Discuss a work of literary merit that you hated when you were made to read it in school or university. Why did you dislike it?
Easy. Jane Eyre.
I don't usually hate books. There are those I disliked but could see the literary merit in them. I could understand why others liked them and just figured they weren't my cup of tea. No one can like every book they read, right? So no big deal.
Jane Eyre, however, is so bad it fills me with rage. Rage that I had to read it. Rage that my brilliant university professor who was able to make any book seem wonderful, couldn't do that with Jane Eyre. Rage that I may have to teach this in the future. Rage that it is considered literary. Rage that it even exists.
Yep, I can be a person of great, irrational extremes sometimes. I have no idea what it is about this book that I disliked so much. I apologise to those of you who are sitting there is a rage directed towards me because you love this book. I just don't get why it is considered an important text. Sure it's old.. and there are gothic elements and feminist elements and Jane is supposed to be 'endearing' (gah!)... but I just don't get it.
There have been other books I read at school and did not like... The Hobbit (forgive me) being another... I also remember a book called Midnight, about a bushranger, that almost put me in a coma. But I doubt very much that was 'literary'.
The way I see it, literature is subjective and sure the critics and academics might tell us that such and such a book is a classic and is amazing and all that, but that doesn't mean it is. It just means from an academic point of view, it meets the standards of what is considered 'classic'. It doesn't make it a fun, entertaining or breathtaking read.
Is there a book you can't stand?
