What's the 'worst' classic book you were forced to read in school?

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Was talking about this over some beers at the sports pub this past weekend. It seems with all the great books that are out there, high schools always pick the worst ones for required reading lists when you are in school. In fact, I blame this partially for some people being completely turned off by reading. I used to always joke that 'classic' meant the longest and most boring book known to man.

Anyhoo, even after all these years, one book stands out head and shoulders above all the rest when it came to my hatred of required reading...The Grapes of Wrath.

Want to get a POW to turn over information? Just force them to read that POS book.

What are your nominations?

[Hal-9000]

I ended up reading some classics on my own before they became required reading....I enjoyed most of them.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

[Hal-9000]

Old Man and the Sea
Death of a Salesman
Catcher in The Rye
Tale of Two Cities


They're all classics for a reason...I liked them

[Hal-9000]

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..

[Hal-9000]

Heart of Darkness
Catch-22
Lord of the Flies

all good



I can't recall one that bored me to tears......

*accessing moldy memory*

[Teh One Who Knocks]

There are some good ones out there, don't get me wrong, but there are some horrible ones too

[Hal-9000]

bingo..

I've tried both Moby Dick and War and Peace....never finished either.They could be awesome stories for all I know...

[Godfather]

In fact, I blame this partially for some people being completely turned off by reading.

I think a lot of that has to come down on parents. I was made to read some books I didn't like in school but I fell in love with reading long before then because my mom started to take me to the library at a very young age to find books I loved. Bottom line is that there are going to be people who hate any given book in every classroom. But reading a bad book is only truly torture for those who never wanted to read anything in the first place

I wasn't allowed to stay indoor and play computer games or watch TV a ton, reading was always encouraged. Now I read almost every day before I fall asleep at night.


To answer the question, my least favorite book was probably Great Expectations, but I was just too young to care. I'd read it again.

[Hal-9000]

Gee...the net has some opinions on this subject

I've never tried Wuthering Heights, The Great Gatsby or Emma.....Emma seems to win a lot of most boring and overrated awards.

[Hal-9000]

The Old Man and the Sea is one of my favorites.Lit professors like to talk about the symbolism and writing techniques, to the point where they dissect the book until it bleeds...

To me, it was a good story.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

The Old Man and the Sea is one of my favorites.Lit professors like to talk about the symbolism and writing techniques, to the point where they dissect the book until it bleeds...

To me, it was a good story.

I liked that one too

[Hal-9000]

Unbelievable.People on the net are rating Tolkien's Lord of the Rings and Similarion as the most boring and overrated ever.

Granted, they're not easy reads but both stand out as some of my most cherished reading as a teenager, early 20's guy.

[Hal-9000]

I liked that one too

It's funny how a lot of people think Apocalypse Now was a great idea, ground breaking Vietnam movie.Heart of Darkness came out in the early 1900's (brb)....1902 to be exact and it is THE story

[Hal-9000]

I guess anything by Jane Austen gets the nod from me for this thread