# whats the worst "classic " book/author you read or tried to read **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 24, 2019, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-classic-book-author-you-read-or-tried-to-read/831440 "2019-03-24T04:37:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 13
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2019, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-classic-book-author-you-read-or-tried-to-read/831440/241 "2019-03-29T19:09:50Z")
> [@Sangahyando](#): > > A matter about Erskine Childers which somewhat baffles me: he was a keen British patriot, concerned about the German threat which played a part in the final unleashing of WWI – _TROTS_ being intended as a warning about this stuff, as well as a “ripping yarn”. He was also a keen Irish Nationalist patriot, deeply engaged in activity _against_ Britain, in the interests of winning Irish independence; to the point of being involved first-hand in smuggling guns and ammunition from Germany, for the use of Irish nationalists, should need require such. It would seem very difficult to me, for one person thus to “make the twain meet” – maybe some folk are just very good at compartmentalisation in their lives. Agreed, Childers has a perplexing history. After getting involved on the side of Irish rebels, some compatriots mistrusted him as a potential spy for the Brits (he was referred to as “that bloody Englishman”) and he eventually was executed for the offense of owning a gun. Then his son (also named Erskine Childers) later became President of Ireland. Quite a family. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2019, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-classic-book-author-you-read-or-tried-to-read/831440/242 "2019-03-29T19:35:18Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > …Huckleberry Finn: Don’t need 7 ways to spell words, Mark, just one or two will do, understand? The purpose of language is communication and spelling “going” 7 different ways in the same book is not “communication”, it’s “pretension”. I think it was Isaac Asimov who said it was an unimaginative mind that could think of just one way to spell a word. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2019, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-classic-book-author-you-read-or-tried-to-read/831440/243 "2019-03-29T19:40:06Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Another “classic” I found disappointing was Erskine Childers “The Riddle Of The Sands”, which was extremely popular in England before World War I, and is still praised widely in some quarters today as a groundbreaking spy novel. It turned out to be long on mood, very short on action and weighed down by an interminable exposition of what it was like to sail a small yacht through narrow waterways along the Dutch/Frisian coast. I think you’d really have to be an avid weekend sailor to get into it. I love _The Riddle of the Sands_ and have re-read it often; though I have some sailing background from childhood, I definitely don’t qualify as an “avid weekend sailor”. Just goes to show, as I said, that trying to categorize classic works that we don’t personally happen to like as objectively “bad”, much less “worst”, tends to say more about us than about the works themselves. > [@Sangahyando](#): > > One thing a propos The Riddle Of The Sands: the first-person narrator’s companion, the “alpha” guy and man of action out of the two, is called Carruthers. Wrong: the (supposed pseudonym of the) narrator is Carruthers. The experienced sailor “alpha guy” is (pseudonymically) called Davies. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2019, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-classic-book-author-you-read-or-tried-to-read/831440/244 "2019-03-29T21:34:47Z")
> [@dorvann](#): > > I know this may be little bit controversial but I find William Shakespeare boring and tedious to **read**. I actually enjoy watching his work being **performed** on stage and film, but just reading his works in a book is a real chore for me. Also agree. The only Shakespeare plays I enjoy reading are ones I’ve seen played; I have a sense of the line readings, and what’s going on. I don’t think that’s all that controversial an idea, really. After all, Shakespeare’s dramas are _plays_; he wrote them to be acted on a stage. I love Shakespeare, but I dislike the cult around him that says he was a Very Serious Author and must be approached with proper gravitas. He was an entertainer, who knew his living depended on getting butts in seats. If he were alive and working today, he’d be a screenwriter. The fact that he managed to produce amazing literature while doing this is a testament to his genius. ---
**Author:** ![Sangahyando](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f14d63/32.png) [@Sangahyando](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sangahyando)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2019, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-classic-book-author-you-read-or-tried-to-read/831440/245 "2019-03-29T22:07:44Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > Wrong: the (supposed pseudonym of the) narrator is Carruthers. The experienced sailor “alpha guy” is (pseudonymically) called Davies. Thanks ! I liked my theory, so wanted it to be right; but, one learns, it wasn’t ! ---
**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:** [March 30, 2019, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-classic-book-author-you-read-or-tried-to-read/831440/246 "2019-03-30T02:20:31Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Really? I mean if you were watching it as a kid, maybe, but as an adult, it should have been obvious why the sled was important. Heck, my daughter understood when she saw it when she was 12. > > Rosebud is a McGuffin, of course. But it’s a pretty powerful one, since it’s so much more than just a sled. Note that the poster’s actual words were that when he/she finally saw the move, “my only burning question \*\*going in \*\*” was why a sled was a plot point. The burning questions after watching might have been different. There’s no indication that the poster didn’t understand the movie. For what it’s worth I’ve never seen the film myself, and know only two things about it: that it’s about William Randolph Hearst, and that “Rosebud was the name of his sled.” So I would have had the same “burning question” going in. I expect that’s true of a lot of us who were immersed in _Peanuts_, but not “classic” movies, as kids. ---
**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:** [March 30, 2019, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-classic-book-author-you-read-or-tried-to-read/831440/247 "2019-03-30T02:34:28Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > Best thing about _Citizen Kane_ was [this _Peanuts_ strip](https://www.pinterest.com/pin/405464772686871978) (click on the strip in the upper left): > > Lucy: “What are you watching?” > Linus: “_Citizen Kane_.” > Lucy: “I’ve seen it about ten times.” > Linus: “This is the first time I’ve ever seen it.” > Lucy: “‘Rosebud’ was his sled.” > Linus: “_ **AAUGH!!** _” Carla did the same thing to someone on _ **Cheers!** _ ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2019, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-classic-book-author-you-read-or-tried-to-read/831440/248 "2019-03-30T02:35:49Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > I think it was Isaac Asimov who said it was an unimaginative mind that could think of just one way to spell a word. Kewl. |3u+ //4z |-|3 L337? ---
**Author:** ![Santelia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Santelia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santelia)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2019, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-classic-book-author-you-read-or-tried-to-read/831440/249 "2019-03-30T17:35:46Z")
> [@Ponch8](#): > > Jack Kerouac’s On the Road. The narrator does nothing but hitchhike across the country, meet with his friends, have drinks at bars, etc. In spite of it all, there was nothing remotely relatable about the characters, and I gave up after 40 pages. Absolutely. I got about two-thirds through it and the only strong memory I have of the story is “This Moriarty guy is a complete prick”. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2019, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-classic-book-author-you-read-or-tried-to-read/831440/250 "2019-03-30T20:43:39Z")
Not really a ‘classic’, but _Mein Kampf_ was absolutely un-readable crap. ---
**Author:** ![Sangahyando](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f14d63/32.png) [@Sangahyando](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sangahyando)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2019, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-classic-book-author-you-read-or-tried-to-read/831440/251 "2019-03-31T07:34:18Z")
@ **Gatopescado** , re your opinion of _Mein Kampf_ – I gather that many convinced Nazis felt exactly that way about the book – though they’d have died rather than admit it. ---
**Author:** ![ZonexandScout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zonexandscout/32/544_2.png) [@ZonexandScout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZonexandScout)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2019, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-classic-book-author-you-read-or-tried-to-read/831440/252 "2019-03-31T15:37:56Z")
In freshman year in college, I had to read _ **The Death of Artemio Cruz** _, by Carlos Fuentes. It isn’t a classic novel, but it was definitely the hardest slog I had encountered to that point. Even though it has quite a bit of violence and sex, it seemed to go nowhere. Surprisingly, I kept the book and then read it again 40 years later, finding it much better. ---
**Author:** ![racepug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@racepug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racepug)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2019, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-classic-book-author-you-read-or-tried-to-read/831440/253 "2019-03-31T18:48:14Z")
Aside from “A Christmas Carol” I could never “get into” Charles Dickens, AT ALL. ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2019, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-classic-book-author-you-read-or-tried-to-read/831440/254 "2019-04-01T20:15:15Z")
_Lolita_ My professor was some kind of Nabokov expert, so he was enthusiastic about this book, but I hated it. The writing is bombastic and over the top, and I couldn’t get past the fact that the central character is a pedophile. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2019, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-classic-book-author-you-read-or-tried-to-read/831440/255 "2019-04-01T20:24:06Z")
im told by literary people that Lolita is considered something of a practical joke in book form these days since the authors stated intent pretty much was " lets make a beautiful book with great writing … with what would be the worst subject in the world and see what happens ……. " Another book is 1984 sure the premise is chilling (and admittedly true in parts) but the book its self is illogical and you don’t really care about the characters …. but a lot of it is impossible even today…… ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2019, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-classic-book-author-you-read-or-tried-to-read/831440/256 "2019-04-01T20:33:48Z")
> [@nightshadea](#): > > im told by literary people that Lolita is considered something of a practical joke in book form these days > > since the authors stated intent pretty much was " lets make a beautiful book with great writing … with what would be the worst subject in the world and see what happens ……. " > > Another book is 1984 sure the premise is chilling (and admittedly true in parts) but the book its self is illogical and you don’t really care about the characters …. but a lot of it is impossible even today…… Nabokov reportedly wrote the novel about what appeared to be incredibly salacious material, he said, in order to lure the unwary in, but delivered a blistering critique of American culture with negligible sex content. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-classic-book-author-you-read-or-tried-to-read/831440.md?page=12)