Classic?

Does "Wurthering Heights" count? I read 40 pages that were the equivalent of 120 in a regular book and I was bored out of my skull the whole time.

A separate piece was okay, it was sorta boring though :( but my least favorite classic is definitely call of the wild. I could barely even read the first PARAGRAPH without falling asleep. I guess i'm just not into wolf/dog books. :cry:

I would have to say that I was VERY disappointed by Call of the Wild. But to each their own I suppose; I loved both tKaM and RaJ... *shrug*

@Julia: Wuthering Heights is definitely considered a classic. I can't sit through it, either.

Originally Posted by JoieD

@Julia: Wuthering Heights is definitely considered a classic. I can't sit through it, either.

Aww, I loved "Wuthering Heights." I liked "Jane Eyre" a lot better, though. That book is just what a gothic novel ought to be like, in my opinion.

Anyway, I'd have to say my least favorite classics of all time are "The Grapes of Wrath" and "Pride and Prejudice." "The Grapes of Wrath" is horribly pointless and dull and it really, really drags. Steinbeck takes four pages to describe a turtle crossing the road, for God's sake. Not cool. "Pride and Prejudice" I hate because it seems to me like it's really just "The Clique" or some other such teen drivel with fewer skanks and bigger words.

Oh Grapes of Wrath!! That was pretty bad. I hated that every time they stopped, someone died. Well, okay, that's not quite accurate, but ... yeah. Definitely not a book I'd read again.

Funny, though. I liked Of Mice and Men.

@zombie-tart: Perhaps your dislike of Pride and Prejudice comes from never having had to analyze Jane Austen's work for more than the romance? She was really a satirist at heart, and that's where her stories become good. But certainly there are many people who can't handle the simplistic plots of her work.

The Grapes of Wrath isn't pointless for me. I grew up in Oklahoma, so the whole Dust Bowl thing is something I've been hearing about all my life.

Have any of you guys ever read A Streetcar Named Desire?

I don't particularly dislike it. I just don't understand a word of what's going on.

Originally Posted by Gnomesquid

Have any of you guys ever read A Streetcar Named Desire?

I don't particularly dislike it. I just don't understand a word of what's going on.

A long time ago. That was the "STELLA!!!" play, right?

Mine is definitely Paradise Lost. Curse you Milton. Curse you!

Someone's named Stella, I think. But I don't remember who.

When I'm reading it, as I read one word I forget the word that came before it. So I understand it while reading it, but have no memory of anything, or any sort of plot.

So I just agree with everything the teacher says. It seems to be working so far...

Originally Posted by Gnomesquid

Someone's named Stella, I think. But I don't remember who.

When I'm reading it, as I read one word I forget the word that came before it. So I understand it while reading it, but have no memory of anything, or any sort of plot.

So I just agree with everything the teacher says. It seems to be working so far...

Aaw... ha ha. I think there's a movie out there that you could probably try if you actually want to know what's going on. It was pretty good, if I remember correctly.

Some of the Shakespeare plays. I HATED doing them in school. Yuck.

The movie of A Streetcar Named Desire is a classic! Think young Marlon Brando. I haven't read the play in years. What I remember most is how very detailed the actions/descriptions (non-dialogue) were--like it was really a novel.

The book I loath the most off the top of my head is Tess of the D'urbervilles.
That damn book sits on the desk behind me, taunting me.
I swear, I will burn it one day.

I actually think my honors english teacher ruined it.
Ran that thing into the ground she did. Paperpresentationsreadingpackets.
I love that teacher, but I don't think I've ever disliked a story so badly.

I think my least favorite classic would have to be Lord of the Flies, by William Golding. I read it in high school, and for some reason I just couldn't get into it. I think it was because I couldn't understand why the boys did some of the things they did. It just didn't seem plausible, although I'm sure that wasn't the author's intent. I don't know... talking Satanic pig heads just don't do it for me, I guess. ^^;; I've been meaning to read it again, though, at the urging of a friend who insists that it's wonderful. Perhaps I'll feel differently after a second reading...

I hated:

The Great Gatsby - terribly written, not even enjoyable. There is no redeeming quality anywhere.

Catcher in the Rye - strewn with expletives for no reason. I like a good curse word every now and then and I certainly don't have a clean vocabulary but this book is just ridiculous. I also have no sympathy for the main character. I can't relate to anything in this book. It is hypocritical and completely worthless.

For some reason people always refer to this as a "coming of age story" though I can't see why. The main character never even comes in age. He's emotionally stagnant and completely self absorbed.

I hate books that feature rich kids having existential crises in general, I guess.

Grapes of Wrath - 3 chapters about a turtle. That is all.

Memoirs of a Geisha - I don't know if this is considered a "classic" yet but I shall loathe the day it becomes one. Anything about geishas written by a white man, fictional novel or not, is bound to suck terribly. Of course Sayuri spends her entire life trying to get this man that is old enough to be her father, and she barely knows anything about his personality. Forget the "art" of being a geisha, this story sets females back a thousand years

@Din: Yes, if I could ever bring myself to burn a book, it might well be Tess of the D'Urbevilles. I'd probably put this one Titanic poem by Thomas Hardy in their with it.

Most likely my least favorite falls between a few:

-Jane Eyre
-Frankenstien
-The Awakening

It seems that I simply cannot STAND feministic literature. While I do understand the situation was far different during that time period, it only makes me angry to read about their incessant whining about not being able to marry someone in good stature that would also be kind to them. I understand the plight, but please... do not make me read it. /sadface

I saw a video on Youtube of someone burning A Separate Peace. I watched it over, and over, and over...

I just added it up, and I'm spending over 180 minutes a day at school just trying to understand A Streetcar Named Desire. I have a double language class, I've been doing it in resource, and I've been meeting with the teacher during study hall.

We're only at the end on scene one, but I already hate it. I seem to hate all of the classics I've ever read, though. I like more non-fiction books, like Dave Barry books or the Darwin Awards. The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy is one of the only fiction books that I like. Except for zombies. I like any story that has zombies in it.

Oh, I agree with Gossy too.

The Great Gatsby was mostly a waste of my time to read.
And I've read about 7/8ths through Catcher in the Rye.
It's about as pointless as the former was.

I think mine was definitely Great Expectations.

Classics are mostly crap. Filled with messages that are horribly outdated nowadays. Catcher in the rye tells us what? It's okay to be weird? Although the main character was just plain stupid. To kill a mocking bird says racism is bad? Well no shit, sherlock. I try to avoid them.

Never read streetcar, but it was forever burned into my mind by the simpsons. (:

I have to read it for school. But suicide is always an option...

Note to people who don't know me: I'm not actually going to kill myself. I joke about it. I'm not depressed, and it has never entered my mind to actually kill myself. Some people really over-react to comments like that.

I actually liked Catch in the Rye but then again, I could relate to the character and didn't care for the symbolism in the book but could ignore it.

Most hated classic ever: The Red Badge of Courage. I thought I was going to die of boredom trying to finish that book in 10th grade (which I didn't finish it, for those who are curious). You'd think it would be impossible to make war boring but Stephen Crane managed it and then some. I do believe that I blocked most of what I read anyway, because I don't really remember what I actually read...