This isn’t a list of books I hate, which would be led by Gregory Maguire’s Wicked. (I loved the musical, but there was not one thing I liked about that book–and I finished it just to see if there would be.)
No, this is a list of books that are widely agreed to be excellent, and I just don’t care.
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte. I’ve loathed every adaptation I’ve seen, and I only read the book after it was suggested that I might like it better if I read it as a horror story, rather than as a romance. I didn’t.
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. I just can’t get into it, and I’ve tried more than once. I also tried Tender Is The Night with the same result. For my money, Fitzgerald–like Hemingway–is better at short stories. I’ll pass on the movie–particularly since I also don’t love Baz Luhrmann’s work. (Fun fact: If you want to excerpt, the Fitzgerald estate will only approve it if you have pulled your selection from specific editions, which they will identify by ISBN.)
Play It As It Lays by Joan Didion. I do not get the appeal of this book. I didn’t get it when I first encountered it in college, and I didn’t get it several years ago when I re-read it after loving The Year of Magical Thinking.
What about you? What books mystify you with their acclaim?
I never tried Wicked because I couldn’t get through the one he wrote about the step sisters.
My problem with both Wuthering Heights and Gataby is the lack of a redeemable character.
I read Wicked because I loved the musical. I got the book at a swap and a friend said, with a grimace, “It’s really different from the show.” Wow, was she right. And I’m okay with characters who aren’t redeemable, at least to some extent, but they have to be interesting or compelling or sympathetic ENOUGH for me to want to spend time with them. Not the case with any of these books.
I really liked Wicked, but I haven’t been able to get through his other Oz books. I think I enjoyed his other fairy tale novels. The idea of hearing the other side of the story was appealing.
I absolutely HATED The Great Gatsby!! We read it in high school, and the English teacher hammered the idea of all the symbolism into us so much I just couldn’t enjoy it. I still remember LONG discussions of the green light, and the glasses on the billboard. I think the final straw was one day when one of the students exclaimed, “and yellow and blue make green!” about something (this was during the height of the sandwich bag campaign with the same slogan). I’ve read it as an adult and thought it was okay, but nothing to write home about. So, I guess we won’t be seeing the movie either.
I read Gatsby in high school and didn’t like it, and then read it again as an adult, and still didn’t like it.
Oh, I also didn’t like Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, but I did like “The Dead.” So maybe Joyce is one of the writers who I think should have stuck to short stories instead of novels.
Here, let me show you the ways in which I am a horrible English major. I dislike almost everything Shakespeare ever wrote. The Great Gatsby was boring. Hemingway isn’t my thing at all. Wuthering Heights and Pride and Prejudice, I just don’t get.
Don’t even get me started on Charles Dickens. Well, actually, most of his stuff goes on my hate list, not just my meh list.
I like to see Shakespeare performed, but find him unreadable. Hemingway is in my “should have stuck to short stories” group. I’ve loved Pride and Prejudice since I was in 8th grade, but I’m getting kind of bored. Can’t we adapt something else for a while? And the only Dickens I’ve ever liked was A Tale of Two Cities.
I wasn’t an English major; I was a history major who took a lot of English classes but wasn’t willing to take Chaucer and Milton. My history professors used to say, “You write like an English major,” and my English professors would say, “You aren’t an English major, are you?” I thought it was funny, and then I decided that I wrote like me.
Dissenting opinion. Gatsby is one of my favorites, but only because I just really love how the sentences sound in my head. I don’t care about symbolism or likeable characters or plot, etc. I just wanna read books by authors who use language the way John Coltrane used a saxophone.
I promise never to stop you from reading it.
Wicked is the only book I have abandoned reading – I always finish a book, even if I don’t care for it. That one was the worst.
I do like Gatsby – great example of the Shattering of the American Dream. But I’m kinda weird like that. You’re completely right, though – not one redeemable character in the bunch.
Never thought of reading Wuthering Heights as a horror…may have to revisit that one.
I used to stick through a book, even if I didn’t like it, but I’ve decided I don’t have time for that!
I didn’t like Wuthering Heights much either, but I read it a long time ago, and I have wondered whether I would like it more now. Maybe not!
I’m always willing to make room for a change in taste!
Agreed on Wuthering Heights. I’m marginal on Fitzgerald. I am not a fan of Shakespeare. I’ve also struggled to enjoy Annie Dillard, Louise Erdrich, and the majority of anything British from the 18th and 19th centuries. Why was I an English major, again?
I can only assume for Piers Ploughman.
I am a fan of Gatsby. I think it’s the language, the imagery, and the whole Jazz Age thing more than the plot. I’ve never cared much for any of the film adaptations, but I do plan to see the current one to see if I care for it. Hated Wuthering Hights, but loved Jane Eyre. Not a big fan of Shakespeare, but my daughter is working her way through all of his plays and loves them. I did like Edgar Sawtelle (a modern adaptation of Hamlet), though I’ve never liked Hamlet. Main character is too whiney. He irritates me. I tend to like British lit, though I am Irish and avowedly anti-British. I tend to dislike most Irish lit. Except Angela’s Ashes, which is a favorite. It’s really Irish-American, though, isn’t it?
I’ve always loved Jane Eyre, although when I read it again a year or two ago, I was surprised by how much I really can’t stand Rochester.
Funny, I recently wrote a post about how you can divide people in 2 categories (i.e. Rolling Stones vs. Beatles, Mac vs. PC, Team Jacob vs. Team Edward) and one of the divisions is Wuthering Heights vs. Jane Eyre. Let’s just say I’m in the Wuthering Heights camp!
I’m on Team Not Twilight.
I don’t remember Gatsby though I read it in high school. And Wicked–oh my gosh that book was awful. I could not for the life of me figure out why everyone loved it! It was so anti-climactic and boring! The musical was great but the book. UGH!
I’m with you!