I concur on several that have already been mentioned (Gatsby, Dorian Gray, Tropic of Cancer). One that springs to mind is The Moviegoer. Percy's prose is excellent at times, but he's a bit hamfisted with his themes -- ie., the constant talk of "the search," malaise, despair, et cetera. He even directly references Kierkegaard, as I recall.
It's not an awful book by any means -- I was just disappointed, given its status. I wouldn't rate it very high in the canon of existential fiction.
Originally Posted by jocky
Who is this Austin you guys keep talking about? Related to Austin Powers by any chance?
~
"It is not that I am mad; it is only that my head is different from yours.”
~
I totally disagree with you on you stating that Catch-22 is a bad classic. It is absolutely one of the best books I have ever read, in my opinion. But what makes me angry is that a small portion of the intellectual community determines what books are "classics" and which books are not. To me, there is no such thing as a "pure classic." However, I do agree with you on Catcher in the Rye. The only reason the book is considered a classic is because J.D. Salinger is a social recluse. One book considered a classic that I cannot stand is The Red Badge of Courage. It is one of the most boring books that I have ever read.
i've gotta say George Orwell's 1984, and Shelly's Frankenstein
Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde is pretty poor.
Really? I wonder why you think so. About that short story all I can remember is thinking I hadn't enjoyed reading it as much as I could have because I knew the ending before having read it.
I am still alive then. That may come in useful.
Molloy
I should be so unfortunate as to write a "worst classic." That phase is an oxymoron.
People are just citing books they didn't enjoy. You should cite books that you think don't deserve classic status. I found Moby Dick boring but it is sort of a classic.
First of all i find this thread very useful to avoid meaningless duty-readings(if this is the right word).People always feel uncomfortable when it comes to criticize classics.
I would start with;Dead Souls and Emma.
After i finished them i got this very same feeling that i've lost a great deal of time.
Last edited by My name is red; 06-28-2009 at 10:29 AM.
While you live your life, you are in some way an organic whole with all life. But once you start the mental life you pluck the apple.You've severed the connexion between,the apple and the tree:the organic connexion. And if you've got nothing in your life but the mental life, then you yourself are a plucked apple...
You've fallen off the tree.
Hear, hear. I swear to God, if I were to become Secretary-General of the UN, I'd make dead sure to burn every copy of Pride and Prejudice that ever existed.
I suppose that I can understand why the "classics" are classics, it just makes sense. Even though I might've not enjoyed them. But kelby, the thread title is "The Worst Classics You Have Ever Read", so citing classics which you didn't enjoy makes sense, doesn't it?
I really don't care for most of Dostoevsky's oeuvre, too many names, and the text is just gravid with superfluous worrying. The murder scene in Crime and Punishment is awsome though, so I see why some people consider his stuff classic.
A lot of the classics cited have been massacred by high schools.
Sorry, I am a computer illiterate, Lynne Fees I totally accept your point about Identifying with the characters, but where does Jane introduce any real personalities? Servants dont exist, politics are within a domestic environment, foreign affairs are non existent and it comes down to the wonderful qualities of the aristocracy. Who would you want to connect with, say its not Mrs Bennett! She is a quality writer but her talents were wasted. The Bronte sisters, are not better in a lterary sense, but they write about real hardship, which we can all identify with.
I don't know if someone has mentioned these books already.
Of Human Bondage tops my list of books overrated and un-readable.
1984 was torturous and a little too flagitious for me.
For Whom The Bell Tolls was a beautiful story made derisory by strange medieval language employed as an explanation for Spanish vernacular. I liked the book, but I couldn't bear to read the employment of "I obscenity in the milk." and the like which were supposedly transliteration from Spanish.
I didn't see a lot of complaints about Woolf. How did she escape this list?
The worst classics I have ever read, or at least half read, is Robert Musil's The man without qualities. I started reading it three times and always lost courage and interest after 400, 500 pages. It's so awfully boring.
Last edited by amarna; 07-01-2009 at 04:26 AM.
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