Here's to all the things I'm thinking during class discussions but cannot say. ;)
So, I know this may stick out like a sore thumb in a blog teaming with adventure, fantasy, and sci-fi fun reads. These are clearly none of the above, but I do have to read a plethora of super popular books for my English classes through the years and upon some thought and discussion I have come to the realization that Jay Gatsby is 9.7/10 creepy and kind of had it coming... Hamlet was mental... Holden from Catcher in the Rye was over dramatic and too whiney... I could go on forever.
I will not be reviewing these books because, well, most of them are classics and you probably don't need my advice when it comes to reading them or not. Honestly, you probably had to read it for a class like myself, because, to be frank, I don't think anyone reads Macbeth for fun. It goes without saying that pieces from Shakespeare and F. Scott Fitzgerald don't need a review from a teenage book blogger. However, what it does need is a hot take from a teenage book blogger.
What I got out of The Great Gatsby, in a serious sense, was that Jay Gatsby, centered his entire life around an unattainable dream. He had created a life with Daisy entirely in his head that he could never have. No matter how great Daisy was, she still would never be as great as Gatsby made her up to be. He wanted to erase the past without her and her past with Tom instead of him, but although she was willing to give him a chance, she could not admit that she never loved Tom, or that everything that happened without Jay meant nothing to her, because, that was not the case.
That is what I would write an analytical essay about...
What I thought about it in my rad reader head was that although F. Scott Fitzgerald is nothing short of a God when it comes to writing (I mean, not to be basic but can we talk about that color symbolism... come on!) but he sure does know how to write a creepy character. The image of Gatsby just standing on the porch of his mansion staring out and reaching toward the green light, towards Daisy's house is just wayyyyy to weird to be romantic. He literally has a shot too, but he just had to get her to say that she didn't care about Tom or HER CHILD! Sorry dog, that is asking for a bit much, don't ya think. The fact that he spent truly years bootlegging just to buy a house across from hers and threw parties in hopes that she would attend is weird! No, I'm not saying that he was asking to get murdered in the end, but all of the insanity could have been avoided if the man just learned how to move on for God's sake! He dated Daisy for a couple months before she broke up with him. This is what we call obsessions boys and girls. There is no chance that is a long enough time to form a serious love for someone. My man Jay is kind of a stalker and that is just the facts... sorry not sorry. Ol' sport... am I righttttt?? Oh, literature jokes!
Don't even get me started on Catcher in the Rye. It's like The Great Gatsby but less interesting. Instead of a story about a guy going about his life in the 20's around a bunch of dramatic and scandalous rich people, this is about an awkward, outcast, mad-at-the-world teenager who gets kicked out of school and goes on to tell a bunch of not that exciting stories, all of which he can find something to complain about in them.
I. Got. It. The. First. Time. He is immature and coming of age or whatever... but is he really? I understand that in the end he goes to therapy, but it is only for the sake of his parents. He even says that he doesn't believe in that stuff, that he isn't gaining anything from it. I just don't get the hype. Holden is the worst. 11/10 annoying.
Now, I am no fool. I am not about to drag Shakespeare. All I'm going to say is this... Hamlet was a weirdo. That's it. That's all. I did actually like Macbeth so I have to give big old William credit where credit is due.
Beowolf? Lowkey fire... I respect it...
I will now take you back to a time before my Junior year. It was the summer going into it and I was taking AP Lang in the fall. I was excited. I thought to myself, I love to read, I love to write, what could go wrong!? Oh, a lot was the answer, and it started before I even took my first steps into the classroom with every students least favorite words, "summer homework." I usually don't have that much of a problem with summer homework. I get it done, but this assignment, I went into with ignorance. I had to read and annotate A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson. One word... no, one sound... UGHHHH! When I tell you this was the most boring book I had ever read in my entire life, I am not lying to you.
It is literally a description of a man... walking the Appalachian trail... not even to completion.
His friend Katz was funny, sure, but my sense of humor was also greatly dulled because of the pain I was suffering in reading this book.
I thought that would be the worst book I ever read about nature. I thought there would never even be a category in my life called "The Worst Books I Have Read About Nature," but alas, there is. I would now like to take you to the middle of my Senior year. A fairly recent time. We began reading The Heart of Darkness.
If someone told me I had one day to live I would spend that day reading Heart of Darkness because time slows down immeasurably when you read that book.
UGH! UGHHHHH! BLEGH! Kurtz is like an off brand Katz and I just don't understand how such a short book can feel like it takes a millennia to read. It is a shorter version of Walk in the Woods with fancier language. Needless to say, it did not make it onto my 'favorites' shelf on GoodReads. I got a good grade on the essay I wrote about it though, so whatevs.
Don't get me wrong though, not all books that I had to read for class I hated. I got to read Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand for AP Lang, and it is one of my favorite books. Very inspiring! I also loved Pride and Prejudice. Although I didn't have to read this book for class, I read it because of class. I had just finished reading Hamlet in my AP Lit class and I came to the conclusion that I just was not smart enough to enjoy the classics, but I would go on the hunt for one that I liked that way I could feel better about myself, refine my reading taste so to speak-- or just be pretentious, I don't even know at this point, but I read it and I loved it and I will continue to love it forever. It was a super book and Jane Austen is obviously a phenomenal writer.
Banger in the 1800's, banger in the 2000's!
The Kite Runner I had to read for AP Lit and I found that book interesting as well. Not something I would pick up for fun, but it was a good book, really puts the world and our individual actions into perspective! I would absolutely recommend that one.
So yes, rad readers. I almost feel the need to apologize for this post because it is a little complainy and now I feel like Holden from Catcher in the Rye... What a hypocrite I am! But I will stand by my statements... for now at least... hopefully one day I can appreciate the art of classics, but I don't know if I can respect it the way I love Harry Potter and The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer. Sorry not sorry!
J.K. Rowling>Shakespeare any day. Until it's backwards.
- C8 ;)
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