The Worst Classics You Have Ever Read

[ThousandthIsle]

On The Road is terribly dull and boring.

Rucksack bohemians on the road to everywhere.

Agreed! I think it was Capote who said, "That isn't writing - that's typing!"

I didn't enjoy it myself... Which is disappointing - you'd think that a text that sprang from a drug binge would have produced something that enhanced every day events, rather than dulled them down.

Grapes of Wrath was the worst for me. There was an entire chapter about dirt and a turtle. I'm sure this had some significance, but blech. I couldn't even bring myself to finish the book.

I loved the Grapes of Wrath. I think the part you mentioned was one of the chapters where none of the characters appeared, and it described the dust bowl, the famine, the earth and humanity in general. Those chapters (which appeared in between every chapter of the Joads' saga) were my favorites - I thought they depicted the tragedy and suffering of the time beautifully, and drew empathy from the reader. I hated every single one of the Joads, was annoyed when any of them had dialog, but somehow I couldn't stop reading. Someone I discussed this with once said that the Joads are not meant to be liked... Maybe, with that in mind, more people would enjoy the book?

I think the book was effective because the Joads were unlikable... I can't imagine I would be too likable under their living conditions either.

[SnowQueen189]

Alright, I didn't read all the proceeding posts, but for me Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm was the most boring story on the face of the earth!!! It made me want to rip my hair out!

I didn't like Anne of Green Gables much either, but by the 3rd one or so it got to be halfway decent (I received the entire series for christmas one year).

[NickAdams]

I'd like to toss One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest on the dung pile.
I'm going through narrative therapy with Mr. Beckett at the moment.

[chjjacks]

Finnegans Wake

I did not really care for all the 'word-play'. I understand to really get something out of it, I would have to study it more in depth. But I don't find it as impressive as some scholars. I believe Joyce said he wrote it to give them (scholars) something to write about for 200 years.

My favorite thing about it is the first and last sentence (which are the same - - begins with the end and finishes with the beginning).

[AuntShecky]

I have to admit I loved the quartet you mentioned, even the inner chapters of "Moby Dick" (they are quite funny.)
the worst "classics" I was assigned to read (back when I was in school, during the Jurassic Era) were:
Jalousie by Robbe-Grillet (if you take Ambien, etc. and have problems, just read that book. You'll be stacking zzzs
before you can say "Mon Dieu!")
and
Lord of the Flies by William Golding. God, what a boring book, and yet I hear one of the networks is basing a reality show on it! Wow.
p.s. Cf. the blog site of yours truly, w. prior permission to post from the Forum's administrator

journals.aol.com/auntshecky711/aunt-sheckys-news-without-clues

[metal134]

I can't put my finger on why, but I wasn't terribly fond of "Heart of Darkness"

[SnowQueen189]

Oh! I thought of another one! I hated The Great Gatsby. I had to read it for my lit class last year. Everyone else liked it, but for some reason I just couldn't stand it...but I did like Fitzgerald's Winter Dreams...

[metal134]

Oh! I thought of another one! I hated The Great Gatsby. I had to read it for my lit class last year. Everyone else liked it, but for some reason I just couldn't stand it...but I did like Fitzgerald's Winter Dreams...

I sort've agree with that one. I didn't hate "The Great Gatsby", but I left wondering what the big deal with it was. I thought it was OK, but I don't see why everyone fawns over it so much. And I very much like the writing of F. Scott Fitzgerald.

[Noisms]

Now here's an opportunity. While in university, after my third major change, it was Enligh Lit. One of the courses I signed on for was "Restoration Literature" and that was a mistake. Should have sampled it more first. It was really a dip in the quality of EL (e.g. "She Stoops to Conquer") and I voiced this in a final (essay question). Of course the prof. thought this not to be the case and failed me on that test. Although i pushed through the course...this didn't help. quasimodo1

God, yeah, I had the exact same experience in my English Lit. classes at university. Things really took a dip after Shakespeare died. But then again, Pilgrim's Progress was written around then, and I like that. And Paradise Lost.

Worst Classic Ever [tm] has to be The Scarlet Letter. Awful, turgid, dreary nonsense in page-long sentences full of words like "visage" and "interrim". I've never spent a longer two days than the ones I spent on that.

[libernaut]

Huckleberry Finn and Pride and Prejudice. So over rated.

[PeterL]

I can't put my finger on why, but I wasn't terribly fond of "Heart of Darkness"

I can easily understand why someone wouldn't like that. It was written by a man who didn't really understand English, and he was trying to describe situations that were dark and unpleasant.

[Video Drone]

Oh! I thought of another one! I hated The Great Gatsby. I had to read it for my lit class last year. Everyone else liked it, but for some reason I just couldn't stand it...but I did like Fitzgerald's Winter Dreams...

Same here, hated the book.

[Dickens59]

Pride and Prejudice.
I keep trying to read it and can only get half way through. I just don't care about the characters. I will try other Austen though.

[Mary Sue]

Silas Marner. I remember having to read this in high school, and how bleak and depressing I found it. I really enjoyed George Eliot's other masterpiece, The Mill on the Floss, but not this one.

[Quark]

Silas Marner. I remember having to read this in high school, and how bleak and depressing I found it. I really enjoyed George Eliot's other masterpiece, The Mill on the Floss, but not this one.

You found it depressing? Did you to the end? Silas regains his faith in humanity and Eppie gets married. I don't think there was a happier way to end that story. The last words Eppie says are, "O father, what a pretty home ours is! I think no one could be happier than we are". The Mill on the Floss ends with the drowning of the protagonist. Which is more bleak?

That being said, I do like the Mill on the Floss better. Yet, it's not because of the mood that I like one over the other.