Significant moment of the day: playing in the snow!
Okay...its two days late. But i've had a crazy 48 hours of packing, cleaning, organizing and traveling. But yes, two days ago, I did frollic in the snow. To be fair, I was with Poppy, who is still on a leash, and the snow was super high. As a result, it was less a frolic and more of a whimsical trudge. Alas alack. It was fun, we whimsically trudged in the woods and on the giant snow banks. I even made a snow angel, which i havent done in years. I wouldve gone sledding in my backyard, but at a certain age sledding solo just becomes sad. Then again I had to shovel for about an hour so maybe next time i'll just suck it up and be a solo sledder.
Anyways...opinion of the day: My top five least favorite books I read in high school.
So whilst I've been cleaning I have been finding all sorts of goods around hidden corners. Old notes, drawings and a few essays. Which got me thinking...how much i disliked many of the reading assignments we had to do. Here's the begrudged list:
5. Hamlet
Okay, here's the thing. I didn't actually mind Hamlet. Although he is incredibly indecisive, which always is a huge pet peeve of mine. But that character flaw adds to the development of the story, so boo hiss. No the thing I didn't like is that we spent over a month on this one book. Unnecessary. There are only so many ways you can interpret 'to be or not to be'. Also, I'm probably going to get an onslaught of angry messages of FB wall posts but...I'm not the biggest fan of William Shakespeare. Let me clarify. I can respect his imagination and characters... but i feel like there a certain books where he just didn't try (Romeo and Juliet....come on) or was lazy and copied from an earlier book he wrote but changed the name and setting. And it reeeeeally bothers me how much people discuss how critical he was to English literature. Yes, he was important, people but he isn't the bloody messiah. It especially bothers me when people just mention a Shakespeare as one of their favorite books. Because I swear 9 times out of 10, they are just saying it to sound well-read or enlightened. Maybe I doth protest too much.
Rating: 3 stars
4. Kite Runner
Yes, it was well written. Yes it was a good story and setting. But I'm sorry, I hated the main character, so much. Maybe its because you're supposed to hate him a for what he did or didn't do. But even at the end, when he FINALLY makes some sort of amends, I still couldn't stand him.I thought he was a jerk through and through and he only did something remotely helpful or considerate when it would benefit himself. Plus, after he grew up the plot and tempo dragged so much. So Khaled Hosseini I don't know whether to shake your hand for creating such an illustrative character that I can harbor feelings towards, or just shake my head in haughty disapproval. I'll go with the latter because you did have nice imagery.
Rating: 2.5 stars
3. Catcher in the Rye
Once again, I hate the main character. So so much. And maybe that's the point. But he's just a jackass. Yes, i can understand he has felt lost since the death of his brother. And it is a relatable feeling to not know where you belong in the world, or what you do. But the answer is not asking "where do the ducks, go", or 'necking' in taxis or call everyone a frickin phony. No. You get up every morning, be nice to people and actually TRY to make a difference in the world. Because something tells me if your brother HADN'T died, that's what he'd be doing. Grow up, you stupid phony.
Rating: 2 stars
2. Scarlett Letter
Oy. Here's the thing about the Scarlet Letter. It has a really good plot, right? Wife commits adultery with a priest in the Puritan era and has his child and is therefore scorned by society. Priest obviously can't say anything, and no one knows its his; but he carries a love for Hester and his daughter for years. Then, the husband returns and realizes, hey that child isn't mine that's impossible and sets out to figure out who exactly is the father of his wife's child. Throw in some witches and a devil child...you'd should have an incredible book right? FALSE. Nathaniel Hawthorn manages to take this plot, which could write itself, and he turns it into the most boring piece of literature ever. He takes 5 pages to describe a tree or the forest, and the is casually like 'oh and hey there's the governor's crazy maiden sister coming back from meeting the devil in the woods...woods? Let's talk about THAT for the rest of the book instead'. FAIL.
Rating: 5 stars for initial plot, 2 stars for Natahniel Hawthorn bludgeoning awesomeness in the face with a blunt stick (that he describes for another 3 minutes)
1. Beowulf
Do I really need to explain why this book is awful? If there really is a question, go rent the 2007 version of Beowulf and that will truly end the conversation.
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