That being said, I seem to have a specific trigger for RAGE when reading. When it's pointless.
Example 1. Waiting for Godot
There is nothing NOTHING worse than this book. Period. The end. Ever. The entire point of the book is THAT IT HAS NO POINT. I just can't. I don't give a crap about your existentialist points. They're full of shit and so are you Thomas Beckett. There's three whole pages of gibberish. It's not even real words, or even charming nonsense words like Dr. Seuss (who I adore). IT'S NOTHING. THE WORLD IS EMPTY AND MEANINGLESS AND BOOKS LIKE THIS SHOULDN'T EXIST.
Example 2. Heart of Darkness
Until I read Waiting for Godot, this was the worst book I'd ever read. I honestly can't remember anything but a very specific scene I will get to. I'm pretty sure it's set in Africa. ....and that's all I've got. I'm not sure even when I read it that I understood anything that was going on, to be honest. What I do remember is a specific scene somewhere in the middle of the book. The characters are stranded somewhere in the jungle because they need screws for their ship. And then literally like a sentence later IN THE SAME PARAGRAPH...they're sailing down the river. Wait what? When/where did they get the screws? What was the point of telling me any of that then? WHY????
As much as slut shaming and carboard bffs are enough to make me want to throw a book across the room, none of these have anything to the rage induced by these books. (Probably because I HAD to read them). That being said, Thomas Hardy's Tess of the D'Urbevilles is definitely up there on this list. I think it's an important book, and I think Hardy wrote some great commentary on the society at the time, but man do I loathe that book. I didn't include it in this list because I feel like I can't talk about the reasons why I hate it without spoilers and well...I feel like there are people out there who will actually read it. And I know people who love it. So there you are *shrugs*
And that concludes books I loathe! Any other books I should avoid at all costs?
Have you read Billy Budd by Mellville? That is by far the worst story I've ever written. And it's only about 100 or so pages. I thought it would never end. And I was also not a big fan of Heart of Darkness. Another relatively short book that just takes forever to slog through since the author felts like he had to stick as much "meaning" as possible into each sentence. An English teacher's dream book and an English student's worst nightmare!
ReplyDeleteMan it must be something with short classics! I think your last sentence pretty much sums it up haha. Thank god I now have the freedom to read whatever I please because those books about destroyed me!
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