I think they're following the "It's grim and hopeless, so it must be Great Writing" theory. Which, IMO, is a pile of pants.

Hee, me too.

I love to read and always had. If I'd stuck with just what the schools thought was literature, I'd be a lot less well read than I am now.

I mean we got Tale of Two Cities, when Our Mutual Friend was a much better novel and didn't have someone getting hanged at the end of it.