I decided to do a Booking Through Thursday today. The question was what book/s have I not liked that were considered good books? My mind immediately went back to books I hated as a kid. Not that I haven't read or tried to read classics more recently that I could not warm up to. But as a kid I remember encountering a few books that were supposed to be good for me that I simply loathed. It would be interesting now to see if I liked them better or if my feelings would be the same. For better or for worse, I rarely hate a book now. If I think a book is awful, I simply put it down. So for truly intense emotions I go back to my youth.
Book 1:
Curious George.
Not exactly a classic but it was my younger brother's favorite series and I read it to him many times. I couldn't stand and still will not go near the Curious George series of picture books. It still makes me shudder internally.
Book 2:
Kim, by Rudyard Kipling. An elementary school teacher I much admired suggested I read Kim. Since I loved some of Kipling's short works (the Jungle Books and Rikki Tikki Tavi) I had a good attitude going in. I couldn't stand it. I really tried because I loved the teacher. Was I just too young?
Book 3:
Emma, by Jane Austen. The same teacher assigned this book. It is the only book I ever used Cliff Notes on. I couldn't finish it. Incidentally I loved Pride and Prejudice and enjoyed Sense and Sensibility well enough.
Book 4:
An American Tragedy, by Theodore Dreiser. I don't remember why but I couldn't stand it. I felt it was truly boring.
I'm reluctant to go back to any of these books because they left such a bad feeling. Maybe I should just to prove how open mind I can be. But so many books, so little time.
7 comments:
I have three other titles for my answer. Come see. Happy BTT.
I was never an Austen fan, so I'll agree with you on that one. This is Banned Books week in the States, worth checking out the ALA's site.
For me it has to be
The Giving Tree by Silverstien. I see it as one of those mother-martyr books, where the woman/tree just keeps giving and the male just keeps taking. It's a book about abuse, and it's horrifying.
The Catcher in the Rye by Salinger. I had to read it as a teen, and I thought it was pointless and boring. So, last year, I re-read it to see if it appealed to my mature mind. It didn't. I agree with my 14-year-old self; it's pointless and boring.
Intruder in the Dust by Falkner. Why, oh why does this man feel the need to write 4 and 1/2 PAGE-long sentences?!!!
Moby Dick by Melville. boring, pointless -- the most action occurred in the chapters on the anatomy of the whale.
You never know, you might like them today ;)
Paperback writer--I had the same feeling about Catcher in the Rye. In fact I hated it as a kid and was recently trying to reread it and didn't make it past the first page.
Amusingly my son is reading Moby Dick and liking it. I could never make myself read it personally although now I feel I should challenge myself.
I hate Austen!
My BTT post!
I once had an argument with a friend about whether Curious George was an ape or a monkey. It went something like this:
Me: You know, Curious George. The mischevious monkey.
Her: Curious George is an ape.
Me: WHAT?!
Her: Monkeys have tails. Curious George doesn't have a tail, so he's an ape.
Me: You're insane. He's a monkey.
Her: Does he have a tail? NO! ergo, he's an ape.
Me: Well, then, he's... uh... misrepresented.
Her: He's an ape, I'm telling you.
(I hate ALL Shakespeare except HAMLET. Seriously. What an over-rated hack.)
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