We all have them. Beloved books that we just didn’t get, that make us question the sanity of the world for liking said books in the first place. It inevitably goes something like this: “Clearly I’m not crazy, so the fact that so many people liked X book is a sign that the rest of the world is crazy.”
But of course it’s just a reflection of the subjectivity of books and the fact that no one will ever agree on one book. And also, I hope people will consider this subjectivity before they describe something as a “piece of trash” in an Amazon review. (You know who you are, nearly everyone in America.)
So You Tell Me: What revered/beloved/classic book did you just not get into? PLEASE RESTRICT YOUR ANSWERS TO DEAD AUTHORS, and let’s even try and treat them with respect. I don’t need to be haunted by the ghost of Edith Wharton this week.
Anonymous says
What a great post!! Mr. Bradford?
Anonymous says
Anything by SHAKESPEARE! – Great stories, but far too much confusing waffle!!!
LORD OF THE RINGS – Again, great story, but too waffly!
WUTHERING HEIGHTS – Dull dull dull
JANE AUSTEN – Cut the cr*p, woman, and stop waffling!
I choose to remain anon!
Carolyn says
Madam Bovary by Flaubert. I hated that book and found it insulting, too.
Brian Jay Jones says
Ulysses, I tried. I really did. I just couldn’t do it.
Anonymous says
I majored in English, so I had to read a lot of classics.
I really didn’t like LORD OF THE FLIES. It just wasn’t my style of story (I prefer at least some humor and/or happiness). Also, I’m not fond of ROMEO & JULIET and pretty much all of Shakespeare (I can tolerate A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM, though).
Ulysses says
Someone mention me?
Strangely enough, I’ve never even tried to read Joyce’s tome.
My personal bane is the Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan (recent, yes, but he passed away a short time ago, and so qualifies under Nathan’s terms and conditions). It has been a best-seller and has many fans (thus, “revered”). I gave up after reading book 6: a thousand pages of dense prose punctuated by a single plot development that occurs in the last fifty pages.
I don’t get the hype that surrounds most classics. I enjoy Hemingway and Dickens, Faulkner and Fitzgerald, but what sends literary critics into paroxysms of joy leaves me only entertained, not enlightened. I’ve tried to read Don Quixote twice so far.
Bryan says
um, Gabriel Marquez, can anyone say lost in translation.
Hanakoalways says
Lord of the Flies.
I couldn’t get past the intro because i didn’t like, or care about what happened to any of the characters.
Perhaps it is also that i sort of knew what was going to happen.
that is the biggest problem with popular fiction, every one knows the story, and they just want to warp to the good parts instead of politely taking the road.
I think i must also add “Pride and Prejudice” to the list. In fact I would even be so bold as to add all of Jane Austin. I respect her work, and even enjoy certain paragraphs of it. But over all i find her plots too flat, her heroines too stupid and her heroes to feminine.
pero es mi opinion sola.
-lillian
wonderer says
Liked ULYSSES, enjoyed PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST AS A YOUNG MAN, but had a peek into FINNEGAN’S WAKE and didn’t even try. There’s a limit to how much cleverness and linguistic/cultural in-jokes I’ll tolerate.
My dirty little secret is that I’m underwhelmed by Shakespeare. Sure, he’s good, but is he really that good? I can’t get into any of his comedies, either on paper or on film or even onstage. I love some of the tragedies, though.
Didn’t appreciate:
Lord of the Flies. Talk about depressing.
Eye of the World. For the length, there’s far too little happening and too little change in the characters. (I do like Tolkien, though, mostly for the worldbuilding rather than the prose.)
For an English major, it’s sad how many of the classics mentioned I’ve never studied….
Kate H says
For Whom the Bell Tolls and anything else by Hemingway. I just can’t take his misogynism.
mkcbunny says
Oh, Pilgrim’s Progress. How could I forget?
One summer when I was young, my mother insisted we read a chapter of it aloud after dinner every night. Now this is not the ideal way to experience a book, being forced as a teen.
I found these “dessert” sessions excruciating. Like forced bible lessons.
C.J. says
hey michelle, thanks for the props on the font!
what an interesting thread. i’d like to point anyone who mentioned a hemingway book to ‘a moveable feast.’ i’ve never met anyone who didn’t love that book, even after swearing off hemingway after ‘old man.’
ooo, yes, slaughterhouse five is a good choice. i remember being so sure i’d love it. i need to read it again i suppose ’cause almost nothing stuck with me from the first read.
there seem to be several people who are intending to give ‘ulysses’ a shot here – if you do, i highly recommend finding a copy of ‘the new bloomsday book’ to read simultaneously.
Kathryn Harris says
I’m going to get in trouble for this, I’m sure, but I never could get into C.S. Lewis.
I never understood everyone’s fascination with anything that had to do with “The Chronicles of Narnia.”
I’m also less than enthused about L. Ron Hubbard’s writings.
Redzilla says
To avoid finishing Moby Dick, I took a calculated risk on my MA lit exam. I decided 100 pages in that I would essentially prepare myself for every other piece of work on the master list rather than finish a book dead certain to appear on the exam. I resigned myself to the fact that I wouldn’t have to answer 6 of 10 questions. I would have to answer 6 of 9.
Anonymous says
Pride and Prejudice. Because women with jobs are so much more interesting to read about than unemployed chicks who sit around yippity-yapping for hundreds of pages.
-Sarah T.
RED STICK WRITER says
The Great Gatsby sucked as a book. The only movie version I’ve seen is the 1974 one starring Redford and Farrow. It sucked, too. I would like to have Redford’s collection of shirts from the movie. It has a scene of its own, which unfortunately was one of the best in the flick.
nancorbett says
I know her fans will want to burl me alive for saying this, so many people just love her. I have never been able to get through any of Jane Austen’s books.
Jared X says
A word in defense of BROTHERS KARAMAZOV, herein earlier dissed. It was written in Russian and as a serial. I’ve read it in its original tongue and it really loses something in translation.
Also, I’d defend the oft-mentioned-here SCARLET LETTER, which I rather liked. My classic-that-I-don’t-get is Hawthorne’s next: HOUSE OF THE SEVEN GABLES. Could be because my modern eyes tripped every time I saw the name Hepzibah.
Anonymous says
Anything by William Faulkner. Swear to dog – I. Just. Don’t. Get. It. Started one of his novels once, put it down, never went back, wouldn’t buy another one. Nobel Laureate???!!
Thanks for asking. 🙂
Hanakoalways says
Yes, Wonderer,
I totally agree. Shakespeare has some great stuff, don’t get me wrong. But hes not the God every one says he is. In my opinion good art is readily apparent, not just after you dig threw it in English class.
though i would disagree with you, i think his comedies are top notch, his tragedies are just ok.
nancorbett says
Aw. I love william faulkner and the brontes. And I thought Turn of the Screw was great. I’ve never even tried to read Moby Dick. Somehow, I just know…
I’ve never made it through Ulysses, though I’ve tried several times. I even locked myself in my car with the audio version and a 1200 mile road trip and had to stop because I was hitting the replay button so often it was impairing my driving.
https://jerzegurl.livejournal.com says
The Great Gatsby. I hated the characters. I tried reading it, but to me they were just a bunch of whinning people feeling sorry for themselves and looking for opportunity.
I also did not like of Mice and Men. I didn’t like most of the characters. I know that Lenny was mentally challenged, but the puppy thing got me.
Nathan Bransford says
Repeat after me:
J.D. Salinger is alive….
J.D. Salinger is alive….
J.D. Salinger is alive….
J.D. Salinger is alive….
J.D. Salinger is alive….
J.D. Salinger is alive….
J.D. Salinger is alive….
J.D. Salinger is alive….
writtenwyrdd says
Mill on the Floss. Anything George Eliot was too painful and slow for me.
Anonymous says
nacorbett: Shakespeare was written for the plebs – the average man – and WAS readily apparent 400 years ago. Ir’s not his fault the language changed over time.
Anonymous says
Sorry… I meant to address the last post to Hanakoalways
Anonymous says
Too late to add MARBLE FAUN by N. Hawthorne? (He’s definitely dead.)
Adaora A. says
@Nathan – ! ^_^
I don’t understand why people are anti-Salinger. Or Hawthorne for that matter. SCARLETT LETTER is one of my favorites of all time. Ironically, my favorite classics happen to be manditory reads from high school. Go figure!
R.J. Keller says
“J.D. Salinger is alive…”
Nathan’s gotta catch us before we start to go over the cliff.
Anonymous says
Thankfully, I don’t think JD Salinger really gives a crap what people think of him.
For the record, I enjoyed Catcher in the Rye and bought a copy at a garage sale for 25 cents just so I could have it on my shelf! ; D
Jennifer Hendren says
Nathan,
OH NO!! So sorry. (sheepish grin)
Nathan says
I just didn’t get Naked Lunch. I realize he was going for a whole “attack on the word” kind of thing, but really…come on.
Eva Gale says
“Sarah said…
I’m reading all of these comments from people about how much they hated Moby Dick. I suspect this is because they tried to read it on their own, or had to read it for a class in which the teacher didn’t like it or taught about it poorly. I really liked Moby Dick, but I think part of it was the class I took and the eye-opening discussions that went with it. I think taking a good class on Moby Dick (or Faulkner, for that matter) is a must for really appreciating them.
I will say, though, that I also didn’t get into Lord of the Flies, Slaughterhouse Five, Brave New World, and the Scarlet Letter. First three were read for high school, last for college. By the same teacher who taught Moby Dick, actually.
APRIL 23, 2008 6:45 PM”
Lol-I loved every book you mentioned but hated Moby Dick. 🙂
Anonymous says
LEAVE SHAKESPEARE ALONE!
And yes, he is that brilliant.
A knavish speech sleeps in a foolish ear, and I guess great poetry may as well.
pdtoler says
Love Hawthorne, but Mark Twain?
Sarah says
From anon at 10:24 a.m.:
Pride and Prejudice. Because women with jobs are so much more interesting to read about than unemployed chicks who sit around yippity-yapping for hundreds of pages.
-Sarah T.
Now wait, books about women with jobs are more interesting than books about women without jobs? Women with jobs don’t have time to do anything interesting. I’ve got a job, and my life is three times more boring than it was when I was unemployed. Think of all the interesting things I could do were I an aristocrat living off the fam’s money. Just sayin’.
2readornot says
Fun to read through these as it brings back memories of high school honors English.
I thought Billy Budd was okay. Never got past the first chapter of Moby Dick (and have never been interested enough in the subject to try again); similarly, I LOVE Edith Wharton’s short story Roman Fever (I hope got that title right), yet also thought Ethan Frome was the most depressing story every written (I cried for days).
Never been able to get into Faulkner, either, but I think it’s because my first taste of him was The Sound and the Fury, which I just plain couldn’t follow.
Book Calendar says
I could not get into Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens. I found it boring and rather slow reading.
Anonymous says
Wow. Faulkner, Steinbeck, and even my man Huck Finn taking it on chin. HOLY COW!
TFree
Notalama says
I simply could not get into ‘Dracula’. Finished it, but didn’t like it much. ‘Ivanhoe’ I still haven’t gotten through, but I’m working on it.
Also, like someone else who commented, I simply did not like ‘Tess of the D’Ubervilles’
Adored Moby Dick however. Really.
Anonymous says
“From anon at 10:24 a.m.:
Pride and Prejudice. Because women with jobs are so much more interesting to read about than unemployed chicks who sit around yippity-yapping for hundreds of pages.”
Hee! Though I love PREJUDICE, but it’s so so true about the yippity-yapping….
Linda
writeidea says
There have been books that bored me, but books that I didn’t get–can’t say there were any, at least not in the dead author category. I can’t remember ever reading a book and asking afterwards what on earth was this about? Maybe I just have an insane ability to create meaning where none exists.
Anonymous says
I’ve had a change of heart on one classic. Twice before I hit 30, I had NOT read A Tale of Two Cities TWICE–it was assigned in school on two separate occasions and I just could not get through it. Then, about 15 years after college, I picked it up and was blown away.
Anonymous says
What I meant to say: Twice before I hit 30, I had NOT read A Tale of Two Cities. I forgot to remove the second TWICE. Sheesh.
Lynne says
Brave New World gave me nightmares, so I stopped. Wuthering Heights should have withered and died. Mr. Hemingway, no points this round. Faulkner, Flannery O’Connor, both great. Shakespeare, Chaucer, fabulous. Oh, how sharper than a servant’s tooth, to not like Mr. Shakespeare. Though I could toss Romeo & Juliet. Lark. Nightengale. Lark. Nightengale. Lark. Nightengale. My eyes are crossing. Better leave.
Nancy Beck says
Rebecca, Daphne du Maurier
The opening line was great for me; the words after that – not so much. (I think I gave up reading it after about the 4th or 5th page.)
Loved the film, even though it was “cleaned up” for the audiences of that time (came out in 1940).
Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
If any SF people read this blog, they probably want to smack me, but I just didn’t care for it. I got the jokes (and I love humor in books; I have plenty in the one I’m writing and rewriting now).
And I know the plot was nonsensical…but I guess I was irritated that what plot there was didn’t make sense to me. I was so irritated by it all that I just sat down at one point and finished it in one day (because I wanted it off my mind).
I’d wanted to read it for some time, so when my sis-in-law’s husband offered this and the other books in his series, of course I said yes.
Oh well.
E.M.Alexander says
Portrait of an Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce
He’s a chaste little Catholic boy. He gets whooped on by his teacher. Then he’s sleeping with women of ill-repute. I have a vague recollection that he does a total moral 360 because he falls in love with a nice girl…but it all gets hazy after that.
Read the words, but they didn’t penatrate. Or resonate.
carolssbaby says
HEART OF DARKNESS. it was the literary equivalent of being stuck talking to an ugly guy with a boner. boring but awkward at the same.
freddie says
Dostoevsky. I loved Crime and Punishment, but I could not get past page 150 in Brothers Karamazov. I slogged my way through The Idiot.
With Brothers, I became impatient because nothing actually happened up until that point. It was basically 150 pages of explaining the characters.
I’m reading Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, and I’m surprised I don’t really like his writing so far. But it could be just bad timing. Sometimes I don’t like an author at first, but a chapter or two in, I’m hooked.
melodyayresgriffiths says
I readily agree that THE HOBBIT was good, but LOTR was rambling, and far too long. It seems to me that, perhaps, Tolkien was signed to a three book deal, and decided to take the lazy route to fulfill his obligations *wink*.
On the more ‘classic’ front, I’m not that fond of any semi-modern ‘literary masterpiece;’ I find that the authors tend to be a bit full of themselves, and there’s nothing worse than someone who thinks they’re being profound. Frankly, I don’t think I like much that isn’t genre fiction; however, I’m not a literature student and, as such, that does not matter.
Most science fiction, with the exception of Heinlein, Ellison or any of the more socially-oriented authors, bores me silly. Technical nonsense should be the ornaments of the story and never the core; the future is merely one possible setting for a narrative and should never be the reason for it.
Books, like LORD OF THE FLIES, that make some sort of political point were relevant at their publication but, in this day and age, I think we all ‘get’ what they had to say. I don’t think it’s possible to have avoided the recent onslaught of liberal media and opinio-mentaries that have beaten the general public over the head with such notions ad nauseum.
Finally, for the record, I love PRIDE AND PREJUDICE and it’s ilk, as well as anything by Dickens; despite his social commentary, the stories themselves are endearing. MOBY DICK I could never finish; although I understand the point it attempts to make, it could have been more brief about making it.
If I had to pick one book I particularly disliked, it would have to have been Asimov’s FOUNDATION. To me, any of his works provide a great cure for insomnia. If there was one author I just didn’t get, it would be old Isaac.