One of these days (maybe tomorrow...) I'll get around to posting twice so I can attempt to catch up. In the meantime, though, I'm just happy to be sitting down to do this before 11pm!
Day 11: What is a book you absolutely hated?
I had to reach way back into the dark recesses of my brain to come up with an answer for this question. "Hate" is such a strong word, I find myself having trouble applying to a book. Finally, though, I remembered a story that I felt totally gypped as a little girl when I finished reading.
Rilla of Ingleside is the final book in the "Anne of Green Gables" series, and I think I "hated" it because it was so unlike what I had expected or wanted it to be. Rilla is Anne's youngest daughter and the baby of the family. Taking place during World War II, Rilla must deal with all the fears and hopes belonging to everyone who had brothers and sweethearts fighting against the Nazis. Really, I don't suppose it's that bad of a story, but I had a hard time relating to Rilla (for example, she hates babies! When she is asked to help take care of one during the war, she does it only from a begrudging sense of duty, rather than because she wants to. She does grow out of it, though) and it was much more dramatically (and rather over-the-top) romantic than any of the other books. It seems as though L.M. Montgomery chose to sacrifice her sweetly innocent stories and characters to the soap-opera-style of emotions. Or maybe it is simply that she didn't really know how to make the switch from novels to strong historical fiction, and had to rely on emotional manipulation. Either way, although not necessarily a bad or hateful book in and of itself, it was a disappointing end to the nostalgic stories of dear Anne and Gilbert.
But the other ones are all sweet and in the proper style! Have you ever read a book you despised? Why did you finish it? :p
4 comments:
I don't think I've ever read a book I despised...but I've never read this one as a result of your bad impression. :-) I would rather my impression of "Anne of Green Gables" end with the happy ending of "Rainbow Valley"!
you are invited to follow my blog
But other than that, you have no opinion! ;)
Passionflower by Kathleen Norris.
Don't read it.
To my credit, I didn't finish it, but I did skim through the last 25% of the book just to make sure that the story that began with such a sweet, simple romance {of a rich girl choosing to marry a poor man, enduring their trials and tribulations together in love} really did end with an affair and a murder. Shocked and horrified, I was, and slammed that book never to reopen it again. Oh, Kathleen Norris, what were you thinking?!
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