Task #24: An assigned book you hated (or never finished)

[Tara]

I hated Lord of the Flies in high school so I guess I'll give that one another try.

[Marie]

Allie wrote: "novelteathoughts wrote: "Dundundun. I never finished Frankenstein"

Frankenstein is the worst. I basically refuse to re-read it because I hated it so much, and I can't even remember why!"

It's boring? I expected it to be all "monster smash!" but it's more of a self-improvement story. Still, it's the book that created the sci fi genre, so I can't hate it too much.

[Clare]

This one is easy, Animal Farm by George Orwell. I have to teach it this year and I've never made it more than 2 chapters into any of Orwell's work so I am hoping that picking this for the challenge will help me do my actual job.

[Marja]

This is very difficult for me because I remember maybe a handful of books that I was assigned in school and I probably finished them all. The only one that I remember hating was The Old Man and the Sea but I already gave it another shot a few years ago. I still hated it.

I think I will go with a Finnish classic Seitsemän veljestä/Seven Brothers because I don't think I enjoyed reading it that much. It's supposed to have a really lively language which I faintly remember. Hopefully 30-something me appreciates it more than a teenaged me.

[Doris]

I'm having problems with this, too. I always very dutifully read all my assigned books, and I would find *something* to enjoy about each one. (The few exceptions were for a class in which I disliked the *instructor*, but I have mercifully blocked those books completely from my memory, along with the instructor. I do remember King Lear from that class, but I did finish it and didn't hate it.)

I think I'm going to assign myself some Dickens: maybe A Tale of Two Cities or Great Expectations. Aside from A Christmas Carol, I've never read any Dickens, so this seems like a reasonable excuse.

[Tammy]

Clare wrote: "This one is easy, Animal Farm by George Orwell. I have to teach it this year and I've never made it more than 2 chapters into any of Orwell's work so I am hoping that picking this for the challenge..."

That's the book that always comes to my mind when I think of books I hated having to read in school. I may reread it, but am debating between it and the only other assigned reading I can remember disliking, A Wrinkle in Time, Red Badge of Courage, and Brave New World. Good luck!

[Shanika]

I disliked Their Eyes were watching God when assigned in high school. But a book club im in will read it in Feb, so thats my choice for this task!

[Brandyn]

Jaime wrote: "DNF and did not really enjoy Pride and Prejudice. Will give it another shot because it is a classic and might open me up to that type of literature!"

I did not enjoy reading Pride & Prejudice, but I love the story. It's a contradiction, I know. I understand why some people like Jane Austen's writing - I am just not one of them.

The only reason I got thru P&P was because I had recently watched the movie and could quickly read the endless descriptions in anticipation of the "good" parts.

[Sophie]

Ellyn wrote: "So, this one for me is going to come down between The Daughter of Time or What We Can't Not Know: A Guide. I wound up in the hospital when I was assigned Daughter of Time..."

But "while in the hospital" is the perfect occasion to read Daughter of Time!

I remember hating Dante's Inferno with a passion and having to study it TWICE - I don't want to go back down that road! I think I'll go with Beloved, which I either didn't finish or have completely blocked from my memory, because I have no recollection of what happens in it.

[Susan]

Cassandra wrote: "As soon as I saw this I instantly knew it would be The Giver. I hated it so much when it was assigned to me in school that I stopped reading it and somehow got my m to write my book rep..."

I really liked the Giver and the sequels that are not the usual sequels you'd expect. I hope you like it this time around!

[Sonia]

I'm readingThe Gift of Rain by Tan Twan Eng for this task - it was a book club pick from last year that I didn't get around to finishing. I think I will double dip with this one for task 9 : a book of colonial or post colonial literature.

[Jennifer]

I read A Wrinkle in Time, also using it for a sci-fi novel with a female protagonist by a female author. I never liked it the few times I tried to read it as a kid and my opinion didn’t change now. Except this time I finished it!

[Brandy]

Jennifer wrote: "I read A Wrinkle in Time, also using it for a sci-fi novel with a female protagonist by a female author. I never liked it the few times I tried to read it as a kid and my opinion didn’t change now...."

I loved it as a kid. But I loathed it when I reread it last year. So preachy.... well, no preachy isn't the right word but I just felt hit over the head with the god stuff.

I don't remember what I was assigned in school and I very rarely didn't do my reading assignments.

I remember not loving Henderson the Rain King. Scarlett Letter I got into a fight with the teacher about but my dislike was about the fight not the book.

I think... I didn't read a day no pigs would die. I mean I remember literally nothing about it and I know it was assigned.

And I think, again think... that I read a whole section of Great Expectations before it was assigned then thought that I'd gotten farther along in it than I had and din't allot myself enough time to finish it when it was actually assigned. So I'll probably go with that. I guess.

[Deb]

I am reading Quiet Flows the Don: A Novel in Two Books by Mikhail Shologhov. Why did I chose this to be my first task? I remember being assigned to read a book in college that started out with raping and pillaging. I hated it and never finished it. This one was also assigned an unread. I thought it was the other one and wasn't looking forward to it. It's not bad, but I am still slow with it. I bought the book used years ago, It is so old now the pages are yellowed and brittle. The book does not have an ISBN on it.

[Kellie]

The one that really sticks out for me is Far from the Madding Crowd, which was a GCSE English book I never finished. I found it so boring! But I shall approach it again with as positive an attitude as I can muster...maybe I'll learn to love Thomas Hardy.

[Lianne]

I hated Barometer Rising when I read it in high school, but a couple of years ago I read Two Solitudes when it was a Canada Reads selection, so I'm thinking I'll give Barometer Rising another try. Maybe my reading tastes have broadened enough since I was fourteen that I will enjoy it more.

[Britany]

I'm going with the "never finished" part of this task as there are only 2 I've given up on and this was one of those...

Finished by Dan Brown - 4 Stars

My Review:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Judith]

I'm going to read Cider With Rosie by Laurie Lee. We did it at school, but my teacher just got us to read certain chapters then write about them - or that dreaded task, "rewrite in your own words"! WHY WHY WHY? I had to do that with a short story by Hemingway too. Did our teacher think we'd do better?!

Also I wasn't keen on the language in the Laurie Lee - full of metaphors and similes I was expected to explain! So I wasn't tempted to read the rest, especially as I didn't have to.

I'm thinking my tastes may have changed in the last 32 years (oh my God is it really that long ago?!) and hopefully I'll enjoy it.

[Amanda]

This is a difficult task. At first, I couldn't remember hating any assigned book in school. And I always finished them because I'm a dork. Then I got to thinking and remembered how much I couldn't stand The Hobbit when we read it in 8th grade. I don't know if I can read that one again... I love the LOTR movies but I never read the books, distinctly because of The Hobbit.

[Maureen]

Jill wrote: "Please don’t make me read Moby Dick!" Moby Dick is my favorite work of art in any format!!!! Read it!!!! It is totally worth it!!!

[Bonnie G.]

Maureen wrote: "Jill wrote: "Please don’t make me read Moby Dick!" Moby Dick is my favorite work of art in any format!!!! Read it!!!! It is totally worth it!!!"

My memories of grappling with Moby Dick are not happy ones, but I have to say your exceptional enthusiasm may have inspired me to give it another try. If I do, that will bump my 2 most hated high school reading assignments, Ethan Frome and Silas Marner (I had been planning to read one of the other for this prompt) so its clear I have decisions to make -- but thanks for the inspiration.

[Maureen]

I'm reading Ethan Frome for this challenge! That WAS a pretty boring book, as I recall!

[Bonnie G.]

Maureen wrote: "I'm reading Ethan Frome for this challenge! That WAS a pretty boring book, as I recall!"

If my memory of 12th grade is accurate (and it may not be, it was a looooong time ago) I would have much preferred watching paint dry to reading Ethan Frome. I don't need much action, I have always loved Thomas Hardy, Thomas Mann, Tolstoy and George Elliott. But Edith Wharton just about killed me. I thought it was the worst book ever until I had to read Finnegan's Wake in college.

[[deleted user]]

Maureen wrote: "I'm reading Ethan Frome for this challenge! That WAS a pretty boring book, as I recall!"

Just goes to show that there is a book for every person. I LOVED Ehtan Frome and went on to love everything by Edith Wharton! My book for this challenge is going to be Little Dorrit by Charles Dickens. I was assigned this in a summer session and simply ran out of time to finish it. Did not feel the need to keep going when the class ended!

[Maureen]

it was probably just the wrong time for me to read Ethan Frome. I'm enjoying it now--just started.

[Caitlyn]

I could go with A Farewell to Arms... it took me all summer to slog through that one. I barely remember anything about it except all the walking.

[Bonnie G.]

Maureen wrote: "it was probably just the wrong time for me to read Ethan Frome. I'm enjoying it now--just started."

Okay, you inspired me. I think I am going to go with "Ethan Frome." "Silas Marner" and "Pornography: Men Possessing Women" will have to wait for their re-reads.

[Pamrev]

I assign myself a couple classics to read every summer. I probably sound like a literature heretic, but I can't stand William Faulkner and have never been able to finish one of his books. Last summer it was The Sound and the Fury. I guess I'll try again. Any suggestions as to which of his novels would be the easiest to get through?

[Bonnie G.]

I love Faulkner so I might not have the best perspective for someone who does not (though I hated Faulkner when I first read him in college.) For what it is worth my favorite is "As I Lay Dying "

[Jessica]

I also love Faulkner but for those who are just stating out I always recommend As I Lay Dying. In my opinion its the most accessible of all his works.

[Bonnie G.]

Reread Ethan Frome for this one. It was so much worse than I remembered! On the plus side, it was really short. If you are interested in my review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Jeni]

Rachel wrote: "This is a tough one for me. I can't think of any assigned book that I never finished. The only one I truly hated was In the Skin of a Lion, and I don't really want to try that one again."

Maybe pick one that is often read for college readiness that you never read?

[Jeni]

Kate wrote: "Has there been a call from BookRiots staff anywhere about whether book club "assignments" count for this? Trying to make the call about what I'm going to read and knowing if this is a go or not wil..."

They've said previous years that you decide if it counts. Its YOUR challenge, after all! :)

[Beth]

This is a hard one, most of the assigned reading I hated are ones I could barely get through the first time. Crime and Punishment, A Raisin in the Sun, and The Iliad & The Odyssey are ones I will never try again. Homer will wither put me to sleep or make me throw the book if I have read through more manly sobs about problems that could have been avoided after all the warnings.

Okay ranting aside I might settle for A Wrinkle in Time since I didn't read that since I was a kid and had given up since I didn't get all that into it for school, or Invisible Man since I had used Sparknotes for over the last half of the book back in high school.

[Meghan]

The only two books I remember not reading were Rats, Lice, and History by Hans Zimmer (assigned for medical entomology) and Madame Bovary which I hated. I’m going to try the Zimmer I think this time.

[Shaelynn]

I have little interest in revisiting a book I know I hated back in school. (Old Man and the Sea - I'm looking at you!)

Similar to many of you, I read all of my assigned books in school. Since then, across my three book clubs, there are some contenders for books I wasn't able to read at the time "assigned". So I may go that route.

An alternative route I'm thinking about is reading a typically assigned book that I was never assigned since we read different books in AP English.

Luckily there are still 10 months to figure this prompt out!

[Meredith]

Slaughterhouse Five for me. Hated it in school and didn’t finish. Almost done now. Not one I’ll probably ever re-read or truly enjoy, but it’s definitely “finishable” this time around. Relating to Billy Pilgrim requires the context adulthood provides.

[Lexlingua]

Maureen wrote: "Jill wrote: "Please don’t make me read Moby Dick!" Moby Dick is my favorite work of art in any format!!!! Read it!!!! It is totally worth it!!!"
I totally sympathize with that sentiment. I started Moby Dick as a comic book rendition to make it more palatable, but the whole news about whales becoming endangered species just ruined it for me.

[Michelle]

I was an avid reader that took an extra reading elective in high school and loved the novel discussions with my Academic Decathlon team, but Kazuo Ishiguro’s The Remains of the Day put me to sleep. Maybe it’s worth trying the audiobook.

[Monica]

This was an easy one for me because though it's been more than a minute (more than two minutes) since I was in school, I still have the books that I didn't read. I'm going with My Ántonia though I have The Great Gatsby as well. As for assignments I hated, nothing could make me pick up Ernest Hemmingway's The Sun Also Rises again though I was probably too young to appreciate him at the time.

[Megan]

Jordan wrote: "Choices, choices.

I hated Of Mice and Men and The Old Man and the Sea. Or we never finished The Canterbury Tales, we just read parts of it, same with [book:Beow..."

I also hated The Old Man and the Sea in high school, but read it as an adult and loved it. It's a nice length, as is Of Mice and Men. I think you'll enjoy either of these.

[Megan]

Tori wrote: "I loathed Their Eyes Were Watching God deeply in my junior year lit class, but I do think I was maybe too busy worrying about the super fit senior bloke in the front row to properly re..."

I just read this for the last Read Harder Challenge - I'm in my 50s and loved it.

[Megan]

I'm going to read "Anthem" by Ayn Rand. I really hated that book last time I tried it. I think if I put my mind to it, I can finish it in one sitting and make it count for #15 as well.

[Teresa]

I finished The Long Ships. I read the first half last year. It's a novel about the Vikings in the 10th century, when the Pagans of the area were being converted to Christianity. It was originally two books, published in Sweden, translated and reprinted as one book.

[Catherine]

In school I did not like Jane Eyre or Ethan Frome. Really, really disliked Ethan Frome.

[Bonnie G.]

Catherine wrote: "In school I did not like Jane Eyre or Ethan Frome. Really, really disliked Ethan Frome."

I did Ethan Frome for this prompt. It was wore than I remembered, or at least more absurd and melodramatic. It is however quite short. I am also not a fan of Jane Eyre (or any of the Bronte's works.) All that Gothic over-emoting makes me nuts.

[Jennifer]

Slagging through Crime and Punishment determined to finish this time. Tiresome in school and tiresome decades later....

[Lauconn]

Jennifer wrote: "Slagging through Crime and Punishment determined to finish this time. Tiresome in school and tiresome decades later...."

Oh, don't tell me that. I was thinking that I might appreciate Russian literature more as an adult than I did at 16...

[Mya]

Lauconn wrote: "Jennifer wrote: "Slagging through Crime and Punishment determined to finish this time. Tiresome in school and tiresome decades later...."

Oh, don't tell me that. I was thinking that I might appreciate Russian literature more as an adult than I did at 16...."

I think the trick is to read it as a primer on how to approach life on days when you want to Be! Dramatically! Self-Important! Yet Insignificant! while Gloomy! :p

It's been ages since I've tackled any Russian lit, so I welcome anyone else's summary of "How to View The World While Pretending to Be Russian." :)

[Megan]

Finished Brave New World today