Unpopular Literary Opinions

[jennipoo]

Of Mice and Men lost me at the point in which the boss went around wearing a vaseline-filled glove. There aren't enough icks.

[queequeg]

Seeing the Terry Pratchett thread reminded me that I really can't stand his books. I thought the Hogfather was ok but all the others I've read were just really difficult to get through.

[Deleted]

I wouldn't say I hate Steinbeck's writing, it's definitely skilled and draws you into the story and makes you interested in the character. What I dislike about his writing is that he is just so heavy on the symbolism. Way too overloaded: just in case you readers are too dumb to figure out who this character is supposed to represent (like in the Grapes of Wrath isn't there a preacher like guy killed by an angry mob with the initials J. C.?). I like writing just a little more subtle that actually gets you to try and figure out what the author means.

[mrpancake]

I'd say Steinbeck is pretty evenly split with people who really like his work, and others who don't like it so much. When we were assigned to read Grapes of Wrath (which I really loved), there were probably only about 5 out of 30 of us who liked it. My English teacher hated it, go figure. Steinbeck can be heavy on the symbolism, but to many readers, seeing symbolism isn't always quite so obvious (I'm someone who has to generally be hit in the head with it before I acknowledge it!). He is long winded, but for me it's in a good way, because his lengthiness is justified by the content, but I know lots of people don't like whole chapters with a turtle crossing a road. I don't think not liking Steinbeck is too unpopular...except with people from California. Ha.

[materialgirl]

The Catcher in the Rye blows. I read it at the peak of my adolescent angst and just couldn't relate.

[MrsCatHead]

I can't stand Flannery O'Conner's work. It's not that I don't "get" it. It's just that it sucks.

[Deleted]

1) I enjoyed The Da Vinci Code -- No, I didn't think it was a work of art, but it was fun (well, "fun" considering how much death there was in it).

2) I've tried at least 4 times to read Ulysses by James Joyce and cannot get past 50 pages. I understand there are people who actually study this book, out of sheer fascination of the genius of it... But I was reassured recently by one of the smartest and well-read people I know that I was not alone -- He tried several times and couldn't "get it" and ultimately decided he didn't give a fuck if he "got it" or not.

3) I agree - Russian literature (was this the thread it came up in?) can be horribly tedious.

4) I realize a lot of people think The White Hotel is pretentious and/or inpenetrable, but I've read it several times and will probably read it several more times.

[dwanollah]

I've tried at least 4 times to read Ulysses by James Joyce and cannot get past 50 pages. I understand there are people who actually study this book, out of sheer fascination of the genius of it... But I was reassured recently by one of the smartest and well-read people I know that I was not alone -- He tried several times and couldn't "get it" and ultimately decided he didn't give a fuck if he "got it" or not.

Joyce is such a masterbatory dickwad. Of course, that's why I love him, but I'm weird like that.

I'm a feminist, and I LOVE Hemingway. LOVE!

The Catcher in the Rye blows. I read it at the peak of my adolescent angst and just couldn't relate.

Thank God, MaterialGirl! People who relate to Holden -- or, even more, have crushes on him! -- worry me. Sorta like people who consider "Every Breath You Take" as "their" song....

[bbug]

I think I posted this at the old board, but I couldn't finish Catch-22. I just hated it so very much.

If you're interested in them, but can't get into, old Russian authors...maybe try Anton Chekov's short comic stories. Some of them are really funny, and they're how I was introduced to Chekov, so I never knew he was considered a heavy author until much later. I've been trying to read Dostoyevsky's The Brothers Karamazov off and on for about 8 years though, so I get what y'all are saying.

[Deleted]

bbug said:

If you're interested in them, but can't get into, old Russian authors...maybe try Anton Chekov's short comic stories. Some of them are really funny...

What a coincidence that you would post that ... I was preparing to read Anna Karenina for the first time not long ago. There's an older guy who does mail delivery in our building and he's Russian. I told him I was preparing to read Anna Karenina and he said (matter-of-factly, not bragging) that he'd had to read that book at age 14 in French!* Anyhow, he mentioned that if I wanted to pursue more Russian authors, to try some of Chekov's short stories and said a lot of them were really funny. I was quite surprised. Now the idea is reinforced and maybe I'll actually give it a try.

*This guy, when in Russia, was probably a nuclear scientist or something, now he's in a U.S. law firm, delivering mail. The funny thing was, a guy I work with who considers himself an expert on Russian literature fell amusingly silent when listening to this "deliverer of mail" -- I think it threw him for a loop that a "guy like that" probably knew more about classic literature than he (who had bragged about it) did.