Discuss a work of literary merit that you hated when you were made to read it in school or university. Why did you dislike it?
First of all, I should state that I have loved almost every book I have ever been made to read for school. Even if I initially don't like a book, the class discussion usually warms me up to it, or at least lets me appreciate it in a literary way. For a split second I was at a loss as to what book to pick, but then I remembered A Separate Peace. A Separate Peace by John Knowles is a novel set during WWII that recounts the experiences of college boys at the time, especially the two main characters Finny and Gene. It is both a coming-of-age story and a story about the long-term life-changing consequences of a single action. That part I can kind of get behind. It's the incessant whining on the part of our narrator, Gene, that I can't stand. He quite literally spends the entire book wallowing in self-pity, guilt, jealousy, and even more self-pity. I wouldn't mind so much except that he isn't even in the war yet. Seriously. People his age are fighting and dying left and right over in Europe, and yet here he is, spending 200 pages whining about his conflicted feelings towards his friend Finny. I'm sorry kid, but I just don't care.
What school-mandated books did you dislike? Let me know in the comments!
I read A Separate Peace a couple of years ago, and, like you, I couldn't stand Gene. I felt sorry for Finny, but Gene ruined the book for me.
ReplyDeleteMakes you hate a character, thus ruining the rest of the book, as for finny, why didn't he lump him one(lol)
ReplyDeleteSomehow I think that's the difference between people who continue to read despite bad books and bad teachers and those who throw in the towel: the good has outweighed the bad.
ReplyDeleteHere's my post: http://readerbuzz.blogspot.com/2011/01/required-reading-dont-get-me-started.html
Yeah, that would totally make me bonkers, too. Quitchyer Cryin!
ReplyDeleteI know I read A Separate Peace at some point in high school but I have completely blocked anything about the book from my memory except that I didn't like it. I sometimes think I should give it another go but not sure if that'll happen, especially after your post.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree about the class discussion warming you up to a book. I never read poetry on my own but I loved studying it in a group.
ReplyDeleteDo you think it would be different if it were not set against the backdrop of young men dying all over Europe? I think it was an interesting choice to juxtapose the timing like that.
ReplyDeleteI can see where you're coming from! I recently read and reviewed My Life as a Man by Roth, and just couldn't stand the narrator's narcissism.
ReplyDeleteI do agree that a good discussion can kindle my interest in a book I didn't like. In fact, some of the best discussions are about books I disliked--and often I end up changing my mind...
ReplyDeleteSome books are so difficult to get into. And those put us off that author too, for always.
ReplyDeleteHere is my Literary Blog Hop: Disliked Book post!
I never read A Separate Peace... hmmm... not going on the top of my list I guess :)
ReplyDeleteMe? I HATED The Catcher In The Rye... I read it for AP English my Junior year in H.S. and wrote a scathing report. The teacher handed me back the report ungraded and told me I had to read it again and re-write the report.
I did read it again, and I wrote it again... with perhaps a little more venom and nastiness.
I got an A on the report in the end... but I still didn't like the book.
I read A Separate Peace a couple of years ago and didn't enjoy it. I just couldn't identify or sympathize with anything/anyone and was glad when it was done.
ReplyDelete