I'm just going to cut to the chase since by the end you'll all be throwing things at me anyway.
5) The Complete Fairy Tales of the Brothers Grimm.
(This was actually tied with Black Beauty but I couldn't find my copy BB, so the Brothers Grimm won)
Now, if you disagree with me I'm going to guess that you have never read most of the fairy tales in this collection, or you are one of those people who love Hans Christian Anderson's The Little Mermaid. We aren't talking Disney here people! If the first, run far, far away. If the second, I have nothing more to say to you.
4) Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen
Now before you throw rotten food and other objects at me, I'll say this is more one of those "I hate that I love it" rather then "I love to hate it" type of things. I love the social commentary, the satire, and even the cute little love story. But, I cannot stand the heroine! She just irritates me so much that I've only read this book two times and cannot bring myself to spend hours of my life in her company any longer!
3) Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens
I find it very sad that the only work of Mr. Dickens that I've been able to finish, I've ended up hating (I'm currently working on reading Little Dorrit, and I'm getting along with it rather well). I was twelve when I first watched an adaptation of this and read the book. It was depressing and traumatizing. I think it might have been the first time a saw a coldblooded murder happen on screen. Enough said?
2) The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
A story of how guilt eats away at you. Seriously, that's it. There isn't even a scene at the end where everything ends up okay. at least not to my standards. Hey, I'm a Christian, forgiven of my sins by a perfect God who didn't just forgive, he forgot too! He cast them out, they are non-existent now. And this book says you have to work for forgiveness, that you never really fully achieve it anyway. It just doesn't sit right with me. I know it has a good point to present and it wasn't supposed to be happy and flowery, blah blah blah... But it strikes me as a way for the world to point a finger at Christians and say "See, your beliefs are so out-dated. You just look stupid."
1) Wuthering Hieghts by Emily Bronte
A tale of a whole bunch of selfish and rude people who think that they are the center of the universe and hate it when everything isn't going their way. Yes, the Bronte sisters knew how to write dramatic stories. Yes this is a well written book. But really?? Not one situation ends happily, or even satisfactorily. Not one character has a nice personality trait (in my opinion). This is yet another book I've only read twice, because I told myself "Just give it one more chance, maybe you were too young to understand it before" Well, guess what, now that I understand it better, I hate it more.
In case you couldn't tell, I don't like unhappy endings (I know Northanger Abbey has a happy ending but the others don't)
Alright, go ahead and throw things at me now, or leave indignant comments. Or tell me how you agree with an item on this list. What did I not list that you think should have been listed? What would you say to convince me that one of these books is worth another shot?
