Unpopular Literary Opinions

[Deleted]

Jane Eyre was ok, I thought. But the book by Charlotte Bronte that I really, really liked was Villete. I liked the book written by Anne Bronte (Tenant at Wildfell Hall) but wasn't so impressed by Wuthering Heights--didn't seem that passionate and romantic to me.
Maybe I should retry Hemingway. I remember sort of skimming through For Whom the Bell Tolls when I was in eighth grade. Obviously, I didn't get much out of it.

[foxfair]

Oh dear, I LOVED Jane Eyre and I also see the attraction to Rochester.

[underjoyed]

*raises hand* I hated Catcher in the Rye, too. My 11th grade English teacher told us it was important for teenagers to read. I don't think he took into consideration that a group of 27 black teenagers would be bored by that incessant rambling. By the time I got to the end of the book, I wondered why, if Holden was so disenfrachised, didn't he try to help someone else, rather than complain? He goes on and on about his brother being in the outfield hiding a book in his baseball glove, yet he couldn't take the boy to a library, bookstore, poetry reading, or something.

I read it as a teenager as well - also at the behest of an excited English teacher - and felt the same way. You're oh so alienated. I get it. Now shut up, Holden.

Although, I have to say, that if you want to ensure that a bunch of teenagers are ill-disposed towards a book, having their teacher tell them how "relevant" and "important" it is and how much they're going to love it is a really good way to go about it. As a 16 year old, I refused to believe that my elderly teacher (who in retrospect must have only been in his late thirties) knew from relevant.

[tinyshoes]

I like my books to have happy endings. I'm not saying that it has to be all rainbows and Skittles, where the girl always gets the guy, but I don't like ending a book on a down-note. To hell with realism. I read books to escape reality (unless I'm going the nonfiction route). Okay, rant over.

[Deleted]

Yes, I usually agree. (Once in awhile a sad story ending is ok.)
L.M. Montgomery (an old favorite) also felt that way, and her books usually do leave you with a good feeling.
My favorite line in her books is when Mr. Carpenter tells Emily that "pine trees are just as real as pig sties, and a sight more pleasant"--something that lots of "modern" writers lose sight of, with the trend of "realism."
However, I do like Edith Wharton's books very much and most of her books end on a down note.

[Deleted]

I happened on this thread and thought, oh, I should post of my unpopular opinion that Catcher in the Rye was awful -- but wow! I'm not alone. I feel so validated!

I don't know. I read the book three times -- at varying stages of my life -- just waiting for the big "A Ha!" moment where I absolutely get what Holden was going through. I didn't. I always thought I didn't connect with Holden because he was a well-heeled kid in NYC, far removed geographically and socioeconomically from my own life. Now I can understand that I didn't get "it" because I just didn't care about his whiny self.

[Deleted]

I liked Catcher in the Rye but I read it when I was in 8th grade. I was a VERY dorky 8th grader so I liked the idea of someone lashing out at the assholes and the phonies of life. I hated people like his roommate and I wasn't doing great in school so I felt for Holden.

Of course I didn't grasp any of the irony of the book . . . that he complains about these people but is pretty phoney and assholic himself. Once I reread it later on, I picked up on all of that and didn't enjoy it as much.

But it does work quite well as a rally cry for a dork with bad grades.

[InchoateDetails]

I too read Catcher in the Blah in highschool and hated Holden! I don't understand why people think they're clever in naming their children Holden (I'm looking at you and your canceled show Dennis Miller). Okay, now I will let you in on something that has got me weird looks for saying out loud: Stephen King is a good writer. In almost all his books he draws me in and I love how he fleshes out even the tertiary characters. That said, not all stories should be made into movies Stephen. Sometimes they read better.

[abbycat]

OK. What am I missing about Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal
by Christopher Moore?

Everyone seems to love it to death, but I just can't see the appeal. Believe me, I've tried. Seriously, what is so great about it?

[Deleted]

Wow, I guess my unpopular opinion is that I liked The Catcher in the Rye. *flinches*

I didn't feel like Holden was, 'like, totally telling my story' or anything, but I think that while he was a whiny little bitch most of the time I found that he could still be touched by things around him. And I liked his relationship with his sister. The kid just had some bad things happen and he wasn't dealing well with it. I don't think he deserves all this vitriol!