Top 5 Wednesday: Required Reading

Top 5 Wednesday is a weekly topic created by gingerreadslainey over on Youtube. There's a Goodreads group here, where you can sign up and take part each week.

I won't lie, I struggled with this week's topic, and it turned into a bit of a cheat for me. Throughout school, I was never really required to read things. It was only GCSE English literature that required things, but I never liked any of them. So I bring you my top three required reading, which aren't my top three at all because I hated them all.

Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
Probably my least favourite out of the three, because I am not a fan of Shakespeare in any way shape or form. I found it to be inaccessible due to the language, and it was hard for me to understand. I didn't like having to translate things as I was reading as it took away any enjoyment I may have had. If I'd read a modern version or a retelling of the story I may have got more out of it, but as it stands I didn't like it. Having to nitpick and analyse every single line also didn't help. 

Of Mice and Men by John Stenbeck

Out of the three, I'd say this was the lesser evil. I'm not a huge fan of classics (and at the time of reading this I despised them) but it was probably the quickest and easiest read of the bunch. Again, pulling it apart and searching for meaning in every little word choice drove me mad and if I didn't have to do that I may have enjoyed it a whole lot more. Overall, I just didn't really take anything from it or care about any of the characters. I wouldn't revisit it again but it doesn't make me want to dash my head against a rock.

An Inspector Calls by J.B. Priestly
I think the biggest problem I had with this is that plays, to me, are meant to be watched and not read. It wasn't so much that I disliked liked the plot, but I definitely didn't think it was that interesting and I didn't connect with or care for any of the characters. Also, having to act it out in the middle of an English lesson didn't help. I just... can't quite put my finger on just what exactly it was that made me dislike it quite so much, because it wasn't even like it was a bad idea.