The Worst Classics You Have Ever Read

[Stieg]

Yeah, well that's the weird thing, I never leave books unfinished...
Maybe I just didn't get it.

Usually my policy too, but I have left a recent string of books unread -- a Russian fantasy, an Alan Ryan horror, and Mark Gatiss (two books I've since returned to the bookstore). From a lit stance, who cares that I didn't finish these. Experiments is what I rather consider them and I have bigger and better things to move onto besides.

[bazarov]

I rather wonder when Joyce will appear on this thread...

Portrait of the Artist of a Young Man and Heart of Darkness.

[Nossa]

I don't know if it counts, but since you said classics..I'd go for ANYTHING by Ben Jonson...the guy was WAY better in poetry than he was in plays..I mean I almost always slept while reading Volpone or The Alchemist...they're just too boring!
And I really find it urgent to state that I'm a big fan of The Catcher in The Rye..lol

[Nossa]

Portrait of the Artist of a Young Man and Heart of Darkness.

Yup I almost forgot to mention Heart of Darkness...this IS one of the least interesting books ever...wouldn't try to read it again in a million years! lol

[Adolescent09]

Yup I almost forgot to mention Heart of Darkness...this IS one of the least interesting books ever...wouldn't try to read it again in a million years! lol

I couldn't agree with you more... and excuse me if I'm wrong about this but I think it was Joseph Conrad who said that Dostoevsky's The Brother's Karamazov (which is easily the greatest philosophical book I've ever read) was dull lol.... Dostoevsky's Karamzov runs to around 700 pages whereas Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness is an 80 paged novelette(or is it novella?)... It took me a fortnight to read Karamazov and three months to hollow through Heart of Darkness--

Here is Conrad's perception on The Brother's Karamazov (I got this from the comment section at the end of the B&N classics version.):

I do hope you are not too disgusted with me for not thanking you for the "Karamazov" before. It was very good of you to remember me; and of course I was extremely interested. But it's an impossible lump of valuable matter. It is terrifically bad and impressive and exasperating. Moreover, I don't know what D[ostoevsky] stands for or reveals, but I do know that he is too 'Russian' for me. It sounds to me like some fierce mouthings from prehistoric ages. I understand the Russians have just 'discovered' him. I wish them joy

What irony...

That being said, I don't think many people can deny that Joseph Conrad did incorporate a certain degree of eloquence in his writing but just wasn't able to use his great vocabulary to his advantage like exceptional classic-writers Dickens, The Bronte Sisters and Dumas.

[Nossa]

I know!! I mean seriously, reading his remarks on The Brother's Karamazov made me think ONE thing..."look who's talking" lol

[Adolescent09]

LOL... glad we share a similar view on this matter, Nossa. Nice to meet you

[Aiculík]

Uh... in fact, there's quite a lot of classics I don't like:

Catch 22
Catcher in the Rye
Moby Dick
Anna Karenina
Sophie's Choice - that book almost destroyed my life. My teacher thought it was the best book of the 20th century... and I dared to disagree... (I tried to read it several times, but I never got beyond page 10.)

Plus, Dickens, Austen and Henry James - yes, all their works. Real pain to read them.

[Adolescent09]

Catch 22, Catcher in the Rye... Moby Dick (some chapters in the middle)

I'm glad you agree with me to an extent Aiculk but I must disagree with your views on Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina, Dickens, Austen and James.

I have been enthralled by their works for several years. Nice to see you posted though

[Niamh]

Middlemarch, although my claim to have read it is questionable.

you took the word right out of my mouth cuppa. I too do not like Middlesmarch and my claims to have read it are also questionable!

Have you found any classics that were simply unappealing yet according to to the general public considered some of the most outstanding literary works ever?

Yes, Wuthering Heights! Bloody boring book and movie too. Although I don't mind the Bronte family. I own all their novels, but can't say I've read any of them except Jane Eyre.

most hated Evil book. Wuthering Heights

[Aiculík]

Yes, we agree in some points... but I like Heart of Darkness. It's in my top 50, in fact.

[aeroport]

Portrait of the Artist of a Young Man and Heart of Darkness.

Ah! Don't say that - I'm reading Portrait for class next month!

[kandaurov]

I must've been lucky, for I can't say that I've been displeased after reading a classic. The closest I got to that was two days ago, after reading Sense and Sensibility... but even after that, I still managed to find it interesting. My reading experience of it was what can best described as being traumatic, but I still like the impression that lingers after the read. Weird, I know.

Oh, I found Wuthering Heights a treat. It surprised me, I thought it would be much more conventional (and a third as complex in terms of narrative). The film adaptation, however, is appalling, to say the least...

Hm, I'm planning on reading Heart of Darkness and Portrait of a Young Man as an Artist... should I drop them and read something else?

[grace86]

So many HoD critics. I admit it wasn't one of my easiest to get through. It did take me forever to read it. Some points were rather dull, but overall I am very happy I read it.

HoD, I have trouble describing what I liked about it. I liked that it WASN'T an adventure. Maybe some who didn't like it thought it was?? I liked that it was a frame story, kind of like the reader was walking in on a story. Hmm...don't know, but it does deserve some credit.

But I don't like how Conrad bashed Dostoevsky, he's one of my favorite authors, in that case, I am not sure Conrad had a place to speak.

Hmm...in regards to my choices, I didn't particularly care for Austen's Sense and Sensibility (but will reread it)

and then Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man...3/4 though this book I really had trouble figuring out what was going on, and what the point was.

You know, there was once upon a time when I would have included Fahrenheit 451 by Bradbury because I saw the play done rather badly, but on reading it, there's really no way I could put it in this list.

But I was told you either love Fahrenheit 451 or you hate it.

[Geoffrey]

I think the real problem is that certain books are considered to be in the 'literary canon' while others aren't... 'classic' books really just represent the whoever is deciding they're classic, not the actual quality of the book... which is why I guess we get lists like these...

But anyways, I didn't really like Heart of Darkness (to racist for me) as well as Jane Eyre (I hate the way Bronte writes dialog). hmm, oh yeah, Faulkner - The Sound and the Fury. That books killed me... in a bad way.