5 Books That Don't Deserve the Amount of Hate They Get

Our thoughts about the famous Cracked.com.

5 Books That Don't Deserve the Amount of Hate They Get

Postby Qinglong » Tue Dec 09, 2014 10:35 pm

Only Chris Bucholz could make shameless self-promotion so entertaining.
  • 11

Man created logic and because of that was superior to it. Logic He gave unto me, but no more. The tool does not describe the designer. More than this I do not choose to say. More than this you have no need to know.
User avatar
Qinglong
Knight Writer
Knight Writer
 
Posts: 1765
Joined: Mon Apr 15, 2013 2:27 pm
Location: The Eastern Sky
Show rep
Title: Experienced Bystander

Re: 5 Books That Don't Deserve the Amount of Hate They Get

Postby Aquila89 » Wed Dec 10, 2014 12:05 am

Lesson: do not force kids to read classic literature. As I've said before, if I was a teacher, I wouldn't force kids to read something I like. No, I'd force them to read stuff I hate, so they'll hate it too.

Since I'm not American, I wasn't forced to read Catcher in the Rye I've read it on my own, and I liked it. (By the way, another thing haters seem to miss is that Holden has a nervous breakdown at the end and ends up in a sanatorium). Lord of the Flies was required reading, but luckily, I read it before that.
  • 11

As far as we can discern, the sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light in the darkness of mere being.
--Carl Jung
User avatar
Aquila89
TCS Junkie
TCS Junkie
 
Posts: 3442
Joined: Tue Apr 16, 2013 1:45 pm
Location: Hungary
Show rep

Re: 5 Books That Don't Deserve the Amount of Hate They Get

Postby Qinglong » Wed Dec 10, 2014 2:09 am

Somehow, I missed most of those required reading "classics". Except The Great Gatsby, and yes, I was horribly bored by it. I think I'd just discovered The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings a few years before. They were the first fantasy I'd ever read, and they burned in my brain like a white-hot flame. I began reading voraciously after that, but pretty much just fantasy and SF. The Great Gatsby just can't compare to that.
  • 9

Man created logic and because of that was superior to it. Logic He gave unto me, but no more. The tool does not describe the designer. More than this I do not choose to say. More than this you have no need to know.
User avatar
Qinglong
Knight Writer
Knight Writer
 
Posts: 1765
Joined: Mon Apr 15, 2013 2:27 pm
Location: The Eastern Sky
Show rep
Title: Experienced Bystander

Re: 5 Books That Don't Deserve the Amount of Hate They Get

Postby DashaBlade » Wed Dec 10, 2014 4:01 am

I wasn't forced to read any of the books on the list (not even Bucholz's book!) and I thought they were all at least okay. I loved Lord of the Flies and The Catcher in the Rye, because they only reinforced my belief that kids are assholes (And since I was a kid at the time, I was an asshole by default).

Gatsby and Great Expectations were also about assholes, but I didn't like them as much as other great classics of assholery, like Brave New World, MacBeth, or Of Mice and Men - all of which I was "forced" to read in high school and still liked enough to read again and again, so I guess the forcing wasn't a twist of the arm as much as it was a "here, add this to your pile of books, there'll be a quiz later." I mean, I was also "forced" to read Poe, and Eddie Poe is the bomb, and his stories are all about assholes. Murdering assholes, in many cases.

Let's face it, people with no problems and no conflicts don't make for very good story protagonists. :twisted:
  • 11

User avatar
DashaBlade
TCS Chomper
TCS Chomper
 
Posts: 1069
Joined: Sun Apr 21, 2013 2:21 am
Location: Waving my hands at passing cars
Show rep
Title: Crazy Cat Lady

Re: 5 Books That Don't Deserve the Amount of Hate They Get

Postby Jack Road » Wed Dec 10, 2014 12:06 pm

My mom just bought all of the recommended books for my age group every year and shelved them. Eventually I'd read them. If I liked it I liked it, if I didn't I put it back.

In my house though, the library card was one of your most prized possessions. Getting one was proof you could read, and the sooner you got it, the cooler you were.

So I think maybe being raised in a family that loves reading has a big impact on whether you like these books or not.

I was 4, I know you were dying to know that. I would have been the coolest kid too, if it wasn't for my genius sister.
  • 10

Jack Road
TCS Guerilla
 
Posts: 3507
Joined: Sat Feb 15, 2014 8:38 pm
Show rep

Re: 5 Books That Don't Deserve the Amount of Hate They Get

Postby julyjack73 » Fri Dec 12, 2014 5:57 am

I've found that even if I like a book, being forced to read it immediately makes me loathe it.

That said, Great Gatsby is awesome.
  • 6

Julyjack, your comment was sunshine from a unicorn's butthole. - Popeshaggy
User avatar
julyjack73
TCS Irregular
TCS Irregular
 
Posts: 659
Joined: Mon Apr 15, 2013 11:42 pm
Show rep
Title: Sadly Grew Up


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 5 guests