Books/authors you feel obligated to like, but don't?

[Jitpring]

For me, G.K. Chesterton. He annoys me. His little tricks, his incessant wit, and all the rest of it. He bugs. Maybe part of it is the Chesterton cult headed by Alquist, who tirelessly reinforces the sense of obligation to like Chesterton.

[salus]

Agreed, never liked Chesterton.

[Jitpring]

Agreed, never liked Chesterton.

And the rabid embrace of him by "conservative" NewChurchers is cause for suspicion.

[ecclesiastes]

Saint Thérèse of Lisieux.

[Walty]

I love Chesterton, but I could understand how he wouldn't be for everyone. 

St. Therese, and really all saintly or "spiritual reading" never does anything for me.  Maybe it's something wrong with me, but I always feel like I'm not gaining anything from it.

[icecream]

not a big bible reader, particularly old testament and gospel of john.

[icecream]

i tought everyone like chesterton.

[Vetus Ordo]

St. Therese, and really all saintly or "spiritual reading" never does anything for me.  Maybe it's something wrong with me, but I always feel like I'm not gaining anything from it.

Have you tried St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori? His "spiritual maxims" are a must read.

[DesperatelySeeking]

Interesting question. 

We all had to read the "great" authors in high school......Faulkner, Milton, Cervantes, Dickens.  And who liked them then?? Almost any 16 or 17 year old is going to be immensely more worried about getting their driver's license or their next date rhan what Tolstoy had to say about the human condition.  And, even supposing a literary interest, a teenager simply has not lived enough to "get" these authors.  Sadly, high school English has probably done more tkovdecrease interest than increase.  But, picking up one of these authors when you are 30, 40, 50 and you have elittle under your belt can be very rewarding.....in my own case, I utterly loathed Dickens at 16; but, at 35 or so, I forced myself to give him another chance.  And when I did, I wept openly at Oliver Twist.....suffice it to say that I am not noted for sensitivity.

So if you hated them, try them again now that you are older and wiser.

Back to the point -

Hemingway.  What's the fuss?
Chesterton also-immensely quotable and witty, but - at least for me - impenetrable to read.
Faulkner - needs to get over himself
Bronte (any) - dull
Melville - Reader's Digest condensed books were invented for this guy
Dostoevsky - and I really, really tried

(Sorry, thumb typing)

[Walty]

Hemingway sucks.  Don't feel bad.