[bookshare-discuss] Re: Just for Fun - Name Five Books You Wish You Hadn't Read
- From: "Kim Friedman" <kimfri11@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <bookshare-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 01 Sep 2011 02:43:39 -0700
Hi, Judy, now this is an interesting topic, but I must say that the
articles I wish I hadn't read were required for completing class work
assignments. Unfortunately, I can't remember their names because they
were quite forgettable and the writing style tended to be turgid or the
articles were written in such a fashion that I wondered why the writer
bothered to write them in the first place because if they were trying to
say something, it appeared they were wasting ink to say practically
nothing, as far as I was concerned. As far as the Harry Potter books go,
I stopped after Book four in the series, i.e., Goblet of Fire. I've yet
to read the other three because I needed a break from Potter et al.
(Apparently I still need a break from him.) I can't say I didn't wish I
hadn't read the Narnia books but I definitely prefer Tolkien over Lewis
as far as fantasy literature goes. (I did like the Screwtape letters by
Lewis, though.) Other books I wish I hadn't read: 1. Who's Afraid of
Virginia Woolf by Edward Albee because of the way the characters treated
each other (they were horrid and nasty, though I can't say I regretted
reading it because I was curious about it. I think it was salutary, yet
quite disturbing.) 2. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. (Very
depressing and I wasn't quite sure what it was trying to say.) 3. The
Stranger by Albert Camus. (Again, very depressing. I just don't get
existentialist literature. This book and the one previously mentioned
[#2 on my list] were required reading for a freshman English and the
professor's choices were all depressing, aarrg.) 4. To the Lighthouse by
Virginia Woolf (I don't think this book had a discernible plot. I really
don't care for stream-of-consciousness writing. It didn't really have a
"story" if you get what I'm saying.) 5. Titus Andronicus by William
Shakespeare. (Very bloody and gruesome and quite over-the-top tragedy.)
6. The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. (I couldn't identify
with the characters and couldn't understand why they felt the way they
did or the reasons behind their decisions to perform whatever action
they decided to perform. I feel quite ambivalent about this one because
I wanted to read it, but it left me bewildered which I think pushes it
into the "why-did-I-want-to-read-this? category.) 7. Children of the
Corn by Stephen King. (In fact, I can't say I actually read the story,
but I heard it read on a radio program called The Graveyard Shift. King
is much too gruesome for my liking.) Regards, Kim Friedman.
-----Original Message-----
From: Judy s. [mailto:cherryjam@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Thursday, September 01, 2011 12:37 AM
To: bookshare-discuss
Subject: [bookshare-discuss] Just for Fun - Name Five Books You Wish You
Hadn't Read
I read a thread today on the Amazon UK site, where people were listing
five books they wished they hadn't ever read, and if they wanted, why.
I thought some of us might enjoy doing the same. Here goes for me:
Books I Wish I'd Never Read:
1. The Red Pony by John Steinbeck. What a horrible, depressing book! 2.
As I Lay Dying by William Falkner. OK, if you haven't read this
book, spoiler alert: I had to read this in high school. I remember my
teacher asking us about the cultural significance of Jewel getting his
broken leg cemented to the coffin. My thoughts: Hello? Where was
social services when a parent was using cement to cast his son's broken
leg to his dead mother's coffin? Um, apparently that wasn't the right
answer that the teacher wanted, by the way. grin.
3. Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time. I want the hours back
I've spent trying to read this book. Has anyone actually ever read the
book, or is this a case of The Emperor's New Clothes where no one want
to be the one to admit that they thought it was just awful, obtuse, and
poorly written, even though it is. Yes, Hawking is a genius. No, he
doesn't do a good job of explaining the relativistic universe, at least
in my biased opinion. smile.
4. Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide To the Galaxy. I know this is
a favorite of many people, and it is well-written, but I couldn't stand
it. I've tried to read it several different times and can't ever get
past the first few chapters.
5. And to finish my list, I just don't get the Harry Potter craze. Read
the first three, tried the rest, didn't like any of them, and actually
thought they were boring, although I love books like the Lord of the
Rings Trilogy and the Narnia series. It's not that I think the Harry
Potter books are bad books, but they're definitely not my cup of tea.
Anyone else want to jump in with their five books they wish they hadn't
ever read?
Judy s.
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