30 days of books: Day Five

[azhure]

Day 05 – A book or series you hate

This is actually really hard, mostly because I don’t read books that I hate.  There are plenty of subjects that don’t interest me, and which I’m sure that I’d hate books about, but I just don’t read them.

There are certainly some books that I don’t hold in high regard for whatever reason, some of which I still read as guilty pleasures.

The closest I’m going to get to an answer here is anything by Dickens.  Who, to be fair, I only read in high school as part of English class.  And hated.  This could reflect on the teachers I had at the time, but I also got to read a lot of great stuff – like Fowles’ The Collector and The Great Gatsby.  Maybe I should have a go at Dickens again and see how I go.

Day 01 – A book series you wish had gone on longer OR a book series you wish would just freaking end already (or both!)
Day 02 – A book or series you wish more people were reading and talking about
Day 03 – The best book you’ve read in the last 12 months
Day 04 – Your favorite book or series ever
Day 05 – A book or series you hate
Day 06 – Favorite book of your favorite series OR your favorite book of all time
Day 07 – Least favorite plot device employed by way too many books you actually enjoyed otherwise
Day 08 – A book everyone should read at least once
Day 09 – Best scene ever
Day 10 – A book you thought you wouldn’t like but ended up loving
Day 11 – A book that disappointed you
Day 12 – A book or series of books you’ve watched more than five times
Day 13 – Favorite childhood book OR current favorite YA book (or both!)
Day 14 – Favorite character in a book (of any sex or gender)
Day 15 – Your “comfort” book
Day 16 – Favorite poem or collection of poetry
Day 17 – Favorite story or collection of stories (short stories, novellas, novelettes, etc.)
Day 18 – Favorite beginning scene in a book
Day 19 – Favorite book cover (bonus points for posting an image!)
Day 20 – Favorite kiss
Day 21 – Favorite romantic/sexual relationship (including asexual romantic relationships)
Day 22 – Favorite non-sexual relationship (including asexual romantic relationships)
Day 23 – Most annoying character ever
Day 24 – Best quote from a novel
Day 25 – Any five books from your “to be read” stack
Day 26 – OMG WTF? OR most irritating/awful/annoying book ending
Day 27 – If a book contains ______, you will always read it (and a book or books that contain it)!
Day 28 – First favorite book or series obsession
Day 29 – Saddest character death OR best/most satisfying character death (or both!)
Day 30 – What book are you reading right now?

Mirrored from Stephanie Gunn.

Comments

[brienze.livejournal.com]

I think your instincts are pretty good there. Dickens was paid by the word, and it shows. He should be studied in social anthropology classes or 19th century history classes, not literature.

[one-time-pad.livejournal.com]

English teachers have a knack for ruining literature. I'm not suggesting that every classic is meant for every reader (or even that every classic deserves to be a classic), but approaching a book on your own terms can often do the trick where the in-class assignment failed.

(Full disclosure: I've always appreciated Great Expectations, but Dickens can admittedly be hit or miss.)

[http://users.livejournal.com/_illumina_/]

Do you know, it's weird, but I always hated Dickens too, and I only had to read one passage (FACTS!) from Hard Times for GCSE, nothing more. I gave up on A Christmas Carol as a kid, struggled through Oliver Twist in my mid-twenties, thought Great Expectations was mildly better but still hard going, and left it there until last year. Bizarrely enough it was Hard Times (found in a hostel in Pakistan!) that got me into trying again - and I actually enjoyed it. I read David Copperfield this year... and loved it.

Definitely worth giving him another try, though possibly best when you have lots of free time, he's never concise!

[earthspirits.livejournal.com]

Not a big fan of Dickens. I'm fond of "A Christmas Carol" (because of the paranormal aspects and the humanism of the story), and rather liked "Great Expectations" for the sheer strangeness of the characters (it's very dark and has real horror story overtones). Then there was "The Mystery of Edwin Drood", Dicken's unfinished classic mystery.

But with Dickens, I find (for me anyway) that it really varies from book to book. Some of his work I really can't stand, some I rather like, although I find that Dickens, like many of the early Victorians, is extremely verbose. I must confess, though, that I much prefer Dickens when filmed, probably because I like the costuming and the 19th century / Victorian era.

There's a new pastiche mystery book out, featuring Dickens as the main "detective" character trying to solve a paranormal crime. Thinking of getting that one, it looks like it might be amusing!

[lori-lee69.livejournal.com]

see, i've mainly enjoyed the dickens stories ive read but i couldnt STAND the great gatsby. To me it felt like a cheesy poor cousin to wuthering heights. I think perhaps i should read it again as an adult.