That book was awesome

[Ryth]

I don't like Kurt Vonnegut. It's bizarre because he's very much the type of author I SHOULD love, but I don't. Granted I've only read one book of his (Cat's Cradle), but I hated it deeply and it'll take a lot of convincing for me to read another of his.

There are not many others that I dislike. I'm not a huge fan of Dickens, but I've also never tried very much of him.

I also tried Les Miserable, but considering the first hundreds of pages don't even touch upon the main character(s), I couldn't read it. I lost total interest.

I did not like Sense & Sensibility by Austen one bit. I'll try some of her other stuff sometime, and probably will have to as an English major, but that book did not make a good impression on me. On the contrary, a similar period book The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins is one of my favorite books and one of the only books I like of that style.

I absolutely despised, beyond any other book I have ever read, Heart of Darkness. It is one of the worst written books I have ever had the misfortune of having to read. It should not even have been published. It's not because of its subject matter (English colonists in the congo, controlling the Africans), because controversial and grotesque subject matter often makes the best books (Hello, LO-LITA (seriously, this L-O-L censor is getting on my last nerve), my favorite book of all time, and The Metamorphoses), but the style is just so goddamn AWFUL.

I've only read Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five, and I also don't see the big hub-bub. I didn't hate it at all, but it was pretty much an inferior Catch-22 by Joseph Heller (which you (not just Rye, but anyone currently reading this post) should definitely read).

Les Miserables is worth it. Thats all I have to say. It may not be the greatest book ever written, but it is certainly more than worthwhile.

As for Heart of Darkness, themz fightin' werds! Though, in all fairness, I wasn't a fan of it the first time I read it. Actually, I've yet to find a person who didn't dislike/get it the first go around (I'm assuming you've only read it once, correct me if I'm mistaken). I've read it twice since then and it has become my favorite novella to date. It's utter brilliance. The style of writing is very dense, but it makes it all the more rewarding once you break through it. I find it to be an utter masterpiece. I plan on reading more Conrad sometime. I bought a couple of his novellas at a yard sale.

As for me, Shakespeare doesn't do much for me. However, unlike Bunny, I don't hate him. The Tempest, Hamlet, and King Lear were all pretty enjoyable. I've also never been able to get into Victorian literature, though I plan on reading Jane Eyre soon... hopefully that will change my mind. It always rubs me the wrong way. I also never got THAT into The Great Gatsby, The Divine Comedy, The Scarlet Letter, The Canterbury Tales, The Old Man and the Sea (I actually did like this quite a bit, but its overrated), To Kill a Mockingbird, Watership Down, Sartre's Nausea, and I hated Plato's Republic (not necessarily literature)...


Also \o to L.olita, one of my favorite novels of all time. I adore L olita, Lo-lee-ta.