No book is universally loved, including the revered classics, and lots of people understand that. But I still inwardly flinch and wait for the torches and pitchforks to come out every time I admit to loathing Jane Eyre. ;)
*Gasps in horror.* I'm kidding. I used to love JE before I read The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, after which JE seemed to suffer from sentimental triviality. I still like JE a lot, but it isn't for every one..
Tenant is sooooo much better! I think I'd like JE more if it had about 200 fewer pages and that douchecanoe Rochester had succumbed to smoke inhalation.
No pitchforks and torches from me ;). I like Jane Eyre (loath Wuthering Heights), but compared to other classics it definitely has it flaws. And anyway, Anne Bronte is the best of the Brontes.
Fair enough. Orwell is pretty loathable. Rather than saying I loathe JE, it's perhaps more accurate to say I didn't care for it and I loathe Rochester, may he burn in literary hell, the rat-bastard.
I freely admit to avoiding To Kill a Mockingbird, partly for the same reason, partly because I dislike my reads to be emotionally confronting, and a little out of sheer perverseness; the more someone tells me I must read something, the more I'm disinclined to read it. :)
Oh, well. Worth a try. There are lots and lots of books that others love that I can't stand either. Not all books work for everyone, not even the oh-so-beloved classics. Don't feel bad. If anything, if I had known that this particular perspective doesn't work for you, I would have mentioned it before you started.
That´s fine, BT :). Now I´m at least 100 percent sure that coming of age stories aren´t for me. It´s actually really nice to learn something new about my reading preferences.
Also, yay Anne! Best off the Brontes!