Books I Loathed discussion
Loathed Titles
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"Great Books" that you just don't get
I LOATHE Austen. Lady Susan is alright by me, but the rest of her work I find boring and stagnant. People's worship or even general admiration of her baffle me.
I have only been able to try to read it at lest three times but never got beyond the second chapter. I mean, sure it's a classic of all classics but I never did understand why Healthcliff was such an excellent character and I was completely puzzled by everything.
This is my favorite thread in all of Goodreads. I realize how diverse we all are. Just love reading the comments and thoughts.
Catherine wrote: "I have only been able to try to read it at lest three times but never got beyond the second chapter. I mean, sure it's a classic of all classics but I never did understand why Healthcliff was such ..."Or why people love him...
Catcher in the Rye sucked. I had an argument in the pub with a mate about it last week. His main argument was that it was important because of the time it was written in, which is fair enough. I actually paid money for it a couple of years ago because I wanted to know why JD Salinger was so revered on the back of a single novel. And after reading it, I couldn't understand why. It was nothing special at all.Chris Ward
Sed wrote: "Catherine wrote: "I have only been able to try to read it at lest three times but never got beyond the second chapter. I mean, sure it's a classic of all classics but I never did understand why H..."Right! I mean there is nothing to love about that creep! Zero excellent characteristics that might be even desirable!! I will try and watch the latest movie. Wish me luck!!
I just don;t get HOUSE OF LEAVES and ONLY REVOLUTIONS.. theyw ere supposed to be really popular books that people rave about...a fter a few pages, maybe after five pages, i just googled the story of each one and i am satisfied that i did not sit through all taht... loved the concept and the strangeness of the book though. i admire the author for being so revolutionary and creative...
i love WUTHERING HEIGHTS though... the GREAT GATSBY is too boring for me...
Love this thread :) I have quite a few supposedly "great" books that I can't stand: The Catcher in the Rye, Beloved, The Sound & the Fury (honestly, just about anything Faulkner), The Old Man & the Sea, Moby Dick, The Crying of Lot 49, The Gunslinger, and The Red Tent, to name a few. I'm also not all that partial to To Kill a Mockingbird & The Handmaid's Tale, although I've been tempted to give Mockingbird another chance.
I liked The Red Tent although it could've been edited a bit more tightly. I loved To Kill a Mockingbird. The others: I agree-bleah.
I read "Catcher in the Rye" last year, and really made the attempt to take it in the context and time that it was written in. I loaned it to a friend after I read it. We both came away feeling like we wanted to punch Holden Caulfield in the face. I'm glad I read it and even more glad to have given it to the local used book store.
The ILIAD: Epic Poem Written by Homer!! My sister is listening to it currently and I completely loathe it. I don't understand how's it's a classic in any ways.
madame bovary
- it's just so relentless and unforgiving. emma is unlikeable, sure, but it's wearing to see her make bad choice after bad choice, grinding herself down until her inevitable, bitter end.
SesameG wrote: "madame bovary - it's just so relentless and unforgiving. emma is unlikeable, sure, but it's wearing to see her make bad choice after bad choice, grinding herself down ..."is it relentless and unforgiving in a good way?
"The Awakening" by kate Chopin. Maybe it's because I'm a guy, but I couldn't understand anything about the book (like why she had a beach house, if she couldn't swim). Everyone else (motly women) seemed to love it. At one point I checked to see if someone ripped sections out of the book because I didn't get what the fuss was about...
Willa Cather's My Antonia. I read it twice, and while the second time is better, it's just not for me. I've never lived in a small country town. I just DON'T get how beautiful descriptive passages are of the rural United States in the early 1900s. Um, I also didn't like Northanger Abbey because I hated the heroine but it's Jane Austen's first book so I'm going to forgive her and try again.I also despise Romeo & Juliet. Worst Shakespeare play ever.
Amber wrote: "I also despise Romeo & Juliet. Worst Shakespeare play ever. "You know, I migiht agree with that, but when you start to look at the criticism of poetry in R&J, it becomes that much better - just like Hamlet improves when studied as a critique of actors/acting (although I love Hamlet to death no matter what). I still loathe Romeo as the weak man he is, but I think the poetics of Romeo and Juliet is very interesting.
The Old Man and The Sea, seriously pages to talk about the scenery and the old man pissing in the sea ugh hated that book just dull
How about "The Ambassadors" by Henry James? Bloated and boring, with blatant abuse of the semi colon!
The House of Seven Gables, although I now hilariously have a (totally made up) memory of, "He was dead. He had stopped breathing. His skin sagged, because no blood was flowing. There was no heartbeat. He was no longer living. His family was crying because he was dead." It is probably the book I laugh about the most, just ridiculous!Room with a View is the second one. I read it because I'd like to get through the classics, but was rather irritated when I finished... What the heck was the point?
I've read two Philip K Dick stories (Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep and the Man in the High Castle). I found both of these to be very lacking. While the world building is quite good, I found both stories to be anticlimactic in the extreme. Neither story really goes anywhere. I can't stand any of the Bronte sisters and Jane Austen.
I don't care for the Bronte sisters either. Always seemed sort of co-dependent to me.
David wrote: ""The Awakening" by kate Chopin. Maybe it's because I'm a guy, but I couldn't understand anything about the book (like why she had a beach house, if she couldn't swim). Everyone else (motly women) s..."I am a female and I thoroughly agree with you about "The Awakening." Despised it. Great minds think alike? :-)
Meghan wrote: "I don't care for the Bronte sisters either. Always seemed sort of co-dependent to me.""co-dependent" LOL!
The Sequel is better. "Room with a Balcony Perfect for Dangling Babies From While Fans Watch and Think WTF is That Kid Doing With a Blanket On His Head?"LMAO...That made me spit my coffee all over my keyboard. Good one. Are you sure that title is made up? Sounds like a bestseller. I'd read it :)
Wuthering Heights and Pride and Prejudice.They are both books where I can stand back and see the appeal of the romances in them for other readers. I can also see why both are considered classic novels from an objective viewpoint.
But I just don't enjoy either of them nor can I get lost in the romance since I am not invested in the novels' relationships. I read both and feel indifferent at the end.
I didn't like The Great Gatsby, A Separate Peace, and 1984.When I read Gatsby, I just...didn't understand anything. It went through one ear and out the other. But I guess that has more to do with me than with the book itself, so I might have to re-read it in the future.
A Separate Peace was boring as hell. I kept turning the pages hoping that something was going to happen. Spoiler: nothing happened.
1984....hmm. I liked the plot but the writing didn't really...suck me in, you know? I'm just indiffirent to it, I guess.
Did I already mention that I cannot finish The Hobbit? Oh, and I also hate R&j though mostly because of the whole "it's the best romance play [..]" type walk. Reading it, it seemed more like a satire or a critic of "young" love.I don't see how people consider it to be a true love... he was in love with her sister seconds before being i love with her. "Oh, he killed himself for her". You sure? I am pretty sure Juliet's family would have killed him. I mean, he is sitting next to her dead body and they are approaching their hiding place...
I think I tried to read LORD OF THE RING: FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING. I just couldn't get it! A lot of names seem the same. When the movie came out on DVD, I had to watch it several times in order to understand it.DUNE was another book I could get. I don't read much SciFi and Fantasy novels anyway. I want a lot of it on screen but can't grabs SciFi on paper. Is that weird?
I can say that I really loved the LOTR movies [all of them]. I don't know about the books. I mean, I can't even get through The Hobbit. I doubt that series will work for me but you never know.
Mischelle wrote: "I think I tried to read LORD OF THE RING: FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING. I just couldn't get it! A lot of names seem the same. When the movie came out on DVD, I had to watch it several times in order to u..."Science fiction and fantasy have a lot of conventions. You have to read a good bit of it before you learn when something conventional is going on. If you read enough of it, it eventually begins to make sense.
Mischelle wrote: "I think I tried to read LORD OF THE RING: FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING. I just couldn't get it! A lot of names seem the same. When the movie came out on DVD, I had to watch it several times in order to u..."I read Fellowship and Two Towers in a row. Bad idea. The movies at least simmer the stories down to their components and take out all of the dull bits.
Dune on the other hand was the book that got me through high school. I love the overarching story, the history and the characters.
Butt.Naked.Lunch. Definitely illegible. And I LOVE Burroughs autobiographical work. Cut up/collage experiments I do not love. Just write a story, why don't ya?
O, and the diary of Anne Frank was sooo boring.
Nanci wrote: "O, and the diary of Anne Frank was sooo boring."I have to agree with you (and that's one of those books on my list of things to never mention disliking). It was kind of boring to me but it was also that I knew the ending, I just didn't want to read it (much like Schindler's List; knew the ending was going to be disturbing, so wanted to leave it alone).
The Great Gatsby. I can think of several books of that era that blow it away. Also, Beloved. I know Toni Morrison is an important writer, but wow, that was a sleeping pill.
Alia iloveBendtner wrote: "i don't understand why THE GREAT GATSBY is a classic. the plot is pretty simple and hat's pretty much it. its kind of forgetable. i just dont get why its so "great" !!"agreed
i tired and when i say i tired,i really did try to like 50 shades of grey. I've read erotica before and loved it,but whatever that was....left me speechless and annoyed. The whole idea was a complete mess and ridiculous from the beginning. Personal note to self: NEVER follow the reading crowd hype.
Matt wrote: "Alia iloveBendtner wrote: "i don't understand why THE GREAT GATSBY is a classic. the plot is pretty simple and hat's pretty much it. its kind of forgetable. i just dont get why its so "great" !!"..."
Iesha wrote: "i tired and when i say i tired,i really did try to like 50 shades of grey. I've read erotica before and loved it,but whatever that was....left me speechless and annoyed. The whole idea was a comple..."I would not call that a "Great Book" by any stretch of the imagination.
If I could like a comment, I would like yours Lynn.
We read Murderer on the Orient Express as a class this year in English. Agatha Christie is supposed to be the "queen of mystery," but I didn't enjoy it at all. I felt like the ending was stretched.
The Book Thief!! I don't get the hype, especially with the movie about to come out (or is out...?).
David wrote: ""The Awakening" by kate Chopin. Maybe it's because I'm a guy, but I couldn't understand anything about the book (like why she had a beach house, if she couldn't swim). Everyone else (motly women) s..."I'm with you, David. I'm a woman and I thought that "The Awakening" sucked. Ugh.
I can't remember if I said this before, but I really can't stand Dickens. Why would anyone want to be continually slapped in the face regarding the unfairness in this world? I tried to read "Great Expectations" because I make myself read a "classic" every other book, and I had to stop reading it. I hated it, and I couldn't like the characters, not one little bit. Bah, humbug.I kind of feel the same way (on a different level) about Nicholas Sparks. If there is a couple in love in his book, then someone's gonna die. It starts to feel cruel.
Lord of the Rings trilogy. They're just so slow and long I couldn't even get to the end of the third. they're okay I guess but not great...
Books I Loathed
Books mentioned in this topic
The Catcher in the Rye (other topics)War and Peace (other topics)
Madame Bovary (other topics)
Madame Bovary (other topics)
Of Mice and Men (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Paulo Coelho (other topics)Paulo Coelho (other topics)
Ian McEwan (other topics)
Robert A. Heinlein (other topics)
Joseph Conrad (other topics)
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I am with you on Wuthering Heights. I know many people for whom it is their favorite book and read it several times a year, and I am still trying to figure out why anyone would want to read it more than once.