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?
One of my most exceptional readerly skills (out of many), is that I like almost everything. Some could see this as a lack of discernment, or at least discrimination, but I like it: it means I avoid too many 'do I have to finish this?' dilemmas. One of the downsides is that I can't answer questions like the above very easily. I liked everything I read for English GCSE. (For some inexplicable reason, I didn't do English for A-level.)
I did get recommended a book by an English teacher, though, that I couldn't get to the end of. Looking back, I have no idea why Mr James, who I barely spoke to, thought I'd like Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre.
Anyway, I didn't like it. It was a huge long time ago, so there's not much I can say. I remember it being slow, pointless and foreign.
It doesn't say much about the book, but it does say a lot about reading books at the wrong time. I've avidly avoided everything Brontish since, and while some of that is probably due to an essential mismatch of reader and writer, a lot of it could be avoided -- if I hadn't tried reading Jane Eyre before I wanted to. Oops.
Given that Jane Eyre has long been one of my very favorite books, I urge you to try again at some point. You're very right that we can hate books when they enter our lives at the wrong time. You might still hate it, and this time you can blame me...
ReplyDeleteI don't LOVE every book I read, but like you I do seem to like all my reads for one reason or another.
ReplyDeleteI was going to do a post too but I honestly can't remember what we HAD to read in school. Except I took a lit class we read 1984, Fahrenheit 451, Dune. It was awesome :)
New follower too!
There aren't many books that I HATE, but there have been a couple that I found very difficult to say something nice about. :) I agree that how much you want to read a book can make a big difference on how much you enjoy it. If you are not prepared to enjoy it, you likely won't.
ReplyDeleteI've never read Jane Eyre but I always hear how much people love it. I might give it a try at some point but I'm not rushing towards it.
ReplyDeleteIn my case it wasn't so much the book, but the person teaching it.
ReplyDeleteI have a few Bronte books. I bought them back in the day, but I never got around to reading them. I'm kind of weary to read them because really, I don't think those books are for me. Does that make sense? I mean, I doubt they will be my cuppa tea.
ReplyDeleteI always feel out of the loop though because so many people rave about Jane Eyre and such. I feel like I'm missing out on a lot.
Howdy, I'm hopping over, not from the Hop, but from The New Dork Review of Books.
ReplyDeleteI like your site and am a new follower!
Janna
http://www.primoreads.com/
I'm always surprised at how often Jane Eyre comes up as a "hated" or "can't get through" book - I absolutely loved it. I will say, though, that I read Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys before reading Jane Eyre, and that could have made an impact in some way. The Rhys book is essentially a re-telling of Bertha's history - her life in the Caribbean, how she got to England, how she was treated, etc. It put a different spin on the old Bronte novel from the get-go. But, still, yeah, give it another go someday. I don't think I would have enjoyed it in High School either.
ReplyDeleteI surprised myself by reading it non-stop! I thought it would take me a while to read, but no!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed it!
Em
Jane Eyre is one of my favorite books of all time. I've read it several times, and I always feel the same--this book is easy to love. Try it once again, maybe this will be your year to love Jane Eyre....
ReplyDeleteRead Jane Eyre now. You might end up liking it.
ReplyDeleteSome books are so difficult to get into. And those put us off that author too, for always.
And my teacher spoiled A Passage to India for me. But I did go back and loved it!
Here is my Literary Blog Hop: Disliked Book post!
This sounds almost identical to my experience with Jane Eyre. A teacher who i mostly respected recommended it to me, I decided to use it for a book report later that semester and all hell broke loose. Since I have read and enjoyed Emily Bronte, but Charlotte is not allowed on my bookshelves.
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