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Thank you for the lovely compliment. I hope I made it fun, they pick up a book every now and then, and learned to think.
Let's see. . . I recall when the Clan of the Cave Bear came out, people either loved it or hated it. Many of my female friends really enjoyed it. Not sure if it appealed to men. I own a copy but always get side-tracked, although I think I started the book years ago when I purchased it. Can't remember exactly why I never went back to it.
And I don't think I'm familiar with the other title, Valley of the Horses, but it may very well be because I never read the first book.
Perhaps a contest as a spin-off of this thread? We HAVE to read one of our most-despised-never-got-through works? For what purpose? I suppose to be able to say we "did it," and who knows? -- how can all those folks who love a work be that wrong? what did I miss?
For me, I'd have to go back and pick up Conrad's Heart of Darkness. Then, if the poor soul is still living, I could send that college professor a note, letting them know I had finally finished it, but not to expect me to take a test or anything.
Another book comes to mind -- as much as I like Dickens, I never could get through Dombey and Son for some odd reason. Didn't do well on the test, needless to say, or the class discussion(s). When confronted with the question, on the test, "What did the staircase symbolize?," I did try hard to 'wing' that -- the ascention to heaven? a greater understanding to self, for the character? a contrast to his sinking to the depths of *whatever.* Perhaps there is no symbolism, and this is a trick question, Mr. _?_. Could 'wing' the writing assignment, because I could find literary criticism.
Man, but that professor was cruel too. He gave us the title, a date to have finished our reading, and we took a test (largely comprehension) before we ever discussed the work. Talk about tough.
I am sure that there are many titles on this thread that another reader has really enjoyed.
My DH read Auel's series beginning with Clan of the Cave Bears. I always teased him that he was reading them for the wrong reason! He enjoyed them all.
I, on the other hand, did like Heart of Darkness. I usually relish all of Conrad's soul-searching stories.
I think that you had a very wise college professor. I would like to follow the same process if I had a high school literature class. Assign a book to read, give a deadline and then an essay test on symbolism, context, comprehension - let the content slide until the discussion took place.
However, I would then retest, and let the students judge for themselves how much discussion of a book influences the way we see things and how much more deeply we read into a book after discussion has opened up some doors.
I like the idea of reading one book from this thread, as well. I think we would find some interesting "new" comments about some of these dreaded books.
I am sure that there are many titles on this thread that another reader has really enjoyed.
My DH read Auel's series beginning with Clan of the Cave Bears. I always teased him that he was reading them for the wrong reason! He enjoyed them all.
I, on the other hand, did like Heart of Darkness. I usually relish all of Conrad's soul-searching stories.
I think that you had a very wise college professor. I would like to follow the same process if I had a high school literature class. Assign a book to read, give a deadline and then an essay test on symbolism, context, comprehension - let the content slide until the discussion took place.
However, I would then retest, and let the students judge for themselves how much discussion of a book influences the way we see things and how much more deeply we read into a book after discussion has opened up some doors.
I like the idea of reading one book from this thread, as well. I think we would find some interesting "new" comments about some of these dreaded books.
I always preferred essay tests, myself, because it's so easy to bluff. I hated those multiple choice things, because I could make a perfectly good case for all the options.
Essays tests always remind me of one of my HS history teachers - he'd give tests like 'Compare and contrast administration X with administration Y. Be bright. You have one hour.'
movingtohouston -- "Second worst for me was Grapes of Wrath (at least I think it was) by Steinbeck. Anyone who has to take 5 pages to describe a turtle crossing the road just doesn't cut it for me." For the same reason I put Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged on the toss-it-in-the-trash list ... she took more than two pages to describe Dagny Taggert staring through a store window.
Another snoozer for me was Moby Dick. I barely got beyond "Call me Ishmael" before the zzzzzzs hit. However, Melville's short story, The Piazza, was a far different story (pun unintended), and I've read and reread that a bazillion times.
Worst book I ever read was a self-published mystery novel written by an acquaintance. Beware of self-published books.
"The Da Vinci Code" is not the worst book ever, but probably the most overrated. Very average book in terms of writing and character development and horribly inaccurate in what it tries to pass off as fact.
Worst book I ever read was a self-published mystery novel written by an acquaintance. Beware of self-published books.
BTDT. [shuddering]
Title was Two Tramps in Jazz Time: A Chapbook of Poetry. Or something like that. And he was sooo proud of it, I didn't have the heart to even mention the word 'derivative' to him. And it was not well-written, either.
And I did not include him in the list of authors I met/knew in that other thread.
Last edited by karibear; 03-09-2008 at 10:55 PM..
Reason: addition
I see exactly what you meanabout the context, and in dialogue I do think that short sentences work. I was talking about the narration. I once read a book, well, tried to read a book, in which the first paragraph was made up of all simple sentences. For example, "She looked at the roof. It had a hole. She wondered if she should repair it. She thought about the cost of the repairs." It just makes a book incredibly hard to read. But that may be a persons preference, so I shall say no more.
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