# Share your favourite / least favourite classic books **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 3, 2009, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favourite-least-favourite-classic-books/495165 "2009-05-03T11:51:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Red\_Skeezix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/aca169/32.png) [@Red\_Skeezix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Skeezix)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2009, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favourite-least-favourite-classic-books/495165/21 "2009-05-04T03:26:08Z")
Favorites:Great Expectations, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, Foundation, Stranger in a Strange Land (the last two are not exactly classics, but classics in their own genre), 1984. Refuse to read ever again: Last of the Mohicans, Pilgrims Progress, Romeo And Juliet, Pride and Prejudice ---
**Author:** ![Elyanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b5ac83/32.png) [@Elyanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elyanna)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2009, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favourite-least-favourite-classic-books/495165/22 "2009-05-04T03:28:35Z")
Fav: \*Pride and Prejudice, Les Miserables, Twelfth Night, Persuasion, Wuthering Heights. Daisy Miller. Call of the Wild. My Antonia. \* Hates: _Decameron_ (what **Kyla** said). \*Emma. Portrait of a Lady. Grapes of Wrath. \*Freakin _The Bell Jar_. ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2009, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favourite-least-favourite-classic-books/495165/23 "2009-05-04T03:32:21Z")
Favorites: _Bleak House_, _Moby Dick_, _For Whom the Bell Tolls_, _All Quiet on the Western Front_, _To Kill a Mockingbird_ and just about all of Jane Austen Unloved: _The Grapes of Wrath_, _Billy Budd_, _A Separate Peace_, _Wuthering Heights_, _Swann’s Way_ ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2009, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favourite-least-favourite-classic-books/495165/24 "2009-05-04T03:57:55Z")
1984 tops the list. Almost alone among the great classics, this one always grabs me from the very first page. Not that this is the only one I like, of course - but I can’t stop reading this without effort, once begun. Fantastic, chilling stuff. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2009, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favourite-least-favourite-classic-books/495165/25 "2009-05-04T05:43:10Z")
Among my favorites: anything by Victor Hugo, abridged. Among my least favorites: anything by Victor Hugo, unabridged. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2009, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favourite-least-favourite-classic-books/495165/26 "2009-05-04T13:13:25Z")
Yes, **Linty Fresh**! I love \*Arrowsmith \*too! ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2009, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favourite-least-favourite-classic-books/495165/27 "2009-05-04T13:55:17Z")
Favorites: Lives of the 12 Caesars - Suetonius De Re Culina - Apicius [i know it isn’t fiction, but it fascinates me to cook from it] The Decameron - Boccaccio 1001 Arabian Nights - Burton version To Kill A Mockingbird - Harper Lee Cannery Row - John Steinbeck Hates: Anything by Ernest Hemmingway, what a wankfest Most russian literature, though it is good if you cant find any sleeping pills and you have had insomnia for several weeks. Harlequin type romances. I dont want to read about getting fucked, I want to _get_ fucked. ---
**Author:** ![SaharaTea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SaharaTea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SaharaTea)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2009, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favourite-least-favourite-classic-books/495165/28 "2009-05-04T14:35:42Z")
Gotta show some Hawthorne love. My favorite book of all time is _The Scarlet Letter_. Growing up, my enjoyment of classic literature often depended on having a good teacher who could guide me through it. I highly doubt I would have liked Shakespeare had I not had a wonderful English lit teacher in high school. However, I still think reading anything by John Steinbeck is akin to watching paint dry. ---
**Author:** ![Ronald\_C.Semone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/cc9497/32.png) [@Ronald\_C.Semone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ronald_C.Semone)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2009, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favourite-least-favourite-classic-books/495165/29 "2009-05-04T14:57:16Z")
> [@Kyla](#): > > Not a book, but the poetry of Emily Dickinson made me want to commit suicide. Does that mean it was good or that it was bad? ---
**Author:** ![Invisible\_Chimp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f05b48/32.png) [@Invisible\_Chimp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Invisible_Chimp)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2009, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favourite-least-favourite-classic-books/495165/30 "2009-05-04T15:10:35Z")
Favorites: _Anna Karenina_, _War and Peace_ Least Favorite: _David Copperfield_ ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2009, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favourite-least-favourite-classic-books/495165/31 "2009-05-04T15:53:43Z")
Love _Don Quixote_ and _Dracula_. _Don Quixote_ took some effort but it was well worth it. _Dracula_ holds up very well, and is a lively read. Hated _Lord Jim_. It was a chore getting through that tangled mess, and there was no payoff for it. I’ve never read _Heart of Darkness_ just because I hated _Lord Jim_ so much. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2009, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favourite-least-favourite-classic-books/495165/32 "2009-05-04T16:31:10Z")
> [@Ronald\_C.Semone](#): > > Does that mean it was good or that it was bad? Well, _I_ hated it. It was incredibly, repetitively depressing. I did all this reading in a unit on poetry in my AP Lit class in 12th grade. Literally ALL WE DID in class for six fucking weeks was read the poetry of Emily Dickinson. (Previously we had spent four weeks on the much less suicide-inducing poetry of Robert Frost.) I was really, really glad when that unit was over. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2009, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favourite-least-favourite-classic-books/495165/33 "2009-05-04T16:37:11Z")
Least favorite: _Silas Marner_ So peasant life is dull and demeaning. Duh! ---
**Author:** ![Linty\_Fresh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Linty\_Fresh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Linty_Fresh)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2009, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favourite-least-favourite-classic-books/495165/34 "2009-05-04T17:50:46Z")
> [@Sigmagirl](#): > > Yes, **Linty Fresh**! I love \*Arrowsmith \*too! Awesome. Were you the one recommending the film to me in the other thread a few months back? I still haven’t gotten around to seeing it, but I was just thinking about it the other day. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2009, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favourite-least-favourite-classic-books/495165/35 "2009-05-04T18:18:38Z")
Favorite: _A Canticle for Leibowitz_ counts as a classic in the Sci Fi genre and it’s one of the best books I ever read. Least favorite: _The Red Badge of Courage_, I had to power through it for school and I hated every minute of it. Ditto _Billy Bud_ Biggest surprise:\* Moll Flanders\*, I was traveling alone in Europe and books in English were rare so I read a few I never would have otherwise, _Moll Flanders_ was surprisingly engaging. ---
**Author:** ![anu-la1979](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/47e85d/32.png) [@anu-la1979](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anu-la1979)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2009, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favourite-least-favourite-classic-books/495165/36 "2009-05-04T19:11:32Z")
I can’t even put together a coherent sentence about how much I hate _Jude the Obscure_. HATE. **HATE**. I read it sixteen or seventeen years ago and I still remember how much I hate it. Mostly because of Sue. She has got to be modern precursor to every person who cocks up their life by trying to apply too much theoretical philosophy to the simple act of living. Even as a teenager I kept throwing the book across the room and screaming “Sue, get off the f\*cking cross already.” Oh yeah, and beyond _Emma_ and _Pride and Prejudice_ I find Austen unreadable. ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2009, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favourite-least-favourite-classic-books/495165/37 "2009-05-04T20:08:32Z")
Favorite: _Pickwick Papers_, by Charles Dickens. Least favorite: _A Separate Peace_ some guy who can’t write. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2009, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favourite-least-favourite-classic-books/495165/38 "2009-05-04T20:10:02Z")
> [@Linty\_Fresh](#): > > Awesome. Were you the one recommending the film to me in the other thread a few months back? I still haven’t gotten around to seeing it, but I was just thinking about it the other day. Very probably. I am a pushover for Ronald Colman. ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2009, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favourite-least-favourite-classic-books/495165/39 "2009-05-04T20:17:02Z")
Favorites: 1984, The Stranger, Don Quixote, Dos Passos’s U.S.A. trilogy, Catcher in the Rye, Ulysses, various Shakespeare plays Least favorite: _On The Road_ was quite possibly the worst book I’ve ever read, classic or no. I found both _Lolita_ and _A Confederacy of Dunces_ so tedious and dull I gave up on both after multiple attempts. And add me to the Hawthrone haters (can’t remember if I hate Thomas Hardy, as well, or if I’m just confusing him with Hawthorne). ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2009, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favourite-least-favourite-classic-books/495165/40 "2009-05-04T20:23:15Z")
Favorite: _Huckleberry Finn_, at least up to the point when Tom shows up. > [@delphica](#): > > Least favorite: _Great Expectations_. That book made it obvious to me that Dickens was getting paid by the word. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favourite-least-favourite-classic-books/495165.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/share-your-favourite-least-favourite-classic-books/495165.md?page=3)