Books I Loathed discussion

Not exactly about loathing a BOOK, but the feeling I get sometimes about MYSELF being loathed because I'm not reading Camus and Kant and other fine literature. I've read a ton of books, including many classics, but when I kind of get dismissed for reading current/past 10 years books, I feel sad.

Anyone else feel that way? (And not pointing the finger at anyone, it's been other groups).

Yes...I cannot stand Vonnegut, and I loathe Beloved by Morrison. An author and a book most English majors should love. I feel like I am supposed to love them and I just don't.

Yes, but for me, reading is pure pleasure and I need to do it on my own terms to enjoy it, so if my selection isn't intellectual enough for someone else, or if I don't want to overanalyze it, that's o.k. Classics are great, but you don't always feel like reading for deep thought. Just have fun and enjoy what you want. Don't let others make you feel less valuable.

I agree with Toni. There are others who would certainly be quick to dismiss anyone who is not 'current' with what is being published. I'm all over the place in my reading, from Elmore Leonard to Cormac McCarthy to any of the "classics". I've gotten the snob treatment from my friends for having the audacity to state that I believe Stephen King writes a fine short story (his novels, well..there's Cujo, his best which has zero supernatural elements). I read Huckleberry Finn 14 times because I love it so much, but I thought The Great Gatsby wasn't so great and I hated Moby Dick.
Read what you want, say what you like and stand by it. Sometimes, to one reader's eyes the emperor indeed has no clothes. So be it.
Slay those sacred dragons if you see fit.

Spike

That's my problem with English class. They take the fun out of reading, by making you analyze EVERY FREAKING DETAIL. I want to read for fun! I mean, in middle school, we read more recent stuff, but now we'll be lucky to read anything from after 1920 at the absolute latest.

One of the reasons I ended up majoring in English lit was that I loved analyzing books. As a result, when I don't like something, I can state with confidence that I don't like it and why I don't like it.

That said, I hate Melville and Hemingway. It feels shameful to say that with an English Lit degree in my file drawer.

I will admit, I used to look down on people for the books they read...I, sadly, was a book snob.

Then, one day I had an epiphany. It doesn't matter what someone reads, so long as they are reading. Everyone has their own tastes in books and nothing is trash....trashy, yes, but not trash. I say that as someone who reads a bit of everything, from the classics to romance novels to non-fiction to YA to everything else that makes me go...oooh.

Don't let anyone get you down for reading what you want to read. If what you read takes you away and lets you fall into that world, then go for it and just tell those other people to shove it!

I would love to try JAMES JOYCE but seeing a few pages of this work is astounding... the same way with UMBERTO ECO.. i just finished THE NAME OF THE ROSE because I just want to feel great that I finished it... THE ISLAND BEFORE YESTERDAY was too boring for me... I ENJOYED BAUDOLINO though but will never read it again

what i mean with JAMES JOYCE is he sounds too stream-of-consciousness and chaotic in ULYSSES AND FINNEGAN'S WAKE... i would love to have copies. maybe browse a few pages like what we usually do with the BIBLE but not read it straight from beginning to end... I will just wikipedia it.

Heather wrote: "I will admit, I used to look down on people for the books they read...I, sadly, was a book snob.

Then, one day I had an epiphany. It doesn't matter what someone reads, so long as they are readin..."

I agree - it doesn't matter what you read - as long as you read. I used to be a bit of a book snob - but I love a bit of 'trash' inbetween other more 'serious' stuff.

Maggie wrote: "Heather wrote: "I will admit, I used to look down on people for the books they read...I, sadly, was a book snob.

Then, one day I had an epiphany. It doesn't matter what someone reads, so long as t..."

me too i used to love chick flick but now i cannot stand it... =P

I used to be a book snob, until I was about 32. Then a very very way smart person recommended a bodice ripper to me. I loved it. Then, another person a man who was an engineer/scientist whipped out his Analog Magazine for lunch reading. I had been hiding mine, reading it only at home. Then a good friend showed me his comic book collection. I had hid mine under my bed. I got the nerve to show my Mad Magazine collection to a brainiac computer whiz. He borrowed several issues. I realized what an ASS I was! Killing the shame demon that high school lit had created was WONDERFUL! I graduated from high school in 1971. Are high schools STILL implanting the shame demon?

I still read the 'approved' stuff because I like it, too, but I can no longer figure out why I was a snob since recreational reading has always been about enjoying yourself. Ever once in a greeeaaaat while I run into a book snob who is disturbed by my sword and sorcerer paperback. I resist sticking out my tongue. Most of the time. I'm 58.

I occasionally pick up one of the classics, but generally get bored. There are to many entertaining books out there to read books that are boring just because people think you should have read them. Read what you like otherwise you'll get where reading is more of a chore than an enjoyment.

Patrick wrote: "That's my problem with English class. They take the fun out of reading, by making you analyze EVERY FREAKING DETAIL. I want to read for fun! I mean, in middle school, we read more recent stuff, but..."

Yes! I've been saying this for YEARS! I hated almost every book I had to read in school because of the analyzing. I also keep saying, what if the author just wrote the book to write it and didn't put all these little details in the book that the teachers think they did. What if the author wrote the book for, gosh I don't know, people to ENJOY.

Also I don't listen to what anyone says about the books I read. I read what I want when I want. I take recommendations and check the books out here on goodreads but if it doesn't sound like something I'd like then I won't read it and I'll tell the person who recommended it that it doesn't pique my interest. If they don't like it they can go scratch.

Patrick wrote: "That's my problem with English class. They take the fun out of reading, by making you analyze EVERY FREAKING DETAIL. I want to read for fun! I mean, in middle school, we read more recent stuff, but..."

I feel exactly the same way. In my English class, we are currently reading Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. It's such a great book but I hate the fact that we have to fill out all these worksheets about each character's motivation and cause and effect and whatnot. Just let us read the book! And when we read Huckleberry Finn, my teacher looked directly at me and said that instead of reading "such terrible fantasy novels that aren't thought-provoking in the least," I should try something else. Well, I just didn't enjoy it. It's not my kind of book. Why can't we just read what we enjoy and not be forced to over-analyze everything and anything about a book? That's what they're meant for, after all: to entertain.