Totally. I actually wrote a persuasive term paper in college about Catcher in the Rye not being a literary masterwork, but a novel that enjoys a staggering number of sold copies because high schools force their students to read it. I got a "B".codeg said:
"Classic" Literature that you hated?
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I was thrown a bunch of "classics" throughout school: Pride & Prejudice, All Quiet On the Western Front, Huck Finn, Frankenstein...the list goes on. I couldn't stand any of them. This is less a commentary on the quality of the books themselves, and more of the fact that I pretty much will not read anything that I'm being forced to read.
I read the 1400+ page unabridged version of Les Miserables in a week because I wanted to read it. They give me 3 months to read a 150 page thing that I have to read and I just won't. Sorry teacher, I read for enjoyment, and I've yet to meet anyone that enjoys doing things they're forced into (for further reference see Ed Norton's less-than-inspired performance in the Italian Job remake).
I read the 1400+ page unabridged version of Les Miserables in a week because I wanted to read it. They give me 3 months to read a 150 page thing that I have to read and I just won't. Sorry teacher, I read for enjoyment, and I've yet to meet anyone that enjoys doing things they're forced into (for further reference see Ed Norton's less-than-inspired performance in the Italian Job remake).
Ethan motherfucking, cocksucking, piece of shit Frome
At a minimum I've tolerated everything else I've been required to read for a course, but that book sapped my will to live. It was dull, vapid, lamely characterized and horribly paced.
And the ironic twist ending fails when the
On the other hand, I expected to hate Pride & Prejudice and found myself loving it.
At a minimum I've tolerated everything else I've been required to read for a course, but that book sapped my will to live. It was dull, vapid, lamely characterized and horribly paced.
And the ironic twist ending fails when the
suicide method is so fucking stupid. Taking a toboggan down a step hill with trees on it?
On the other hand, I expected to hate Pride & Prejudice and found myself loving it.
A Raisin in the Sun was the most frustrating book I've ever read.
I actually started to enjoy it towards the end... until the big reveal, and the main character just goes full circle and ends up exactly where he began at the beginning of the book. That was so incredibly frustrating, since I hated him throughout the book, and finally began to sympathize and feel for him, until then.
I actually started to enjoy it towards the end... until the big reveal, and the main character just goes full circle and ends up exactly where he began at the beginning of the book. That was so incredibly frustrating, since I hated him throughout the book, and finally began to sympathize and feel for him, until then.
The Great Gatsby. I hated that fucking book. Don't know why people put it on such a pedestal.
It's one of those books I can picture someone walking up to the author and saying "I really liked your [insert random socioeconomic topic here] message." and the author just went "Sure, let's go with that. That's exactly what I meant."
It's one of those books I can picture someone walking up to the author and saying "I really liked your [insert random socioeconomic topic here] message." and the author just went "Sure, let's go with that. That's exactly what I meant."
Actually all I saw in Great Gatsby was a metric fuckton of post-modernist angst.Duck Sandwich said:
Tom Sawyer and, Huck Finn. I disliked those but then I think it's more Mark Twain in general that I dislike. Can't really think of any others at the moment. I loved Midsummer Night's Dream and, Lord of the Flies. I don't remember any other 'classics' though and I know school would have been the only time I'd have read them.
Glad I'm out of school. No chance of crappy 'classic' literature.
Glad I'm out of school. No chance of crappy 'classic' literature.
It has to be Stephen Crane's The Red Badge of Courage. The irony and realism are on track, but the damn thing is so terribly boring; to top it off, it has the most ineffectual feature character and it's psychological portrayals of "fear" and "war" (or what-have-you) were just... bland, to say the least. Truly awful book, just truly awful.
Well, not all classic literature is bad. I personally enjoyed Brave New World, 1984, and Fahrenheit 451. They all had great and interesting concepts and stories. It's just the vast majority of the tripe that I was forced to read was very bad. At best, they were books that I wouldn't have chosen to read.Father Time said:
Catcher in the Rye... I was the same as Holden. Now that I look back, I liked it due to that reason.
Great Gatsby: Horribly written. They had an amazing plot arc, but fucked it up through boring descriptions that go on and on. Descriptions are okay but that book went overboard.
Huckleberry Finn: Almost failed English because I didn't read it. That speaks for itself.
Romeo + Juliet: Better then the anime, that is for damn sure...
Odyssey: Oddyseus is a douche. Plain and simple.
Great Gatsby: Horribly written. They had an amazing plot arc, but fucked it up through boring descriptions that go on and on. Descriptions are okay but that book went overboard.
Huckleberry Finn: Almost failed English because I didn't read it. That speaks for itself.
Romeo + Juliet: Better then the anime, that is for damn sure...
Odyssey: Oddyseus is a douche. Plain and simple.
One day, Hemmingway is going to rise from the grave, grab a tenth grade English teacher by the throat, and say, "The old man is just an old man, the sea is just a sea, and the fish is just a fish."
There are a lot of pieces of "classic" literature I hate (see anything written by Virginia Wolfe ever), but Old Man and the Sea takes the cake for that on me because it was a book about absolutely nothing followed by six weeks of symbolism discussion.
There are a lot of pieces of "classic" literature I hate (see anything written by Virginia Wolfe ever), but Old Man and the Sea takes the cake for that on me because it was a book about absolutely nothing followed by six weeks of symbolism discussion.
I couldn't get make it past the third chapter of that book. Holden what's his name was a whinny little fuck that I wanted to stomp to death.codeg said:
And I couldn't even finish the first chapter of 'Moby Dick'. Though I was able to read and enjoy 'Dracula', 'White Fang', 'Call of the Wild' and 'Sea Wolf' by, respectively, Brham Stoker and Jack London, so I can enjoy classic literature.
Lord of the Flies.
I just didn't find it appealing at all. I don't know why.
As for books I did enjoy, I loved To Kill a Mockingbird.
I just didn't find it appealing at all. I don't know why.
As for books I did enjoy, I loved To Kill a Mockingbird.
Agreed. It was stupid. In every way, it was sooooo stupid and I hated every second of it.dangitall said:
Also Antigone.
That's a piece of crap. The shift in Kreon's personality doesn't make ANY GODDAMN SENSE. And Antigone was a shit character. I wanted to hurt her.
Half of classic literature I consider to be utter crap. Many of the things that are important are lost on us. If a thing of meaning loses it's meaning, then by that very definition, it has become MEANINGLESS. If I need a load of footnotes as long as the story to recognize what's really being pointed out? That's not enlightenment, it's foolishness.
I hate Catcher in the Rye. So. Much. I could honestly beat the crap out of the guy that wrote it. I hate the book that much. It's as pointless as Holden considers everything to be.twistedmic said:
Great Expectations, Beowulf, Frankenstien, Grapes of Wrath, The Pearl, A Raisin in the Sun, All the King's Men, All Quiet on the Western Front, David Copperfield (never finished that one), and so many more I'm sure.
Really, there are few, if any, "classics" that I've read that I would say I really enjoyed. Some more...modern classics, I suppose, are pretty good. Depends on your definition of that I guess. But most of the things people that believe you must have read to be "well-read" are just awful.
Really, there are few, if any, "classics" that I've read that I would say I really enjoyed. Some more...modern classics, I suppose, are pretty good. Depends on your definition of that I guess. But most of the things people that believe you must have read to be "well-read" are just awful.