Here are the top ten most popular classics, which likely corresponds with the list of books most assigned in American high schools:
Every book listed is a “great novel”. These books wouldn’t have been read hundreds of thousands of times if that weren’t the case. However, we can recognize a book as a “great novel” while also recognizing that many readers will not enjoy it.
These rankings matter because reading books you love is the gateway to a love of reading and reading books you hate is the gateway to a life without reading. Too often people are turned off from reading by being fed books they hate, either through school, or because the internet/friends make a certain book seem like it must be read.
via: The Most Loved and Hated Classic Novels According to Goodreads Users (Goodreads).
Every book listed is a “great novel”. These books wouldn’t have been read hundreds of thousands of times if that weren’t the case. However, we can recognize a book as a “great novel” while also recognizing that many readers will not enjoy it.
These rankings matter because reading books you love is the gateway to a love of reading and reading books you hate is the gateway to a life without reading. Too often people are turned off from reading by being fed books they hate, either through school, or because the internet/friends make a certain book seem like it must be read.
via: The Most Loved and Hated Classic Novels According to Goodreads Users (Goodreads).
[ed. I don't know what the average high school literature curriculum is these days, but if these moldy oldies are at the core of it, no wonder kids get disconnected from reading for pleasure and enlightenment. See also: On the Hatred of Literature (The Point).]
