Buddenbrooks by Thomas Mann: It was just too tedious. There was so much about 19th-century food, I couldn't cope with it. All the family were forever sitting down for large dinners described over five pages. It was interminable.

Anything by Jacques Derrida: When I plunge into the murky depths of Derrida I feel I am drowning ­ I can deal with difficult topics, but Derrida fails to make them interesting, as his writing is completely impenetrable. He purports to be philosophical, but in fact he's perversely obscure

Umfrage im Londoner Independent über worst books.