The least satisfying book for me was The Great Gatsby. I cannot say that the book is bad, but, on the other hand, I think it was written for its time and intended for its time. Today, I see no point in reading it but for historical reasons. I don't see how it is relevant today. Perhaps I am missing something?
"Dullness. Ethereal, ephemeral, allegorical dullness. The blunt boredom rises from the gorge of her insufferable lips and floats like the tiniest feather of a long dead bird until it lands, naked and tired memory next to your fleshy feet. But she is gone now, away, away, like all the others, away, away! Only I, poet man, has chosen to stay. And I welcome you, travelers, to the memory catacombs of the Brunnen-G!" (c) Poet Man
Gatsby has many themes, most of which are relevant today, although the plot definitely reflected 1920's zeitgeist. People haven't changed much since then.
It seemed like a regular love story to me. Except from the 1920's. It was an interesting era, though.
"Dullness. Ethereal, ephemeral, allegorical dullness. The blunt boredom rises from the gorge of her insufferable lips and floats like the tiniest feather of a long dead bird until it lands, naked and tired memory next to your fleshy feet. But she is gone now, away, away, like all the others, away, away! Only I, poet man, has chosen to stay. And I welcome you, travelers, to the memory catacombs of the Brunnen-G!" (c) Poet Man
On the Road was badly written and I hated Muriel Spark's prime of Miss Jean Brodie. It was dull and pointless.
Prosaic styles is the main reason I give Fritzgerald and Kerouac wide berths on the bookshelves.Originally Posted by Ineverland
I also hate this book. Generally, Vonnegut. I've read several of his books and I don't like any one of them. He is the favourite writer of my close friend and we always argue about his prose. But I just cannot make myself like his books, however hard I try.
I also couldn't manage more than a few pages of Conrad's "Nostromo", it was a sheer torture for me.
In dreams begin responsibilities.
I wouldn't say that there are many classics that I hate. There are however quite a few I didn't enjoy as much as their classics status led me to believe I would. I usually find however that reading something a second time helps alot. Once i understand the plot and other basics i can start appreciating the novel alot more the second time around. I don't always find myself entralled reading classics but there is usually always something to be appreciated about them. Some books that i didn't even like the first time around have actually become some of my favourites after subsequent readings. These include On The Road, Catcher in the Rye and Slaughterhouse 5. I guess with those three what dissapointed me was expecting too much from their classic status from what i had read previously about them. But they all grew on me in a major way after time. I also found that Heart of Darkness is an excellent book. The first time around i found it boring and foggy, but felt I was reading
something powerfull. After having to read it a few times for an essay i have found that it's one of the darkest and most powerfull books i've read. Also I loved Of Mice and Men. Yes the ending is incredibly depressing but I look for good books to move me emotionally in any way. A book doesn't have to leave me feeling good at the end for me to enjoy it. Sounds contradictory I know
Now for some of the classics i don't quite care for. Although I have only read them once each
Animal Farm: Although I get that it was about more than what was on the surface I still found it too simplistic. It just felt like I was reading a childrens book.
Catch 22: I actually found this book quite funny, but i found that it seemed to go no where and it felt like the humour was recycled and repetitive. I only made it half way through this one. It wasn't that it was that bad, it's just that i went on to something different and never went back. I'll read it again eventually though.
Pride and Prejudice: Although the writing itself is excellent I found that not enough happened to keep my attention. I also found that i hated most of the characters in the book with a passion. Also i grasped the irony at the start of the book but as i went on i found that I was ignoring it and taking everything that happened at face value
I did not like this book very much. It's not the cruel parts in it which is dislike, but in my opinion Mr. Remarque has problems to really go on with the story. It's
something like carrying a heavy load of words, situations, relationships, but it all ends in a sort of 'making the way around it'. In German language it was the best selling book ever published. So this is a bit strange for me.
I was so looking forward to reading On the road, heard so many great thinks about the novel and i was really dissapointed. I'm glad to see i am not the only oneOh man, I found the constant travel and occassion soap between the characters unbelievably tedious and disorientating with the protagonist's circle of friends seperating and regathering at popular "beat" places throughout the continental States (gee, a small world it had been back then) and hookin up with different lovers and one night stands.
Plus the dialogue was so blase.
Maybe, in it's day it did "capture the spirit of the '50s" but to me downright trite..
I'm not saying it's bad, it's just that it didn't do much for me.
I agree it's not a great novel. But I found it a fun read.I was so looking forward to reading On the road, heard so many great thinks about the novel and i was really dissapointed. I'm glad to see i am not the only one
I'm not saying it's bad, it's just that it didn't do much for me.
LET THERE BE LIGHT
"Love follows knowledge." – St. Catherine of Siena
My literature blog: http://ashesfromburntroses.blogspot.com/
I didn't finish it.I've read half of it and gave up.
Couldn't agree more, Moira.I was so looking forward to reading On the road, heard so many great thinks about the novel and i was really dissapointed. I'm glad to see i am not the only one
I'm not saying it's bad, it's just that it didn't do much for me.
There have been lengthy discussion on this book if you would like to have a look:
http://www.online-literature.com/for...highlight=road
~
"It is not that I am mad; it is only that my head is different from yours.”
~
Lord of the Flies. every single second of it. absolutely the worst I have ever read. I don't even like to think about it, that's how much I hated it.
At the risk of seeming ridiculous, let me say that the true revolutionary is guided by a great feeling of love. It is impossible to think of a genuine revolutionary lacking this quality.
-Ernesto Che Guevara
Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone elses opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation.
-Oscar Wilde
Thanks Scher,
I enjoyed the disussions
Reading On The Road was the literary equivalent of viewing "realism" in film.I was so looking forward to reading On the road, heard so many great thinks about the novel and i was really dissapointed. I'm glad to see i am not the only one
I'm not saying it's bad, it's just that it didn't do much for me.
I still haven't finished Cat's Cradle, I would rather bang my head against stones than torture myself through Vonnegut's drivel against the religious ... see the cat, see the cradle.
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