I read a lot. I’ve always read a lot. Over the course of the pandemic, one of the few things about myself I’ve been able to hold onto was reading. I’ve become a heavy user of the public library over the past three years, and I don’t see any reason for that to change. I’ll write more about that later, but for now, here are some books I don’t like.
Wuthering Heights
I resisted reading it because I hate every adaptation I’ve seen. These are not people I want to spend time with. Then someone suggested reading it not as a romance, but as a horror story. I still hated it. Also, I don’t read or watch horror, so that probably didn’t help the way that person thought it would. (I recently read an updated version by Alice Hoffman. Much as I love her work — she’s one of my favorite authors — I hated her take on the story, too.)
Wide Sargasso Sea
I have read this book twice. I still have no idea what happens. Jane Eyre has been a favorite of mine since 4th grade, and during a re-read several years ago, I was surprised to realize that I cannot stand Rochester; in fact, I vastly prefer the parts of the book that do not include him. But I just don’t get Rhys’s book at all.
Play It as It Lays
I want to write a post about my somewhat complicated feelings about Joan Didion’s work, but I’ll start here, with this book. I first read it in college and didn’t like it. The characters seemed incomprehensible to me. I have read it at least twice since then, on the grounds that my perspective may have changed. It has not. I still find the characters incomprehensible. (All of this also applies to Candace Bushnell’s Sex and the City, except that I was long out of college by the time that was written.)
Wicked
Mr. Sandwich and I saw the musical about 10 years ago. I liked it so much, I bought the CD at intermission. At a book swap, I picked up a copy of the novel. One of the other women said, making a face, “It’s really different from the play.” I thought I was okay with that. Turns out I was not. Oz was a weird place, but this world is mean and nasty. There are scenes that I just found gross, and completely unnecessary. There are long stretches in time that are hard to follow. The characters I found compelling on stage are flat in the book. I’m really, really sorry I let this book in my head.
What books are you sorry you read, and why? Share away.