Present Tense

Present tense is not my favorite.  I rarely read whole stories or novels in present tense.  Sometimes I check a book out, and read only one page for that very reason.  It's not necessarily that I find present tense jarring.  Some people do.  That isn't the issue for me.

The issue for me is that present tense makes things sound profound that aren't profound. "The day the birds flew, and the ants died, the milk went on sale for fifty seven cents" draws attention to the plot, and not the sentence itself.  You know that in this story, the sale of the milk is a part of the story and probably has something to do with the birds, and possibly that whole 'pessimistic' optimistic' metaphor thing if you're reading behind the lines.

"The birds fly, and ants die, and the milk goes on sale for fifty seven cents" however makes the whole thing feel like it isn't just a part of the story, it's a part of everything. Everywhere.  All of the time.  It's immediate. A present issue. And it feels like this is something you should ponder, even though the only thing worth pondering in the sentence is why on earth milk doesn't ever go on sale for fifty seven cents in real life, and Aw man why do prices have to inflate so much all of the time?

In my opinion all of this is cheating, because it's making things sound literary that aren't really literary, instead of well, just writing literature.

There are a few books that are highly successful in the present tense.  The first is the Hunger Games, the second is that one book...not quite sure what it's called, because I don't typically read the present tense, but I'm sure someone dies and someone cries, and at least three people need a shrink of some sort, something touching like that.  But in both cases, present tense works very well.  I think. I haven't read either of them, because they are in present tense, but there are those who have no problem with the tense who have told me they are both quite good.  Except the second one.

What is your opinion on present tense?