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The Most Overrated Classics You Were Forced to Read in High School (Ranker)

"They say there's no accounting for taste and overrated classic literature seems to prove as much. While critics, scholars, and your high shool English teacher may gushed over certain canonical works, you may look back at such novels and novellas with profound confusion. Were they really that good? Books become classics for a variety of reasons. Politics, privilege, and sometimes random chance help determine which texts stand the test of time. This means some books lauded as veritable epitomes of literary excellence may have just kind of lucked out. There are some books you shouldn't have to read in high school, regardless of how esteemed they may be. Given J.D. Saligner's shoddy reputation, do we really have to keep revisiting 'The Catcher in the Rye?' And while 'Beowulf' is one of the oldest stories ever told, the narrative is pretty uninteresting when you get down to it." - ranker.com
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from ranker.com · made by SteveAzo
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1
The Scarlet Letter (Nathaniel Hawthorne)
The Scarlet Letter (Nathaniel Hawthorne)
2
Moby Dick (Herman Melville)
Moby Dick (Herman Melville)
3
The Old Man and the Sea (Ernest Hemingway)
The Old Man and the Sea (Ernest Hemingway)
4
The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)
The Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger)
5
Romeo and Juliet (William Shakespeare)
Romeo and Juliet (William Shakespeare)
6
Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)
Wuthering Heights (Emily Bronte)
7
Great Expectations (Charles Dickens)
Great Expectations (Charles Dickens)
8
The Great Gatsby (F. Scott Fitzgerald)
The Great Gatsby (F. Scott Fitzgerald)
9
Ethan Frome (Edith Wharton)
Ethan Frome (Edith Wharton)
10
A Tale of Two Cities (Charles Dickens)
A Tale of Two Cities (Charles Dickens)
11
A Separate Peace (John Knowles)
A Separate Peace (John Knowles)
12
The Crucible (Arthur Miller)
The Crucible (Arthur Miller)
13
Madame Bovary (Gustave Flaubert)
Madame Bovary (Gustave Flaubert)
14
Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
15
The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
The Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
16
Finnegan's Wake (James Joyce)
Finnegan's Wake (James Joyce)
17
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Mark Twain)
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Mark Twain)
18
Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)
Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen)
19
Lord of the Flies (William Golding)
Lord of the Flies (William Golding)
20
On the Road (Jack Kerouac)
On the Road (Jack Kerouac)
21
Love in the Time of Cholera (Gabriel Garcí­A Márquez)
Love in the Time of Cholera (Gabriel Garcí­A Márquez)
22
Henry VIII (William Shakespeare)
Henry VIII (William Shakespeare)
23
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (Mark Twain)
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (Mark Twain)
24
Pamela (Samuel Richardson)
Pamela (Samuel Richardson)
25
Heart of Darkness (Joseph Conrad)
Heart of Darkness (Joseph Conrad)
26
Sense and Sensibility (Jane Austen)
Sense and Sensibility (Jane Austen)
27
Things Fall Apart (Chinua Achebe)
Things Fall Apart (Chinua Achebe)
28
The Awakening (Kate Chopin)
The Awakening (Kate Chopin)
29
For Whom the Bell Tolls (Ernest Hemingway)
For Whom the Bell Tolls (Ernest Hemingway)
30
Beowulf
Beowulf
31
To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee)
32
Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoevsky)
Crime and Punishment (Fyodor Dostoevsky)
33
Flowers for Algernon (Daniel Keyes)
Flowers for Algernon (Daniel Keyes)
34
A Canticle for Leibowitz (Walter M. Miller Jr)
A Canticle for Leibowitz (Walter M. Miller Jr)
35
The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton)
The Outsiders (S.E. Hinton)
36
All Quiet on the Western Front (Erich Maria Remarque)
All Quiet on the Western Front (Erich Maria Remarque)
37
Deathwatch (Robb White)
Deathwatch (Robb White)
38
The Iliad and the Odyssey (Homer)
The Iliad and the Odyssey (Homer)
39
Of Mice and Men (John Steinbeck)
Of Mice and Men (John Steinbeck)
40
The Picture of Dorian Gray (Oscar Wilde)
The Picture of Dorian Gray (Oscar Wilde)
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