<p>Top ten worst books:
<p>It’s so ironic and depressing that top students detest top books.</p>
<p>Ahhh! I loved Cry, the Beloved Country, even after doing a research paper and seminar presentation over it. A relatively thick book, by coomparison. I’d really like to read I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings as well. Loved the poem.</p>
<p>Why is it ironic and depressing? </p>
<p>I’m not trying to say that there isn’t any merit to the classics (of course there is) but that doesn’t mean that every top student needs to love every classic book.</p>
<p>anything my thomas hardy. just say no.</p>
<p>Couldn’t agree more.</p>
<p>The Mayor of Casterbridge (the only Thomas Hardy book I’ve read) was OK</p>
<p>But Far from the madding crowd and Jude the Obscure…<em>shudders</em></p>
<p>And Tess wasn’t too fantastic either but atleast it was better than the others</p>
<p>Another truly foul book is the mill on the floss…I never got beyond reading around 5 pages.</p>
<p>Here to defend the Brontes. (note the screen name)</p>
<p>What??? You guys are all CRAZY!</p>
<p>Tess is a great book. The writing style’s fantastic, and its statement, I thought, was very powerful–if a little depressing.</p>
<p>Sound and the Fury was oodles of fun. I loved trying to piece together what was going on from all the little clues; it was like a puzzle, and I love puzzles.</p>
<p>I liked Steinbeck because his writing style effected a sort of simple rhythmic lull and thus everything seemed so stark and powerful.</p>
<p>And Ulysses? My god, that’s the funniest book I’ve ever read! I mean, sure, you need a good set of notes, and it’s hard to get into the style of it, but once you do, man, is it ever HILARIOUS. Joyce is so witty, and the book is full of word play, which I LOVE. Sure, it’s hard, but it’s not impossible, and wading through it is well worth the effort.</p>
<p>I’ve never read Heart of Darkness, but I have read Lord Jim, and I fell in love with Conrad’s sentence structure. The way he builds his sentences so that they just feel so perfect when you get to the end of them, the way he manipulates their construction so that the emphasis falls on the most striking phrases… man, and to think English wasn’t even his first language! The man was a genius, and he sure as hell knew how to write.</p>
<p>And somebody criticized Metamorphosis? You mean Kafka? That was FANTASTIC. I burst out laughing at the very beginning at the absurdity of the entire situation, and then I just couldn’t put it down. GREAT stuff.</p>
<p>Then again, I suppose I am somewhat unusual in that I like pretty much everything I read of the “great books.” This, I think, is because I like books not so much for their content as for their writing style (I have fun examining how different writing styles can evoke different things from a merely technical standpoint), and since most of the greats could write or they wouldn’t have lasted, I can get into almost anything. </p>
<p>Although I must say, I tried and tried to like Catcher in the Rye, but I just couldn’t. I found it it trite and contrived.</p>
<p>The Awakening was HORRIBLE and so was CRIME AND PUNISHMENT. Anything by a Bronte is also horrible.</p>
<p>I liked Crime and Punishment :)</p>
<p>hmm what are some other books I’ve abhored…
Well I really didn’t like Lord of the Flies, but I’m not denying it’s literary power.</p>
<p>The Jungle by Upton Sinclair was a book that read like a 400 page pamphlet for socialism. Not a good literary book by any means. However I’m not denying it’s power in history.</p>
<p>I read a book in my freshman year english class called “The Chocolate War”. I remember hating it with a passion, though now I can’t remember much about it.</p>
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i’ll have to file this gem away for later use - the accuracy of this description could not be truer!</p>
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Sure, some of us hate some of these classic, canon-of-literature worthy books, but we like a lot of the books that belong in this category as well. If you’ve read more than one post on this thread, you’ll see that people have different likes and dislikes. It’s all a matter of personal opinion; to say that just because we are smart means that we should like books that are deemed to be good is fatuous - every book has a different appeal (or lack thereof) for each reader.</p>
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<p>LOL kitkattail…I can tell you’re an avid reader</p>
<p>The Grapes of Wrath is my spring break reading assignment this year…yeah it’s really not so hot thus far…</p>
<p>But my vote for crappiest famous book has got to be Pride and Prejudice. I have not yet met a single straight male who has even remotely enjoyed that book. Not saying that they’re not out there, just that there…aren’t many of them.</p>
<p>"But Far from the madding crowd and Jude the Obscure…<em>shudders</em></p>
<p>And Tess wasn’t too fantastic either but atleast it was better than the others</p>
<p>Another truly foul book is the mill on the floss…I never got beyond reading around 5 pages."</p>
<p>I cant agree with you more Sucharita!!</p>
<p>I</p>
<p>100 years of solitude and siddhartha. ick</p>
<p>As I Lay Dying, Huckleberry Finn, The Color Purple</p>
<p>I liked AILD</p>
<p>I think The Alchemist is a very very overrated book. It isn’t bad but it isnt all its made out to be.</p>
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<p>I’m not denying its beautifully written but it is just soooo melodramatic!</p>
<p>But I love Steinbeck. East of Eden is practically God’s greatest gift to humanity :)</p>
<p>ok ethan frome was the worst book ever written, they honestly thought they could kill themselves with a sled and a tree?! Of course they would end up horribly disfigured and unhappy! AHHh, the whole book was like watching a train wreck in slow motion. Damn ethan and his sense of obligation!</p>
<p>As I Lay Dying is the next book we’re reading in class…after we finish Heart of Darkness. Is she trying to kill us? Torture us? Make us suffer as we die a long, slow, painful death?</p>
<p>And Conrad is an interesting character, though I have loathed his literature (the only book worse than HOD was the first one of his we read back in sophomore year, The Secret Sharer). I was really surprised to learn English was his third language. That makes me think he uses unnecessarily verbose language to show off his skills…</p>