Books I Wish I Appreciated
- Ulysses by James Joyce
- A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking
- anything by William Faulkner
- anything by Feodor Dostoevsky
- Moby Dick by Herman Melville
- Remembrance of Things Past by Proust
- To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
- Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
- The Divine Comedy by Dante
- The Last of the Mohicans by James Fenimore Cooper
- Paradise Lost by John Milton
- The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
I know, I know: The Divine Comedy and Paradise Lost are poems, but they are still in book form--so they qualify.
I don't really know what to say about these books. While reading Ulysses, a friend of mine asked: Is that black mark in the middle of the page supposed to be a period or did a bug get squashed between the pages? I didn't finish Proust and I thought The Last of the Mohicans was a bore. I didn't understand A Brief History of Time past page 100, and I suspect that most (but by no means all) of the people who refer to it at cocktail parties didn't either. The Grapes of Wrath and William Faulkner are on the list because although I appreciate the writing, I don't understand what all the hubbub is about; in other words, I wish I appreciated them.
Much more to come on this list, unfortunately, as I think of things . . .
I don't think you should wish you didn't appreciate them. Part of the beauty of books is that there is something for everyone. Just because a book is "well thought of" doesn't mean that you have to like it. There are "classics" that I don't enjoy and I don't feel like I should try to like them. You can only get out of a book what you bring to it. I have read books before that I absolutely didn't understand and have come back to them years later and they were incredible. Essentially, the reason that you may not appreciate the books is either because you read the book at the wrong time in you life, you couldn't really relate the the book or, according to your personal opinion, the book stunk. Let it be as simple as that.
Very true 7days! Although I do like many classics there are many that I despise. What we have to understand is that many of these books were written in a different time and can be very difficult for us to relate to.
Many of these so called classics had innovative styles or ideas, many of which we would find hard to appreciate because we have encountered them already in so many modern novels that have adopted these changes; therefore, we have become desensitized to them. If you can read a classic with an understanding of literary history I think it'd be easier to appreciate the innovations that the novel added to the literary style. Therefore for those of us who don't give a damn about innovations and what not and prefer a great story it is more difficult to appreciate a 'classic' that has only produced changes in literary style.
Many people say they enjoy a classic just because it is considered a classic and it is popular to think well of that novel. Indeed, I have caught myself doing it time and time again.
Indeed. I have noted the same when watching "classic" movies. When watching Citizen Kane for the first time a few years ago, for example, I had to continually remind myself that the "innovative styles and ideas," to use your words, were revolutionary at the time. While still a terrific story (but done to death by now), it is much more fun and interesting to watch the movie with this in mind. But back to books: the difference in my mind between the books on this list and other so-called classics is that I love the other stuff. Shakespeare, Dickens, Tolstoy, Austen, Trollope, Eliot ... I could go on. So my problem is not so much that the books on this list are old. Maybe you are on to something with the "great story" thing. I'll have to think about that.
You're right, of course. I was assigned War and Peace in high school (!) and absolutely hated it. When I went back to it a couple of years ago, I couldn't put it down. Perhaps I'll try some of these again some day. Thanks for the thoughts.