wtf-classic author

[senob44]

Shakespeare I enjoyed along with Emily Dickinson and Jane Austen. I've never read Wordsworth, Henry James, or Paul Auster. The only one on that list that repeatedly disappointed me and had me getting blurry-eyed and falling asleep was Whitman. I remember finishing "Leaves of Grass" and thinking I was very little changed for the experience. Even the parts that were considered obscene or trashy at the time, I thought were quite tame. I could write trashy poetry a hell of a lot better.

 

[Petra]

I always enjoyed Shakespear and most of the other authors listed. In fact, I was always done with the required reading before the class discussed the first few chapters.

The one book I just couldn't get into though was All Quiet on the Westrn Front. That was a WTF book for me...

 

[bigbadbrody]

the biigest waist of time in high school was studying that boring garbage shakespear calls literature

 

[Galactic]

Other for me.......Melville. I wish that white whale had been real, and Melville had been searching for him......and was eaten before he could write Billy Bud and Moby Dick. A perfect example of someone who wrote explicitly so he could show off an amazing vocabulary, using a dialect that passes for English, but may as well be an entirely different language. I respect the hell out of the man.

But I hate him.

 

[Galactic]

Shakespeare I enjoyed along with Emily Dickinson and Jane Austen. I've never read Wordsworth, Henry James, or Paul Auster. The only one on that list that repeatedly disappointed me and had me getting blurry-eyed and falling asleep was Whitman. I remember finishing "Leaves of Grass" and thinking I was very little changed for the experience. Even the parts that were considered obscene or trashy at the time, I thought were quite tame. I could write trashy poetry a hell of a lot better.

Then do it.

 

[Galactic]

Some of these writers are poets and poets aren't taught in American public schools anymore.

For me, on that list, I hated William Faulkner. I still hate him. THe worst American author is John Steinbeck..hands down.

The worst UK author is James Joyce. I read "Portrait of the Artist" and "Dubliners" and hated them both.

Shakespeare, Jane Austen, Daniel Defoe, Dickens, Bram Stoker, William Makepeace Thackeray...these are wtf?wtf?wtf?wtf?wtf?wtf?wtf?wtf?c "Classic" British authors...

"Catcher in the Rye" was great. "The Great Gatsby" was pretty good. Hemingway is pretty good too.

I didn't like Mark Twain at all. Paul Auster--isn't he too contemporary to be considered "Classic"?

Steinbeck the worst? Hands down? Huh. To each his own, but Grapes of Wrath was an achievement of literary mastery, a heart wrenching story of the eternal struggle of man vs. land.

I think calling him the worst, hands down, is unfair, and too harsh a sentiment.

Just my opinion.

 

[hedonis]

The main author I remember at school is John Steinbeck.

Of Mice And Men
and
The Grapes of Wrath

Also the plays

Spring and Port Wine by Bill Naughton

and Hobsons Choice

are terribly dull and bring back horrible memories of a class full of idiots reading aloud in dulcit monotone.

Hot Hannah nailed it with this one. Steinbeck.

H

 

[calpoon]

I had to read Ulysses by James Joyce. There were large parts of which I’ll swear did not make any sense and was incompressible.

I heard a review that said Joyce wanted to use every word in the English language in Ulysses, and in Wake he wanted to use every word that didn't exist yet.

 

[neighborboy]

It's incomprehensible to me that people think Steinbeck is more wtf than Joyce. Steinbeck might be boring, but he's not wtf.

 

[Dootifull]

I didn't mind reading Steinbeck. I won't ever read his stuff for fun, but I don't resent my teachers for making me read it.

 

[BlueBalls]

He's not really on the curriculum but I remember reading stuff from Sigmund Freud. Talk about somebody that was overrated. I don't think he knew what he was talking about half the time and just made stuff up.

My sentiments exactly.

 

[radomu]

Too Kill A Mockingbird was plane boring and stupid to me...

 

[No_Man]

I voted for James Joyce, but only because Virginia Woolf wasn't up there. Among the rest, I may not especially like them, but I at least understood what they were trying to say.

 

[senob44]

Then do it.

How about you learn to use the multi-quote function first, then I'll start writing.

I could write exceptional ribald poetry, except I have no desire or drive to. I no longer enjoy writing at all, whether it be poetry or prose. However, in the past, I had written a 30-page sexual-torture piece that if anybody would like to read it, they can PM me for it.