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Most hated 'classic' novel you've actually read

Thanks for welcoming me back. :)

It would seem that American authors are getting a lot of flack for being "hated classics". Hemingway, Faulkner and Fitzgerald specifically. I wonder if there are specific reasons behind that.
 
Are they taught in schools, where kids hate the books they are forced to learn about by default? I know The Great Gatsby is (or was) taught in Scottish schools, although my class never read it. But I remember most people actually liking that one.
 
Stewart said:
Are they taught in schools, where kids hate the books they are forced to learn about by default?
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That's what I was thinking. Around here if you ask that question people will gripe at having to have read some Canadian classics. Books by Atwood, Davies and Laurence.
 
Faulkner, Heminway, Steinbeck, and Fitzgerald are all taught here, although I personally never had to read Faulkner in a class. I believe the class setting may be part of the issue most people have with these and other American authors. For me, the same teacher that had us reading Hemingway, also had us reading a lot of what I consider depressing material within the same semester, and while it was a college-prep course, I think the teacher might have taken more care to include a few lighter pieces too. But, having said that, that class was one of the best I ever sat in. The discussions were always lively and I couldn't understand why anyone would want to skip THIS class. To Kill a Mockingbird and Huck Finn were required in the 10th grade, and I loved them as I think as much of that was due to the teacher as the books themselves. In my junior year I was able to get into an honors English class for second semester, and we read A Merchant of Venice, and I still remember the fun we had with that..so the teacher and the class can really influence how a student receives any given work.
 
I had some really good teachers that assigned classics I really loved, To Kill A Mockingbird was one, The Old Man And The Sea, Flowers For Algernon. I also remember reading a lot of Poe and the whole class enjoying that but all of the teachers for those assignments were very engaging.

And then there were the teachers that assigned the book, said do a report and then graded you badly with no further explaination and perhaps it was that attitude that left me not caring for those books.
 
Ronny said:
I had some really good teachers that assigned classics I really loved, To Kill A Mockingbird was one, The Old Man And The Sea, Flowers For Algernon. I also remember reading a lot of Poe and the whole class enjoying that but all of the teachers for those assignments were very engaging.

And then there were the teachers that assigned the book, said do a report and then graded you badly with no further explaination and perhaps it was that attitude that left me not caring for those books.
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My husband had a professor like that for his Fiction class at KU..the final was a story about a circus and the prof gave everyone an F if they didn't see the clown as a symbol for God or somesuch rot.
 
abecedarian said:
My husband had a professor like that for his Fiction class at KU..the final was a story about a circus and the prof gave everyone an F if they didn't see the clown as a symbol for God or somesuch rot.
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Exactly and then everytime you see that book you feel confused, inadequate and a bit spiteful and really it may not be the books fault :)
 
Ronny said:
Exactly and then everytime you see that book you feel confused, inadequate and a bit spiteful and really it may not be the books fault :)
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Yeah, and that might be why some people get that creepy crawly sensation up their spine and break out in cold sweats if someone even mentions the words "Classic Literature."
 
I've been reading through the thread and it embarasses me how little i've read of classics! i haven't ready many of hte books you mentioned.

Personally, I hated David Copperfield(way to long and autobiographic) and Emma. I enjoyed pride and prejudice very much, but austen's other books just really don't appeal to me. they don't seem as witty and sarcastic, if you could call them that.

I don't remember who said they hated gone with the wind, but i can't believe it!! I just read it this summer and I loved it! I admit it's a bit long, but still very good.

Another classic I hated is little women, but that's because i read it in 5th grade. my parents made me.

I also abandoned tom sawyer without ever finishing it, i got too bored reading it in 5th grade, but now i'm rereading it and it's not that boring.
 
There were a few classic novels I couldn't get through but one I really remember giving up on was "Oliver Twist" It just dragged and dragged.

Emme by Jane Austen was another one I couldn't finish. It was my first and probably last book by this author. Though everyone keeps telling me to read Pride and Prejudice.
 
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, which I never would've finished if it hadn't been assigned, required reading.

Second to that would be Oliver Twist, which was just too slow and plodding. I suppose I could've switched to another book for that assignment, but that was back in the day when I had this silly compunction to stick with any book I started until the bitter end rolled around.
 
pearl, i'll also tell you to read pride and prejudice. it's great ad the 1st of her books i read. then i tried reading emma and another book by austen, and i just barely got through them. they're so very different and not as entertaining!
 
Peronel said:
After trying several times, I still have never been able to finish The Mill on the Floss, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, or The Getting of Wisdom.

I did finish Wuthering Heights, but I don't understand why everyone thinks Heathcliff is such a romantic hero. I mean, I know there's the whole playing by his own rules, passion overcoming everything blah blah, but he bored me. And Kathy (senior)!!! So glad when she died.

Give me Jane Eyre any day.
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The Mill on the Floss - I struggled with this many years ago, it was the dialect writing that threw me. Tried it again last year and enjoyed it. Must be a 'maturity' thing!

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall - loved this. Underrated in my opinion. But then I am English, and I enjoy reading about English social history, so the concept of a novel in which the chief protaganist struggles against the social constraints of her day appealed to me.

The Getting of Wisdom - can't comment, haven't read it.

And then there's Wuthering Heights...to answer your question from above, anyone who thinks Heathcliff is a romantic hero has not been paying attention - or has expectations based on film or TV adaptations! Approach WH as any kind of romantic novel and you will be disappointed. Approach it as a study of human obsession, jealousy and desire. And don't worry if it doesn't 'work' for you first time. I enjoyed it much more when I re-read it. Trust me...
 
I have developed a hatred for Thomas Hardy. I have actually threatened to dig him up and give him a good, hard slap. Tess of the D'Urbervilles was terrible and The Mayor of Casterbridge is also, but isn't quite as bad as the former. I don't want to get into another long rant about it...

I had to read them for English this year, but my teacher realised that I hated them so much that I don't actually have to study them for the exam (ahh, the benefits of having a class of 3 people).
 
Stewart said:
Are they taught in schools, where kids hate the books they are forced to learn about by default? I know The Great Gatsby is (or was) taught in Scottish schools, although my class never read it. But I remember most people actually liking that one.
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Interesting theory-very true perhaps. Maybe it's taught at the wrong time in a person's life? I mean, I read the book when I was in high school and I couldn't understand for the life of me, how some guy chasing a fish was all that important.:D
 
classics

Pearl said:
There were a few classic novels I couldn't get through but one I really remember giving up on was "Oliver Twist" It just dragged and dragged.
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Since a lot of the classics were written in different times, it isn't surprising that we can't always relate to the style or behaviours. But the stories can give a good picture of the social structures, etiquette and thinking or raise important moral issues or dilemmas. To this end I actually applaud the movie industry which has raised awareness by filming the books.

One of the classics I didn't like and had to force myself to finish reading was "' Catcher in the Rye" but when I realized it was written in 1945 (give or take a year, can't remember exactly) , just after WWII, and the first book that describes teenage angst/depression - then it is an amazing book for the purpose it served. I still hate it, but it transformed thinking and created dialogue.

That creates a classic imo.
M
 
Someone else on here mentioned Dracula. I completely forgot about that most wretched of books..

I'm like to find a copy of it and burn in..along with The Holy Bible..
 
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, I can't stand the character Tom Sawyer. I'm not too keen on Mark Twain either. If you have the chance to read his book The Celebrated Jumping Frog and other short stories, don't!!! That or the Grapes of Wrath, hated it too!
 
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