# 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:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![Sangahyando](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f14d63/32.png) [@Sangahyando](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sangahyando)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2019, 10:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-classic-book-author-you-read-or-tried-to-read/831440/161 "2019-03-26T10:44:19Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > I haven’t seen “Watership Down” here yet either. I got through a couple of chapters and said to myself, “Yep, it’s a story about rabbits.” > > The late 1970s animated movie was, however, very good, and was definitely an allegory of the Soviet takeover of East Germany. IDK if the book was, because like I said, I didn’t get that far. _Watership Down_, an allegory of the Soviet takeover of East Germany?? (Was this film the one featuring the song _Bright Eyes_ – which I have seen – or another?) I’ve always reckoned _Watership Down_ to be far removed from human politics. There’s a resemblance maybe, between Woundwort and his henchmen (henchrodents?)'s way of running Efrafa; and Stalin and his, with the USSR – but I’d consider that “chance inspiration”, not allegory to try to teach a lesson. Though highly politically-minded people have a way of seeing political didactic stuff in anything and everything: an earnest left-wing bod whom I once knew, saw _The Hobbit_ as carrying a political message – the smug, complacent bourgeois (Bilbo) being stirred up into activism, by “agitators for the Truth”… ETA **Dead Cat** , missed your post – just before mine. I’m biased; but I consider _WD_ the book, near-perfect as it is – no need of any tighter editing. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2019, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-classic-book-author-you-read-or-tried-to-read/831440/162 "2019-03-26T11:02:12Z")
I think I’ve mentioned this before on the boards somewhere, but I thoroughly disliked ‘Lord of the Flies’ (which we had to study) until the teacher mentioned that it was inspired by [‘The Coral Island’](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Coral_Island). Being that sort of kid, I found a copy of that in the city library and read it. It’s nasty, sentimental, colonialist drivel, which schoolboys in Golding’s era were apparently also forced to read (somewhat ironically). The characters are utterly unbelievable; by the time they’re rescued, they’ve all learned a jolly lesson about working together, maintained standards to the point they’ve practically started a cricket league and dominated the dastardly natives into Christian servitude by simply being white at them. Oh, and one of the main characters is called ‘Peterkin’ which would be a pathetically soppy name for a bunny wabbit. Having read that, I could appreciate the characters -who include some direct parodies of the ‘Coral Island’ boys- in ‘Lord of the Flies’ who responded to lack of adult supervision by being nasty little murderous shits. At least they were believable. ---
**Author:** ![GreenWyvern](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/greenwyvern/32/2834_2.png) [@GreenWyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenWyvern)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2019, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-classic-book-author-you-read-or-tried-to-read/831440/163 "2019-03-26T12:18:10Z")
> [@Filbert](#): > > Oh, and one of the main characters is called ‘Peterkin’ which would be a pathetically soppy name for a bunny wabbit. The character’s full name is Peterkin Gay. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Airk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Airk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airk)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2019, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-classic-book-author-you-read-or-tried-to-read/831440/164 "2019-03-26T13:31:55Z")
> [@motu](#): > > Lord of the Rings > > Maybe I was too young but I grinded through all of it, good golly, the genealogical info was biblical and yet more boring than the Old Testament. Some good plot/action/world-building but lots of filler. Decades later, no interest in re-reading, not sure if I have seen all of the movies, definitely none of the Hobbit movies. > > Please note: The Hobbit was a much more incredible story (to me) than anything in the "Lord of the Rings: Trilogy Geneaology info? What are you reading? The appendices? There’s no genealogy in LotR outside of that, unless you count a couple of random sentences mixed into the general history of hobbit-kind that occupies, I dunno, the first ten pages or so. You sure you didn’t accidentally pick up The Silmarillion or something? (Oh, yeah, I also read and hated Lord of the Flies that same year of high school) ---
**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:** [March 26, 2019, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-classic-book-author-you-read-or-tried-to-read/831440/165 "2019-03-26T14:20:25Z")
> [@Filbert](#): > > I think I’ve mentioned this before on the boards somewhere, but I thoroughly disliked ‘Lord of the Flies’ (which we had to study) until the teacher mentioned that it was inspired by [‘The Coral Island’](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Coral_Island). Being that sort of kid, I found a copy of that in the city library and read it. It’s nasty, sentimental, colonialist drivel, which schoolboys in Golding’s era were apparently also forced to read (somewhat ironically). The characters are utterly unbelievable; by the time they’re rescued, they’ve all learned a jolly lesson about working together, maintained standards to the point they’ve practically started a cricket league and dominated the dastardly natives into Christian servitude by simply being white at them. Oh, and one of the main characters is called ‘Peterkin’ which would be a pathetically soppy name for a bunny wabbit. > > Having read that, I could appreciate the characters -who include some direct parodies of the ‘Coral Island’ boys- in ‘Lord of the Flies’ who responded to lack of adult supervision by being nasty little murderous shits. At least they were believable. Jules Verne wrote his own take on this in 1888, thirty years after _The Coral Island_ was published. His book was **Deux ans de vacances** (“Two Years’ Vacation”, which seems way too lighthearted a title). The book isn’t a goey-happy as The Coral Island, nor anywhere near as bloodthirsty as _Lord of the Flies_. It’s just another of Verne’s "Robinsonades’ – Verne loved Robinson Crusoe and Swiss Family Robinson and wrote plenty of imitations (including two sequels to “Swiss Family Robinson”). so, naturally, in Verne’s book the boys are resourceful and competent, but there’s still dissention and vying for leadership in his version. for what it’s worth, I read _Lord of the Flies_ all the way through in one sitting. I liked it, but found both the boys’ quickly-acquired skills and their savagery both unlikely. ---
**Author:** ![Airk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@Airk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airk)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2019, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-classic-book-author-you-read-or-tried-to-read/831440/166 "2019-03-26T17:56:59Z")
> [@minor7flat5](#): > > I suppose I will end up skipping it altogether. > > I do most of my reading via audiobooks while I run, and if a proper swashbuckler doesn’t swash and buckle, then it gets much harder for me to run. Who can run while listening to tedious prose? > > These days I’m working my way through the Thomas Kydd series, enjoying the point of view of an ordinary seaman as opposed to the officers’ point of view from Hornblower and Aubrey. Okay, so you’re not the first person to use this word, but I’m quoting you anyway, since I find this use of the term jarring and inappropriate. The Aubrey-Maturin books are not “swashbuckling” novels. A swash MAY get buckled from time to time, but by and large, they are not about gallant adventure, flamboyance, bravado, swordplay, or any of the hallmarks of that genre. They are adventure novels, for the most part, except when they’re not, but if you are looking for action-packed, laugh-in-the-face-of-death sort of stuff, this ain’t it. And, from my experience, neither is Hornblower. Just because there are ships and ropes involved doesn’t make it a “swashbuckling” novel. They’re in the NAVY (for the most part) so while there’s certainly plenty of bravery, they’re not swaggering, and no one twirls a moustache. 😜 ---
**Author:** ![txjim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f07891/32.png) [@txjim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/txjim)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2019, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-classic-book-author-you-read-or-tried-to-read/831440/167 "2019-03-26T19:11:20Z")
> [@Sunny\_Daze](#): > > Earnest Hemingway. His writing is stilted and poorly constructed. I did manage to get through his work regarding baby shoes ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2019, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-classic-book-author-you-read-or-tried-to-read/831440/168 "2019-03-26T19:21:04Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Jules Verne wrote his own take on this in 1888, thirty years after _The Coral Island_ was published. His book was **Deux ans de vacances** (“Two Years’ Vacation”, which seems way too lighthearted a title). The book isn’t a goey-happy as The Coral Island, nor anywhere near as bloodthirsty as _Lord of the Flies_. It’s just another of Verne’s "Robinsonades’ – Verne loved Robinson Crusoe and Swiss Family Robinson and wrote plenty of imitations (including two sequels to “Swiss Family Robinson”). so, naturally, in Verne’s book the boys are resourceful and competent, but there’s still dissention and vying for leadership in his version. > for what it’s worth, I read _Lord of the Flies_ all the way through in one sitting. I liked it, but found both the boys’ quickly-acquired skills and their savagery both unlikely. If someone wrote a version of “Coral Island” or “Lord of the Flies” in the modern age I don’t think the average group of American teens could last more than a week stranded on island somewhere. The type of outdoor skills utilized in the books is something most teens (most adults as well) aren’t really taught anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Sangahyando](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f14d63/32.png) [@Sangahyando](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sangahyando)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2019, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-classic-book-author-you-read-or-tried-to-read/831440/169 "2019-03-26T19:43:58Z")
> [@dorvann](#): > > If someone wrote a version of “Coral Island” or “Lord of the Flies” in the modern age I don’t think the average group of American teens could last more than a week stranded on island somewhere. The type of outdoor skills utilized in the books is something most teens (most adults as well) aren’t really taught anymore. If imminent death is the alternative; many people – age not relevant – are likely to be motivated to great and unexpected resourcefulness. I myself am devoid of any sort of talent for anything remotely practical, and lacking in the “survive at any cost” department (plus, I’m elderly) – in a “CI / LOTF” situation, I’d be toast, for sure; but humans are extremely variable. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2019, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-classic-book-author-you-read-or-tried-to-read/831440/170 "2019-03-26T19:46:20Z")
> [@dorvann](#): > > If someone wrote a version of “Coral Island” or “Lord of the Flies” in the modern age I don’t think the average group of American teens could last more than a week stranded on island somewhere. The type of outdoor skills utilized in the books is something most teens (most adults as well) aren’t really taught anymore. You can watch Survivor, and it is interesting the range: we have people who think that you need a rooster or the hens wont lay eggs, and others who were scared of leaves. But then you get people who hunt down and kill and slaughter a goat, can make fire even without a flint, etc. You do forget many Americans still live in rural areas or were in the Scouts or in the Military. ---
**Author:** ![Scoobysnax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@Scoobysnax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scoobysnax)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2019, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-classic-book-author-you-read-or-tried-to-read/831440/171 "2019-03-26T20:46:48Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > I also tried and failed to read “Great Expectations” in my younger days (it was an optional school assignment), at a time when I was inhaling just about any book that came my way. Same with “Kidnapped” by Robert Louis Stevenson. > > I figured Dickens wasn’t my thing, until we were assigned “A Tale Of Two Cities” and I couldn’t put it down. We were supposed to study Great Expectations in my 10th grade English class. My teacher had other ideas. He told he hated the book, chucked it in the trash, and then handed out A Tale of Two Cities. I am glad he did because that was one of the few books I enjoyed studying in school. Maybe not the worst book I have read but I did force myself to finish A Stranger in a Strange Land. As a huge fan of SciFi novels I felt that I needed to Grok it. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2019, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-classic-book-author-you-read-or-tried-to-read/831440/172 "2019-03-26T20:51:42Z")
Dickens seems much too long winded. I think the magazines must of been paid him by the word. (serialized publication) I never made it through David Copperfield. Tale of Two Cities is a little better. It’s still mind numbingly slow paced in the beginning. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2019, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-classic-book-author-you-read-or-tried-to-read/831440/173 "2019-03-26T21:21:49Z")
We were forced to read _The Great Gatsby_ during my sophomore year in high school. I hated hated hated that book. So much pointless swanning around of rich limpdicks, and then somebody gets killed. Bah! ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2019, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-classic-book-author-you-read-or-tried-to-read/831440/174 "2019-03-26T21:38:44Z")
I thought I should read the whole series in order so I started with _The Hobbit._ I don’t think I got past the first chapter. Probably my fault for practically memorizing _Bored Of The Rings_ first. ---
**Author:** ![squidfood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a87d85/32.png) [@squidfood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squidfood)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2019, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-classic-book-author-you-read-or-tried-to-read/831440/175 "2019-03-26T22:20:37Z")
With all the _Catcher in the Rye_ comments, I wonder: is there anyone commenting who’s first reading of the book was, say, 1965 or earlier? I disliked the book as well, but I wonder - Since the 1960s, counterculture has become mainstream culture, and (especially after 1980) the emo / goth / “too smart for school” trope has become trite and mainstream. Hence we read it now and just roll our eyes at the emo kid. But back then - when there was a heavier emphasis on conformity, etc. - was it a revelation? ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2019, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-classic-book-author-you-read-or-tried-to-read/831440/176 "2019-03-27T08:52:36Z")
a day in the life of Ivan denisivoich was mildly interesting but mostly monotonous …… Then I learned it was supposed to be just like a day in the real gulag the author had been in …… ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2019, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-classic-book-author-you-read-or-tried-to-read/831440/177 "2019-03-27T09:43:08Z")
> [@squidfood](#): > > With all the _Catcher in the Rye_ comments, I wonder: is there anyone commenting who’s first reading of the book was, say, 1965 or earlier? I disliked the book as well, but I wonder - Since the 1960s, counterculture has become mainstream culture, and (especially after 1980) the emo / goth / “too smart for school” trope has become trite and mainstream. Hence we read it now and just roll our eyes at the emo kid. But back then - when there was a heavier emphasis on conformity, etc. - was it a revelation? I read _Catcher in the Rye_ in about 1975 for English class. It was indeed a revelation. Namely, I wasn’t the only screwed-up kid to pass through the educational system. If it had not been for _Catcher in the Rye_, I’d likely not be where I am today. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f8ce5/32.png) [@The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Peyote_Coyote)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2019, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-classic-book-author-you-read-or-tried-to-read/831440/178 "2019-03-27T10:18:18Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > That’s a good point. I’ve often wished for a website or other reference that would spell out the pros and cons of the different translations available for a book I’m interested in reading. I highly recommend Samuel Butler’s prose version. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2019, 10:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-classic-book-author-you-read-or-tried-to-read/831440/179 "2019-03-27T10:19:38Z")
Knowles and Fowles. Fowles and Knowles, damn them. I refuse to read any novels by authors whose names end in -owles. > [@CalMeacham](#): > > Oh, God, **a Separate Peace**. I had blotted that from memory. I had to read it in high school, then again in college. I loathed the book. my wife, _pepper mill_, also had to read it in high school, and also hated it. > > I’m not sure that I’d like it any better if I were to re-read it today. ^This. It was a crime against the novel, and a pointlessly depressing wretched waste of time. _The Magus_ has gotten such hype, and once you try to read it, the entire thing consists of nothing but onion layers of hyping _itself_. It keeps promising the big payoff but never gets there. It manipulates the reader to hope, after 400 pages of playing you for a fool, the big payoff is just around the corner. It never comes. In fact, the author couldn’t even be bothered to write an ending for the novel, so it has no ending. It just stops, because fuck you, that’s why. It isn’t a novel, it’s the writer’s sadistic abuse of the reader. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f8ce5/32.png) [@The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Peyote_Coyote)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2019, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-classic-book-author-you-read-or-tried-to-read/831440/180 "2019-03-27T10:37:19Z")
\*Frankenstein \*. It took me a month to slog through that thing. The movie’s infinitely superior. I wouldn’t wipe my ass with _Atlas Shrugged_. I agree with the assessments of _The Catcher in the Rye_. I’ve never understood why so many people want to ban it. Not that I would stock it in a library, but from some persons’ reactions, you’d think it was a pornographic masterpiece. Never have I been so disappointed in a book. I tried three times to read Hesse’s _Steppenwolf_. I couldn’t get past page 27. I don’t like Lord Peter Wimsey. While I do like Hunter S. Thompson, I don’t like _Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas_. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-classic-book-author-you-read-or-tried-to-read/831440.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-worst-classic-book-author-you-read-or-tried-to-read/831440.md?page=10)