Summer reading is coming to a close here at the library and back to school season is just around the corner. I find myself thinking back to my high school days and how this is the exact time where I’d be playing last-minute catch-up on those pesky books assigned for the new school year. Those books assigned back in May? Yeah, those will get read eventually — I’ve got fun reading to do first! This August, I find myself in the same predicament. I’ve already completed most of my most enjoyable or “easy” tasks for the Read Harder Challenge, and I’m beginning to tackle some of the more difficult ones. For obvious reasons, I’d been dreading task 24: An assigned book you hated or never finished. Rereading loathed literature feels like punishment, but at best, the task may help you gain a new appreciation for the book. So in the spirit of the season, here are some books people are commonly assigned in school, and may have hated or left unfinished. Note: This task is super subjective and not intended to offend anyone’s personal tastes!
When I saw this task, I immediately thought of “The Catcher in the Rye.” It is one of only a handful of books I’ve read that I truly dislike. I’ve already read this book twice, once in 8th grade and again when it was assigned in 10th grade, and twice I’ve hated it. The classic novel is a coming of age story centered on the protagonist Holden Caulfield as he narrates his daily life after leaving prep school for New York City. Unfortunately, Holden is incredibly unlikable, a whiny hypocrite who does not grow or develop at all through the course of the story. He is the epitome of teen angst dialed up to 11, and many young readers love and relate to his musings. The saying goes that the third time’s the charm, but that remains to be seen as I couldn’t bring myself to read Salinger’s novel another time. There are much better literary coming-of-age tales out there, in my opinion.
Speaking of, “Great Expectations” is another bildungsroman, a novel in three parts that focuses on an orphaned Pip throughout the course of his life. This book is often lauded for its rich narrative and character development, yet its form is off-putting to other readers. Meandering plot-lines, 19th century vernacular, and long length are deterrents for completion. Dickens was famously paid by the word, so his writing style is certainly not for everyone.
Another novel with a challenging writing style is “Ulysses” by James Joyce, which captures a day in the life of Leopold Bloom and his acquaintances. While it often makes “best of” lists, its lyrical wordplay, stream-of-consciousness style, and daunting length are frustrating to the many students assigned this in college literature courses. This is a book I was never assigned and know I’ll never read.
The book I settled on reading for this task was “A Clockwork Orange” by British author Anthony Burgess. It was one of several summer reading options for junior year high school English, and I switched to something else without finishing the book. In fact, I barely got started. The book is narrated by 15 year old Alex, a young chelloveck who enjoys a malanky bit of nochy time ultraviolence with his droogs, that meaning he’s a young man who enjoys performing acts of nighttime violence with his friends. Alex speaks in Nadsat, a teenage slang heavily influenced by Russian with a dash of British slang, and as a teen, this put me of the book entirely. I’m the type to head straight to the dictionary when encountering unfamiliar words, so realizing these terms were created for the novel drove me away. Having now completed it 15 years later, I’ve realized that the language used is quite repetitive so you get accustomed to the slang after a few chapters. There’s also a handy Nadsat dictionary out there, thanks internet! Language aside, I still found myself disinterested in the first third of the book which documents Alex’s senselessly violent escapades and arrest for murder. The latter portions of the book are somewhat more interesting, following his time in prison and the extreme methods used for his rehabilitation. Alex is essentially tortured and conditioned to become physically ill when encountering aggressive or violent scenarios, but does the end justify the means? Alex can only perform good acts as he has no choice in the matter. If he cannot choose of his own free will, is he really a free man? The moral of A Clockwork Orange is an important one, but it was quite a slog to get there.
Still looking to complete task 24? The library’s list contains books commonly assigned in high school and college settings to jog your memory. What are you reading for this task?
