Books you thought you'd hate

[Rhia]

The last book we're reading for my Lit. course this semester is Moby-Dick. I was expecting to be bored out of my mind by it, as it's a bunch of guys sailing around in a boat. And it's got a reputation even with my other english major friends as dull, boring book that's painful to wade through.

So I was really surprised when I started reading it and actually liked it. There are portions of it that are slow, yes, but I like Ishmael and he's an engaging narrator. Plus, he and Queequeg are totally boyfriends. This is probably the second most readable book we've had in the class.

So what books were you forced to read that you ended up liking even though you expected to hate them?

[Anna]

Gone with the Wind. For some reason I was expecting it to be fluffy chick-lit, but never was I more wrong. I was totally taken in by this book and it's brilliant characters, I was pretty addicted to reading it. I wasn't forced to read this, but my friend recommended it to me when I was bored and I reluctantly acquiesced. I'm very glad that I did!

[Nathan Withers]

A Tale of Two Cities. As a general rule, I hate everything having to do with and/or written by and/or about Charles Dickens. If I could resurrect any one person and kill him again by bludgeoning him with a board full of rusty nails, that's who I'd pick.

But I love Sydney Carton. He's one of my favorite characters period.

[Anna]

Oh I totally agree! I hadn't really enjoyed any Dickens but now that's one of my favourite books. And Sydney Carton is awesome.

[Becky]

I think that the only books that I really thought that I wouldn't like are the ones that I had to read for history classes. In particular, I was surprised that my history textbooks this year, American Destiny: Narrative of a Nation, Vols. I and II, were actually pretty interesting and well-written. Not so much that I would read it for fun, but it's not awful to read.

On the subject of Charles Dickens, I went through a phase where I read his books for fun. I loved Great Expectations and A Tale of Two Cities and I can't remember what all I read because it's been awhile, but I liked them all. Except for Oliver Twist. I liked parts of it, but as a whole, I just got annoyed at the characters, Oliver in particular, I think.

[Nathan Withers]

Oh my god, I hated Great Expections. It's the only book I have ever used SparkNotes for. I couldn't get through it.

[Jessie Collomor]

I really didn't like Great Expectations. I liked it a lot when Pip was a kid, but once he became more like a gentleman, he got SO. ANNOYING. I just couldn't stand him. I think my favorite Dickens at the moment is David Copperfield. Also, although it's against my policy in general, I saw the movie to A Tale of Two Cities but never got around to reading the book. I saw the movie because it was shown in my history class in tenth grade. In any case, I LOVED it and yes, Sydney was AWESOME. But now I really, really need to read the book.
I've heard good things about A Christmas Carol, too.
As you can see, I love Dickens :)

I think the book I thought I'd hate but ended up loving from school would have to be 1984. I'd heard how awful it was in school but when we read it, I absolutely LOVED it. I was really surprised.

To take the opposite direction, two books I thought I'd like but ended up not being able to stand were Anthem by Ayn Rand and The Great Gatsby. Ugh, I hated that book.

[Anna]

Yeah, The Great Gatsby. I was told that it was amazing and brilliant, and I read it and I was like... right? I mean, it was ok but I didn't really see why everyone went on about it quite so much.

[Lizzie Moore]

I loved the Great Gatsby. Happy endings annoy me.

I'm normally a fan of the weird symbolic/satirical fictiony stuff like Joseph Keller and Franz Kafka, but I looooved Killer Angels by... Mike Shara, I think it is? Civil War novel depicted from both sides and told from many different points off view. It was brilliantly done.

[Anna]

Happy endings annoy me too, but I just didn't see what was so special about that book. I enjoyed it well enough, but I think I'd been set up to expect something more. Maybe I just missed something major.

[Lizzie Moore]

I'd have to dig up my old English notes, as I haven't read it in years, but there were a lot of little subtle things to find. There were also some things that smacked you over the head, they were so obviously put in [ie: the bilboard] that they annoyed me. But after studying it, I appreciated everything else.

[Malachy Smoth]

I am a big fan of happy endings! So there!

And Kafka's Metamorphosis was another one I was told was awful (I expect because people were grossed out) but I loved it!

[Becky]

I can't really say exactly what I thought of Great Expectations because 1)I read it a long time ago and 2)I think I read it with the purpose of reading something "impressive" just to show that I could. Still though, definitely better than Oliver Twist.

X3 The Great Gatsby is so much love.

[Lizzie Moore]

Psht. Happy endings are for chicks. =p I shouldn't say that. Pleasant resolutions can be good, too, they just usually are forced and kind of unrealistic.

[George Blythe]

Yeah. The worst I ever read was Far From the Madding Crowd. Perfectly wonderful miserable Hardy from start to... wait? What's this? a HAPPY ENDING? What's gone wrong Mr Hardy?

I believe it was actually the editors. I have heard only that Mr Kafka is very pretentious, but I bought Metamophoses recently and intend to read it soon!

[Lizzie Moore]

It is a wonderful story. So is the Trial.