# What famous works of fiction, popular with readers and critics both, do you not care for? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 22, 2019, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-works-of-fiction-popular-with-readers-and-critics-both-do-you-not-care-for/840659 "2019-09-22T20:28:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2019, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-works-of-fiction-popular-with-readers-and-critics-both-do-you-not-care-for/840659/1 "2019-09-22T20:28:53Z")
I’ve read a lot of fiction, some of it considered to be literature, some of it popular with the masses, and some of it both of those. I’ve liked a lot of it, but there’s a lot I just never found real interesting, or real good. My fails (whether it’s my failing or the author’s, I make no judgement, as I’ve undoubtedly given short shrift to some accomplished works due to inattention, bad mood, or disinterest in the topic/style) are listed below. List yours! **Catcher in the Rye** by J. D. Salinger. The protagonist just seemed like a dick. **The Great Gatsby** by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Sort of an interesting read, but I can’t say I found it worthy of its acclaim. **Lord of the Flies** by William Golding. Kids can be jerks. Got it. **Of Human Bondage** by W. Somerset Maugham. Overly complex for my tastes. And I thought I liked complex stuff . . . **The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe** by C. S. Lewis. The fantasy world too comic, the allegory too heavy-handed for my tastes. **The Old Man and the Sea** by Ernest Hemingway. Let it go already, Old Man! That way, the author can go off and fatally pester some bulls or something. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2019, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-works-of-fiction-popular-with-readers-and-critics-both-do-you-not-care-for/840659/2 "2019-09-22T20:31:28Z")
Not a fan of Catcher either. Confederacy of Dunces usually tops my list in this sort of exercise. I get it - the protagonist is loathsome. And why am I supposed to want to read about him? ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2019, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-works-of-fiction-popular-with-readers-and-critics-both-do-you-not-care-for/840659/3 "2019-09-22T20:35:58Z")
I read “The Handmaid’s Tale” not long after it came out, and I didn’t see what all the acclaim was, either. It was a badly written story about a dystopian society where the “victims” were unlikable regardless of what they had been through. (dons flameproof suit) I also tried to read “A Wrinkle in Time” when I was a kid, and couldn’t get into it. I tried to read it a few years ago; nope, same thing. ---
**Author:** ![Sefton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Sefton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sefton)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2019, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-works-of-fiction-popular-with-readers-and-critics-both-do-you-not-care-for/840659/4 "2019-09-22T20:48:20Z")
I loved **Of Human Bondage** , **The Great Gatsby** , and **A Confederacy of Dunces**. But I’ve never, ever liked anything from Faulkner. ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2019, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-works-of-fiction-popular-with-readers-and-critics-both-do-you-not-care-for/840659/5 "2019-09-22T20:53:00Z")
I’d love to see a _Lord of the Flies_ remake with today’s American kids. They would all be freaking out that their smartphones don’t have an internet connection and be totally clueless with even rudimentary survival skills. Also I find the _Catcher in the Rye_ to be a chore to read and I don’t relate the main character at all. Even when I was his age. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2019, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-works-of-fiction-popular-with-readers-and-critics-both-do-you-not-care-for/840659/6 "2019-09-22T21:01:18Z")
Don’t see the affection for Catch 22. I literally threw it away halfway through. Movie sucked, too, for the same reasons. There isn’t much else I don’t “get” as much as I don’t get that. OK, maybe XKCD. ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2019, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-works-of-fiction-popular-with-readers-and-critics-both-do-you-not-care-for/840659/7 "2019-09-22T21:05:27Z")
> [@dorvann](#): > > I’d love to see a _Lord of the Flies_ remake with today’s American kids. They would all be freaking out that their smartphones don’t have an internet connection and be totally clueless with even rudimentary survival skills. > … Why specifically American kids? Don’t they have smartphones in Japan and Australia and France too? ---
**Author:** ![ASL\_v2.0](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asl_v2.0/32/3525_2.png) [@ASL\_v2.0](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASL_v2.0)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2019, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-works-of-fiction-popular-with-readers-and-critics-both-do-you-not-care-for/840659/8 "2019-09-22T21:09:56Z")
**Lord of the Rings**. I purchased a copy of _The Fellowship of the Ring_ midway through a sea voyage way back in the Summer of '04. It was during a brief stop over in England. Two weeks later I was home, still with fifty pages to go, and it had been a slog to get there even in the confined conditions. I made several abortive attempts to finish it over the following four years, but only succeeded in reading another 25 pages. I just couldn’t bring myself to care, about the characters, about the plot, even about the literary craftsmanship (or the lack of it). It was a total snooze. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2019, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-works-of-fiction-popular-with-readers-and-critics-both-do-you-not-care-for/840659/9 "2019-09-22T21:17:17Z")
Harry Potter anything. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2019, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-works-of-fiction-popular-with-readers-and-critics-both-do-you-not-care-for/840659/10 "2019-09-22T21:56:55Z")
Yeah, every Tolkien movie/book puts me to sleep, and fantasy is a category I usually _love_. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2019, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-works-of-fiction-popular-with-readers-and-critics-both-do-you-not-care-for/840659/11 "2019-09-22T22:21:22Z")
_ **Anna Karenina** _, which I had to read in college. Why this piece of dreck is considered a work of art is beyond me. I hated each and every character in it and was delighted when the airheaded twat threw herself under the train at the end. I too have never particularly cared for the works of F Scott Fitzgerald, and I also find Tolkien to be incredibly boring. The only thing more tedious than reading _ **Lord of the Rings** _ was having to sit through the first movie. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2019, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-works-of-fiction-popular-with-readers-and-critics-both-do-you-not-care-for/840659/12 "2019-09-22T22:57:32Z")
I’ve never understood the attraction of _ **The Little Prince** _ either. I’ve had two girlfriends who wanted to give me a copy (one in English and one in German), but they (thankfully, I guess) never got around to it. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2019, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-works-of-fiction-popular-with-readers-and-critics-both-do-you-not-care-for/840659/13 "2019-09-22T23:09:06Z")
_Dune_. All talk, and the action all occurs “off-screen” so to speak. I read it in my early twenties, and whenever I told anyone I didn’t care for it, they said Oh, you were too young; read it again. So I read it again in my late thirties. Still didn’t like it. _Interview with the Vampire_. Maybe if I could have read it without picturing Tom Cruise I could have finished it. And don’t get me started on _Moby Dick_. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2019, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-works-of-fiction-popular-with-readers-and-critics-both-do-you-not-care-for/840659/14 "2019-09-22T23:13:05Z")
> [@carrps](#): > > Yeah, every Tolkien movie/book puts me to sleep, and fantasy is a category I usually _love_. Yes, Tolkien! He would spend seven pages describing the toenail fungus of a minor character, that you will never hear of again. Man just loved to hear himself write. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2019, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-works-of-fiction-popular-with-readers-and-critics-both-do-you-not-care-for/840659/15 "2019-09-22T23:20:53Z")
**Dhalgren** - At the risk of getting all sorts of PC flak, this novel is famous because Chip is black. Cuz the novel is shit. Tolkien - Enjoyed the movies. The slot machines are fun. The books are an unrelenting slog. **Moby Dick** if masterful is you read _every other chapter._ ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2019, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-works-of-fiction-popular-with-readers-and-critics-both-do-you-not-care-for/840659/16 "2019-09-22T23:25:37Z")
Pretty much all of Hemingway, except for **The Sun Also Rises** and some of the short stories, which are pretty cool. Hem was a master of self-promotion. He spent more time on that than his writing. Dashiell Hammett was doing the same thing at the same time, and doing it better. Unfortunately, he made a ton of money off **The Thin Man,** and quit writing in favor of drinking. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2019, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-works-of-fiction-popular-with-readers-and-critics-both-do-you-not-care-for/840659/17 "2019-09-22T23:28:33Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > Dashiell Hammett was doing the same thing at the same time, and doing it better. Unfortunately, he made a ton of money off **The Thin Man,** and quit writing in favor of drinking. Wouldn’t you? ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2019, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-works-of-fiction-popular-with-readers-and-critics-both-do-you-not-care-for/840659/18 "2019-09-22T23:30:14Z")
The entire reading list for high school and English Lit 101 in college. Catcher, Flies, Wuthering Fucking Heights; just kill me now. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2019, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-works-of-fiction-popular-with-readers-and-critics-both-do-you-not-care-for/840659/19 "2019-09-22T23:36:17Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > Pretty much all of Hemingway, except for **The Sun Also Rises** and some of the short stories, which are pretty cool. Hem was a master of self-promotion. He spent more time on that than his writing. After reading a number of his works just because I thought I should, I’m convinced his sole aim was to ensure generations of American literature students would be perpetually bored. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2019, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-works-of-fiction-popular-with-readers-and-critics-both-do-you-not-care-for/840659/20 "2019-09-22T23:42:28Z")
I read _The Three Musketeers_ a few years ago – in part because I’d enjoyed various movie adaptations, and in part because I decided that I wanted to expand my horizons, and read some classic literature. It was…OK. I struggled with some of the names and references, but mostly what I remember being surprised about (and not in a good way) was how much of the book revolved around the heroes worrying about how much (or, more precisely, how little) money they had, and coming up with schemes to make money. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-famous-works-of-fiction-popular-with-readers-and-critics-both-do-you-not-care-for/840659.md?page=2)