Cindy at Dominion Family has an interesting and funny discussion going on (archived link). People are admitting the books they absolutely hate that are considered to be “classics” within the culture, the church, and/or the homeschool movement.
What a catharsis! Really. I’m going to admit something I’ve never admitted here before. I am not a fan of classic literature and I am abysmally poorly read in this area. For being a teacher, an honors college graduate, blah, blah, blah… I’ve read very few classics and I don’t particularly feel that I’ve missed anything.
I read for three reasons.
- First, I read to escape. And when I want to escape I don’t want to think, I don’t want to deal with someone else’s horrific problems written in the form of a novel, and I don’t want to wonder every time I turn the page if I am going to be assaulted by language or content. So that narrows down my reading possibilities quite a bit.
- Second, I read to know and understand who God is. So I stick to the classics of the Christian faith, dead authors I respect, and other carefully chosen newer works.
- Third, I read because some aspect of our culture or life has caught my fancy and I want to understand it.
I don’t read to impress people or to say I’ve read all the great works of literature. I don’t read because Oprah says it is a good book. And I don’t read something just because “everyone” is reading it.
By and large, I don’t like contemporary Christian fiction. At all.
So here are some of the books I’ve never read. I have attempted some, but gave up. These are just a few that I thought of off the top of my head. I’m sure once other people start leaving titles in the comments my list will grow significantly.
Jane Eyre
Wuthering Heights
War and Peace
Tom Sawyer
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
Huckleberry Finn
Nothing by Tolkien
The Catcher in the Rye
The Grapes of Wrath
To Kill a Mockingbird
Lord of the Flies
There’s a whole additional list of books I read in school that are classics that I didn’t like. But Caroline needs my attention so I’ll offer my personal pan of those books as other people mention them.
So what do you dislike? What have you never read that everybody just loves?
Can’t wait to see what makes the list!
40 Things I’ve Learned By Age 40 – #1-7
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In my quest to read some “classics” and because I had often seen it on lists of favorites, I read Catcher in the Rye last summer. I hated it so much I wrote an entire post about my extensive disdain for it. To say I don’t get how that came to be a “classic” is an understatement. I don’t see how anyone ever made it through!
However, I LOVE To Kill a Mockingbird; always have. It’s one of my all time favorites.
Curious….
When you get a chance, would you mind posting a list of the “classics of the Christian faith” that you read and/or a list of the “dead men” you respect?
I’m suprised that you don’t appreciate ANY Contemporary Christian fiction “at all.” I agree that there is a lot of fluff and stuff out there, but there are also some exceptional writers (Brock & Bodie Thoene’s for example). I recently posted some of my favorite fiction books. You can check it out here if you’re interested.
I am not well-versed in the classics either, but I desire to read more of them…maybe I’ll regret that decision. I agree that just because a book is old and has stood the test of time, does not mean that it is edifying.
Oh, if there is any of those I could encourage you to read, it would be Uncle Tom’s Cabin. I was never interested in it until a former pastor described Uncle Tom as “the kind of Christian you always wanted to be.”
I guess maybe I”m the opposite- I am at a point in my life of reading the classics I somehow missed along the way. 🙂 I’m near the end of Jane Eyre now, after having seen the recent PBS production of it. I read Pride and Prejudice last year and want to read Sense and Sensibility and Persuasion next.
I’ve never been a fan of Twain, and I haven’t read many of the books on your list there.
Two of the classics I regretted reading were The Three Musketeers and The Man in the Iron Mask. The latter was totally depressing, and one or the other of those had content that I didn’t think was in older books.
Two of my favorite classics are Les Miserables and A Tale of Two Cities. They have wonderful Christian overtones though I don’t know whether the authors were born-again Christians. I had to attempt A Tale of Two Cities a few times before I ever got through it (I don’t know why I kept persisting, but I am glad I did). The first time through I immediately read it again.
My first love, though, when it comes to books, is Christian biographies.
Tess of the D’Urbervilles
Dr. Zhivago
No one suffering from depression should read these two.
Talk about dealing with “someone else’s horrific problems written in the form of a novel”!
I only got round to reading Jane Eyre last year and surprisingly enjoyed reading it. Not quite as much as I love Pride and Prejudice but that is a hard act to follow.
Allison
I’ve never read Pride & Prejudice – or any Jane Austen novels. (Please don’t shoot me!) I wasn’t able to finish the Lord of the Rings trilogy. (I got halfway through the second one.) I disliked “Of Mice & Men” and “Fahrenheit 459”.
If you read any one of those, please read Jane Eyre. I have posted extensively about it on both of my sites, This Girl’s Life and This Girl’s Books. It is without a doubt my absolute favorite book of all time.
I’m with you… I’m completely uninterested in contemporary Christian fiction.
I have never been able to get through “In His Steps.”
I read the first “Left Behind” book and left the others behind. Can’t stand the awful writing, and I don’t subscribe to their theological viewpoint on eschatology anyway. This doesn’t really qualify as “classic lit” anyway, but they are popular books that I’ve never read.
“Anne of Green Gables” … I read most of the first one, but it was a struggle and I can’t get interested in any of the others.
“Little Women” was like this, too, but it’s beginning to grow on me because my 8-year-old loves it, so now that she’s moving on to “Jo’s Boys” and “Little Men,” I feel the need to keep up with her.
I had to read so many books in high school that I abhor. I disliked so many:
Lord of the Flies
Apocalypse Now
Clockwork Orange
Anything by D.H. Lawrence
For the first three, not only did we have to read the book, but then we had to see the movie in class too! That made me dislike the books even more than I had before!
I’m sure I have forgotten some too.
Never read “To Kill a Mockingbird”. I didn’t read any Jane Austen until I was some years out of college. I do like her.
I did enjoy Anne of Green Gables and Little Women immensely.
I’m with you on the sour Grapes of Wrath and the Tolkein stuff!!
I’m gonna get a beating for this, but I’m not that fond of Jane Austen. Yes, I have read P&P, but I just couldn’t get in to it. I’m sorry for all the Austen-ites out there! I do however, enjoy the movies.
Some other books I really didn’t enjoy were:
Middlemarch (VERY confusing)
Crime and Punishment
Anna Karenina
Anything by Shakespeare
Lord of the Flies
Interesting. I have read EVERY ONE of your list of books, and of all of them, the only one it really makes me SAD that you didn’t read is To Kill a Mockingbird. That is probably my favorite book in the entire world.
I LOVE IT.
I also agree with a former poster that Uncle Tom’s Cabin was really inspiring and cool.
Some others of that list I have enjoyed, but not enough to make an issue of it. And War and Peace was mostly VERY LONG. (I LOVE LOVE LOVE Anna Karenina, however. I have read it 3 times, I think.)
One book I really didn’t much care for that all these people go on about on their classic lists for children is Robinson Crusoe. Also The Swiss Family Robinson. Oy. What a lot of DISCUSSION about the made-up minutiae (help, spelling??) of a big camping trip. Ugh! And Robinson Crusoe I found similar.
I’m thinking…
In Jesus, Susan
Tom Sawyer
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
Huckleberry Finn
I’ve only read these three from your list. And they were all read years ago in my teen years.
I started a classics book club a few months ago, for some homeschool moms and myself. Our first book was “Stepping Heavenward” which I ashamedly admitted NOT liking (and not finishing) on Cindy’s blog. Ouch.
Our second book is “Wives and Daughters” because I have and love the dvd so I wanted to read the book.
I am reading classics that I really plan to enjoy-carefully selected ones. Last year I read all of Jane Austen’s books which was hard but I so much enjoyed them. This year my goal is to read through as many of L.M. Montgomery’s books as I can. I’m beginning with “Anne of Green Gables” which I read many times when I was young.
I think reading through carefully selected classics is a very profitable thing to do. I’d like to eventually tackle some children’s classics that I’ve never read such as “The Little Princess.” A couple of years ago I bought myself a copy of “The Secret Garden” and read it for the first time in my 40’s. Loved it!!
By the way Sallie, I’m reading my first Grace Livingston Hill book-“The Honor Girl.” 🙂
I get it: add. I thought it meant add on. Anyway, as I was saying….
Can you believe how this sort of post brings people out of the closet? 🙂
I was truly shocked and unprepared to the response. It turned out to be a really fun post.
Books on tape can be a busy mother’s best friend. In high school your daughter may be required or even want to read some of those books and if you have already read them you might be of some help to her as she goes through them. Books on tape can help you multi-task!
I’m not much a Jane Austen fan either. I’ve started and stopped Little Women more times than I can count. I just can’t get into it. I do love To Kill A Mockingbird and the Anne of Green Gables series.
I’m also a little weird in that I won’t read books listed on the top 10 best seller lists.
Lol I’ve just noticed one commenter that doesn’t like Anne of Green Gables! How can this be? 😉
I love Jane Eyre and I am currently reading Lord of the Rings and enjoying it for the first time (gave up last attempt).
I hated Vanity Fair by Thackeray couldn’t get into it. Couldn’t get into Middlemarch by George Elliot. Dislike Twelfth Night by Shakespeare it’s a ridiculous story. Never read War and Peace and don’t intend to.
Loved reading this post, what fun!
We love MT. We last watched Jane Eyre and I hated it-gasp, I know. I could NOT get into the characters. Mr. Rochester-how do you spell CREEP? Yuck! I have the book but at this point I don’t intend to read it. 🙂
Usually, a movie (a well-made one anyway) inspires me to read the book. That’s what’s happened with Jane Austen. I think knowing the movies so well really helped me to understand the books. Now I’m on “Wives and Daughters” and again, having seen the movie twice so far is really helping me to understand what’s going on.
FYI, coming up on MT next month is “Kidnapped” and then “The Wind in the Willows.”
I so agree about books on audio. The only problem for me is that I’m a visual person-I CANNOT listen to books on tape-it drives me absolutely crazy. I have to either read the book for myself or watch the movie.
Hey, my cut and paste didn’t work.
MT was my short way of saying “Masterpiece Theatre” which someone above mentioned. I agree it’s a great way to be exposed to the classics.
Just not “Jane Eyre.”
Here’s a quick tip. Generally you can watch classics on PBS Masterpiece Theatre. Really. Jane Eyre is one such classic novel portrayed brilliantly. I am an English teacher and- gasp!- recommend this 🙂
I would say that you really should read Tom Sawyer just for the fun of it. There is so much in there that high school students just don’t “get.” Nothing inappropriate, just adult “punny” things. It’s worth a rainy day read, in my opinion.
“To Kill a Mockingbird” is my very favorite book ever, and it pains me that my professor husband has never read it. I think growing up in the South made that book all the more important to me.
As for what I won’t read… Christian romance novels. I adore romance novels, but I find that Christian romances – by and large – have trouble weaving the faith into the storyline easily and interestingly.
I agree with the reader at the top about reading Uncle Tom’s Cabin, and War and Peace, well, that was my favorite at about 14, need to read it again!
Also, yes, the Thoene’s books are wonderful, particularly their series set during WWII.
There are several books on your list I haven’t read either; have trouble getting into Jane Austen.
Interesting comments!
EEEEMommy – Well, I didn’t say I didn’t enjoy ANY. I said “By and large…” 🙂 I’ll have to check out your list. I did enjoy the Mitford series, although I don’t know if they qualify as contemporary Christian fiction. I know those books took a bit of a beating over on Cindy’s blog, but the first few especially were books where I actually laughed out loud while reading them. And I did appreciate Francine River’s Redeeming Love because I find the story of Hosea and Gomer so amazing in the picture of God’s love and faithfulness that it portrays.
Ok, I might have to look into To Kill a Mockingbird and Tom Sawyer…
Re: Masterpiece Theater… I do enjoy watching that from time to time. I enjoyed He Knew He Was Right when that was on a few years ago. The last MT we turned on was Bleak House (?). How. awful. can. camerawork. be? We watched it for fifteen minutes and turned. it. off. YUCK. I would have watched Jane Eyre if I had known it was on, but since we never turn on the tv I’m kind of out of the loop regarding what is coming up.
A lot of times the movie inspires me to read the book. I didn’t read Pride and Prejudice or Sense and Sensibility until I had seen the films. I liked Wives and Daughters, but didn’t love it like P&P and S&S. But I might like the book.
I should have said that I do enjoy children’s literature. I just finished all of the Little House prequels that are out and was so disappointed to find out that Melissa Wiley won’t be finishing up her series and the publisher is planning on dumbing down the rest of the books yet to come.
Gotta go! Fun to read everyone’s thoughts. 🙂
I forgot…
My favorite dead guy is Charles Spurgeon.
One of my favorite not-dead guys is J.I. Packer.
This reminds me yet again that I STILL owe Kristy a list of my favorite children’s books since, oh, last summer.
Great post, Sallie. I agree wholeheartedly, although I am often ashamed to admit it! I waded through many of those books in high school, at least enough to be able to write the required book reports, but it was PURE TORTURE. I do love to read, and some of the books on your list, Tolkien’s The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings series, I did revisit a few years ago and enjoyed them. You should try The Hobbit again… once you get through the first couple of chapters it is quite engrossing. Really it is.
As for Jane Austen… well, we won’t go there. I do enjoy the movies immensely, but the books are another story, for me.
I’m so glad to know I’m not the only one who feels this way! 🙂