I remember distinctly disliking the Great Gatsby when I had to read it in high school. Not to say it's the worst book I've ever read, but it's not getting praise or going on my favorite list anytime soon.
And I did manage to get through all of Blood and Chocolate which was simply awful. The plot is rather disjointed and the characters are shallow and unlikeable. That's the last time I read a book based on a neat-looking movie trailer...
I greatly disliked reading it. The characters were impossible to connect to and I couldn't appreciate most of the literary devices and themes that Fitzgerald used. It was an immensely boring read and I got my lowest grade of the semester on my paper for it, simply because I wrote about how much I abhorred reading it.
I realize that it's in the pantheon of 'Greatest Literary Classics' or whatever, but that doesn't mean I have to like it or appreciate it.
I'd rather read something that isn't going to bore me to tears, thanks. 🙂
Yet another book that I absolutely loathed reading was The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck. Yet another droll, mind-numbing exercise in boredom that I was made to suffer through in high school. That and To Kill a Mockingbird nearly killed my love for reading.
Luckily, the bunnies of Watership Down saved me from completely giving up on high school English curriculum. 🙂
That's fine, as long as you'll allow me to think your taste in books is poor as well.
At the risk of further incurring chillmeistergen's wrath but to steer back on topic, I also disliked Walden by Henry David Thoreau, Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand, and Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys. The first two were filled with so much political and social blather that I just gave up halfway through each. I read Wide Sargasso Sea because I really enjoyed Jane Eyre and was hoping for an enjoyable offshoot. To my dismay, it had none of Emily Brontë's charm and I was left feeling wholly disappointed for reading it.
Originally posted by Callan
That's fine, as long as you'll allow me to think your taste in books is poor as well.At the risk of further incurring chillmeistergen's wrath but to steer back on topic, I also disliked Walden by Henry David Thoreau, Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand, and Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys. The first two were filled with so much political and social blather that I just gave up halfway through each. I read Wide Sargasso Sea because I really enjoyed Jane Eyre and was hoping for an enjoyable offshoot. To my dismay, it had none of Emily Brontë's charm and I was left feeling wholly disappointed for reading it.
Of course, you can think what you want of my taste.
Jane Eyre was written by Charlotte Brontë.
Fiesta: The Sun Also Rises by Hemingway. I've never really appreciated Hemingway that much, he can write some beautifully poignant passages, but then ruin in it in a few pages by seemingly putting so much effort into writing in such a sparse style. He always wanted to write the perfect sentence, and he may well have done, had it not been followed by an awful one.