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Heaven: I feel I ought to like this but I DON'T

TurquoiseTasticTurquoiseTastic Kerygmania Host
edited January 2019 in Limbo
I am trying yet again to read Dante's Divine Comedy, which is supposed to be an awesome classical of mediaeval literature. Problem - I don't really like it at all. Maybe it is better in Italian or whatever.

Same with Bonhoeffer. Shame on you TurquoiseTastic.

In a completely different field I believe many people enjoy watching Formula 1 racing but.... it is really difficult to understand.... why??

What other books (or other things) have other Shipmates been encouraged to believe to be the epitome of incredibleness which have then turned out to be deeply disappointing?
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Comments

  • KarlLBKarlLB Shipmate
    Classic literature in general. My eyes start skidding over the page and I lose all will to live at the impenetrable prose within minutes.
  • Star Wars movie. I often like science fiction but this movie did nothing for me. I am also most likely the only viewer on the earth who thought the movie Forrest Gump was a waste of time.
  • KarlLBKarlLB Shipmate
    Star Wars movie. I often like science fiction but this movie did nothing for me. I am also most likely the only viewer on the earth who thought the movie Forrest Gump was a waste of time.

    Not at all. The trailers were enough to make me not bother.
  • stetsonstetson Shipmate
    KarlLB wrote: »
    Star Wars movie. I often like science fiction but this movie did nothing for me. I am also most likely the only viewer on the earth who thought the movie Forrest Gump was a waste of time.

    Not at all. The trailers were enough to make me not bother.

    I think there was a general highbrow snickering at Forrest Gump, much of it not entirely undeserved.

  • finelinefineline Shipmate, Host Emeritus
    Pride and Prejudice for me. And I studied literature and like a lot of the classics. Austen irritates me though, to the extent that I can never stay motivated to read the whole of Pride and Prejudice (never studied that one, so never had to). But it seems to be so many people’s favourite book.
  • LydaLyda Shipmate
    Organ meats. Liver, kidneys of any variety,. sweetbread, pate, menudo. (Sausage casings I just don't think about.) But generally, NO. :grimace:
  • AravisAravis Shipmate
    Lord of the Rings. I love the Hobbit but LOTR is too long; I’ve read it, but haven’t reread it, and can’t be bothered to watch the films. It isn’t the length of the book per se as some of my favourite books are probably longer (e.g. The Name of the Rose, A Suitable Boy).
  • A sizable portion of the population does not like organ meat.

    I will second fineline's irritation with Austen and you can add P.G. Woodhouse to that. Yes Pride and Prejudice is one of my best friends favourites and my Dad adores PG Woodhouse. But for me, they are just meh.
  • Sorry, but Forrest Gump was a lovely, fun, and silly film. I mena, not great art, but fun.

    Bonhoffer -I am with you there. I can read most theologians, even the Greman ones, but not Bonhoffer.

    Books - In Search of Lost Things, by Proust. I have actually got remarkeably far through, but it is so tedious. I cnanot read it for pleasure.
  • RossweisseRossweisse Hell Host, 8th Day Host, Glory
    Anything by James Joyce.

  • LeRocLeRoc Shipmate
    I don't like November Rain and I think it's overrated.
  • Beer. Coffee. Steinbeck.
  • Puccini.
  • LeoLeo Shipmate
    Jane Austen
  • Shucky darn and slap them hogs! I'm supposed to like country music apparently because it's everywhere. I hate it, particularly the punny song titles like "I gave her a ring, but she gave me the finger". Which is actually kind of funny.

    I also hate yoghurt. However you spell it. People keep saying it's a wonder food and probiotic. Sour milk soup. Disgusting.
  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
    edited July 2018
    Pigwidgeon wrote: »
    Puccini.
    Indeed, and Proper Opera™* generally.

    * Gilbert and Sullivan is fine - can't get enough of it ... :blush:

    eta: don't worry, NP - I hate country music too, and nothing will persuade me otherwise.
  • EnochEnoch Shipmate
    No I don't emotionally respond to Bonhoeffer either, and feel guilty about it. He was obviously a great man, and I feel I should.

    Others I don't feel guilty about. Crime and Punishment for me was unreadable. I got about as far as page 25. And of films, The Piano. It isn't even appalling enough to be funny. Just two hours of inflated tedium.
  • I dislike the TV show Ellen. Vacuous.

    I have no idea what people find so wonderful in the Shipping Forecast on the BBC.
  • PriscillaPriscilla Shipmate
    The Silmarilion
    The Name of the Rose
    Da Vinci Code
  • KarlLBKarlLB Shipmate
    I dislike the TV show Ellen. Vacuous.

    I have no idea what people find so wonderful in the Shipping Forecast on the BBC.

    Nostalgia. We remember hearing it as kids. We didn't understand it then either. German Bight, Storm, Rain later. Good. Never understood why Rain Later was Good.
  • Star Wars films.
    ABBA’s dancing queen - I like a lot of ABBA, can’t stand that song.
    The Hunger Games films- my kids love them, I can’t bear them.
  • I have no idea what people find so wonderful in the Shipping Forecast on the BBC.

    Blasphemer! Stone the blasphemer!

    More seriously, it has many of the qualities of blank verse, without the burden of content (to at least 99% of listeners). The names of the forecast areas have a romantic air to them, and the tone and attention to cadence gives the whole thing a ritual quality.

  • Rossweisse wrote: »
    Anything by James Joyce.

    I am not sure you are supposed to like that though. It is crap. I think it might have been intended to be crap.
    LeRoc wrote: »
    I don't like November Rain and I think it's overrated.

    No - it is a great piece. Fun power ballad. A good example of what it is - which is not prog, but is enjoyable.

    Another one from me - Only Fools and Horses. I have no idea why it is considered so good. I would rate it mediocre, but there are many better series.
  • jay_emmjay_emm Kerygmania Host
    edited July 2018
    The (middle bit of the) Silmarilion I found confusing the first time, but getting used to some of the characters not really aging helped the second time.

    The mainstream Austen I'm allowed not to like, but I don't see the 'satire', the offbeat genre crossing ones I at least get.

    The very later Pratchett was in my opinion disappointing (which I wanted to enjoy for personal reasons).
  • sabinesabine Shipmate
    edited July 2018
    Game of Thrones....or anything set in fictional quasi medieval times.
  • FirenzeFirenze Shipmate, Host Emeritus
    Arnold Bennett’s novels. Thackery doesn’t float my boat either. D H Lawrence I can - and do - leave alone. As for Conrad, I’d rather chew tinfoil.
  • stetsonstetson Shipmate
    sabine wrote: »
    Game of Thrones....or anything set in fictional quasi medieval times.

    With a few exceptions, I don't care for anything set prior to about the middle of the 20th Century. That includes sword-and-sandals, historical epics, westerns, portryals of pre-contact indigenous life, etc.

    I guess you could sum it up by just saying I don't like period pieces. The exceptions would be things related to still-current social/political issues(eg. Birth Of A Nation, morally reprehensible as it is), and where I have an ongoing interest in the director(eg. Barry Lyndon 'cuz it's Kubrick).



  • stetsonstetson Shipmate
    I also don't care for light-hearted comedies centred around some childlke clown figure. Even Chaplin kind of pushes my patience, and I'm pretty sure I would dislike Life Is Beautiful if I ever forced myself to watch it.

    (And yeah, I realize that both Chaplin and Life Is Beuatiful deal with dark subject matter, but insofar as they are comedic, it's of the light-hearted variety.)
  • I have no idea what people find so wonderful in the Shipping Forecast on the BBC.

    Blasphemer! Stone the blasphemer!

    More seriously, it has many of the qualities of blank verse, without the burden of content (to at least 99% of listeners). The names of the forecast areas have a romantic air to them, and the tone and attention to cadence gives the whole thing a ritual quality.
    Romantic air? Ok, CYK (consider yourself kissed), isn't that better?
  • Piglet wrote: »
    Pigwidgeon wrote: »
    Puccini.
    Indeed, and Proper Opera™* generally.

    * Gilbert and Sullivan is fine - can't get enough of it ... :blush:

    I love "Proper Opera"! Wagner can drive me to heights of ecstasy. (Gilbert and Sullivan makes a nice light snack.) All of which should mean that I like Puccini, but I need to take anti-depressants to attend his operas. Better yet, maybe he should have taken some before composing. (One exception: "Nessun Dorma" -- maybe it was ghost-written by someone else.)


  • Star Wars movie. I often like science fiction but this movie did nothing for me. I am also most likely the only viewer on the earth who thought the movie Forrest Gump was a waste of time.
    You’re not the only one. I hated Forrest Gump.
    I also hate yoghurt. However you spell it. People keep saying it's a wonder food and probiotic. Sour milk soup. Disgusting.
    This! I’ve tried, I really have, but I just can’t get it down. Ditto for hummus and guacamole. They all gross me out.

    And speaking of things I’ve really tried to like, or at least get through, Huckleberry Finn. I’ve never been able to make it more than 30 pages or so. I finally decided that if I’ve lived this long without reading it, I can get through the rest of my life without reading it just fine.

  • Tea. I should like tea - my genes are Irish, I grew up in England and I live in Australia. But I can't understand the attraction - black, green, herbal, whatever. One exception - rooibos. Otherwise, give me coffee every time.
  • I have read all of Patrick White’s books but have never finished Voss.. Have reached different parts of it, but never right through.
  • HuiaHuia Shipmate
    Dead Poets Society, Forrest Gump, Annie Proux's book, The Shipping News Country and Western music and George Elliot.
  • MaryLouiseMaryLouise Shipmate, Host Emeritus
    Dickens' Bleak House, although I love the opening paragraph. Long stretches of Dostoyevsky in an over-wrought state.

    On the other hand, I'm a little ashamed to admit I love Gertrude Stein, somebody most readers can't stand.
  • KarlLB wrote: »
    I dislike the TV show Ellen. Vacuous.

    I have no idea what people find so wonderful in the Shipping Forecast on the BBC.

    Nostalgia. We remember hearing it as kids. We didn't understand it then either. German Bight, Storm, Rain later. Good. Never understood why Rain Later was Good.

    @KarlLB @NOprophet_NØprofit I find the Shipping News useful, but I grew up listening to it because we were in boats or planning to be in boats; there were maps of the shipping forecast areas around, so I can picture the map and know what is being said. It's succinctly giving weather conditions in each area in turn, iirc, clockwise around the British Isles, and there is a word allowance of 350-380 words for the 31 areas. Good refers to visibility - and often goes with Rain later as those two meteorological conditions are usually related. Today's Shipping Forecast written down. The broadcast version omits the Wind Direction, Visibility and other headers, as we all know that's what being said.

    If I want to know what the weather will be like around here or for planning a day out to the beach (I wish) I would listen and plan accordingly. When I lived in the southwest, some beaches were better in one wind direction rather than another, for example. Looking at today's forecast I would be planning full waterproofs to go to the beach in the southwest of the UK as there are gales forecast for later (Beaufort Force 7) and rain or thundery showers.

    @Firenze I had to read Conrad for GCSE; never, ever again - Heart of Darkness and Lord Jim was enough to put me off for life.
  • finelinefineline Shipmate, Host Emeritus
    I always thought most people hated opera and Dostoevsky. I’m seen as weird for liking them!

    Things I’m seen as weird for not liking are football, Eurovision Song Contest, clothes shopping, Great British Bake Off, and milk in my tea.
  • la vie en rougela vie en rouge Purgatory Host, Circus Host
    I hated Heart of Darkness passionately. Chinua Achebe had it right: bloody racist.

    Forrest Gump is Too Long.™
  • TrudyTrudy Heaven Host
    Huia wrote: »
    Annie Proux's book, The Shipping News

    I would be happy to introduce you to a whole island full of people who mostly dislike that book.

  • Jane RJane R Shipmate
    Benjamin Britten. Well, making a strenuous effort to be fair, some of his sacred music isn't bad... but can't stand his operas.

    I feel absolutely no guilt about disliking D H Lawrence, and concur with my late father-in-law's description of him as 'The man who made sex boring'.

    And 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon'. Watched the first twenty minutes or so of it once, and ABSOLUTELY NOTHING HAPPENED. Well, OK, there were a lot of fancily choreographed fights. But it was so dull! After 20 minutes I lost the will to live and turned the DVD off (it was painfully obvious to anyone who's ever read Agatha Christie that the 'mysterious' ninja was the sweet innocent teenage girl).
  • stetsonstetson Shipmate
    edited July 2018
    Trudy wrote: »
    Huia wrote: »
    Annie Proux's book, The Shipping News

    I would be happy to introduce you to a whole island full of people who mostly dislike that book.

    I've only seen the film, but one thing I thought was interesting about it was how Newfoundland was portrayed, for better or worse, as an entity unto itself, rather than as part of Canada. It wasn't like Kevin Spacey says he's going up to live in Canada, and then Newfoundland happens to be the province he goes to; it's just "I'm going to live in Newfoundland", and there we are, almost as it it's its own country, with no connection to anything else.

    But yeah, stuff like...

    A: If he died at 12, he couldn't have been my grandfather.

    B: You don't know Newfoundlad.

    ...probably wouldn't endear it much to Newfoundlanders.

    It was interesting to see Gordon Pinsent doing something outside of the CanCon ghetto.

  • CaissaCaissa Shipmate
    The Aeneid.
  • john holdingjohn holding Host Emeritus
    stetson wrote: »
    Trudy wrote: »
    Huia wrote: »
    Annie Proux's book, The Shipping News

    I would be happy to introduce you to a whole island full of people who mostly dislike that book.

    I've only seen the film, but one thing I thought was interesting about it was how Newfoundland was portrayed, for better or worse, as an entity unto itself, rather than as part of Canada. It wasn't like Kevin Spacey says he's going up to live in Canada, and then Newfoundland happens to be the province he goes to; it's just "I'm going to live in Newfoundland", and there we are, almost as it it's its own country, with no connection to anything else.


    I don't know when the book is set -- but if before 1949, then Newfoundland was a totally separate entity.
  • sabinesabine Shipmate
    edited July 2018
    @fineline The Great British Bake Off....OMG yes. I watched a few episodes of the first season and then started thinking "If you want a real contest, put them in a proper kitchen and not a tent!"

    Became a bit fascinated with their fascination with "the sponge."

    ETA: in the US, the show is known as The Great British Baking Show. We have a decades old contest here called the Pillsbury Bake Off, so I think their may have been copyright issues.
  • finelinefineline Shipmate, Host Emeritus
    I confess I’ve never actually watched it - I just can’t conceive of why anyone would want to watch a baking contest! Same with those dancing contests, where the celebrities dance - I did watch those, unwillingly, when I worked in care homes and everyone wanted to watch them.
  • American television. I can't speak for television in other countries (though I do enjoy some of the older British comedies), but there is NOTHING being broadcast these days that I can bear watching. My television set is used only for watching DVDs.

    (Maybe I shouldn't include television in this thread, since it is not something "I feel I ought to like.")
  • KarlLBKarlLB Shipmate
    James Bond, because everyone else seems to.

    Going to Church.
  • Jemima the 9thJemima the 9th Shipmate
    edited July 2018
    I don’t like going to church either. Pretty much every time I go, I get home feeling it was worth it for something - for communion, because someone led the prayers beautifully, because I get to spend time with people who I wouldn’t ordinarily see, and so on. But I don’t actually enjoy it.
    I remember someone very wise on the ship (Josephine, perhaps) saying that church is supposed to be many things, but it’s not supposed to be fun. I remember that often.
  • sionisaissionisais Shipmate
    Church is OK. Weekly house group meetings are generally OK, because one in four is a totally non-religious evening, like a curry or a pub quiz (at which we do rather well) but the monthly joint house group meetings are give a foresight of The Other Place.
  • FirenzeFirenze Shipmate, Host Emeritus
    Me too for football. What is the point? Twenty-two millionaires ruining a lawn.

    Basketball. Hockey. Baseball. Drying paint is rivetting in comparison.

    But boringest of the ultra boring mega borefests - American football.
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