# You had to read/see it, it was a classic! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 13, 2005, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-had-to-read-see-it-it-was-a-classic/299083 "2005-04-13T04:25:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2005, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-had-to-read-see-it-it-was-a-classic/299083/1 "2005-04-13T04:25:01Z")
In this thread [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=6050180#post6050180](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=6050180#post6050180) a poster gave me an idea for another. What are stories, either on film or in print ,(but I was thinking mostly print), that you were forced, or coerced into reading/seeing, because it’s a _ **classic** _! You know, the one/ you were assigned in high school, or coerced into reading by their reputation. Thngs you decided were vastly overrated, or boring, or stupid. Possibly all three. I have read very little Charles Dickens, because I was scarred by the awful, boring experience of Great Expectations. Dreary to the extreme, it turned me off from the rest of Dicken’s work. The same thing goes for “The Pearl” by Steinbeck. Had to read it in school, and if I’d had my druthers I would have tossed it about a third of the way through. But it was by an _important author_ we were told. Geez, the symbolism couldn’t have been more heavy handed. I kept wanting to say, “I get the _point_, now finish the story, will ya?” For over rated movies I go with _Bridge on the River Kwai_. How such a historically inaccurate picture got to be so revered I don’t know. I saw a program on the History Channel and to a man all the veterans who’d been there hated the picture. So what’s your over rated so-called classic? ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2005, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-had-to-read-see-it-it-was-a-classic/299083/2 "2005-04-13T11:42:38Z")
**Wuthering Heights**. Had to read it for 10th grade English and found it … overwrought. (I love Dickens, though. You just have to move over into another world that moves at a completely different pace.) ---
**Author:** ![Wallenstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5a626/32.png) [@Wallenstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallenstein)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2005, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-had-to-read-see-it-it-was-a-classic/299083/3 "2005-04-13T11:45:57Z")
Not quite in the same category, but I was forced to go see **The Royal Tennebaums** as it was destined to become a “future classic”. Worst film I’ve ever seen, bar none :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2005, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-had-to-read-see-it-it-was-a-classic/299083/4 "2005-04-13T12:31:09Z")
All of Dickens. My sophomore English teacher loooooved Dickens, and we read a LOT of Dickens. She read parts of it outloud in her sickly sweet voice, and to this day I cannot stand Dickens. Most other assigned reading, I liked. It’s just Dickens that makes me want to puke. ---
**Author:** ![audiobottle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc8723/32.png) [@audiobottle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/audiobottle)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2005, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-had-to-read-see-it-it-was-a-classic/299083/5 "2005-04-13T12:59:30Z")
> [@e-logic](#): > > Not quite in the same category, but I was forced to go see **The Royal Tennebaums** as it was destined to become a “future classic”. > > Worst film I’ve ever seen, bar none :eek: I can understand not liking it, though I personally loved it. But worst film ever? Bar none? That’s a bold statement. My mom tried to make me read _War and Peace_ in 6th grade. After much begging and pleading, I got it cut down to the abridged version; at over 600 pages, it was still a bit dense for my young mind. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2005, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-had-to-read-see-it-it-was-a-classic/299083/6 "2005-04-13T13:03:21Z")
**A Separate Peace** – I had to read it , and hated it. My wife had to read it _twice_, and hates it twice as much. **A Death in the Family** by James Agee And, though I _like_ most of Dickens’ stuff, and didn’t mind reading it in school, I truly hated **Hard Times**. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2005, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-had-to-read-see-it-it-was-a-classic/299083/7 "2005-04-13T13:28:23Z")
Books I had to read for class that I was bored to tears by: Crime and Punishment Frankenstein War of the Worlds (although I loved The Time Machine) Dracula Books I feel like I should read because they’re Classics but haven’t managed to yet: Lord of the Rings Book I was told I HAD to read (by an ex-girlfriend) that actually payed off: Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Book that daunted me, but I made myself read it (because it’s a Classic), and it’s payed off… (OK, this is embarrassing…it’s a comic book…) Arkham Asylum (Have you read that thing? My eyesight’s not near good enough to read Joker’s speech…at least the panel layout’s intuitive…) Books I had to read and loved, whereas the rest of the class hated them: The Grapes of Wrath The Handmaid’s Tale Something Wicked This Way Comes ---
**Author:** ![CapnPitt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/edb3f5/32.png) [@CapnPitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CapnPitt)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2005, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-had-to-read-see-it-it-was-a-classic/299083/8 "2005-04-13T14:07:55Z")
_The Bridge of San Luis Rey_ by Thornton Wilder. I had to read it for 9th or 10th grade English, and I thought the book was stunning in its suckitude. Sadly, after only a few pages into the book, I found myself happy that the bridge collapsed. And my feelings in that regard only got stronger the more I read. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2005, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-had-to-read-see-it-it-was-a-classic/299083/9 "2005-04-13T14:31:24Z")
Ethan Frome, Moby Dick, Emma, Pride and Prejudice. All for high school English class. Oh, and Billy Budd (in which the entire class found a gay subtext that the teacher denied was there). On the other hand, I really enjoyed reading Charles Dickens. A Tale of Two Cities was really good. I’ve even read some of his novels as an adult, _completely voluntarily_. ---
**Author:** ![Jayn\_Newell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jayn\_Newell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jayn_Newell)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2005, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-had-to-read-see-it-it-was-a-classic/299083/10 "2005-04-13T14:37:50Z")
I was trying to get into anime and one of my friends kept telling me, “You have to watch _Ghost in the Shell_, it’s really good.” So, I bought myself a copy and watched it. I have since become a big GitS fan, but I think that the first movie, while good, is boring and overrated (Although for some reason I was really impressed at the time). Actually, the second one suffers from the same problems as the first. I’d watch them again, but they’re not films that I recommend to anybody (the series, on the other hand, is pure gold IMHO). Books: _Lord of the Rings_. I have an omnibus copy at home by my bed, with a paper bookmark a little over halfway through. It hasn’t been touched in over two years. Tolkein may have been a genius, but he bores me to tears. Must he describe every dew drop on every leaf in the whole forest before getting on with the plot? ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2005, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-had-to-read-see-it-it-was-a-classic/299083/11 "2005-04-13T14:40:30Z")
Nooooo, not _Pride and Prejudice_! I just reread it with great delight after seeing [the musical](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=310167). ---
**Author:** ![Scott\_Plaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Scott\_Plaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scott_Plaid)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2005, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-had-to-read-see-it-it-was-a-classic/299083/12 "2005-04-13T14:41:12Z")
There was a whole book on this, written by an english proffer, called “50 Works of English Literature We Could Do Without” BVasically, it stated that while some books might be enjoyable, not all the famous works are all that great. It stated the case in a well written, half-kidding way. ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2005, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-had-to-read-see-it-it-was-a-classic/299083/13 "2005-04-13T14:46:17Z")
> [@e-logic](#): > > Not quite in the same category, but I was forced to go see **The Royal Tennebaums** as it was destined to become a “future classic”. > > Worst film I’ve ever seen, bar none :eek: I stopped watching after about 20 minutes. Everyone else I know loved the movie. ---
**Author:** ![Campion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@Campion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Campion)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2005, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-had-to-read-see-it-it-was-a-classic/299083/14 "2005-04-13T15:11:06Z")
Both of these from, I believe, tenth grade: **Death Be Not Proud** , about some genius kid who died. About 3 pages into the book, I was rooting for Death. **Apocalypse Now**. Please. Just make it stop. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2005, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-had-to-read-see-it-it-was-a-classic/299083/15 "2005-04-13T15:47:21Z")
Books/stories I had to read for English (9th-11th grade) **Romeo and Juliet** **The Cask of Amontillado** (I know that’s not the right word…but I don’t care enough to look up the right one) **Of Mice and Men** **Watership Down** **Othello** ---
**Author:** ![dotchan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@dotchan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dotchan)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2005, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-had-to-read-see-it-it-was-a-classic/299083/16 "2005-04-13T16:29:16Z")
OTOH, the only books I was bored by were: _Anna Karenina_ by Tolstoy _The Good Earth_ by Pearl S. Buck _Heart of Darkness_ by Joseph Conrad I also watched _2000: A Space Odyssey_ just to see what the hubub was about, and ended up watching a good chunk of the movie on fast forward because many of the scenes were so dull. ---
**Author:** ![Indygrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@Indygrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indygrrl)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2005, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-had-to-read-see-it-it-was-a-classic/299083/17 "2005-04-13T16:37:44Z")
I think I’m a geek, because other than the Dickens, I pretty much liked all of these required readings. hee hee. I was completely enchanted with Moby Dick, and other longer books that others complained about. Oh, but I guess my personal least favorite is Emily Dickinson. I had a professor who just thought she was the be-all, end-all in poetry and I did not agree. I stay as far away from her stuff as possible. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2005, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-had-to-read-see-it-it-was-a-classic/299083/18 "2005-04-13T16:42:09Z")
I think the **Bible** was like that for me when I was in high school. I hated reading it, and I thought it made no sense. ---
**Author:** ![Scott\_Plaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Scott\_Plaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scott_Plaid)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2005, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-had-to-read-see-it-it-was-a-classic/299083/19 "2005-04-13T17:05:46Z")
I can’t believe I forgot that one! I suppose that I have forgotten that people actually seem to hold it up as an example of what they claim is moral behavior. (Yeah, so just about _every_ man, woman, and child, pre-flood deserved to die. :rolleyes: ) ---
**Author:** ![Tracy\_Lord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@Tracy\_Lord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tracy_Lord)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2005, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-had-to-read-see-it-it-was-a-classic/299083/20 "2005-04-13T17:12:48Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > And, though I _like_ most of Dickens’ stuff, and didn’t mind reading it in school, I truly hated **Hard Times**. For what it’s worth, so did Dickens. …and guys, I’m sure it’s hard to restrain yourselves, but could you please cool it with the gratuitous potshots at Christianity in Cafe Society? Save it for the Pit or GD, please. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-had-to-read-see-it-it-was-a-classic/299083.md?page=2)