Not So Great Expectations

[Book Concierge]

I really hated Jane Eyre when I read it in high school. A couple of years ago my F2F book group wanted to tackle a classic and we chose this book. I figured I might appreciate it more as an adult. I was wrong - sort of. I actually was able to appreciate the literature more, but I still hated it. I find Rochester an insufferable jerk, and Jane referring to him constantly as "my master" - PUHLEEZE.

[Nicolle]

Nooo, you can't say that Jane Eyre is amazing, and I love the fact she loves Rochester even though he is a bit of an idiot.

[Iulia]

Madame Bovary disappointed me, completely. Maybe I was expecting too much from it, but it did not move me, didn't appeal to my feelings... it was just... blank. Also Tess of the D'Urbervilles was not as good as I expected. I much more enjoyed A Pair of Blue Eyes. Maybe it's just me, but I prefer reading about the upper social classes, Tess was a plain character, too plain to be strong and likeable. She had no culture, no intellectual life... compared to Elfride.

[Rowena]

Women in Love by DH Lawrence was very disappointing to me. After reading that book, I swore not to read any more Lawrence but I had to read Sons and Lovers for a class and I loved it!

[Nance]

I thought that A Tale of Two Cities was kind of disappointing also. Everyone was saying how great it was...so, I guess I was just expecting to come away with a bit more from it. I was intrigued with the mystery part of it, but had to keep reading over parts to grasp the idea behind certain things that happened. So many details are implied, but not actually told that they occurred. That was only my second Charles Dickens novel that I read since reading Great Expectations way back in high school. I'm willing to give Dickens another try, though, with either David Copperfield, Our Mutual Friend, or Bleak House. Any suggestions which one to try next?

[Riya]

I didn't like Catcher in the Rye, and also thought Little Women was a boring dull book.

[Keri]

I hated Robinson Crusoe - it was much too slow for my taste. Also wasn't a big fan of Oliver Twist. Of course, I really like strong female leads, so that could be part of the problem.

I LOVE The Scarlet Letter even though the first few chapters are pretty killer. I warn my students when we start reading it to hang on through the first few chapters, because it gets better, and those who do really get into it.

[Rowena]

Wuthering Heights is another book I disliked immensely.

[Jonathan]

Rowena wrote: "Wuthering Heights is another book I disliked immensely."

Yes I must agree. Well I didn't hate it but it was less than what I expected. It wasn't a tale of love at all really but of lust...

[Carrie]

Madame Bovary, Day of the Locust, Old Man and the Sea, I found all kind of disappointing. I see a lot of people don't like Dickens. So far I have enjoyed his books. One of my favorites last year was a Dickens book, called Bleak House. It is also a great mini-series. I'm currently reading Tale of Two Cities and so far am enjoying it.

[Riya]

I didn't like Animal Farm and Brave New World

[Jonathan]

~ * m a r i y a * ~ wrote: "I didn't like Animal Farm and Brave New World"

I expect its because you were looking just at the story of Animal Farm right? Not at the political side?

[Parikhit]

Billy Bud, Sailor by Herman Melville was a little disappointing.

[Raquel]

As my introduction states I just finished Wuthering Heights. I thought nearly all of the characters in the book were unlikable. The character that narrates the story was fine but everyone else... Blech.

[Danielle The Book Huntress]

Billy Budd was a real chore to read.

[Jimmy]

Lady Danielle "The Book Huntress" wrote: "Billy Budd was a real chore to read."

I feel I must leap to the defence of Billy Budd. Melville's writing may not tick everyone's boxes as has already been noted with Moby Dick in this very thread, but I did enjoy reading Billy Budd and I do think it has a message to tell - and it should also be noted that it was not published until long after Melville's death, so may not have been as the author himself intended. Happy that people's opinion differs on this, would be incredibly boring if we all thought the same.

Billy Budd is innocent!

[Danielle The Book Huntress]

I definitely got that theme from the novel, Jimmy. It wasn't a bad book, but it wasn't good reading for me, if that makes sense.

I wrote a paper about it, and I saw Budd as a Christ figure. Whether that was Melville's intention? Not sure.

[Aoibhínn]

I loved Little Women but I hated Good Wives. In Little Women the girls all had dreams and ambitions about what they wanted to do in the future but in Good Wives, Beth dies and the other girls gave up their dreams to become "perfect" wives for their husbands *vomits*. I was really disappointed with this and gave up reading the series.

[Nicolle]

So is it the Little Women all grown up?

[Agata Weronika]

I believe I already posted this somewhere in another topic...

I absolutely despised "Catcher in the rye". The main character was such a malcontent! Also, "Scarlet letter" was horrendous, I could not grasp the whole sociological and ethical background...

"Dracula" was awesome! I loved the structure and the whole atmosphere :)

The 3 titles that were on the reading list at my high school that I never I actually got to read were "Wuthering heights", "Great Gatsby" and "Huckleberry Finn". These should be on my TBR list...

[Nicolle]

Oh those treacherous ghastly nargles!

[Parikhit]

Ellie wrote: "I loved Little Women but I hated Good Wives. In Little Women the girls all had dreams and ambitions about what they wanted to do in the future but in Good Wives, Beth dies and the other girls gave ..."

Lol :D
I hated the part where Beth dies. And how desperate could Laurie get-since Jo refused it is Amy.

Has anyone seen the movie though? Christian Bale as Laurie, unbelievable!

[Iulia]

I also quit The Great Gatsby after the first 50 (or so) pages. The same happened when I tried to read Goethe's The Sorrows of Young Werther. As for Balzac, I resisted reading 200 pages of one of his books, but eventually could not resist his intolerably huge descriptions of places, people and so on and so forth. I find dialogue the most effective form of presentation. With the exception of landscapes and surroundings, everything else related to characters can be deduced from dialogue, no need to overdo in matters of descriptive passages. Plus, a lot of them seem to not help with the advancement of the plot/the idea/anything related to the story.
Oh and I also read Catcher in the Rye and didn't quite grasp its meaning... it was just not for me.

[Jonathan]

I've noticed people tend to love or hate Gatsby. I personally found that when I look at it as being a tale designed more to teach a moral lesson that it becomes far more enjoyable.

[Iulia]

Then I suppose most of the people who disliked it do not like the morality of it. I would not know, since I didn't finished it... but if I were to finish it one day, I might not like it for this reason either. Generally, a narrator imposing a certain moral view to his readers is a big no-no for me.

[Jonathan]

I didn't feel it was an imposing of a particular moral view but I see how others could think so. I see it as questioning the morality of characters like Daisy and Gatsby and through that teaching the readers a lesson.

[Maria Jo]

I didn't like 'The Chocolate War.' The sophomore class at my new school read it in English class, so I picked it up out of curiosity. I found it had no great plotline, and swearing and other lewd images were present throughout the whole book, ruining my impression of our English classes.

[Jonathan]

I have no problem with swearing in books so long as it's done in a realistic way although I don't like books that use stronger coarse language. I encounter people who swear regularly so it's not like I can escape it if I try. My problem is when they put every word as any kind of obscenity. People are not like that at all.

The abuse of English aside I find I dislike Cormac McCarthy's writing style on the whole. He has some interesting ideas but the delivery is unappealing.

[Maria Jo]

I thought a lot of the swearing was unnecessary. I do hear swearing a lot, but I try to keep it out of my mind as much as possible.

[Jonathan]

Avoid at all costs China Miéville his work Kraken was terrible for that and such a disjointed plot.

[Martyna]

I can't stand Joseph Conrad. A month ago I had to read 'Heart of Darkness' for my classes and it was a torture. I don't know why, but his writing style seems very overwhelming to me. I had problems not only with following the plot, but also with understanding who is a victim. It doesn't look very clear.

[Whitney]

Jonathan wrote: "Avoid at all costs China Miéville his work Kraken was terrible for that and such a disjointed plot."

Oh no, this is the first I have heard of this.

[Danielle The Book Huntress]

I really disliked Heart of Darkness. It made me feel repulsed during and after I read it. I don't think I will read any more of his books.

[Jonathan]

Matrioszka wrote: "I can't stand Joseph Conrad. A month ago I had to read 'Heart of Darkness' for my classes and it was a torture. I don't know why, but his writing style seems very overwhelming to me. I had problems..."

I had to do the same thing for my University studies. But I have been told his disjointed Heart of Darkness is not his best work so I'm willing to give him another go.

Chakara wrote: "Jonathan wrote: "Avoid at all costs China Miéville his work Kraken was terrible for that and such a disjointed plot."

Oh no, this is the first I have heard of this."

Basically every second work in Kraken was f--- and it turned me off big time. And then the plot was weird, twisted, confusing and overly disjointed along with that. I couldn't properly finish it.

[Martyna]

Jonathan wrote: "I had to do the same thing for my University studies. But I have been told his disjointed Heart of Darkness is not his best work so I'm willing to give him another go."

He surely deserves a second chance. I am willing to read 'Lord Jim', but I have to forget about 'Heart of Darkness" and terribly translation first.

[Jonathan]

Why were you reading Heart of Darkness? School/uni course? I'm just curious.

[Terri Lynn]

I myself taught Heart of Darkness (college level) and there are many levels of meaning to the book. It is not something to just read on the surface level without understanding the deeper meanings and symbolism. The book presents an anti-colonial message of whites from the western nations (Europe in particular) going into Africa and Asia (Africa in this case) and presuming that they are superior and the native peoples and what they have are just there for exploitation. Did you ever see the movie APOCALYPSE NOW? It was loosely based on Heart of Darkness and takes the story to Asia.

[Jonathan]

Yes there are many levels to it as I've found through reading it but the plot is so ambiguous and disjointed. One minute he was on a boat the next he wasn't and then cannibals came from somewhere and it wasn't a nicely flowing narrative. Nice language in the story though.

I also found myself wishing that Conrad would just stop hinting and actively speak his mind on the subject rather than tiptoeing round the elephant in the room. Obviously I understand why he did it but still. Perhaps Heart of Darkness merely hasn't aged as well as the themes in it are less prevalent today as they were in his time.

[Martyna]

Jonathan wrote: "Why were you reading Heart of Darkness? School/uni course? I'm just curious. "

High school. Maybe it was too early, but this is what a curriculum looks like in my country.


The message of 'Heart of Darkness' is pretty clear, but I agree with Jonathan, the narration is too chaotic. It could be an advantage, but not this time. At least for me.

[Carrie]

I think the book I most disliked ever was Naked Lunch. I'm always up for reading something new and innovative but I really did not enjoy that book and found it a tedious read.

[Erin *Proud Book Hoarder*]

I had to abandon Pride and Prejudice. I was sooooo excited about being able to read it too. Tried five times and had to give up at page 38

[Nicolle]

:O I am shocked. What was it that didn't appeal to you?

[Jonathan]

Perhaps too dry? Austen does have a very dry sense of humour although she's quite brilliant. And it's hard to get into her work I find. But when you do it's worth it.

[Jordan]

I think I may be the only person who thinks this but I really disliked "The Grapes of Wrath" by John Steinbeck. I was planning on checking out "Of Mice and Men" by him but I am a bit afraid that it won't keep me interested just like 'Grapes' failed to do.

[Erin *Proud Book Hoarder*]

Nicolle wrote: ":O I am shocked. What was it that didn't appeal to you?"

Sorry I didnt see this response sooner.

I'm not sure exactly, she was too dry to me as suggested. It just seemed like she injected all sorts of flowery unneeded wording and it was just tedious for me to try to read. Usually I'm not picky at all but perhaps its just not my style. I do have another one of hers to try sometime for another chance.

[Clinton]

I greatly disliked Ethan Frome... Oh, and The Great Gatsby. American Lit. was an overall negative class for me due to the required reading selections...

[Elaine]

I don't like anything bu James Joyce , not even his short stories and E M Forster [who of course I was forced to read as part of my literature A level exam.] A Passage to India; Oh my goodness how boring! I later found, however, that although his novels are tedious, Forster writes simply THE BEST short stories. The Machine Stops is still one of the best short stories I've read.

[Elise]

I was made to read Tess of the D'Urbervilles and The Mayor of Casterbridge in quite quick succession whilst at school. I found Thomas Hardy unutterably depressing and have never opened another one of his since.

Oh, and The Scarlet Letter was just dire in every way! I have no idea how I managed to finish it, other than I am aware that I have read very few American Classics and I thought I'd better persevere in case it got better. It didn't!

[Nicolle]

Erin wrote: "Nicolle wrote: ":O I am shocked. What was it that didn't appeal to you?"

Sorry I didnt see this response sooner.

I'm not sure exactly, she was too dry to me as suggested. It just seemed like she..."

Well at least you tried...I hope you have a better experience with another of her works. :)

[Elise]

Jordan wrote: "I think I may be the only person who thinks this but I really disliked "The Grapes of Wrath" by John Steinbeck. I was planning on checking out "Of Mice and Men" by him but I am a bit afraid that it..."

I never got as far as The Grapes of Wrath or Of Mice and Men as I was made to read The Red Pony and The Pearl in fairly rapid succession at school, found both dull and haven't bothered with Steinbeck since.