Books NOT to read-

[ekant]

Never read Being and Time by Heidegger. It's not a novel, but it's a book nonetheless.

[rachmuz]

ALL OF CANADIAN LIT!!!!

Sorry, had to get that out of my system But seriously, I grew up in the Canadian public school system and was subjected to the delights of W.O. Mitchell's Who Has Seen the Wind, and Margaret Laurence's The Stone Angel (we all called it The Stoned Angel instead). I just read through this entire thread and I couldn't believe that no one mentioned these two. Then I remembered that y'all are mostly Americans - lucky you!

[koolherc]

Another book I definitely DON'T recommend is Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.Reading this nearly killed me. It took 4 monsters (yes the nasty energy drinks) to finish the novel. Those of you that enjoyed the 200 page discussion of how to define "Quality," I am impressed and bow down to you for your intellect. I can't do that novel. I'd rather re-watch Wild Hogs than understand the Zen of Maintaining my Motorcycle.

My partner lent me his copy of Zen early on when we were dating and told me it was his absolute favourite book ever. I wanted things to work out, so I knew I had to read it and be able to make some sort of comment beyond "it was good, sugar pumpkin!"

But that section on quality nearly ruined me.

Wow Whoa Wow. That was definitely of my favorite books as a kid. I don't think that it's a full adult-type of book, but for a contemplative teenager it definitely does the job. Also, though, I went to UChicago for ugrad and the protagonist/author is definitely that kind of person...

Me Too. It seems to appeal to male philosophy more so than female philosophy but maybe that is an over generalization.

What in the world is female philosophy?? (hoping my utter confusion is not confused for sexism)

In regards to contemporary logic-driven philosophy, the book definitely stands in opposition to that tradition (at least by the end).

Never read Being and Time by Heidegger. It's not a novel, but it's a book nonetheless.

You basically need to know German. Translation is a real issue for it.

Edited March 3, 2012 by koolherc

[koolherc]

What in the world is female philosophy?? (hoping my utter confusion is not confused for sexism)

In regards to contemporary logic-driven philosophy, the book definitely stands in opposition to that tradition (at least by the end).

to be clear, by the bolded, I meant "contemporary logic-driven phil"

[Strong Flat White]

Lol, I was going to say ZAMM, too, but since someone beat me to the punch, let me add _Ishmael_ by Daniel Quinn! Given the choice, I would reach for Heidegger first, without any hesitation.But what an interesting thread... to see so many strong, even passionate, opinions...

[perrykm2]

The standout post in this thread is "it was good, sugar pumpkin."

[toasterazzi]

Well, this was definitely an interesting thread to read through . My first answer to this question will always be The Scarlet Letter. Hawthorne's writing style makes me want to throw my books across the room.

[Venti White Choc. Mocha]

Anybody mention Clarissa yet? Worst book ever. like 2000 pages of just kill yourself already

[jakebarnes]

ALL OF CANADIAN LIT!!!!

Sorry, had to get that out of my system But seriously, I grew up in the Canadian public school system and was subjected to the delights of W.O. Mitchell's Who Has Seen the Wind, and Margaret Laurence's The Stone Angel (we all called it The Stoned Angel instead). I just read through this entire thread and I couldn't believe that no one mentioned these two. Then I remembered that y'all are mostly Americans - lucky you!

There is so much fantastic Canadian lit! Have you read any Bowering or anything from the group that formed around TISH Magazine? Timothy Findley? Leonard Cohen? Roy Kiyooka? Ondaatje?

I had to go through the Canadian schol system as well, and I still think of Who Has Seen the Wind with loathing, but don't everything with the same brush :'(.

[Datatape]

Testament of Youth by Vera Brittain. The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas by Gertrude Stein. Both required reading for courses and the only two books I have ever thrown against a wall.

[t1racyjacks]

I think we should read everything (this is coming from someone who gave Twilight a try -- but failed to finish it). What kind of critics would we be if we didn't judge a text for ourselves? I take recommendations, but I would still read a book that my friends have slammed... just to see what I think of it and to give it a fair chance. After all, you never know... you might like it (for whatever reason). I find one good way to judge is to pick up the book and simply flip through. It'd give you a sense of how the prose is like -- from there it's easier to make the decision.

[Historiogaffe]

There is so much fantastic Canadian lit! Have you read any Bowering or anything from the group that formed around TISH Magazine? Timothy Findley? Leonard Cohen? Roy Kiyooka? Ondaatje?

Seconded. If I judged purely on what I had to read in high school, I'd be vetoing, uh, British lit. Consider Cory Doctorow, Thomas King, Carol Shields, A.M. Klein, Mordecai Richler, Spider Robinson... And a few crowdpleasers: Atwood, Coupland, one-hit-wonder Martel. Timothy Findley's Not Wanted On the Voyage will jump up and down on your heart in the best and most excruciating way possible.

Also, we have Jan Zwicky. Poet, but trumps any complaints about Canadian lit by sheer dint of being Zwicky.

As for what NOT to read, once again: one-hit-wonder Martel, Life of Pi. It's not what everybody thinks it is, i.e., brilliant.

Edited June 26, 2012 by A Proper Pun

[antecedent]

As for what NOT to read, once again: one-hit-wonder Martel, Life of Pi. It's not what everybody thinks it is, i.e., brilliant.

Yup. I totally didn't get the hype on that one.

Also for Canadian lit, I have to throw in Michael Ondaatje, William Gibson, and Joy Kagawa as Canadian authors that don't blow (and are in fact quite engaging/relevant/important).

[gr8pumpkin]

Not that I would ever say to someone they shouldn't read any book, but I tried to get through One Hundred Years of Solitude twice and couldn't.

[gr8pumpkin]

Seconded. If I judged purely on what I had to read in high school, I'd be vetoing, uh, British lit. Consider Cory Doctorow, Thomas King, Carol Shields, A.M. Klein, Mordecai Richler, Spider Robinson... And a few crowdpleasers: Atwood, Coupland, one-hit-wonder Martel. Timothy Findley's Not Wanted On the Voyage will jump up and down on your heart in the best and most excruciating way possible.

Also, we have Jan Zwicky. Poet, but trumps any complaints about Canadian lit by sheer dint of being Zwicky.

As for what NOT to read, once again: one-hit-wonder Martel, Life of Pi. It's not what everybody thinks it is, i.e., brilliant.

 

Any book where someone finds god in any way, shape or form can only be trite, not brilliant.

[gr8pumpkin]

As someone who just fabricated an entire paper on The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas, I cannot agree strongly enough with this statement. The woman [Gertrude Stein] should be purged from the collective consciousness and never spoken of again.

*shudder*

 

I can handle pointlessness if I know I'm getting pointlessness.  I just cannot handle pointlessness expecting some great point.

[gr8pumpkin]

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Luckily, I was reading this for fun so I had the option to put it down halfway through and sell it off on Amazon.

 

Oh, I see someone beat me to it.  And here I am out of upvote buttons.

[gr8pumpkin]

I agree that when read as a book and not the divine word of God--I was raised Catholic and am now somewhere between agnostic and atheist--it has a lot of interesting subject matter. The problem is, it manages to take things as intriguing as incest, murder, betrayal, a man living in a whale, etc., and makes them so dry that even teenage boys fall asleep reading it.

 

It's quotes like this that make me want to head the Committee to Allow Infinite Up-voting on Gradcafe.

[gr8pumpkin]

On topic for this thread: Atlas Shrugged is something which Dante easily could have put in the Inferno as one of the punishments in the lower circles of hell. Sure, we can talk about her philosophical worth as a writer, but did Ayn Rand REALLY need to write a thousand pages trying to tell us what Gordon Gekko managed in three words: "Greed is good"? I know some people like her philosophy, which is fine, but can we just agree that her writing is like a red hot poker to the eye?

 

 

No, it's not fine.  Libertarian philosophy, an outgrowth of Ayn Rand's adherents, arguably was responsible for the economic collapse of 2008.  But what the hell.

 

I loathe Ayn Rand with the passion of a thousand burning suns.  "Wait, you got it wrong, selfishness is actually good!  Altruism is actually bad!"  Brilliant.

[Kamisha]

 "Wait, you got it wrong, selfishness is actually good!  Altruism is actually bad!"  Brilliant.

 

Fundamental misunderstanding of libertarianism. Not even worth discussing the philosophy with those who hold this attitude. 

Edited March 13, 2014 by Kamisha

[gr8pumpkin]

Yeah, libertarians always holler "you can't go and simplify our [simplistic] philosophy!" like that.  "We're just so complex!  We're just so brilliant!  You mere mortals cannot comprehend our eminence!"  It's a "philosophy" that makes isolated, socially awkward teenage boys feel special (so that's why no one likes me!  I'm just too good!  I'm just too pure!  I'm just too superior!) and then turns them into entitled assholes in their twenties, something they never seem to outgrow so they have to hold conventions with themselves in hotel ballrooms as seen on CSPAN-6.  Now, isn't there a city council that's going to put flouride in the water supply that you should be protesting somewhere?

[gr8pumpkin]

http://leftycartoons.com/the-24-types-of-libertarian/

 

Sums it up.  Previous poster is probably "Arrogant" ("You've clearly never read the evidence").

[iExcelAtMicrosoftPuns]

o_o

 

[ExponentialDecay]

Firstly, Ayn Rand has excellent form. Considering that somebody must give a long philosophical speech every twenty pages, it is astonishing that her prose feels breezier than Stein or Eliot.

Secondly, a person who bases their understanding of libertarianism on Ayn Rand, never having read even Hayek or Nozick, or at least the earlier philosophy that informs their views, regardless of whether they consider themselves a libertarian or not, needs to shut the fuck up and sit the fuck down.

That said, I think that if George Eliot were never taught to read and had 12 children instead of writing Silas Marner and Daniel Deronda and shit, society would be better off.

[thedig13]

Greetings from the History Forum.

 

I absolutely despise every single Ernest Hemingway novel I've ever read, but am madly in love with every single Ernest Hemingway short-story I've ever read.

 

Also, Pericles, Prince of Tyre was a huge, huge disappointment to me.

Edited March 13, 2014 by thedig13