^ I totally respect that. I mean there must be a reason he's considered a giant of American literature, but for the love of all that's holy I can't figure it out. My personal idea of hell is being trapped for all eternity in a library stocked with nothing but Hemingway and those fucking "Chicken Soup" books.

Maybe you can enlighten me some, though. What is it about him, and that book in particular, that you find so attractive? You may inspire me to give it another shot.

pineapple wrote:

My girlfriend wanted me to read Othello. I read around three pages and put it down.

Awww man and you were just getting to the good part! I know it starts slow, but once Iago gets scheming, it takes off and never looks back. (Full disclosure: I have a deep and abiding love for the Iago character, so I *am* biased. But its still in the top three of my favorite Shakespeare plays.)

Okay Opti, that's just not fair lol. Its not a matter of the book "not being for us." Its a matter of us soundly disliking the main character, which is a problem, in terms of ability to enjoy the book. Obviously we're in the minority since the book is an acknowledged classic, but there's no reason to knock other people's opinion (or act like they're making some gross generalization that they aren't) just because they feel differently about the book.

TL;DR: I knocked Holden because I firmly believe that he is a horses' ass. No one insulted Salinger, or implied that he was wrong to write the book. That's a perfectly valid viewpoint--as valid as thinking that the book is a great, deep and meaningful one.

The-Excel wrote:

The Great Gatsby. Gatsby is the biggest pussy I've ever had the displeasure of reading about, next to the guy from The Crucible.

THANK YOU, on both books. I hate Gatsby. And while I adore Arthur Miller and actually quite like The Crucible...John Proctor is an idiot and a fool. Dying when pretty much everyone knows you're innocent doesn't prove a point, asshole, it just eliminates the one person in the town who might have been able to affect change!

Idiot.

username wrote:

so did the guy in The Stranger

Yes, but HE has an excuse. The whole point is that the protagonist was doing the one thing he could do to take control of his life--which was nothing. John Proctor wanted to STOP all the killings in his village, but just ended up making the problem worse, really, by refusing to stand up for himself and call the bitches out.

Yep. I love Daniel Day Lewis, but god that movie pissed me off.