Best of the Week: Books Aren't Perfect

How many times in an English class has a teacher claimed that a book had all the right elements and displayed themes perfectly?  Still, how many times have I found a book in English that I didn;t enjoy?  There was Lord of the Flies, March, and Their Eyes Were Watching God.  I loved very few books, and mildly enjoyed others.  With all the books that I we've read in English, I've never had a teacher admit that something was wrong with the book.  No teacher has ever said, "Wow isn't it annoying how Hurston has all of her text represent the way people sound when they talk?"  or "March complains a lot, and he also seems to be up on a too high horse for somebody who has deserted their family."  I've found problems in the books that I did love in classes, or even my favorite books outside of the class room; they do have their flaws.  An hearing an English teacher admit that a book wasn't perfect made me relieved.

To be completely honest, I did not enjoy The Shadow Catcher.  I felt that the parts that I was interested in (Edward & Clara) were far too scarce.  Marianne Wiggins' story took over way too much.  I felt that much of her story was boring, and even if the idea of streets linking her story together is very clever, it was hard to get through, simply because it wasn't interesting.  I tried to go through it without judging it, something which is hard to do, and when I did get through it, I was grateful it was over.  I love to read, I'm a little picky, but I do love to read.  This was one book that I could not make myself enjoy.  I heard my opinion echoed throughout the junoir class, there were some serious problems with this book.

This was, however, the first time a teacher admitted that there was an issue.  Mr. Allen kept looking at the coincidences and telling us that he had a hard time buying it, just like we were.  He said that the book at massive flaws, which it did!  I've never felt like I could tell a teacher before that I hated a book, because the natural assumtion was that they loved all of these books.  I think all teachers, and students, need to be honest about their opinions of the books we read, because we're not all necessarily going to like the same books, or any of them.  There is not a single book that is perfect, and I think the sooner that everyone realizes that there are flaws with everything, the more accepting they will be of books, because the expectation of perfection won't be there.