Which Acclaimed Books Shouldn't Be Considered Required Reading?

[Jubal Slate]

I'm getting old. I don't want to waste my time reading expired "classics". 

[XB-70 Valkyrie]

 Catcher in the Rye and anything by Mark Twain. 

[Jubal Slate]

Catcher in the Rye and anything by Mark Twain.

I agree on Catcher but why Mark Twain?

[XB-70 Valkyrie]

Personally, I just find his work boring and tedious, and uninteresting. I'd rather read Dostoyevsky, listen to Bach, or just gaze at a tree. He also seemed to like bashing other authors, such as James Fenimore Cooper. Mind you, I don't like any of this genre, but I do find Cooper's writing far more interesting than TWain's.

[Karl Henning]

I love Twain.

And . . . that is why I hesitate to participate in the thread.  Maybe I come up with three titles right away, but there will be several people who loves 'em.

[Karl Henning]

But, yes:  hearty agreement viz. Catcher.

[Jubal Slate]

And . . . that is why I hesitate to participate in the thread.  Maybe I come up with three titles right away, but there will be several people who loves 'em.

Well, that is why this is here: to hash out a new canon. 

[Archaic Torso of Apollo]

I love Twain.

Me too. But I mainly like his travel writing (Life on the Mississippi, etc.) and his more offbeat fiction (The Mysterious Stranger).

[Jubal Slate]

Me too. But I mainly like his travel writing (Life on the Mississippi, etc.) and his more offbeat fiction (The Mysterious Stranger).

His wisdom is certainly oft quoted.

[Karl Henning]

Me too. But I mainly like his travel writing (Life on the Mississippi, etc.) and his more offbeat fiction (The Mysterious Stranger).

Agree that those are great favorites!

[Karl Henning]

I don't.

But, do you consider it required reading?

[Gurn Blanston]

Me too. But I mainly like his travel writing (Life on the Mississippi, etc.) and his more offbeat fiction (The Mysterious Stranger).

Innocents Abroad is a hoot! My favorite American author, along with Kurt Vonnegut.

[Jo498]

I had to read "Catcher in the Rye" in Highschool for English (as a foreign language). This was in 89/90 and the ca. 1950 mindset and language felt quite distant for teenagers 40 years later in a different country. I was not fond of it and never felt the need to re-read it.
One or two years ago I read Huckleberry Finn for the first time in English (I must have read it as a child in translation, but I am hazy on the details, I certainly read Tom Sawyer several times as a 9-10 year old). The last part (when Tom Sawyer joins him) is a little silly but I loved the rest. I was comparably disappointed afterwards by "Tom Sawyer" which really felt like a children's book.

(I have not re-read JF Cooper since I read translations as a child, maybe I should but I was not so fond of his stuff even then...)

But for all these books it is probably to late do dis-recommend them to a middle-aged person as most people, especially anglophones, will have read them already.

[Jubal Slate]

Innocents Abroad is a hoot! My favorite American author, along with Kurt Vonnegut.

"Famous American satirist Kurt Vonnegut's style has an eerie resemblance with that of Mark Twain. Vonnegut often confessed to be an ardent admirer of Twain."

[The new erato]

I could mention some religious books.

[North Star]

I could mention some religious books.

In a different context, I might do so, too.
http://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Job-3-parallel-kjv-1611/

[Cato]

But, yes:  hearty agreement viz. Catcher.

To quote the kids at their sporting events: "O-VER-RA-TED!"

I disliked the book 50 years ago, and nothing has changed.

I would keep Mark Twain.

My wife would eliminate Moby Dick      , but I would not.  0:)

[Karl Henning]

My wife would eliminate Moby Dick      , but I would not.  0:)

That one's divisive!  I love the dread whale, my buddy Paul found it too bothersome to try to keep at it.

[Karl Henning]

Interesting the negative reaction to Salinger.  But if this forum is any indication of Salinger's marketability, it is not good news for his literary estate.

According to a recent documentary, in his will Salinger left specific directions for the publication of seven or so books written throughout the period after he left public life.  The first is due to come out this year, the others will be published over the next ten years or so.  Some are novels and there are at least five short stories.  All the books will flesh out the history of the Glass and Caulfield families.

I am looking forward to them.

I'm sure there is a reliable market of Salinger enthusiasts (not all of them conspiracy theorists) 

[Ken B]

"Famous American satirist Kurt Vonnegut's style has an eerie resemblance with that of Mark Twain. Vonnegut often confessed to be an ardent admirer of Twain."

I don't like Vonnegut much, but he's the best prose stylist of recent decades. No-one writes better sentences.

"He had a tremendous wang, incidentally. You never know who'll get one."

TD: I'll go along with Catcher.
Warning: if you have a child he might really like the Wizard of Oz a lot. Be afraid, be very afraid.