Famous Books You Hated

**Wongette** · 07-24-2011, 04:14 PM

Okay, what are some famous books that you tried to read, or were forced to read, but that you absolutely hated?

Here are some of mine:
- Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein. Loved Starship Troopers, but this one I found unreadable.
- Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce. 12th grade English teacher tried to force this one on us and I will forever hate it.
- As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner. Forced to read this in 11th grade and forced to listen to my teacher gush about it for hours. I hated the characters.
- Wuthering Heights. Forget which grade. Neither the characters nor the author appeared to have any rationality.
- The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Forced to read this in 9th grade. Just hated the overwrought sentimentality.

Don't get me wrong. There were some great books that I was introduced to through high school English and that I appreciated. But not every loves everything.

**ppu6502** · 07-24-2011, 04:21 PM

The Bible

**BellaBianca** · 07-24-2011, 04:25 PM

Albertine by Christian Krohg. This is an important book in Norwegian history, because it had a direct political influence on the laws of prostitution.

It is a pitiful story about some poor, hard working maid named Albertine who is forced into prostitution because a police officer rapes her.

Norwegian teachers don't necessarily try to make the kids interested in reading. We are to do our duty, I assume.

**Weltschmerzer** · 07-24-2011, 04:32 PM

	Originally Posted by ppu6502 To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	The Bible

Try reading Ecclesiastes.

**zergonipal** · 07-24-2011, 04:40 PM

Seconding Wuthering Heights. I don't hate all romance, but that was melodramatic crap.

Generally unfond of Victorian literature. Jane Eyre might have been groundbreaking back in its day, but this is very much no longer its day. Boring. And how could I forget Pride and Prejudice? Oh, because I wanted to forget it. *facepalm*

And what else... Of Mice and Men - actually, things by Steinbeck generally.
American Psycho - unengaging on every level.

**Beric** · 07-24-2011, 04:49 PM

	Originally Posted by zergonipal To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	I don't hate all romance

	Originally Posted by zergonipal To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	And how could I forget Pride and Prejudice? Oh, because I wanted to forget it. facepalm

In other words, you hate all romance. Pride and Prejudice is the foremost example of its genre, and positively my favorite required reading ever.

	Originally Posted by zergonipal To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	things by Steinbeck generally.

I can definitely agree on this.

Also didn't care for Tale of Two Cities.

**BellaBianca** · 07-24-2011, 04:51 PM

	Originally Posted by Beric To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	In other words, you hate all romance. Pride and Prejudice is the foremost example of its genre, and positively my favorite required reading ever.

You are forgetting about Romeo and Juliet there.

**HackerX** · 07-24-2011, 05:00 PM

Brave New World - With the number of solid "near future" speculative books available, forcing us to read this unimaginative tripe in year 11 instead was dissatisfying. I think what made it worse was that I was reading A Clockwork Orange (which shits all over the former) at the same time and the previous semester's book was The Catcher In The Rye (which I enjoyed more than most it seems)

**Beric** · 07-24-2011, 05:01 PM

	Originally Posted by BellaBianca To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	You are forgetting about Romeo and Juliet there.

I meant of the time period, not of all British literature. But I'll grant you that one. Still, P&P only came into its own more recently.

**Merle** · 07-24-2011, 05:03 PM

	Originally Posted by Wongette To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	Okay, what are some famous books that you tried to read, or were forced to read, but that you absolutely hated? - Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein. Loved Starship Troopers, but this one I found unreadable. Don't get me wrong. There were some great books that I was introduced to through high school English and that I appreciated. But not every loves everything.

Totally agree on Stranger in a Strange Land. It has NOT aged well, I couldn't finish it.

**Imagineering** · 07-24-2011, 05:08 PM

I always thought anything by shakespeare was awful.

**Beric** · 07-24-2011, 05:18 PM

	Originally Posted by Imagineering To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	I always thought anything by shakespeare was awful.

I never cared for it that much either. Then I saw a full-blown, live-performed play by our local Shakespeare group. My opinion is changed forever. Even if you have trouble with the language, it's OK when you can see people as they act. And his works frankly are entertaining live-performed.

thebrainpolice · 07-24-2011, 05:22 PM

	Originally Posted by HackerX To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	Brave New World - With the number of solid "near future" speculative books available, forcing us to read this unimaginative tripe in year 11 instead was dissatisfying. I think what made it worse was that I was reading A Clockwork Orange (which shits all over the former) at the same time and the previous semester's book was The Catcher In The Rye (which I enjoyed more than most it seems)

WHAT! Brave New World was awesome. It was as imaginative and well written as 1984 and Animal Farm, and it did a better job of forecasting the future than either of those two books. Now Frankenstein, that book sucked ass. I can't believe that a book about a reanimated corpse could suck so hard.

**Beric** · 07-24-2011, 05:27 PM

	Originally Posted by thebrainpolice To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	Now Frankenstein, that book sucked ass. I can't believe that a book about a reanimated corpse could suck so hard.

I found Frankenstein surprisingly engaging, if a bit depressing at times. I read it straight through in one afternoon.

**VENUS 2020** · 07-24-2011, 05:35 PM

Catcher in the Rye

**memory** · 07-24-2011, 06:22 PM

Romeo and Juliet - Had to read it two miserable years in a row for school. I love Shakespeare, but he really screwed up on with this one.

One Hundred Years of Solitude - Couldn't even make myself finish it.

Anna Karenina - I seriously have no sympathy for people who obviously make the worst decisions possible and then expect me to feel sorry for them when the shit hits the fan. No, I didn't finish it.

Crime and Punishment - See my above note for Anna Karenina.

Coralaisly · 07-25-2011, 07:52 AM

The Great Gatsby - had to read it twice in high school. Lost respect for both teachers who made me sit through it, because obviously, they hadn't read Nabokov, or they wouldn't be bothering with that swill. I had someone accuse me of "not understanding the depth and symbology of the piece." I cannot remember laughing so hard in my life. Just because I understand doesn't mean I'll suddenly think it's worth reading. I understand Twilight, too, but it's still crap.

Tom Sawyer (sp?)

A Wrinkle in Time - my grandmother adored this book and it's companions. I found myself trying in vain to fall asleep so I wouldn't have to listen to any more of the stupid story.

The Lord of the Rings trilogy - I like the movies, but the books make my eyes bleed.

Anything by Steinbeck. Honestly, if he's considered "Great American Literature" then I would like to use my Native American blood to go back far enough to see if Russia will accept me and I can disassociate myself with American Literature. Russian is far superior. I've had to sit through se en of his books and all of them were a waste of paper and ink.

All of Shakespeare. He should've stuck to molesting the stableboy and kept his musings to himself. We wouldn't have so many melodramatic pseudointellectuals running around if it weren't for him.

**eri** · 07-25-2011, 08:09 AM

The Bear. Faulkener. Sorry, there is no excuse for inflicting "stream of consciousness" on the reader. My thoughts have pauses in them, and that "I'm a great writer, I don't need capitalization or punctuation crap" is just painful.

And Steinbeck. The Grapes of Wrath especially.

I'll give another vote for the Great Gatsby too, and for Wuthering Heights.

**kateg** · 07-25-2011, 08:18 AM

	Originally Posted by zergonipal To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	Seconding Wuthering Heights. I don't hate all romance, but that was melodramatic crap. Generally unfond of Victorian literature. Jane Eyre might have been groundbreaking back in its day, but this is very much no longer its day. Boring. And how could I forget Pride and Prejudice? Oh, because I wanted to forget it.

	Originally Posted by memory To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	Anna Karenina - I seriously have no sympathy for people who obviously make the worst decisions possible and then expect me to feel sorry for them when the shit hits the fan. No, I didn't finish it.

These books are all period pieces whose hidden purpose was to explore the social strictures on people...if you just try to read them as "good stories", you will be sadly disappointed. Reading them as a commentary (and often a very sarcastic one) on society will often produce a much richer experience. I've re-read Jane Austen books many many times and appreciate her great wit more and more...but it was an acquired taste.

**boldbidder** · 07-25-2011, 10:33 AM

Anything by James Joyce.

**Archaic Smile** · 07-25-2011, 11:02 AM

	Originally Posted by memory To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	One Hundred Years of Solitude - Couldn't even make myself finish it.

You're not alone.

I really did try my best to finish; so many people said it was a remarkable book, but I just couldn't plod my way through it. I've read text books that were far more engrossing.

**Reddkatz** · 07-25-2011, 01:34 PM

Twilight series and Harry Potter series.

**memory** · 07-25-2011, 03:48 PM

Originally Posted by kateg
To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

These books are all period pieces whose hidden purpose was to explore the social strictures on people...if you just try to read them as "good stories", you will be sadly disappointed. Reading them as a commentary (and often a very sarcastic one) on society will often produce a much richer experience. I've re-read Jane Austen books many many times and appreciate her great wit more and more...but it was an acquired taste.

My problem does not lie so much in reading period pieces... I usually love them. I'm a literature girl... can't get enough of it. I love reading a vast variety or classic works from ancient through the early 20th century. (I actually don't have a tolerance for modern lit. I keep trying and not being able to stomach it.) Something about Anna Karenina just irked me.

**Sali** · 07-25-2011, 03:51 PM

Catcher in the rye- J.D. Salinger. (Franny and Zooey should have been the famous Salinger book.)

Great Expectations- Charles Dickens

As a side note I love John Steinbecks work so
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**froyo** · 07-25-2011, 06:49 PM

Pride and prejudice

It was worse because of my feminist English teacher.

07-24-2011, 04:14 PM	#1
Wongette Member [13%] MBTI: INTJ Join Date: Feb 2011 Posts: 532	Okay, what are some famous books that you tried to read, or were forced to read, but that you absolutely hated? Here are some of mine: - Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein. Loved Starship Troopers, but this one I found unreadable. - Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce. 12th grade English teacher tried to force this one on us and I will forever hate it. - As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner. Forced to read this in 11th grade and forced to listen to my teacher gush about it for hours. I hated the characters. - Wuthering Heights. Forget which grade. Neither the characters nor the author appeared to have any rationality. - The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Forced to read this in 9th grade. Just hated the overwrought sentimentality. Don't get me wrong. There were some great books that I was introduced to through high school English and that I appreciated. But not every loves everything.
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07-24-2011, 04:21 PM	#2
ppu6502 Special Snowflake MBTI: INTj Join Date: May 2011 Posts: 11,531	The Bible
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07-24-2011, 04:25 PM	#3
BellaBianca Veteran Member [66%] MBTI: INTP Join Date: May 2010 Posts: 2,675	Albertine by Christian Krohg. This is an important book in Norwegian history, because it had a direct political influence on the laws of prostitution. It is a pitiful story about some poor, hard working maid named Albertine who is forced into prostitution because a police officer rapes her. Norwegian teachers don't necessarily try to make the kids interested in reading. We are to do our duty, I assume.
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07-24-2011, 04:40 PM	#5
zergonipal Member [08%] MBTI: INFJ Join Date: Jan 2011 Posts: 342	Seconding Wuthering Heights. I don't hate all romance, but that was melodramatic crap. Generally unfond of Victorian literature. Jane Eyre might have been groundbreaking back in its day, but this is very much no longer its day. Boring. And how could I forget Pride and Prejudice? Oh, because I wanted to forget it. facepalm And what else... Of Mice and Men - actually, things by Steinbeck generally. American Psycho - unengaging on every level.
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07-24-2011, 05:00 PM	#8
HackerX Core Member [166%] MBTI: INTP Join Date: Sep 2007 Posts: 6,667	Brave New World - With the number of solid "near future" speculative books available, forcing us to read this unimaginative tripe in year 11 instead was dissatisfying. I think what made it worse was that I was reading A Clockwork Orange (which shits all over the former) at the same time and the previous semester's book was The Catcher In The Rye (which I enjoyed more than most it seems)
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07-24-2011, 05:08 PM	#11
Imagineering Member [46%] MBTI: xxxx Join Date: Jun 2010 Posts: 1,845	I always thought anything by shakespeare was awful.
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07-24-2011, 05:35 PM	#15
VENUS 2020 Member [10%] MBTI: INTJ Join Date: Jun 2011 Posts: 429	Catcher in the Rye
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07-24-2011, 06:22 PM	#16
memory Member [04%] MBTI: INTJ Join Date: Jun 2011 Posts: 182	Romeo and Juliet - Had to read it two miserable years in a row for school. I love Shakespeare, but he really screwed up on with this one. One Hundred Years of Solitude - Couldn't even make myself finish it. Anna Karenina - I seriously have no sympathy for people who obviously make the worst decisions possible and then expect me to feel sorry for them when the shit hits the fan. No, I didn't finish it. Crime and Punishment - See my above note for Anna Karenina.
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07-25-2011, 07:52 AM	#17
Coralaisly Veteran Member [79%] MBTI: XXXX Join Date: Sep 2009 Posts: 3,185	The Great Gatsby - had to read it twice in high school. Lost respect for both teachers who made me sit through it, because obviously, they hadn't read Nabokov, or they wouldn't be bothering with that swill. I had someone accuse me of "not understanding the depth and symbology of the piece." I cannot remember laughing so hard in my life. Just because I understand doesn't mean I'll suddenly think it's worth reading. I understand Twilight, too, but it's still crap. Tom Sawyer (sp?) A Wrinkle in Time - my grandmother adored this book and it's companions. I found myself trying in vain to fall asleep so I wouldn't have to listen to any more of the stupid story. The Lord of the Rings trilogy - I like the movies, but the books make my eyes bleed. Anything by Steinbeck. Honestly, if he's considered "Great American Literature" then I would like to use my Native American blood to go back far enough to see if Russia will accept me and I can disassociate myself with American Literature. Russian is far superior. I've had to sit through se en of his books and all of them were a waste of paper and ink. All of Shakespeare. He should've stuck to molesting the stableboy and kept his musings to himself. We wouldn't have so many melodramatic pseudointellectuals running around if it weren't for him.
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07-25-2011, 08:09 AM	#18
eri Member [14%] MBTI: INTJ Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 565	The Bear. Faulkener. Sorry, there is no excuse for inflicting "stream of consciousness" on the reader. My thoughts have pauses in them, and that "I'm a great writer, I don't need capitalization or punctuation crap" is just painful. And Steinbeck. The Grapes of Wrath especially. I'll give another vote for the Great Gatsby too, and for Wuthering Heights.
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07-25-2011, 10:33 AM	#20
boldbidder Member [28%] MBTI: INTJ Join Date: Dec 2008 Posts: 1,132	Anything by James Joyce.
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07-25-2011, 01:34 PM	#22
Reddkatz Core Member [184%] MBTI: InTJ Join Date: Feb 2011 Posts: 7,393	Twilight series and Harry Potter series.
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07-25-2011, 03:51 PM	#24
Sali Member [04%] MBTI: INFJ Join Date: Sep 2010 Posts: 182	Catcher in the rye- J.D. Salinger. (Franny and Zooey should have been the famous Salinger book.) Great Expectations- Charles Dickens As a side note I love John Steinbecks work so To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
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07-25-2011, 06:49 PM	#25
froyo Member [28%] MBTI: INTj Join Date: Jan 2011 Posts: 1,149	Pride and prejudice It was worse because of my feminist English teacher.
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