What classic books do you not like/loathe

[OddlyAmused]

I shall stand with you!

In my senior year English class, we had to do an extensive term paper on the author of our choice; the catch was that we had to write an essay arguing why we should be allowed our first choice. I wanted Tolkien, so I wrote my essay using Cirth runes.

That's fantastic. I'm joining you as a fellow Tolkien lover.

[littlehouse]

A hundred years of solitude. This is the only book I have had to actually force myself to read. Blegh.

[Glass Cowcatcher]

Christ Almighty, I bet it was. I bet it was. :auto-ambulance:

I did try. But not only could I make no sense of it mostly, the bits I could make sense of I didn't like. And I did "The portrayal of nihilism in Dostoyevsky's works" as my final year mini-dissertation when I was 17, so it's not like I can't do themes. It was just...wrong or so alien I couldn't get it.

I have not tried Joyce, but I really wonder how something like his can come to be considered a classic when it's just so insane. What is the difference between throwing a dictionary in a blender, then throwing the pieces at a stickyboard, and something like Joyce? :shock:

[B5SnowDog]

That's fantastic. I'm joining you as a fellow Tolkien lover.

Yay! We can have tea and cakes for elevensies.

[LilMissMetaphor]

Catch-22 and Atlas Shrugged, what the hell were those? Granted I was probably only twelve or thirteen at the time of reading.

[Glass Cowcatcher]

Catch-22 and Atlas Shrugged, what the hell were those? Granted I was probably only twelve or thirteen at the time of reading.

Yes and yes! Catch-22 was painful and Atlas Shrugged... oh my god... pick up a history book, Ayn!

[JesusFightClub]

Catch-22 and Atlas Shrugged, what the hell were those? Granted I was probably only twelve or thirteen at the time of reading.

Bizarrely, I like Ayn Rand. But Catch-22, I stand with you there. WTF.

[freejoytoo]

Ulysses makes a lot more sense when you understand some of the background and the style.

JFC, you like Ayn Rand?! I have never brought myself to pick up anything by her because she sounds like such a putrid person.

Never tried Catch 22.

[JesusFightClub]

I don't know 100% why I like her, freejoytoo! She does show real promise as a writer in "We The Living" which is easily her best written book. Atlas Shrugged is horrible but strangely enjoyable, even if you disagree with all her politics (which I do). The Fountainhead is intriguing, but there's the rape scene (inexcusable). Anthem, don't bother, it's absolute shite.

I guess I like her passion. And one thing which gets me about what she writes is her love for the city. She sees it as the highest manifestation of human values - Galt's Gulch, which is supposed to be what all humans should aspire to, is a little village described flatly and dully compared to her loving depictions of city life, skyscrapers, construction...

Both things appeal to me in China Mieville's work too, even though he's from a very different philosophical tradition and by far the superior writer. I can't really explain, suppose Rand was trying to get somewhere by the wrong path. But she was trying to get somewhere. How many writers bother?

[Maggie Mae]

I don't know 100% why I like her, freejoytoo! She does show real promise as a writer in "We The Living" which is easily her best written book. Atlas Shrugged is horrible but strangely enjoyable, even if you disagree with all her politics (which I do). The Fountainhead is intriguing, but there's the rape scene (inexcusable). Anthem, don't bother, it's absolute shite.

I guess I like her passion. And one thing which gets me about what she writes is her love for the city. She sees it as the highest manifestation of human values - Galt's Gulch, which is supposed to be what all humans should aspire to, is a little village described flatly and dully compared to her loving depictions of city life, skyscrapers, construction...

Both things appeal to me in China Mieville's work too, even though he's from a very different philosophical tradition and by far the superior writer. I can't really explain, suppose Rand was trying to get somewhere by the wrong path. But she was trying to get somewhere. How many writers bother?

I actually liked Anthem. But I couldn't get through Atlas Shrugged or The Fountainhead. There was a period of time when I agreed with some of her politics, but I have since come to my senses.

[JesusFightClub]

Well, everyone has to sort through stuff! No problem there.

I struggled with Anthem because I felt it was lazy. Fuck, I could write it! We The Living is complex and makes one think. Anthem does make one think, but the thought is "Shit, she got PAID for that? Where do I sign up?"

[cowboysandhillbilies]

I absolutely, positively loathed The Poisonwood Bible. I didn't even know it was considered a "classic." I had never heard of Barbara Kingsolver previously.

[Imora]

As a teenager I loved anything by the Brontes, I think it was also in part a fascination with the authors' lives in general. Since then I've without success to read Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre when they started popping up on the telly. Nope couldn't finish them and couldn't stand them. :?

[Lillybee]

I liked Steven King's non horror novels, like The Shawshank Redemption and Stand by Me.

Count me in as another who hated Catcher in the Rye. I thought that the protagonist was a selfish twit and I read it in the 60's, actually got in trouble in my Catholic High School for reading it.

I tried more than a few times to read War and Peace but couldn't get past the first 50 pages.

[Kaylee]

I really like Ayn Rand (despite having realized in adulthood that much of her ideology is unworkable in real life and that even many of the workable parts would require being a total and complete ass to uphold) and the Fountainhead is one of my favorite books, but I also despise Anthem. I thought maybe it was because I first read it in school, forcing my to read through very slowly to do the assignments correctly, but I re-read it as an adult and still hated it, especially the stupid naming scheme.

I'm surprised at all the Hawthorne hate here - he was one of the first "classic" authors I found myself really liking, starting with House of the Seven Gables and some of his short stories.

As far as classics, I always thought Dickens was too wordy and boring (but some of my favorite authors have been accused of the same thing, so maybe it's just his style). I also never could get into Jane Austen at all, not in books or movies/television adaptations, although I've tried a few times.

[turquoise]

I tried to read Catcher in the Rye a few times but could never get into it.

I agree with the posters who thought some of the characters in Great Gatsby were just too annoying.

For some reason, The Sound and the Fury really depressed me. I kept most of my college books, but gave that one away because it made me feel so bad even just to see it on the shelf and be reminded of it. (Yes, I know that's weird.)

One other book I absolutely hated was A Separate Peace. It was so sad, and I couldn't understand why the narrator acted as he did.

[JesusFightClub]

I really like Ayn Rand (despite having realized in adulthood that much of her ideology is unworkable in real life and that even many of the workable parts would require being a total and complete ass to uphold) and the Fountainhead is one of my favorite books, but I also despise Anthem. I thought maybe it was because I first read it in school, forcing my to read through very slowly to do the assignments correctly, but I re-read it as an adult and still hated it, especially the stupid naming scheme.

I'm surprised at all the Hawthorne hate here - he was one of the first "classic" authors I found myself really liking, starting with House of the Seven Gables and some of his short stories.

As far as classics, I always thought Dickens was too wordy and boring (but some of my favorite authors have been accused of the same thing, so maybe it's just his style). I also never could get into Jane Austen at all, not in books or movies/television adaptations, although I've tried a few times.

The naming scheme in Anthem, aaargh! That was one of my biggest objections. It also felt lazy - like I say, I read it and thought "I could have done this" which considering my near complete inability to write fiction, is always a bad sign.

It's logically unworkable even more than most of Ms Rand's stuff is. I bought it at Seoul airport because I liked her work and deeply regretted spending the money.

I like Hawthorne and really like Dickens, with the exception of Pickwick Papers, which is shit.

[Naga Viper]

I didn't know there was so much Hawthorne hate either! Actually, I could probably take or leave him myself except for the fact that he's indirectly responsible for getting me into my dream college. :D (I cited The Scarlet Letter in a roundabout way in my main application essay—it's a long story.)

I'm generally fine with Dickens too, and even reread Great Expectations a year or two ago. But I know exactly what y'all mean about his downsides, because it took me half a dozen tries to stay awake through Chapter 11, which seemed like an overlong detour with superfluous characters we never see again.

Somebody I am having trouble mustering much enthusiasm for? Lovecraft. Admittedly, I'm only on my second short story (The Dunwich Horror), but I dunno...I was expecting shit-yourself scariness, and so far I'm just finding him kind of dry.

[freejoytoo]

I wouldn't call Dickens one of my favourite authors but I think he's fantastic at portraying social conditons - Bleak House was amazing in how it showed the spread of disease linking the rich and the poor, etc etc. I also LOVED Great Expectations. I do, however, hate it when Dickens tries to be funny because he's not. I'm not that keen on Dickensian women either.

I read The Scarlett Letter this year and thought it was okay. I haven't read anything else by Hawthorne.

[Naga Viper]

Dickens' women, let's see. Estella: ice queen. Miss Havisham: deranged bridezilla. Nancy: tragic victim. Mrs. Cratchit: helpmeet. Yeah, I see what you're getting at. I haven't gone through his entire works, but out of the stuff I have read, the strongest female character I can come up with off the top of my head is...the Ghost of Christmas Past.

Now I'm trying to match up Dickens' women with our favorite female fundies. I'm thinking Zsu is either Mrs. Joe or, more likely, Madame Defarge.

[freejoytoo]

I think Miss Havishem is pretty cool. The rest are all quite sappy.

[formergothardite]

Little Women. I have never been able to read the whole thing. It is just so fucking boring.

Moby Dick- That whole story could have been wrapped up into one chapter.

Sherlock Holmes by Sir. Arthur Conan Doyle. - Again, so boring.

Les Miserables - I've been trying to read that for months and months and months.

[JesusFightClub]

LOL formergothardite, my brother said the same thing today about Moby Dick! He was complaining about having to read it at school back in the day (he's 25).

[Lillybee]

Little Women. I have never been able to read the whole thing. It is just so fucking boring.

Moby Dick- That whole story could have been wrapped up into one chapter.

Sherlock Holmes by Sir. Arthur Conan Doyle. - Again, so boring.

Les Miserables - I've been trying to read that for months and months and months.

I was forced to read Moby Dick 4 times in my educational career. I finally got it, to me Moby Dick was about a struggle between good and evil, with Ahab being the evil and the White Whale representing good.

[Maude]

Great Expectations, Tolkien (can't seem to get into the books or the movies), Moby-Dick, and Black Beauty. For me, it's not that BB is a terrible read, I just don't like anything with animal cruelty. It tugs too much at the heart-strings.