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?

  • SteveImNot@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    I hated The Outsiders when we were forced to read in 7th grade. It was supposed be about highschool aged gangsters in the 50’s and 7th grade me was very excited going into it. But she did a terrible job capturing how 14 year old boys talk and think. She wrote pages and pages about how hot the main characters older brothers were from the younger brothers point of view. If it were an actual 14 year old boy describing his brothers it’d would have just said “my older brothers are stupid and gay and Pepsi and Ponyboy are stupid gay names”.

    Jokes aside she did a terrible job writing as a boy. And I think her names are stupid

    • Complex-Definition61@alien.topBEnglish
      1·
      10 months ago

      So, that’s what you got from that book? Nothing about living your life in a way that’s fulfilling and won’t leave you with regrets? Nothing about how saving people, even if it’s just one person is a worthwhile goal to have. (And not saving in a religious manner, saving as in getting them out of the slums, helping them clean up their life, keeping them from killing somebody) Nothing about how it’s never too late to turn your life around? Anyways. You can keep your opinion, I’m just letting you know it’s wrong. 😁 I don’t know if it’s conveying over text, but I really am not trying to be mean or rude or arrogant, I’m just really sad about your specific take from this book because there are a lot of life lessons it teaches that need to be retaught so I just had to say something.

    • julientk1@alien.topBEnglish
      1·
      10 months ago

      Former 8th grade lit teacher here, so I’ve read The Outsiders a million times, obviously, and you are right about the voice. There is zero chance any of my male students would describe each other the way she does the brothers.

      • ELAdragon@alien.topBEnglish
        1·
        10 months ago

        And yet…as someone who still teaches the book, it captivates the majority of my 7th graders every single year.

        I don’t love it, and I’ll drop it the moment it stops “hitting” with my students. But they fucking love it. Year in and year out. It’s actually kind of mind blowing to me just how quickly they fall into it.

    • PurpIeHello98@alien.topBEnglish
      1·
      10 months ago

      I had to read it in 7th grade too, and I just thought it was a little boring, a little annoying, and just kinda weird. I never “got” that book.