I was always put in the top classes and given the crappest novels. Though i think Othello was the worst. Our school has 4 different editions to make up a classes worth and half are so old that the one i had my uncles old girlfriend read. The main problem with Shakespeare's to me is you need to read a far but into it to start understanding the language, and even then you usually get it very wrong. I respect that he wrote a lot of plays and was very good at it, but a play is not a novel, and we need explanations and translations!
Though, I do think the main reason I didn't particularly like it was the way my teacher used it.
My favourite set novel was Walking The Boundaries by Jackie French, although my class didn't like it, but then I read all of it and I understood it all. Plus I like her writing style.