High school English was an interesting time in the lives of many. Rather, it was a shared struggle between the members of a class pretending to care about the books or short stories in an effort to appease the teacher’s passionate yet annoying love for literature.

Our antagonist was embedded quotes, while our protagonist was Spark Notes.

Yes, many awful books were read in English. And it is time to recount the awful times spent reading these novels. Though, you will not find The Odyssey by Homer on here because that was actually a fantastic story. And that is probably why this website has the amazing name that it does.

10. All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque

The main turnoff about this novel was that it was just incredibly depressing the whole way through. The novel does a great job of depicting the reality of World War I however, if this reality is that depressing, I don’t want to read a fictional story about it.

Was this read? At first it was. Then we all got tired of seeing all the characters die and reading every last detail surrounding the deaths and stopped reading it.

9. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

To be fair, this novel was not bad in some aspects. It was easy to understand and it only took a total of two hours to read. Otherwise, it was a cringe-worthy novel that made class discussions really weird. It also seemed like Steinbeck originally planned on writing an inspirational story on the rise of Lenny but then said “screw this” and tragically ended the novel 200 pages earlier than intended just so he wouldn’t have to spend more time writing a story he knew would be awful.

Was this read? Yes, and it was easy to understand. But did we like it? Probably not.

8. Where are you going, where have you been? By Joyce Carroll Oates

This may have just been a short story but it was even more cringe-worthy than Of Mice and Men. One of the great (and pointless) unsolved mysteries in literature will be what Arnold Friend was. Signs say he was not human but do we care? Certainly not.

Was this read? Yeah, it was a short story so it was only a little bit of time spent going through an insurmountable amount of pain.

7. The Crucible by Arthur Miller

If there was any time in all of history that I truly lost faith in humanity, then it had to be the time when the Salem witch trials took place. This play based in this very time confirmed my view on this time.

Was this read? Depends. If you read this in class then yes it was read. If not, then no. Of course it wasn’t.

6. Henry VIII by William Shakespeare.

I couldn’t be too hard on good ol’ Shakespeare as the man was an absolute G. However, sometimes his plays made us tear all of our hairs out of our scalps until we became bald trying to understand what he was even trying to say. And this play was one of them.

Was this read? No, Shakespeare's plays were meant for spark-noting.

5. Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier

All you need to know is that nothing exciting ever happened in this novel. Also, the characters in this novel were especially stupid. Particularly the narrator who is never actually given a name.

Was this read? It was until you realized nothing noteworthy happens.

4. The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger

It is evident that Holden’s life is doomed and there is nothing else you could possibly take from this terrible, cringe-worthy novel. Anyone who actually spends more than a minute studying this fictional novel about an absolute sociopath is probably a sociopath themselves.

Was this read? With the help of Spark Notes.

3. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

The style in which the story is written makes it extremely difficult to understand. Though all teachers probably gave the same speech about the book becoming easier to understand as you kept reading, it never did. In addition, the story is really messed up and no matter what anyone says to justify the actions of the characters, they can’t.

*Side note: Let me help you with your grammar Emily. “Wuthering” is actually spelled “Withering.”

Was this read? What do you think? Of course not!

2. Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

Written in strong African American dialect, this novel was a tough one to understand if you were not familiar with the way this dialect was spoken or written. Words do not even begin to explain how painful this novel was to read. Never has any novel made me feel more cynical towards the male population in my life. The main character’s love life had always been forever doomed. And novels like that make teenagers lose hope in their love life. That is, if you actually cared enough to take time to translate what occurred in the novel.

Was this read? It was before you realized how much time you were wasting translating the novel.

1. Beowulf by a dumb Ogre without a Name

Honestly, I couldn’t even tell you what this lengthy epic poem written in ugly old English is about. I gave up on the first page of the novel when my English teacher tried introducing a literary device known as a "kenning." If you read this poem in its entirety, you are now probably an English Major.

Was this read? See above.