Astrophysics Like Melville

[mrissa]

Quote of the evening: "And there wasn't even any nifty astrophysics like there would have been if Melville had written it." -- timprov

No, this was not a complaint at the book club discussion of Tam Lin. In the car on the way up, we were discussing the worst books we've read. So I have questions for you: what's the worst book you were ever forced to read in school? And what's the worst book you ever read on your own? (For my purposes, "on your own" includes "my best friend/grandmother/other important person wanted to discuss it.")

Comments

[alecaustin.livejournal.com]

Worst book for school: Based on gut instinct, this is Natalie Babbit's Tuck Everlasting, although that may be because I had to read it four times in four different schools.

Worst book on my own: The Giver, which pissed me off something fierce when I realized that the reason my mom had suggested it to me was because it'd won an award.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Did other people avoid the "it won an award" recommendations with you, so it was specially bad that way? Or did you expect better of your mom? Or what?

Four times through Tuck Everlasting is unjust. Flat-out not fair. When I had already read a book in grade school or junior high, I would argue with the teacher until she let me read something different. Sometimes this was a lengthy process, but I felt that I had the right of it, and I usually came away victorious.