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Literature you wanted/were supposed to like, but just couldn't

post #1 of 249
3/10/09 at 12:23pm
Thread Starter 
For me, it was much of Shakespeare. I haven't bothered reading it since HS/early college, but his overly flowery speech and emo characters really rubbed me the wrong way, although some of his darkest work was bearable.

Also, I personally found Gladwell's The Tipping Point rather boring and not that insightful.

Lastly, I really liked Lolita but am not quite sure why it is considered one of the best Russian novels when (in my humble opinion/limited literary knowledge) Dostoevsky's works are a step above.
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post #2 of 249
3/10/09 at 12:25pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by MetroStyles View Post
For me, it was much of Shakespeare. I haven't bothered reading it since HS/early college, but his overly flowery speech and emo characters really rubbed me the wrong way, although some of his darkest work was bearable.

Also, I personally found Gladwell's The Tipping Point rather boring and not that insightful.

Lastly, I really liked Lolita but am not quite sure why it is considered one of the best Russian novels when (in my humble opinion/limited literary knowledge) Dostoevsky's works are a step above.

Lolita is a Russian novel? It's all about his relationship with the english language son.

The tipping point isn't considered a good book any more than Dan Brown books are.
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post #3 of 249
3/10/09 at 12:26pm
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Fuuma View Post
Lolita is a Russian novel? It's all about his relationship with the english language son.

The tipping point isn't considered a good book any more than Dan Brown books are.

I meant by great Russian authors, not situated in Russia.
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post #4 of 249
3/10/09 at 12:27pm
Tristan
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post #5 of 249
3/10/09 at 12:27pm
Crime and Punishment. yuk.
The Great Gatsby. yuk
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post #6 of 249
3/10/09 at 12:28pm
Proust. Shut up and die already.
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post #7 of 249
3/10/09 at 12:29pm
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Originally Posted by Thomas View Post
Crime and Punishment. yuk.
The Great Gatsby. yuk

Big +1 on Crime and Punishment. Did not like any of Tolkein's work either.
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post #8 of 249
3/10/09 at 12:31pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Thomas View Post
Crime and Punishment. yuk.
The Great Gatsby. yuk

I was very lukewarm on Gatsby, but I loved Crime & Punishment.
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post #9 of 249
3/10/09 at 12:34pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Manton View Post
Proust. Shut up and die already.

+1. Also Ulysses by Joyce.
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post #10 of 249
3/10/09 at 12:34pm
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Originally Posted by Bhowie View Post
Big +1 on Crime and Punishment. Did not like any of Tolkein's work either.

ah, that reminds me, I had read the Hobbit and the first of the trilogy, and was in the middle of The Two Towers, when I remembered that reading used to be fun. That was...what, seventh grade? I put it down and never picked it back up again. Haven't seen the movies, either.
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post #11 of 249
3/10/09 at 12:34pm
Twain's oeuvre.

Can't remember which HS English class I had to read it for but I had to buy an abridged copy so I could read and finish it.
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post #12 of 249
3/10/09 at 12:35pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by edinatlanta View Post
Twain's oeuvre.

Can't remember which HS English class I had to read it for but I had to buy an abridged copy so I could read and finish it.

(cheap shot edited out)

I find him quite uneven myself, and more or less resigned myself to pilfering his quotes.
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post #13 of 249
3/10/09 at 12:36pm
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Originally Posted by iammatt View Post
Tristan

Like Tristan and Iseult? God I hated that and Parcifal....
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post #14 of 249
3/10/09 at 12:37pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Manton View Post
Proust. Shut up and die already.
This. Got through twenty pages of Remembrance of Things Past before giving up. If I want 40 hours of rambling by a navel-gazing hypochondriac, I'll volunteer at an old folks home. However, some of these other answers make me .
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post #15 of 249
3/10/09 at 12:39pm
Some parts of the Bible -- especially the lineage-heavy ones.
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