People Hate Classic Books Through Hilarious Tweets at #worstbookever

By Gabe Habash for PWxyz

At the hashtag #worstbookever, you’ll learn some things. Huck Finn isn’t well-liked. The works of Homer and Shakespeare are scorned. That’s because most of these virulent tweets are lobbed from American high schoolers and middle schoolers continuing the ongoing battle waged between teenagers and required reading. The hatred of a new generation is a lovely, comforting thing; isn’t it nice to know that some things will never change? There’s something wonderful about knowing a teenager out there is using Spark Notes on A Doll’s House, just like you did when you were in high school.

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Comments

[khammock9]

07:57 PM on 12/26/2011

Well, this is just sad. I was never a fan of reading when I was in high school but I adored all but one of the required reading assignments, of course it is not listed..."Into Thin Air". Most of the books I have reread already and will probably read many more times in my life. It's rather sad that many people cannot understand the greatness that is in many of those book or learn the lessons taught through the stories.

[jbarelli]

12:09 PM on 12/19/2011

Some folks here lament the ignorance displayed by these tweets.

I lament that this collection of random whining is considered "hilarious". Seriously, it's not the taste of the readers that bothers me. Not everyone will enjoy every book, even if that book is considered "classic".

But seriously folks, are these the cream of this particular "crop"? Nobody could come up with anything wittier than "heart of darkness please die"? I was hoping for something better.

How about "was more miserables, but les now that i've finally finished it"?

[saj485]

01:30 PM on 12/21/2011

People clever enough to think things like that up are usually not the ones complaining about their reading assignments, I've noticed.

[JacksonHts]

10:49 PM on 12/18/2011

I must admit I hated Heart of Darkness as much in college as I hated it in high school.

[Sunwyn Ravenwood]

08:39 PM on 12/18/2011

What a horrible lot of books. Why are they forcing teenagers to read such ghastly books? As I high schooler I was faced with things like Steinbeck's "The Pearl", and long nasty French books like "The Count of Monte Cristo" and "The Hunchback of Notre Dame". And I LOVE books, I read hundreds of books a year.

Here are some books I would have teenagers read: "Mr. Midshipman Hornblower" by C.S. Forester, "Treasure Island" by Robert Louis Stevenson, "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes" by Arthur Conan Doyle, "The Hobbit" by J.R.R. Tolkien, "The Gods Themselves" by Isaac Asimov, and "The Warrior's Apprentice" by Lois McMaster Bujold. Teach them to LOVE reading, not to hate it for mercy's sake!

[NiMRODPi]

11:05 AM on 12/19/2011

How can you suggest Treasure Island and NOT The Count of Monte Cristo? Edmund Dantes is a downright badass whereas Hawkins seems to just somehow stumble his way through to survival. Of course, to each his/her own. :)

I just love the Count, one of my favorite books. I WISH I was forced to read that in High School.

[Sunwyn Ravenwood]

02:08 PM on 12/19/2011

Because he is a teenager of course.

[SpencerDeck]

08:06 PM on 12/18/2011

Wow. People are really disappointing.

[redramsam]

07:20 PM on 12/18/2011

What is funny about a group of cocky American illiterates?

[haval2]

04:55 PM on 12/18/2011

How about this one..."Morons in America." Ignorance here is beyond astonishing...but keep on texting!

[Bruce Forbes]

12:50 PM on 12/18/2011

Wow! There's an illiterate generation coming on.

[Wookiee1972]

09:11 AM on 12/18/2011

So where are the "hilarious" ones?

[haval2]

04:54 PM on 12/18/2011

it's here!

[sherlockhemlock]

08:01 AM on 12/18/2011

"There’s something wonderful about knowing a teenager out there is using Spark Notes on A Doll’s House, just like you did when you were in high school."

There's not much "wonderful" about catching a glimpse of the next generation of Tea Party illiterates.

[tanya11111]

06:37 AM on 12/18/2011

I have always firmly believed the books they make you read in school were designed to make you never want to read again.

[LindseyHollands]

12:43 AM on 12/18/2011

In this article: people who are not taking full advantage of the education being offered them.

[tanya11111]

06:39 AM on 12/18/2011

oh come on... The Scarlet Letter....? Maybe the educators are not taking advantage of the attention they are being given to them. Let's read books that change the way you think, lets get people interested in books... these books are painful.

[sherlockhemlock]

07:44 AM on 12/18/2011

The Catcher in the Rye I could maybe understand. But "The Metamorphosis"? Huckleberry Finn? "Heart of Darkness"? The Lord of the Flies?

I think not.

This is precisely the kind self-indulgent waste of technology for pointless whining about having to actually exercise their grey-matter one would expect from privileged teenagers.

[saj485]

12:10 PM on 12/19/2011

Are you new to the United States? Most people HAVE read nothing important, or next to nothing that's important. Read the statistics about how much reading people do. Things aren't as bright and cheery as you seem to think they are.

[mm8]

12:01 AM on 12/18/2011

I'm just glad no one put 1984 on this list. That act would be a travesty, especially, considering the time we currently live in.

[khammock9]

07:50 PM on 12/26/2011

You read my mind! I was just thinking that.

[mm8]

01:02 AM on 12/27/2011

What can I say, great minds think alike...!

[croyvden]

08:28 PM on 12/17/2011

How could reading The Old Man and the Sea be so hard? It's written at a 2nd grade level!

The least they could do is come up with *witty* critiques of the books. We're all doomed when these little literature hating gremlins grow up...

[ESerafina42]

12:25 AM on 12/18/2011

I was bored to tears by it. That's how.

[Yates]

06:05 PM on 12/17/2011

thanks a lot Twitter/HuffPo, now I'm even more depressed and pessimistic, if that's possible. some of these I understand, but Hamlet? Slaughterhouse-5? Catcher? Huck Finn? i mean come on.

[saj485]

10:13 PM on 12/17/2011

Take heart in knowing that it seems that most of the Twitter contributors are - surprise - sniveling, ignorant teenagers.

[sherlockhemlock]

07:43 AM on 12/18/2011

The spawn of the 1%, I'd guess.

[tanya11111]

06:40 AM on 12/18/2011

just one glance in the box "most popular on HP" should enlighten you to the interest of the average HP readers.