> I always assumed that so-called “great” literature was a hoax, a punishment inflicted upon adolescents for the crime of being young.

It's mixed. It's both true and false.

There are a great many books out there, but there's also countless pointless turds.

Then something has to be said about your teacher forcing you to read a great book in a language that is not the author's native language. Some do translate well (Dostoevsky for example) but for many others it simply doesn't make any sense. A great book is not just a story: the writing itself is an art form and that cannot be translated.

Then many books are just bland, naive, with a ridiculously laughable "message" they try to pass.

The problem is a teacher shall force you to read either indistinctly. At least mine was.

I could be forced to read great literature just as I was forced to read the latest fart from whatever author was fancy in the city atm for his parents owned a bookstore.

Another way to see it is this: how many books (novel books) are there out there? Like, literally, how many? The number is gigantic. How many great novels are there?

If you were to pick one at random, which probability that you'd end up on a great one?

What's the probability your teacher will pick great ones?

In my case, the odds were basically as you'd expect: I remember very few of them because most didn't warrant being remembered.