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I adored all three of those books biggrin
Probably partially because I have yet to read any of them as required reading. In general, I like a lot of classics, but having to go over their "true meaning" and whatnot for weeks on end in english class can really kill it for me.

Actually there's a movement right now for what you call free reading or satelite reading. I heard about it in my adolescent lit course this semester.
I would have loved it if it had been done when I was in high school. They're pretty much what they sound like. Free reading is books you can pick from a list to read for class credit and satelite reading is when you have one common book that the whole class reads and discusses and the teacher supplies a bunch of books that have something to do with the common reading (a common theme, same author, etc.). There's alot of controversy about it though is the problem. You have one side of the argument that's all like "make english classes fun" and then you have the more conservative other side that's like "it still needs to be a challenge". When you look at the argument it starts giving you a headache really.... I just wish more teachers were willing to try stuff like this.

I have read many classics and I believe that they are all wonderful. My favorite would have to be Hamlet or Animal Farm. But it seemed that every time I HAD to read a book for school it took me 10 times longer to read it than normal... maybe that just me. sweatdrop

My English teacher is making us read The Pearl by John Steinbeck...6 chapters, each of them more painful than the first, and the first SUCKED!! It is the single-handedly most painful short novel to read. not to mention she assigns like a chapter a week, turning a painful experience that would generally take me half of an hour to read, into 6 extraordinarily annoying weeks, filled with quizzes and monologue discussions over one stinkin' chapter of ickiness. (and this is bad coming from me, because I'll read just about any fiction and think it's awesome....) with all the kids that hate to read these days (what is wrong with them, by the way??) these required reading assignments aren't helping...

save me?

For school I've had to read Animal Farm, To Kill A Mockingbird and a version of Romeo and Juliet with modernized translations throughout it, and I read The Phantom of the Opera on my own time because I'm a big POTO fan. Those are the only classics I can think of that I've read, though. Oh, and I've read The Fellowship of the Ring and half of The Two Towers on my own time, as well. sweatdrop

I read Animal Farm on a suggestion and I have to say i did not like it at all. It took me 2-3 days to read when normally a book that size would a few hours.

Well I thought the Lord of The Flies was ok but I love Of Mice and Men and A Raisin in The Sun is ok to. The only book I had to read for school that was horrid would be A Catcher in The Rye. We got to choose a lot of the books we read in school.