Books You've read for school and you hated

[Prawnatron]

1984 and Animal Farm, I thought were great. I also quite liked Lord of the Flies, but Goodnight Mister Tom. It was torture. And I had to read it in year 6. Nothing happens in it, the whole plot is some kid during the blitz moves to the world's most boring man's house and wets the bed. That was basically it.

[Beven]

The Importance of Being Ernest.

Terrible. It was about 2 girls falling in love with guys cause they think that they're names are Ernest.

[MagicMagician]

the scarlet letter. awful book in my opinion

USER WAS PUT IN TIMEOUT FOR THIS POST. (http://forums.explosm.net/eventlog.php)
Reason: Awful post in my opinion.

[Lintlicker]

Call of the Wild: Not quite sure why I didn't like this book. Maybe I just don't like stories in the perspective of dogs on the Yukon.

The Killer Angels: Let's start with how I came to read this horrid book. This year in English, we had to do Lit Circles just once. The teacher gave us a list of books saying that we get to read the one of our choosing. Then she made up write up a list of our top five from the list (1 being the one you wish to read most). My top three were books I really wanted to read while the last two were thrown in there to fill it out. Of course, the teacher picks the last one on the list for me to read :|

First off, I don't like books on war. How was I supposed to know she'd completely pass over the books I did want and choose this one for me? The book was so hard to follow. It had numerous main character and each chapter switched off not only between them, but the Union and Confederate armies as well. I must've read only half the book (and not all in order). I love books and hate not finishing them. But I just couldn't help but toss this one aside.

Other than those two, I usually enjoy whatever we have to read for class. I guess I'm just lucky that there isn't more rotten apples on the list haha

[illustriousaffliction]

I like most of the books being named, but one I could not stand was Lord of the Flies. I read it before I even had to, and it sucked then too. =/ But seriously, my English teacher spent a whole semester on that one book. We had to analyze every little detail, down to the type of rocks on the island. Then we spent forever comparing it to Lost and talking about everything that was symbolic (which apparently included everything). D: I wanted to shoot myself in the face.

[4cE]

Snow in August by Pete Hamill

I had trouble starting this book at first. It was kinda boring and I had other homework, plus, our teacher went over the night's readings in class.

However, I actually started to read and found myself enjoying this book.

For those who don't know this book [SPOILER]:is about a boy living in around 1946-1947 who is being harassed by a local gang. He makes friends with a Jewish rabbi and finds out the one way (?) he can save himself and family.

However, as I got to the end of the book, especially the last two chapters, I found that it sucked. It was so terrible. He writes a great novel and then wraps it up with the worst ending in book history. Read it and you'll know what I mean.

[Ivan]

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood, it's the only time I've physically wanted to destroy a book. Terrible.

[Hawke]

The Scarlett Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. I like how he spends more time describing stuff that doesn't need to be described in the most obtuse way of describing it ever, and not going along with the story until 3 pages later. Also small text and ye olde English way of speaking. Shame too 'cause the story is somewhat interesting. Atleast in the first few chapters.


Also Jane Eyre. Did I mention Jane Eyre in this thread yet? Because Jane Eyre.

[Chaplin]

Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt was a great book. It's extremely sad and depressing but a good story that is actually true. I highly recommend it. It's not too hard a read either.

[Ercoledi]

Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt was a great book. It's extremely sad and depressing but a good story that is actually true. I highly recommend it. It's not too hard a read either.
Good try, but wrong thread.

Yup. Had to read a book in Lit called Drylands, by Thea Astley. Even the title lends little hope to the book. While I respect that it has literary merit, it is written in such a way that you feel totally inclined to put it down; Astley is a rambler. Her overly feminist views pretty much assault the reader from the get go, which leads me to contextually hate the book.

[Profane Methane]

The Dressmaker has to be one of the worst books I've ever had to endure in my life.

[Wackiest]

Spies by Michael Frayn. It was Godfudging awful.

[veveze]

Catcher in the Rye. I do not know how people like it, I hate Holden Caulfield. Also, The Stranger by Albert Camus. That was just depressing. They were both depressing. And Holden Caulfield was an asshole.

[Pencil]

I read "The Spy Who Came In From The Cold" a few years ago. Since English isn't my native language, I didn't understand it at all. I hated it.

[Tweek]

That's too bad, Pencil.
Try reading Ulysses, it might be easier for you and it is very entertaining.

[Pencil]

The book by James Joyce?
I'll give it a shot!

[timbot]

You're suggesting Ulysses as a book that might be easier than something else? I never read it, but doesn't it have a reputation for being quite difficult?

[Islander]

I loved "The Scarlett Letter", and I didn't even read it for school!

Books I disliked that I had to read for school:

The Awakening
The Shipping News
and a bunch of lame-ass essays.

Books I HATED that I didn't read for school:

Debt of Honor (Tom Clancy)
American Psycho (Bret Easton Ellis)

[Revocracy]

Gossip Girl. Well apparently I don't really care about the monotonous life of a teenage girl.

[veveze]

You had to read the Gossip Girl books in school? I'd be mad, too.

[Revocracy]

You had to read the Gossip Girl books in school? I'd be mad, too.
Yes. That can leave a person scarred for life.

[Raxo]

It'd be pretty awesome to read Gossip Girl in school.

[Hysteria__]

The Hobbit/Lord of the Rings

Hated it, not because it was long, but because it was boring, I have no interest at all in talking trees/orcs/hobbits etc. ('those sorts of things'), and because, as with most books we had/have to read, not only does the teacher (all of them) insist on interrupting us every 5 seconds to point something out, but because every teacher seems to think that everything has some sort of hidden meaning/reference to something else. It might be true of some short stories, but it sure as fuck isn't in something that's 700 pages long. An easy example of this would be how my current English teacher seems to feel that every mention of the weather in a book has something to do with the plot. No, sorry, it fucking doesn't. It happened to be raining. That's why the author wrote '..the rain drops pounded on the ground/..it began to pour etc.' It (from my experiences) very rarely has anything to do with what the character happened to be feeling.

Hatchet

Not too bad, other than for the reasons I mentioned above (teacher interrupting all the time, everything has a hidden meaning etc.), it's just that it could've been so much more interesting. Maybe if the main character (Brian?) had fought off a bear with his hatchet it would've retained a bit more interest for me.

Works of Shakespeare

First of all, I can appreciate that all of his works I've read so far were plays, intended to be performed, and not necessarily read. However, reading them in school is entirely unnecessary. If you like Shakespeare, read his works on your own time. I cannot understand why every English teacher I've had (in high school, at least) seems to wet their pants at the thought of his work. As a final note, everyone knows Romeo and Juliet long before they get to high school, and no one's interested in it anymore, if they ever were to begin with.

Can't think of many more, or at least I can't remember why I didn't like them, undoubtedly for the same reasons I've gone over. The Crysalids, the Outsiders, and To Kill a Mockingbird weren't very fun to read, but Rhe Lord of the Flies somehow managed to escape the trap every other 'read at school, 10 minutes a day' novel fell into.

[Raxo]

...everything has some sort of hidden meaning/reference to something else...

From experience books do have a lot of different hidden meanings that a reader has to work for to understand. This is what makes reading fun, for me at least.

Also rain is almost always put into a story for a reason and not just because.


but yes The Lord of the Rings was excruciatingly boring.

[timbot]

The Hobbit/Lord of the Rings
An easy example of this would be how my current English teacher seems to feel that every mention of the weather in a book has something to do with the plot. No, sorry, it fucking doesn't. It happened to be raining. That's why the author wrote '..the rain drops pounded on the ground/..it began to pour etc.' It (from my experiences) very rarely has anything to do with what the character happened to be feeling.

What experiences are those?
A lot of authors use details like that for a reason. They don't usually wake up one morning when it's raining and say "because it's raining it will rain in the book and there will be no more meaning to it."

[Hysteria__]

I meant, and probably should've actually said, that it seems a bit unlikely that every time something like the weather (or the behavior of, for example, trees and plants) is described has a direct relation to the plot, or the mindset of the characters. Obviously, I could be wrong. As much as I would like to be an author, I'm not even close to becoming one yet and perhaps this is something I've gotten completely wrong.

I don't mean that it's pointless or unnecessary to mention things like the whether, it's almost instinctive to know things like that need to be mentioned, I've simply had a fair amount of novels at least partially ruined for me by English teachers insisting that everything has some sort of hidden meaning, and/or that it somehow represents something going on in a characters mind, or that it represents some sort of event/s that took place at the time the author was writing the book, etc.

[Raxo]

In my experience good authors hide shit everywhere in their text. So it's likely a lot if things have meaning and it's worth re-reading to catch the different things. it just adds more depth to the reading of the story.

If you have any kind of desire to write you'd understand it's not really what the story is but how you tell the story.

[The Muffin Man]

The Known World

I would rather stare at a stop sign then read this book again. I didn't even finish the damn thing. It was so incredibly shitty.

Its about a family of slaves that gets seperated and then what shit happens to them along the way. Unfortunately the highpoints of the book are incest, masturbation, and crazy but not crazy 15 year olds.

Oh yeah, and EVERYONE dies at the end of the book. Everyone in the family dies, all the characters and most of the supporting characters as well. God I hated that book.

[timbot]

In my experience good authors hide shit everywhere in their text. So it's likely a lot if things have meaning and it's worth re-reading to catch the different things. it just adds more depth to the reading of the story.

If you have any kind of desire to write you'd understand it's not really what the story is but how you tell the story.

Very true. Poe was great at making everything important. Though, he wrote short stories which are generally written differently from novels.
And how the author tells the story is of supreme importance. Shakespeare isn't considered great because of all of his original plots. Most of the stories were already known, but the way he presented and the little details he added are what made his plays so good. I think once a person gets rid of the notion that the plot is supreme, his whole understanding of literature changes.

Also, I have to agree with Muffin Man, though for different reasons. The Known World was not one I enjoyed too much. I got too confused by all the characters and changes in setting.

[BloodFire]

Saffy's Angel. Forgot who it's by but it is very fucking boring. I highly reccomend if you see a copy, you should burn it.

[Mr. Wink]

The great Gatsby by F.Scott.Fitzgerald. The most utterly insignificant piece of crap I have ever suffered. He can take his green light and shove it up his arse.

[Bayview05]

Great Expectations: It's all about some guy being given money by some prisoner he saved a few years back, with him learning to be a gentleman and loving some sadistic girl who hates his guts. But in the end some crazy old lady burns to death in her 20+ year old wedding dress, so I guess it wasn't a total loss.

[The Muffin Man]

The great Gatsby by F.Scott.Fitzgerald. The most utterly insignificant piece of crap I have ever suffered. He can take his green light and shove it up his arse.

I have actually heard great things about this book, but to each his own. I read it later this year I believe.

[Johnny-june]

Once I read "TV kid".
That book gave me a life lesson. Also "adults only" those two books gave me a diferent view from life.

[rottingjebus]

I liked The Outsiders. It's a bit overrated but not that bad.

Anyway I had to reach Stuck in Neutral for my AP English class and it was the epitome of what I don't like in art.

[ahlfy]

A completely boring book that sucks is "House Made of Dawn" I had to read it in my Native Lit class.
Another horrible book is Withering Heights (or whatever its called)
I hated those two books hard core.

[AgentElectro]

We just read The Scarlet Letter, and the plot itself seems pretty interesting until you actually read the book. I really hated the ending too, it just seemed pretty flat to me.

[Sporks]

Oh gods, where do I start? I've been forced to read a ton of crap books.

The Old Man and the Sea- Ernest Hemingway can lick my left foot! SO incredibly boring!!

To Kill a Mockingbird- We had to get signed permission to read this book because it mentions rape. It was boring as all hell. Had me wishing my mum had refused to sign the permission slip.

Catcher in the Rye- A story about a retardedly naive boy. I've been told that I just 'don't get it'. I'm not sure I want to.

Across Five Aprils- About a boy who's brothers go to war......and he stays home.

A Day No Pigs Would Die - Father/Son coming of age straightening out their relationship story with gruesome scenes of pig slaughter and 'breeding'.

[B33]

I read Twilight for a book report this year and...bad idea. This is single handedly the worst book ever.

[The Muffin Man]

I read Twilight for a book report this year and...bad idea. This is single handedly the worst book ever.

I think this the first intelligent thing you have ever said on these forums.

Im proud of you.

However, because of the probability that this is the only intelligent post you have made out of the hundreds you have made, it is best, according to probability, for you to stop posting now. That way you can avoid all future idiotic posts. Because lets face it, you saying something ELSE thats intelligent is highly unlikely.

[Metalhead636]

I read Twilight for a book report this year and...bad idea. This is single handedly the worst book ever.

I read it too, your words perfectly describe my feelings on that piece-a-shit.:hmm:

[MrRamRod]

Metamorphosis.

I'm not sure what the original by Kafka is like, but the resulting play by Berkoff reads like it was written by a 5 year old.




To kill a mockingbird is one of the best books I've ever read.

'Hey boo' sums it up for me.

[nicklaus]

The Scarlet Letter is one that I definitely didn't like... the only way I could read it was by skipping the giant paragraphs that involved no dialogue scattered throughout the book.

[kussese]

We just read half of the books in Paradise Lost for AP English, and I'll quote Satan on this one. "Oh hell."

[xkittenxsocksx]

Of mice and men. Yawn.

Metamorphosis.

I'm not sure what the original by Kafka is like, but the resulting play by Berkoff reads like it was written by a 5 year old.



The original isn't that bad.

[Amazingly]

The Scarlet Letter deserves an obligatory mention. The first three pages of this thread should be made into a pamphlet and mailed to every person that decides to assign it as required reading.

I can't believe nobody has mentioned The Glass Menagerie, the guy's mom annoyed the shit out of me, even if that WAS the author's intent.

Catcher In The Rye was pointless. Stream-of-consciousness books are hard to execute well, and this book fails, simply because of the plot.

Silas Marner. You skip three pages and you haven't missed any of the plot.

Ethan Frome. A spineless man that can't make up his mind. When he does, he fails hard.

Also, any book that is mainly about a type of discrimination. PEOPLE THAT READ BOOKS ALREADY GET IT.

Now, for the books that are getting a bad rap and don't deserve it:

1984. One of the greatest book ever written, in my opinion. Just for the idea it presents and the horror scenes thrown in for some spice at the end.

Fahreheit 451. Also a very idealistic book, trying to point out kind of the same thing as 1984.



Actually, pretty much anything by Orwell, and lots of stuff by Bradbury. I enjoy Orwell so much because he uses words in such a way that the words themselves are simple, yet carry a heavy meaning. He also fully understands the ability of the written word to inject a foreign idea into your brain, and uses that ability with surgical precision.

[daone]

Like many have said, The Scarlet Letter. It was just a boring read.


To Kill a Mockingbird- We had to get signed permission to read this book because it mentions rape. It was boring as all hell. Had me wishing my mum had refused to sign the permission slip.


We had to get a slip too. I didn't like the book. Even though it dealt with serious topics I thought it was just boring.

[Jordan_Hanrahan]

Actually, pretty much anything by Orwell, and lots of stuff by Bradbury. I enjoy Orwell so much because he uses words in such a way that the words themselves are simple, yet carry a heavy meaning. He also fully understands the ability of the written word to inject a foreign idea into your brain, and uses that ability with surgical precision.

I agree; has anybody read 'Animal Farm' - you've probably seen the cartoon at some point. All of the main characters represent politicians from the Russian revolution. Didn't realise it when I first read it; I thought it was just a kids book.

2+2=5 (for very large values of 2)

[jameswatt123]

I agree; has anybody read 'Animal Farm' - you've probably seen the cartoon at some point. All of the main characters represent politicians from the Russian revolution. Didn't realise it when I first read it; I thought it was just a kids book.


I just read it after a teacher suggested it to me. I was hoping the pigs would be overthrown but it just...stopped. I understand the whole concept but it still annoyed me.

[FloydFan]

I didn't say I couldn't think of any. But the original comment by whoever was that she hated all the WWII Jew books she'd read, except maybe 3.
So, off the top of my head I know:
The Diary of Anne Frank
Night
I Never Saw Another Butterfly (which is actually a play)

It seems to me, if you read enough of such books to hate "all but 3," then you must have read a hell of a lot of holocaust books.

oh...and there's also Maus, but I doubt anyone reads that for school...it's a graphic novel.

I read Maus in 6th grade for school, actually. It was pretty good, not great.

[RachelRapture]

The Red Badge of Courage...


I skipped every bit of dialogue in it. It was like they were speaking soon foreign language from like outer space. It also reminded me a bit of some current rap and hip hop songs, since those rap "artists" butcher the English language just as well.

[antipasto]

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe.
I mean, it was a good plot line.
It's about white missionaries that move into an African village and change everything around them. Like the main character's son converts to Christianity and so do all of his neighbors, so the guy hangs himself. But yeah, I hated it.

[PersiaScarecrow]

The Catechism of the Catholic Church and the Bible sucked endlessly in my opinion.

[Diomedes]

To defend some works in here:

Catcher in the Rye: Really is a book you need to "get" and read at a certain age. I read it at the perfect age and was completely absorbed.

Things Fall Apart: Astoundingly complex answer to Heart of Darkness which I couldn't have imagined being done a better way.

Hobbit: I really enjoyed this book. It wasn't taking itself too seriously at the time and was just a pleasant read.

Shakespeare: King Lear was brilliant. Absolutely blew me away. Beyond that I've read six other plays by him of varying quality. Still worth reading/teaching in schools.


And to suggest some ones people avoid if they are seeking to avoid poor books (albeit influential ones):

Brave New World: Very unique book in how/when the world was conceived but fails, to me, in what it attempts. I found the book pointless and was shocked at how simplistic it was at times.

Lord of the Rings: Not very interesting writing, not very interesting storytelling, the only real virtue of the books for me was the imaginative scope. However, I think we only see the true potential of this in recent years with the movies, games, and frequent fan fiction based on the novels' setting.

[LandMarkMoon]

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe.
I mean, it was a good plot line.
It's about white missionaries that move into an African village and change everything around them. Like the main character's son converts to Christianity and so do all of his neighbors, so the guy hangs himself. But yeah, I hated it.

I hated that one to death as well, one that I particularily liked was Rosencrants and Guildenstern are dead.

[John Travolta]

Heart of Darkness.

[Dodger]

Well I'm break right now and I have to read The Stranger and The Portrait as the Artist as Young Man. The Stranger is awesome I finished it in one sitting because I really liked it. The latter however is as wordy as it's title. I already knew I was going to hate it, because I hate James Joyce. But I seriously can't get past the first chapter.
It's mind numbingly boring. The job of an author is to entertain and get his message across, Joyce does neither.So add that piece of shit to my list.

Also JT, I had to read Heart of Darkness a couple of weeks ago, I didn't. The concept seemed all right, but I couldn't get past the beginning so I just sparknotes'd that shit. I don't know why authors use 40 pages what could be conveniently be said in a paragraph, a lot of good novels are short. I liked the idea, just like Scarlet Letter's plot was good. But jesus they never shut the fuck up. So I second that.

Also you're all idiots for even mentioning Catcher in the Rye, any George Orwell books, Brave New World, or Shakespeare in this thread. They're all awesome.

[hallflukai]

dragonwings ughhh.... ughhh..... *shivers* that book left me scarred.. for life. horrible... so horrible *hides in a corner*

[Valkyrie]

Well I'm break right now and I have to read The Stranger and The Portrait as the Artist as Young Man. The Stranger is awesome I finished it in one sitting because I really liked it.

Also you're all idiots for even mentioning Catcher in the Rye, any George Orwell books, Brave New World, or Shakespeare in this thread. They're all awesome.

I just read The Stranger - it was good for the first part, but the second part was just boring and deary, and the ending was disppointing somehow.

Shakespeare rules, especially Midsummer Night's Dream, absolutely love it :) And Im currently reading King Lear, but I can't seem to get into it... Oh yeah, we had to read Candide - what a load of bullshit.

[Fluzz]

I thought Catcher in the Rye was great, It just takes a mature reader to understand it.

I hated Mocking Bird, it went way too much into her personal life.

[Dodger]

I just read The Stranger - it was good for the first part, but the second part was just boring and deary, and the ending was disppointing somehow.


I just like the character because I could relate to him a lot. He just didn't give a fuck about anything, love, friendship, his job. Nothing. He was almost sociopathic. I'm not calling myself a sociopath or anything, or trying to seem like a badass, but there's been plenty of situations where someone expects me to feel strongly about something or someone and I don't. I found his callousness funny. If it wasn't for that it would've been a boring book.

[hollywood_maggot]

Romeo and Juliet. I can appreciate it more now in retrospect, but I hated it at the time.

[Valkyrie]

I just like the character because I could relate to him a lot. He just didn't give a fuck about anything, love, friendship, his job. Nothing. He was almost sociopathic. I'm not calling myself a sociopath or anything, or trying to seem like a badass, but there's been plenty of situations where someone expects me to feel strongly about something or someone and I don't. I found his callousness funny. If it wasn't for that it would've been a boring book.

True enough - I just found it annoying whenever he would throw in random piecies of information, which had absolutely nothing to do with Meursault, like that 'robotic' woman he followed. Other than that I had no complaints. The trial however was drawn out and annoying, but necessary I suppose.

[misslinimasacre]

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe.

Oh dear god, it didn't even have a plot!

[Habitu]

Well, all I have to say is: To Kill A Mockingbird!

[reddragon]

Well, all I have to say is: To Kill A Mockingbird!
Are you kidding, that's a wonderful book!

[hollywood_maggot]

Are you kidding, that's a wonderful book!

Are you kidding, that's a terrible book!

I can see why people love it though, I just found it boring as shit.

[reddragon]

Are you kidding, that's a terrible book!

I can see why people love it though, I just found it boring as shit.

I guess it's different people - different tastes. :scratch: I quite like it.

[lolguy]

Of mice and men, and Streets of gold.

Retarded men and Retarded immigrants aren't good for a book.

[kavea]

I remember I hated Hatchet and Johnny Tremain. And I hated Jacob Have I loved too. It was just boring to me, and it was just plain weird at some points.

[Zack]

WTF

[Zack]

I liked The Outsiders. It's a bit overrated but not that bad.

Anyway I had to reach Stuck in Neutral for my AP English class and it was the epitome of what I don't like in art.
yea i read the outsiders too.. it is overrated but look on the brightside Johnny died in a hospital... o that was sad. Stay gold pony. But anyway the movie was good.

[SizzlingNickel]

The Giver.I give that book a F-.

[wildrabbit]

I haven't hated many books, but I didn't particularly like having to read 'The Alchemist' in school. It was a pretty mediocre book to start with, and the fact that my teacher spent, like, half the school year on it didn't improve my overall opinion.

[Sharad]

Uh-huh. Try reading Medea by Euripides. Possibly the most boring book I've ever read in my entire life. Thank god we're done with that.

[geko123]

Enduring Love by Ian McKewan.

Just no.

[Iceshade]

"Backwater" by Joan Bauer. That book was miserable. We read it as freshman in high school, I'm a senior in college and I still remember how bad it was.

[john41martin21]

In Cold Blood. such a slow and non exciting read.

Meanwhile after that i read "The Butterfly Revolution" witch was very good.

[iamsuperjerk]

Walking Naked Some cliche high school teen suicide novel.
The Hobbit I honestly couldn't get into. I don't like the overwhelming amount of description used. I get it. He has fucking hairy feet. Can we move on now?

[Crreeaammy]

Off the top of my memory, I loved the Giver, and the Outsiders sucked unbearable amounts of cock.

[Allen]

Wuthering Heights might be the dullest book written this side of Jane Austen. It's the only book I've ever given up on. I failed that test proudly.

[DoubleI1864]

To Kill a Mockingbird - The moral of the story here is Poor White people are bad and like to beat their children (at least, that's what I got out of it).

Great Expectations - Far to wordy, and the moral of the story is that rich people are bad people.