I actually like Lord of the Flies, but that's because, even though I read it for school, it's one I got to pick out for myself and read at my own pace. I think books are ruined when you have to match the pace of everyone else and stop and discuss the symbolism (I believe that it impossible to enjoy discussing symbolism unless you are able or allowed to analyze it from a Freudian perspective.)
You know whats worse than having to match everyone else's pace? Said pace getting absolutely hammered into the ground due to people having to read shakespeare out loud, but not one of the modern english translation ones.
It doesn't even have to be Shakespeare.
In my classes there was always one kid that would stumble over the most basic words. Like pot, dog, or bell. And the rest read so abysmally slow that I could reliably read the entire book before they got three chapters in.
Admittedly, I was a particularly fast reader, and there were some kids who were acceptable at it. It was alright when one of those kids got to read.
But nobody hammed it up like I did. My presentation of Mercutio's death in Romeo and Juliette had people crying! With laughter.
My teacher has me read Shakespeare all the time because I'm able to >_>
I had Lord of the Flies as required reading my senior year in high school. I liked it quite a bit. Come to think of it, senior year had pretty much all the required books that didn't bore me to death. Well, for English class, anyways. I liked history books too, though maybe it was just awesome history teachers that helped with that. Also, science books.
The biggest problem with schools and Shakespeare is that they make people read it. But Shakespeare isn't meant to be read, it's meant to be acted.
My teachers were sympathetic to this. After we would read the play, we would watch the movie. Still kinda crappy movies, but better than nothing.