[kacir]

Originally Posted by mldavis2

Reading a long book that you were assigned that you don't want to read is called self-discipline. We seem to have lost it in recent generations.

Well, we had compulsory reading program at school and I hated it with a passion. Mind you, I was bringing in cartloads of books from library every Friday since I was 8. At one moment during my high school studies I was an active member in 8 separate libraries.

Yet, I couldn't stand those compulsory books. Some of those (especially from our national writers) weren't even well written. Even our Literature teacher admitted so much. "But, you know, it is very important book, because it is the first book in our language to depict the struggle of our working class against capitalism."
I do not get it. Why force undigestable books down our collective throats, when there are SO many great books that would help to ignite the spark of love for reading. That would be much more valuable IMHO than leaving huge portion of pupils disgusted with reading.

To this day I hate Literature. I very much prefer a good book.(*)

Recently I have been suckered to read a book by Pulitzer Price Winner Cormac McCarthy - the road. Now I am in urgent need of some mind bleach. The book was ugly, *ugly*, UGLYYYYYYYYYYYY! not to say anything about style, plausibility(**), punctuation, monotonous dialogue, ... everything, really. If it was written by some unknown or even mid-list-author, it would get thrown out by vast majority of publishers.

I have vowed to keep away from Pulitzer Price winners and other Great Works of Literature and stick to less great SciFi, mysteries, adventures, paranormal fiction, ... anything really that would be frowned upon by my Literature teacher ;-)

(*)

Originally Posted by Terry Pratchett, Soul Music

“In theory it was, around now, Literature. Susan hated Literature. She'd much prefer to read a good book.”

(**) I can put up with a lot of unplausible facts in a well written book (like existence of werewolves, or time travel, or faster-than-light travel, or alternative history, or ...), but the fact inside a book have to be *consistent*. They must fit together nicely. The facts mustn't contradict one another, or go against laws of nature without the author explaining how or why.