Pop Culture | Books | Life | School

10 Books We Had To Read For School, And Absolutely Hated

Over the years, public schools seem to have amassed a bunch of "classics" that they literally force every student to read every year, and most of the time the students are left with one simple question: "why?"

In the case of these 10 books, someone on the Throwbacks staff had to suffer through them at some point or another, and they have the horror stories to prove it.

The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wylde

Amazon

While the book is a literary classic, it's definitely not without its problems. One coworker was especially hateful, saying that "there was one section in the novel that listed off everything that Dorian Gray had collected. It was one of the most tedious and annoying aspects of a book I have ever read."

The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald

Time

The fact that Gatsby is kind of an annoying, rich prick is the point of the book. It still doesn't make me want to follow his exploits any more. It feels like the literary equivalent of watching the Kardashians.

Romeo and Juliet - William Shakespeare

Wattpad

Let's get real for a second here folks: this isn't one of the Bard's finest plays. It's a story of two teenagers who want to have sex so badly that they get secretly married and ruin their families. It's a melodramatic story about two selfish brats, and I have no idea why schools teach this over actually interesting plays like Othello or Hamlet.

Fifth Business - Robertson Davies

49thshelf

I was lucky enough to not have to read this in school, but as one coworker described it, "I just remember something about a hairy baby and someone joining the circus. That was enough for me."

The books just get worse from here...

Brave New World - Aldous Huxley

Amazon

One of Huxley's critics at the time said that the book read like he was writing an essay about the future and decided to give it a plot, and that's exactly how I feel about this book. Read 1984 instead if you want good dystopian fiction.

Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad

Penguin Books

This literary classic has come under fire quite a bit for its take on Colonialism, and as one coworker put it, "I didn't like its portrayal of Africa or the things they said about it at all."

Life of Pi - Yann Martel

Wikimedia

A kid goes to a zoo, then a boat, then some weird island. There's a tiger along for the whole trip. Nothing happens. The end. There, I just saved you hours of your life better-used on other things.

On The Road - Jack Kerouac

Penguin Books

As one of my coworkers said, "I've never met anybody who loved this book and wasn't a pretentious douchebag who thought they were better than everybody else." I'm inclined to agree.

Death of a Salesman - Arthur Miller

Wikimedia

A story that's literally focused on the least-interesting character. Why did we need to spend hours pouring over this when we could have read something, I dunno, fun?

Watership Down - Richard Adams

Watership Down

Yeah yeah whatever it's a classic, but that doesn't mean I want to read a story about cute woodland creatures torturing and maiming each other. And don't even get me started on the movie...

What was the worst book you had to read for school?

More Throwbacks

90s

5 Facts About 'The Baby-Sitters Club' That Will Make You Want To Read The Entire Series All Over Again

The Baby-Sitter's Club books were some of the most important books when we were young. There was nothing that was more exciting than getting that brand new adventure for Claudia, Stacey, Mary Anne and the rest. We all had our favorite characters, but we loved the entire club. The books really helped shape our generation, but how much do we really know about them? Here are 5 facts that will make you remember just how great these books really were! 1. How did it all begin?ScholasticThe original idea actually came from an editor, not the author herself. Jean Feiwel

90s

These 7 Quizzical Facts About "Wishbone" Proves No One Ever Listens To The Dog

I can pretty much guarantee that most people reading this article learnt more about literature from Wishbone than any college course. This wisecracking dog was incredible at teaching the finer points of many classic books and tied the major themes to a moral lesson that we could all use in our lives. While Wishbone can speak for himself, here are some little-known facts about the show that we uncovered out by Wanda Gilmore's garden!Dog-Read-Dog WorldMovieFoneThe idea for a show came from the creators own Jack Russel Terrier whose life and behaviors he would narrate in his home. "Well, what

90s

20 Popular Names From The 1990s That It Seems Like Almost Every Kid Had

Jessica H., Amanda S., and Ryan F., could you please come to the front of the class? If you had a popular name in the 90s, you will likely remember having the first letter of your last name as your official reference point. After all, how would they know which Michael was supposed to present today?Here are the 20 most popular names of 1990 that you can remember having at least one of in your class. Did your name make the list?20. Amber / RobertAround Movies19. Victoria / AnthonyBT18. Alexis / WilliamCloser Weekly17. Nicole / Justin90s 41116. Jennifer / ZacharyUS Weekly15. Rachel / JohnBustle14.