What is your LEAST favorite novel that you had to read for school?

Question

I'm an English teacher, and it's good to get unbiased feedback.

I have taught college, high school, and middle school English. I'm open to feedback about any level.

Currently, I teach "Humanities" which is both social studies and English.

I feel like my responses have been successful so far.

Answer 1

Moby Dick.

It's a whale of a tale, but not in a good way. Things pretty much go downhill after "Call me Ishmael."

Answer 2

O how awesome! I love humanities - we had humanity classes in high school rather than history and english classes which made everything blend together better.. But if I had to pick a novel I detested, I would have to say Canterbury Tales or Beowulf. Though I understand their significance to the history of literature I cannot stand Old English!!! But then again, I suppose I still would have read them because of their large significance.

Answer 3

I also teach this subject; I think you may have had more
success with your responses if you had included what grade(s) you teach. Assuming a high school curriculum, I would have to say Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath. I truly enjoy John Steinbeck as an author, but this particular piece of his bored me to tears. I should also note I teach history as well, so I relish historical backgrounds which, for me, always do so much to enhance the experience of devouring great literature .The connections in this book did more in the way of describing the book than they did in bringing the story to life: the storyline and plot development were as dry as a dust bowl, and I felt a definite sense of depression each and every time I opened the book to read.

Answer 4

My sophomore year of high school, I hated having to read Ivanhoe and All the King's Men. I won't even see the movie with Sean Penn because I despised the book so much!
I wasn't too crazy about reading The Fountainhead either while I was reading it, but once I was finished, I was glad I did. So, if you assign that, give your kids lots of time and be patient!
I also hated reading As I Lay Dying my junior year. After every chapter, I would say to myself, "What the hell?!" And I made a 5 on both the Language and Literature AP tests, so I know my stuff.

Answer 5

Reading Lolita in Tehran for freshman year of college. For someone who never misses an assignment or cheats or takes an easy way out I could NOT read this book for the life of me. I read non-fiction scientific books as well as novels all the time and I could not get through this book. I thought science reading was dry, this was like a desert, it was awful. I didnt mean one person at my school who said they liked it (or finished it for that matter). I had to fake my way through the discussions because liek everyone else couldnt do it.....please do not assign it to any student, its to difficult and horrible

Answer 6

I was an English Major in college, so I had to read five novels, on average, per week...that said, the worst book I was ever forced to read was Paradise Lost. I understand it's significance in literature and all that, but getting through it was pure torture! I actually had to take an entire class on Paradise Lost, and had to analyze the heck out of it. I'd had my fill after two weeks, but was forced to endure an entire semester of it! UGH!!!!!

Answer 7

The Pickwick Papers- I loathed it. It was supposed to be funny- it wasn't. It was disjointed, the characters didn't make sense. I can't tell you still to this day what the plot is. It was people doing things and saying things that are totally irrelevant. Reading every word was a chore. I lost the train of thought and had to re-read page after page.

Answer 8

"Out of the Dust" by Karen Hesse. The author couldn't write either poetry or prose, so the whole book is written in what is supposed to be free verse, but which really isn't anything. And the story itself is about a girl during the Oklahoma Dustbowl, whose life is nothing but endless misery and hardship, and who does nothing but whine about it. This year, my younger brother has it for summer reading as well, and his opinion is the same as mine.

Answer 9

I hated reading The Last of the Curlews, The Silver Sword and The Island of the Blue Dolphins. I thought they were very depressing.

Answer 10

House of the Seven Gables. Hands down, the worst read of my young life. If they could bottle it, there wouldn't be a case of insomnia in the world.

Granted, this was in the '80s. It may have been forbidden by the Geneva Convention by now.