THESE FORUMS NOW CLOSED (read only)
Fun Stuff => ENJOY => Topic started by: audacity on 11 Dec 2007, 20:06
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Holy shit, I hate that book. Just throwing that out there.
Do people actually enjoy it, or is it all a conspiracy about praising mediocre writing?
.. No, seriously. =|
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I hate that book too. And F. Scott Fitzgerald, he was a sexist jerk.
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Sentiments are echoed. The book is short, that's about it.
The fact that it is still recognized as a classic and studied as such baffles me.
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Yeah, my thoughts exactly.
I had such high hopes when we were assigned to read it.
What a let down :/
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You guys are crazy.
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I enjoyed the book. What is it you don't really like about it? You say it's mediocre writing. How so? What do you mean by that?
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I also enjoyed the book. It isn't one of those read once books. You have to go back two maybe three times before you actually get what is going on there. Although the book is short, there is so much going ons that most people miss it.
It's so intrically complicated that its a beauty to behold. Its too hard to explain without going into a longwinded monolouge
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You guys are crazy.
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Okay, so you're all going to think I'm beyond retarded, but I must have been suffering from some hardcore stress/delusions because I actually meant to say The Catcher in the Rye, and not the Great Gatsby.
I actually really enjoyed the Great Gatsby. Wow.
I amaze myself.
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Well, I find the Great Gatsby to be a pretentious piece of crap. Catcher in the Rye, though, there's a good book. Overrated, but definitely good.
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Haha, it's not that the Catcher in the Rye was a bad book, per se.
I just didn't like Salinger's writing style. I felt it could have been written by anybody, and didn't deserve the praise it received.
The story-line itself had potential, but it fell short, in my opinion.
The Great Gatsby is not as deep as Catcher, but the writing is a thousand times better if you ask me, and that made it all the more enjoyable.
Plus, I enjoy pretentious pieces of crap (;
I'm going to have to re-read all of my posts several times now to make sure I'm talking about the right book =x
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The Catcher in the Rye is overrated. When I read it in high school everyone loved it, but I honestly didn't. It was ok, but I didn't see why so many people thought it was awesome. The Great Gatsby, however, was pretty good.
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The Great Gatsby and The Catcher In The Rye are fantastically realized, brilliantly written works. If you don't like them, go back every five years and try again until you do.
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I don't know if I could ever learn to love Catcher in the Rye, as a whole. Maybe certain scenes.
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See, I really love The Catcher In The Rye.
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Fuck both of those books.
/
:-D
CWUTIDIDTHAR?
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i enjoyed The Great Gatsby but i struggled to even finish Catcher In The Rye. can't say what i like/dislike about either; i just do/don't.
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Any book with a thinly veiled gay subtext can't be bad. The Great Gatsby is one such book.
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I was all prepared to bash you for not liking The Great Gatsby. Anyway...Damn you for not giving me the chance to bash you for expressing your opinion.
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You can pretend that you didn't read the other posts and bash me anyway, if you want.
S&M is all sorts of exciting.
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I don't understand how people could dislike either of these books, but I guess to each their own.
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Haha, it's not that the Catcher in the Rye was a bad book, per se.
I just didn't like Salinger's writing style. I felt it could have been written by anybody, and didn't deserve the praise it received.
i think that is what made Salinger's book all that more appealing. he wrote it so that no matter who you were you could understand Holden's point of view, or at least make a sympethetic connection with his issues through out the book.
fear of becoming an adult.
the hypocratic "adult world".
that all ties back into the title of the novel itself.
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Hypocratic? Do you mean hypocritical? Either way I think that one point is that he is already a self-centred hypocritical asshole and is projecting that onto the rest of the world.
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well...yes he does that, but it is more of a self-defense mechanism rather than a conscious decision he is making. he is constntly sheilding himself from the outside world by shrinking back into his fantasy world.
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The core irony of the book is that said self-defense mechanism turns him into exactly the sort of cynical, two-faced asshole he despises.
So good. Such rich subtext. Such fantastic characters.
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Such a shitty ending.
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i agree the ending wasn't the best in my opinion, but it was still a great novel.
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The core irony of the book is that said self-defense mechanism turns him into exactly the sort of cynical, two-faced asshole he despises.
So good. Such rich subtext. Such fantastic characters.
That's the part I hated. The 'core irony' of the book made me hate the characters. Of course, I read this as an angsty teenager, and the book was basically about me, so I guess that added even more to my hatred of it.
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I loved The Great Gatsby. We had it assigned for English class and I finished it in one night instead of reading chapter by chapter as assigned for class. The Catcher in the Rye, however, was severely disappointing and I had to push myself to finish it.
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Such a shitty ending.
Man, this thread is a lost cause.
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Maybe it's you that is the lost cause. Just sayin'.
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Yep. You've got it.
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Phony.
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I think the thread showed wonderful promise at the begining. That promise has faded.
What's wrong with the ending?
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Not climactic enough, I'd wager.
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I guess he could have gone down in a hail of gunfire.
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That would have been so much better.
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What's wrong with the ending?
I first thought this was a question about the thread, making us think about where we went wrong.
You know, as if there was some sort of moral we could learn from this.
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What's wrong with the ending?
It was anticlimactic. The scene right before the ending (carousel scene) was one of the best in the book, in my opinion.
And then he ends it with "so yeah. I miss these people now."
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I suppose you cut Mogwai songs off at the halfway point, too?
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Why would I do that? I finished the book, didn't I?
Honestly, this is one of the only books that I was let down by.
I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me, but I'm not going to change my mind.
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not to derail this thread, but this book was nowhere near as bad as The Grapes of Wrath. God how i hated that book
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I haven't read it. What was so awful about it?
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the author dragged oout the book. it could have been half as long.
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So the core message of the book is that by being a shitty asshole to people he is becoming what he hates, and people are surprised that they make you read this as a teenager? I only wish they could also make you understand it.
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no, i loved the novel.
that was simply about the Grapes of Wrath.
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Estttttt, I'm not saying that the story in itself is bad.
I'm saying I didn't like Salinger's writing style, and it made it difficult for me to enjoy.
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Except it's really not Salinger's writing style, it's Caulfield's talking style.
Also, let me get this straight. In this thread we are talking shit about The Catcher In The Rye, The Great Gatsby and The Grapes Of Wrath? Jesus, what does it take to impress you people?
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Well not shit, but I mean...apparently it is alot easier to criticize original American pieces of literature than talking about there contibutes to society and the way they record their periods in time.
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I liked all three books. DISLIKEME.
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Johnny, I didn't really like of Mice and Men either.
and man, don't even get me started on that fucking "To kill a Mockingbird" crap
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Of Mice and Men is one of my least favorite books ever, right up there with The Scarlet Letter. But I do love To Kill a Mockingbird, so I will fight you on that one.
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What about The Perks of Being a Wallflower?
As emo as that book is, its powerful...and a tad bit creepy.
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To Kill A Mockingbird is certainly overrated, but I don't think it's a bad book by any stretch of the imagination. But then, I guess I see it as a kid's book, so I give it some leeway for some things.
In our high school english classes we read TKAM, Gatsby and A Raisin in the Sun. Raisin in the Sun was the best of the bunch, I'd say, if just for Sydney Poitier's performance as Walter in the play/film.
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I actually still have my copy from seventh grade. I remember hating the play, but that was a while ago, and I rather enjoyed To Kill A Mockingbird in eighth grade and Gatsby in ninth was a great read. Either I matured as a reader, or Raisin In The Sun just isn't for me.
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Everybody hates Of Mice And Men too?
Man, fuck this thread.
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Johnny, should we make a thread about appreciating books and thusly discussing their contents? I vote yes.
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I loved Of Mice and Men :/
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You know what book I had to read in school, and thoroughly hated until I got to the ending? A Prayer for Owen Meany. Good book.
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I pretty much love all the books mentioned in this thread already. For me "The Grapes of Wrath"/"Of Mice and Men," "Catcher in the Rye" and "The Great Gatsby" were amazing the first time I read them and continue to be so now. "To Kill a Mockingbird" was a bit dull. I'm just waiting for someone to start spouting off against Hemingway or Faulkner before I really get upset. Of course, there are books I dislike that are considered masterpieces or whatever. "Wuthering Heights" bored the hell out of me. Same with "Ethan Frome." Come to think of it, I didn't like "Great Expectations" all that much either.
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As long as no one begins to talk ill of Jane Austen, I think I can deal with this thread, over all.
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As long as no one begins to talk ill of Jane Austen, I think I can deal with this thread, over all.
Pride and Prejudice has a permanent place on my nightstand. I re-read my favourite scenes in times of minor insomnia =x
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I can't tell if that was insulting it or praising it. Does it put you to sleep or help you get through sleepless nights? I'm so confused....
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haha it was praise. Usually if I can't sleep, it's a result of stress or unhappy times.
Pride and Prejudice makes me happy, and rids me of my worries! It's a good thing.
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Grapes of Wrath = Pretty good, once you get past the first few chapters.
To Kill a Mockingbird = Good, or it was the last time I read it (12/13ish).
Pride and Prejudice = Excellent and if anyone trashes this book, FIGHT YOU.
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I have your back during that fight, if it were to occur, by the way.
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As do I. As do I.
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Jesus, what does it take to impress you people?
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
To Kill a Mockingbird
A Clockwork Orange
Of Mice and Men
Oh, hey, there was another page.
I didn't like Gatsby or Catcher in the Rye, though.
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I can see why someone might not like the Grapes of Wrath.
Actually, I can't.
I've never liked Catcher in the Rye though. Johnny, stop trying to enforce the canon, you dead white men loving crypto-fascist you.
If I want to read about teenage angst, you'll normally find me re-reading The Wasp Factory. Now there's a book.
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Salinger's not dead, dude.
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What a monumental 9000th post, man.
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I like Mansfield Park better than Pride and Prejudice. Probably because I've never read P&P in an academic context and I studied Mansfield Park with one of the best profs I've ever had.
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Salinger's not dead, dude.
If there's one thing post-colonialism has taught us, it's that the only thing worse than a dead white man, is a living one.
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The Catcher in the Rye is overrated. When I read it in high school everyone loved it, but I honestly didn't. It was ok, but I didn't see why so many people thought it was awesome. The Great Gatsby, however, was pretty good.
Simply because it involves the most easily identifiable-with protagonist in American literature.
That said, The Catcher in the Rye is only mindblowing untill you realize that Holden Caulfield needs to get a fucking blog.
I also enjoyed the book. It isn't one of those read once books. You have to go back two maybe three times before you actually get what is going on there.
I cannot stress this enough. However, I will go so far as to say that it must be read at least five to six times before you can grasp even a shred of the meaning.
not to derail this thread, but this book was nowhere near as bad as The Grapes of Wrath. God how i hated that book
I haven't read it. What was so awful about it?
I'm prone to agree. I find Steinbeck incredibly dry. The overall theme of The Grapes of Wrath would have hit closer to home had it not been such an over-extended, long-winded piece of literature. Of Mice and Men is only passable because it's not as bad in this respect.
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That said, The Catcher in the Rye is only mindblowing untill you realize that Holden Caulfield needs to get a fucking blog.
I love you right now.
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If you didn't like The Grapes Of Wrath, give The Winter Of Our Discontent a try. It's probably my favourite Steinbeck book.
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The Catcher in the Rye is overrated. When I read it in high school everyone loved it, but I honestly didn't. It was ok, but I didn't see why so many people thought it was awesome. The Great Gatsby, however, was pretty good.
Simply because it involves the most easily identifiable-with protagonist in American literature.
I just thought he was an ass. (But then again I thought all the people in my class that raved about it were asses, too.) There were few that felt the same as I did. But then again, those few and myself were also the only ones in my English class that actually liked Jane Eyre.
As for Steinbeck, my favorite novel of his was The Moon is Down. It's definitely more readable, if that's what most people don't like about Grapes.
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I like both Jane Eyre and The Catcher In The Rye rather greatly.
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I think J.D. Salinger made the most perfect representation of the disaffected teenager and, as such, Catcher in the Rye is a great book.
I also think that I don't like disaffected teenagers and I did not enjoy it.
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Oh man.
No dissing on the fucking Bronte sisters. Not on my watch.
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Gatsby definitely isn't a favorite of mine, but shit? Ah, no. It's still a classic work of literature for the themes and issues it touches upon, and the style of writing was nothing less than revolutionary in its day.
The whole thing is a bit simplistic for me (Pynchon is my favorite author, so complexity in a book is something I like) but I can't deny its merits. I feel the same way about The Scarlet Letter. I don't exactly love it, but the story itself is wonderful and the narrative style works well for what the book is trying to accomplish.
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I have to agree with you on the Scarlet Letter, although I wish I didn't. The Scarlet Letter was an extremely tedious read for me, probably because I was balancing a few books I wanted to read at the time (I was working through the Dune series in eighth grade.), and this book would just not stop talking. Of course the story was wonderful, but Hawthorne's writing style, while what someone in the 1850's would have written, still annoyed me to no end.
I should give the book a second chance.
How about the Red Badge of Courage?
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I only lightly skimmed this thread, but I just finished reading The Great Gatsby for school, and holy fuck you guys, it's one of my favorites. I absolutely adored it in so many ways. Made me feel pretty hopeless and depressed, but I still thought it was wonderful.
And commenting on other posts here and there that I saw, I loved Of Mice and Men, Catcher in the Rye, and Jane Eyre (one of my favorites, but I really didn't like it until about the 100th page).
What I really didn't like was Huckleberry Finn or Their Eyes Were Watching God. Dammit Janey pissed me off so much.
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Agreed on Their Eyes Were Watching God, not on Huck Finn.
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I think a lot of the classic books were ruined for me because I had a couple of teachers I hated, and their stupid bullshit discussions and assignments for the books kinda ruined them. I didn't really like the Scarlet Letter or Gatsby, but I rather liked Grapes of Wrath and to Kill a Mockingbird, so I guess I should reread the first two and see if they're any better. And I never had to read Catcher in the Rye, so I suppose I should give that a shot too.
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You see, I like about every book mentioned in this thread except for The Scarlet Letter. I don't like it when an author brutally assaults me with symbols and then takes a page and a half to analyze how great his own symbol is.
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I don't like Of Mice and Men purely because it's so goddamn depressing. I mean, fuck, dude.
I think talking about The Catcher in the Rye is always pointless. People either love it or hate it, and whether they do is pretty much completely independant of its actual literary merit. Either you identify with Holden or you think he's a whiny douchebag. Personally, I loved the book, and I disagree that it's merely the viewpoint of a "disaffected teenager"; it's really the viewpoint of anyone who has ever looked at the human race and said "Man, you guys are fucked up."
What about All the King's Men? That's one classic book I can never get enough of. Much is made about the political/social aspect of it, but I think people are crazy for missing the real point of the novel, which is the viewpoint of Jackie Burden, who is in many ways basically a grown-up Holden Caulfield.
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I enjoyed All the King's Men. I also saw the movie, which was decent but nothing thrilling for me.
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Johnny, I didn't really like of Mice and Men either.
and man, don't even get me started on that fucking "To kill a Mockingbird" crap
People, both these things were sarcasm. I am sorry I couldn't light it up in neon for you.
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I enjoyed All the King's Men. I also saw the movie, which was decent but nothing thrilling for me.
Watch the old version, which was and remains a classic. The Sean Penn version was a bloated piece of prestige trash.
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People, both these things were sarcasm. I am sorry I couldn't light it up in neon for you.
Dude I dunno if you've noticed but this thread is basically a free-for-all of low opinions on classic literature. The sarcasm slipped right under the radar.