- Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad (HoD)
- The Jungle by Upton Sinclair (TJ)
- The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane (RBC)
Yep. That's my list. Three books that I read in their entirety and actively hated (well beyond a disliking). HoD and RBC and I read and despised in high school; TJ I read and despised during college. There have been other books I did not enjoy reading, that I disliked, but these are the only two that are burnt into my mind as books I really and sincerely hated. Why you might ask? Well, let me tell you.
Why I Hated RBC
The specifics of hating this one escape me except for a general sense of BLAH BLAH WAR BLAH BLAH MALE BLAH BLAH. If I am remembering correctly, the writing was pretty terrible; although I can't remember why. When I was in high school, someone told me I probably didn't like it because it was a war book and I was a girl. Hello sexism. I like war books. I just didn't like this one, and if I am perfectly honest, I am not exactly sure I read the whole thing back in high school when it was assigned to me.
Should I/Will I Re-Read RBC
I have absolutely no desire to read this one again. The other two on my list are a maybe and a yes for reasons listed below; however RBC is a 99% no way in hell will I pick this one up again.
Why I Hated TJ
For those who don't know TJ is Upton Sinclair's portrayal of the horrors of the meatpacking industry in Chicago during the early 1900s. It primarily focuses on immigrant workers and their exposure to massive and terrifying health and safety code violations while working in the remarkably unsanitary factories where the city's meat was packed and shipped off. It's IMPORTANT and REVEALING and BORING. Boring. Yep, I said it. I was bored. And I should not be bored while reading about the harsh reality of poverty and the disgusting horror of what went into that meat. Gross. Truly gross. I think my main problem was that the book was so amazingly preachy (as I remember it), and as a college student, preaching meant boring.
Should I/Will I Re-Read TJ
Probably. This is a book I should love. Supposedly it is a shocking expose from a muckracking author. The issues of social class fascinates me; and I do so love the nastiness of unsanitary food processing (it's like watching a train wreck). I can't decide if I actually will re-read it though.
Why I Hated HoD
Ambiguity. WTF is the book even about? That's what I remember thinking. I can distinctly remember finishing the book and having absolutely no idea what happened, why it happened, or who it really happened to. Everything felt dark and slow and blah. I know Marlowe heads into the Congo in search of a man he just really, really wants to meet; then he meets him for like five seconds; and then...eh, who knows.
Should I/Will I Re-Read HoD
Yep. I have to. It's one of the books I have to read for my graduate course in Literary Theory (oh joy). I am trying very hard to go into the book with an open mind - but this is very difficult all things considered. I'm wondering if I might research the beejeesus out of the book before reading to set me up for a more positive experience.
Your Opinion
So what do you guys think? Should I re-read these books? Do you like them? Do you see any value in re-reading books you hated upon first read?
I can picture it as a Reading Challenge: "Hating & Re-reading. Chose 1 to 3 of the books you've hated reading at least more than 10 years ago and try them again!"
ReplyDeleteI've never re-read anything I hated, but Mansfield Park was very annoying when I first picked it up and after a recent re-read my opinion changed completely. I actually found Heart of Darkness very... interesting.
Interesting, eh? Well I like things that are interesting. :)
DeleteHonestly, I prefer first starting with reading other books by authors I hated the first time around. For example, I hated Billy Budd by Herman Melville with a passion in high school. I have no desire to read Moby Dick. So one day, I read Bartleby the Scrivener, and discovered that yes, I actually really do hate Melville's writing, so no, I would never want to see if my feelings for Billy Budd have changed. On the other hand, I once read The Unconsoled by Kazuo Ishiguro, and hated it with a passion for many of the same reasons you hated HoD. Later I forced myself to read Never Let Me Go, and it ended up becoming one of my favorites. That makes me wonder if my dislike for The Unconsoled had to do with my age or experience or what I did/didn't know about the book, and makes me think I should revisit it one day.
ReplyDeleteThat's a really good idea to read another book by the author as a sort of test.
DeleteI haven't read any of these books, but I have some of my own books that I hated in high school and wonder if I should revisit. I will probably never re-read The Scarlet Letter, but I'm contemplating re-reading Death of a Salesman and Things Fall Apart.
ReplyDeleteThings Fall Apart!!!! When I first picked it up, I couldn't get past the first chapter.
DeleteI have not read any of these and it looks like I dont want to! LOL I am trying to think if there is a book that I hated but read all the way through anyway.
ReplyDeleteI've not read any of these, but my son read HoD and I thought I might because Apocalypse Now. It's short too. Eh. We'll see. It is really hard for me to think of books I actively hated. Maybe The Woman Upstairs.
ReplyDeleteFor some reason, I love to read when someone hates a book! I think I read RBoC early in HS or even in 8th? I don't remember hating it but I don't think I would reread it. And I thought The Jungle was just gross and awful so no, I won't reread that one and I have yet to attempt HoD. And right now I am blanking on books that I hated only because the ones I might have are not famous and hopefully are obscure for being out of (self?) print.
ReplyDeleteI don't remember The Heart of Darkness well, despite the fact that I was forced to read it no less than 3 times in high school and college. Your take on it is hilarious.
ReplyDeleteI hated Heart of Darkness when I was reading it, but after I finished it and talked about it for a class, I started to love it because it helped me (as a high school student) finally understand what Literature could be. Like, the book is so dense and weird and symbolic, you have to dig into it, and this book helped me figure that out.
ReplyDeleteI think The Jungle gets a bad rap. People expect it to be solely about the meatpacking industry and are always shocked/disappointed that it really isn't. Mostly, it's a communist manifesto, as it spends more time discussing class disparity than it does anything else. I can understand why you found it preachy when you first read it because it really is very preachy. I still really enjoyed it, but I'm not certain if you would get anything out of it by a re-read. That's my opinion anyway.
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