What Books Do You Loathe?

This is the question put forth to literate types recently, by the Times Online.

Some responses:

"The Waves by Virginia Woolf is everything a novel should not be – and so much less."

"The first book I really remember hating was Ancient Evenings by Norman Mailer. I was studying American literature at university, and he was supposed to be a leading writer. I gave up at about page 600, tired of pharaohs and anal sex."

"I have lost count of the number of times I have taken Crime and Punishment on holiday and ended up throwing it in the pool."