- Lorna Doone by R.D. Blackmoore- Long and wordy. I would like to re-read it at some point to see if I would like it now that I'm older.
- Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott- Long and hard to read... even my Dad agreed with me on this. However, I think I'll chance a re-read with this one as well to see if I'd appreciate it more now.
- The House of the Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne- I was so completely confused by what was going on in the story that I didn't even want to read it... but I did. :(
- The Old Man and the Sea Ernest Hemingway- Another one where I was a little confused with what was going on. I think I was just too young to be reading it... maybe I should re-read it too.
- The Swiss Family Robinson by Johann Wyss- My siblings swear by how amazing this book is but my Dad agreed with me that it was just hard to read. Again though, I will give it another chance and re-read it.
- The Odyssey by Homer- How it's written plus it's length was just too much for me. I might not have been at the right age to appreciate it though. Not sure if I'll bother to re-read it or not.
- The Aneid by Virgil- Just hard to read.
- Van Til's Apologetics Readings and Analysis by Cornelius Van Til- Just the title is hard to read! Don't get me wrong this is a great book and I would highly recommend it but it was really long... maybe not boring but really long.
- Great Expectations by Charles Dickens- It was my first long Dickens (I read Oliver Twist and The Christmas Carol before it) and I just did NOT like Miss Havisham at all!
- Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy- Really long, but still good... just really long. Plus there isn't really a single character to like in it.
You'd think from this that I just don't like long books but really it's more I don't like long books that are confusing, have characters I don't care about and/or are boring. Most of these I think I might have read when I was too young to appreciate them so I'm planning on re-reading many of these.
You read Anna Karenina - that is a goal! :) Stop by Book Journey today - you won something ;)
ReplyDeleteThanks! My Dad gave me strenuous book lists when I was in high school... and before then as well, but especially in high school. :)
DeleteThis list is basically a who's who of books that are sitting on my shelf and they might even have some dust on them. It's impressive that you've read these, even if you weren't exactly a fan of some of them. I'm a little bit jealous that my Dad didn't give me strenuous book lists now. :)
ReplyDeleteI would have gladly handed them over to you at the time but now I'm glad that he did give them to me. :)
DeleteI'm reading Great Expectations now for the Classic Club Spin (which I'm not going to be done on time for). I read it in high school and hated it. So far I don't hate it but it's definitely heavy going. Those are some pretty tough books on your list!
ReplyDeleteThanks! I think I just need a re-read of it to set me straight on it as normally I'm fine with Dickens. :)
DeleteSWISS FAMILY ROBINSON. I forgot that one on my list. I agree with you and your dad - I found it extraordinarily boring.
ReplyDeleteBut Great Expectations? I found that one much more of a pleasant, easy read than some other Dickens (ahem Old Curiosity Shop ahem).
As I said I need a re-read. I haven't read Old Curiosity Shop yet but it's on my list... now you make me apprehensive of it. ;)
DeleteWell... I was a bit young when I read OCS. And I only read it because I was obsessed with Eleanor Roosevelt, and that was her favorite book. I never finished it. I don't have extremely good luck with Dickens - I've only managed to finish two out of the four books of his I've read. (Finished Great Expectations and Tale of Two Cities, and DNF'd Bleak House and OCS, if you were wondering. But I'm definitely coming back to Bleak House someday.)
DeleteSome great picks! I definitely agree with 'The Odyssey' and 'The Aneid', had to read them at secondary school and I was really struggling, trying to get through them!
ReplyDelete