required reading fail

[ladydeathfaerie]

two books came to mind when i saw this subject. both of them were given to the class my senior year in high school. i was taking AP English that year and i think my teacher had a hate on for me because i just didn't fit in with the rest of the class. or maybe she just didn't like any of us.

i've always been a strong reader. always. by the time i

Comments

[hashishinahooka]

Okay, I got really confused for a second when reading the OP. I never finished it because I found it boring when I was in high school. I recently read two of Chopin's short stories that really wants me to give it a second try though.

[ladydeathfaerie]

no. the book was by Willa Cather.

[ohmypersephone]

am I the only person in the world to absolutely adore Tess? It's beautiful, seductive, sad - the characters can be/are idiots, but I don't think any of them isn't complex or human! And Hardy does wonders with making larger-than-life tableaux (like the bit with the fruit!) out of "ordinary life" scenes.

[hashishinahooka]

I liked Tess.

[applepoffin]

What really killed it for me was the general ridiculousness of the idea that for the 20 something odd years that happen in this book there's NOTHING Tess could've done to improve her situation. It's bullshit. That writer created an unrealistic story to back up his unrealistic outlook on life.

That and my teacher totally agreed with him but told me to STFU when I noted that she wouldn't believe me if I said that there's nothing I can control in my life.

[nitasee]

I had problems with both books. With the Awkening, I ust didn't care for it. With Tess, I disliked Angel so much. Personal opinion.

[bubblefaerie]

I never read the Awakening, but I loathe Tess of the d'Urbervilles.

[findserendipity]

I can totally relate to disliking Tess. I still have about 100 pages to read. Those pages are waiting to be read for about a year now. I can't bring myself to finish this book...