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Original poster

Which classic author or book can you not stand, and why?

87 replies

Caligulights · 13/12/2004 23:30

Following on from what your favourite book is, who or what do you find unreadable?

Mine are DH Lawrence and Ernest Hemingway - turgid, turgid, turgid, and I've never been fond of the Brontes who strike me as depressing - the only one I like is Anne. I've always hated Charlotte since I found out she dissed Pride and Prejudice and since I tried to read Villette and failed.

OP posts:
MancMum · 14/12/2004 15:04

anna karenina - I shouted for joy when the stupid woman died as I knew the end was in sight!

TinselTamum · 14/12/2004 15:04

Thomas Hardy for reasons so eloquently put forward by spacedonkey.

Henry James- utter tedium.

Proust- anyone who can have a single sentence that extends over almost a whole page wants shooting.

Jospeh Conrad- Heart of Darkness. Forced msyelf to get to the end because I felt all would become clear but was just as mystified as when I started (and also bored witless).

moondog · 14/12/2004 15:02

MNP !

amynSaintnixmum · 14/12/2004 14:59

Bozzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

noddyholder · 14/12/2004 14:58

dickens is endless

MariNativityPlay · 14/12/2004 14:58

"the pig lies on a barrow, dead" zzzzz

MariNativityPlay · 14/12/2004 14:57

As C S Lewis apparently said Moondog, not another f*cking elf...dh would agree with you.
Hard Times by Charles Dickens does it for me. Instant turn-off, dreadful book.

moondog · 14/12/2004 14:56

Ted Hughes
'Crow' poems
Grooooooan.....

moondog · 14/12/2004 14:56

J. R. Tolkien
Despite mother's best efforts)
Its so obviously......made up!!

bakedpotatohoho · 14/12/2004 14:52

(snap)

bakedpotatohoho · 14/12/2004 14:51

Hnery James.
Just spit it out, FFS!

PrettyHannukahndles · 14/12/2004 14:48

Henry James - Portrait of a Lady. It was sooooo boring and slow that I couldn't keep track of the plot (if there was one), and would forget what had happened one page previously, or what I had read the previous evening.

In fact, it was so deadly (and I gave it a good try, must have read nearly half) that I'm not sure if I even remember the author's name correctly! He did whitter on though.

amynSaintnixmum · 14/12/2004 14:43

Anything by Dickens - yawn!

spacedonkey · 14/12/2004 14:41

I do like DH Lawrence's poetry

prufRockingAroundtheXmasTree · 14/12/2004 14:40

George Eliot. Had Daniel Deronda for my mock A-level comprehension piece and got into terrible trouble for writing only half a page, basically saying, this is boring shte. Tried again recently - I though I might eb old enough to appreciate it, but no, still shite

Love DH Lawrence, and all Flaubert

Hazellnut · 14/12/2004 14:38

Agree with Mill on the Floss - actually finished it but hated it all the way through but wasn't going to be beaten !

JoolsTide · 14/12/2004 09:43

Harper Lee - To Kill A Mocking Bird

Everybody raves but I just don't get it.

I kept turning the pages waiting for something to happen. Even the courtroom scene left me feeling flat.

I found it very bland. When I start a book I have to finish it - was I glad this wasn't a tome!

xmascaroltygirl · 14/12/2004 09:33

"The Well of Loneliness" by Radclyffe Hall.

Somehow, a subject and story that in itself could have been fascinating has been mangled so thoroughly by the author's use of language that I couldn't get through it at all.

moondog · 14/12/2004 09:18

James Joyce

Yaaaaaaaaaaaawn.......

acnebride · 14/12/2004 09:13

WordsTurdsworth. The Prelude - on and on and on.

midnightmass · 14/12/2004 09:10

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midnightmass · 14/12/2004 09:10

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midnightmass · 14/12/2004 09:10

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Pidge · 14/12/2004 09:06

To my shame I've never got more than 20 pages into Dickens. And totally agree about Thomas Hardy - utter piffle!

FLOPSEYfairylightswithBUNNIES · 13/12/2004 23:51

whoops!