It’s a question inspired by this post https://www.reddit.com/r/books/s/s2jK2DzFrA by u/oh_sneezeus

Is there any book that is considered a classic or regularly shows up on the “100 books to read before you die” lists and such, you had high expectations before reading and then you ended up absolutey detesting?

For me it’s Blindness by José Saramago, it started off good and then page after page it was becoming more unbearable for me to read, I hated the characters, the things they were doing and the conclusions of the book. I was really disappointed because the plot seemed really good and all I ended up with was frustration.

Is there a book that did the same to you?

  • spideyosu@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    I HATE the way Hemingway writes. And I tried. Sun Also Rises, For Whom the Bell Tolls, don’t like them at all.

    • QuietRainyDay@alien.topBEnglish
      1·
      10 months ago

      I hated Hemingway in high school, didnt bother with him again until later in life, and now I kind of get it

      His novels sound like a man that knew everything fades away, faster than you expect. If you had to write a letter to your future self 60 years from now, you might write it the way he wrote his novels.

      Its about writing down the most distilled version of yourself.

      Many other authors’ language and characterizations depend on understanding the time in which they lived, but Hemingway tried to boil out the things that are most permanent and most likely to be understood forever.

    • QuipOfTheTongue@alien.topBEnglish
      1·
      10 months ago

      I’m currently reading The Sun Also Rises and I am about a third of the way through it. I don’t hate it, but I am not finding myself super interested in it either. The Old Man And The Sea I actually really enjoyed, but this one isn’t grabbing me. I’m still on the fence about whether I’ll push through or DNF it.

    • CapybarasAreCoolAF@alien.topBEnglish
      1·
      10 months ago

      I think is writing style is comically funny, even if it’s not supposed to be. His writing just makes sense with the manly man he was pretending to be - it’s so…gruff and disjointed, and matter-of-fact. I’m a huge lost generation fan, but Ernie’s style just isn’t it for me