms ever wrong???).

Well, the book started out okay. There’s something a little off -the guy uncovers a strange metal object in the middle of the countryside. I was hoping against hope that it wouldn’t be a spaceship. Vonnegut’s so-labeled sci-fi I like; I think it’s his writing style. And even Vonnegut said that the only reason his writing was labeled as science fiction, was because he wrote about technology. He also said not writing about technology misrepresents current(ish) life as much as the Victorians misrepresented their lives by not writing about sex.

I’m not big on aliens, although I wouldn’t mind actually seeing one. But I seriously doubt I ever will, unless it’s some manufactured scheme by the US Government joking (kind of)… I could’ve gotten over the aliens. But then there was the suggestion of nuclear radiation and fallout. Come on. I’m not going to get on a soapbox, but nuclear radiation poisoning? Really? Sidenote: I was a mechanic in the Navy, and I was on a nuclear aircraft carrier. (I did a lot of cleaning -my nails suffered from lack of manicures for many years but not once was I overexposed to radiation.) Totally safe.

Even if you’re anti-nuclear power, the “radiation poisoning” symptoms described in the book are not realistic. I know you’re thinking-what part of this book is suppose to be realistic??

Something about the whole thing just irked me. I could’ve accepted some sort of zombie-like progression in which the aliens or infected individuals bit or scratched other people. Again, unrealistic, I know. I didn’t even read far enough to find out what Tommyknockers are. I guess I was hoping for scary boogeymen going door to door or something.

So feel free to share your opinions. I would love a good synopsis from someone who actually enjoyed the book. Or at least made it to the end.