I bet this has been done before, but what classics/modern classics have really left you baffled as to why they're so popular?

I could NOT get on with Middlemarch or Vanity Fair.

Here's one no-one's mentioned: A Hundred Years of Solitude. Gabriel Garcia Marquèz. I read it for O-level & really disliked it. Also The Unbearable Lightness of Being. Kundera. Same year. I loathed my teacher that year though, and the feeling was mutual so I guess that has something to do with it.

I really enjoyed Chaucer's Pardoner's Prologue & Tale but I had a brilliant teacher that year (A-level). I think I'm the only person I've ever met who loves Chaucer.

My sister always wants me to read books by Margaret Atwood (we're Canadian) but I just can't get into any of them.

Catch 22, god it was awful. I confess it went straight over my head though - I got to the last page still waiting to be let in on the story.

Men seem to like it though, I couldn't warm to any of the character's though (don't think you're supposed to) and the fact that they were all known by their surnames made it harder for me to get to know them.

Hey MaryAnn- Armistead Maupin...REALLYYY BOOORRRIIINNNGGG!!!!

oooo! I think I'm going to like this thread!

Califrau- yes! Lovely Bones and Time Traveller's Wife I couldn't understand why ? But Donna? The lovely Tartt? Love them.

Armistead Maupin....reeeaaalllyyyy boooorrrriiinnnnggg....

Whereas I've read Catch 22 many times and loved it, but Frankenstein's stodgy, overcooked prose makes it impossible for me to ever enjoy one of the founding texts of modern horror. Which is a shame, but I hate the way she writes.

I don't generally get on with 19th century writing, though. Having to spend three weeks studying Wordsworth was a small personal hell.

I think Frankenstein and Wuthering Heights both come as a shock when you read them because they are so unlike the popular image/film versions we're all so familiar with. But I still think they're great.

Catch 22 though - cannot read it - have tried numerous times. I only get a few pages in and loathe and detest the main character so much I always want to fling it across the room.

What?? I love Wuthering Heights. It's one of my fav books. Also enjoyed Catch 22 and Brave New World. Can't stand Jane Austen.

More modern day hated Lovely Bones/ Time Traveller's Wife/ The Kite Runner/ The Book Thief/ Cloud Atlas - losing faith in bestsellers lists and recommendations

Totally agree about Frankenstein and Unbearable Lightness of Being; I found both completely unreadable.

The latter has just come up as a book club choice, so it'll be interesting to see whether I can force myself through it this time

lovely bones. painfully dull and only just finished it in the hope the ending would be good, it wasn't.
Frankenstein. never finished it.

mackeral, I read White Teeth recently, and it improves a LOT in teh 2nd half. I enjoyed the second half, but the first part - well, I thought the whole book could have been reissued without it and would be better.

Yup, Alchemist here too. And Kite Runner. Both horribly trite.

Another vote for the Alchemist. Pile. Of. Wank.

white Teeth by zadie smith. Read about half and didn't enjoy it at all. I normally really persevere with books, so it's unusual for my to give up on one.

Waiting for Godot zzzzzzzzzzz

Did it for A-level & STILL didn't get it .

I have read Catcher in the rye about 3 times, each time thinking that maybe I missed the point. I don't think I have missed the point and won't be reading it again.

Agree Notes on a Scandal and Lovely Bones - both v dull and disappointing.

I found Kundera's 'Unbearable Lightness of Being' unreadable and I don't get Salman Rushdie either.

Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow (or whatever it was called!)

I didn't enjoy Birdsong either (but loved we need to talk about kevin)

Is the lovely bones a classic? I didn't like it anyway.

Tender is the night

Hemingway leaves me cold

We Need To Talk About Kevin was predictable and irritating. I was most disappointed.

Catcher in the Rye turns me into a snob. I read it and think anybody who enjoys it must be 14 and suffering from a 'this book is about me', angsty phase.

And I can't enjoy Birdsong as much as I feel I'm supposed to.

Can I tentatively suggest that Angela Carter sometimes reads as a contrivance? I do adore her but find her a bit studied postmodern at times.

James Joyce I disagree with. His books are pure joy.

I didnt really get Catcher in teh Rye either. Maybe it is rather dated, and was seen as surprising or innovative in its day?

Notes on a scandal - I know it's not a 'classic', but can't believe it was nominated for Booker.

Oh I feel better now. I couldn't get through The God of Small Things, or Underworld, or Time Travellers Wife and was a bit ashamed of myself on each count.

'To The Lighthouse' is another one for me. I kept waiting for something interesting to happen. And it didn't. Then my husband read it and said "Why didn't you tell me it was crap? I've totally wasted my time reading that." Which was comforting.

I like a spot of Dickens though, and Trollope. Jane Austen is my favourite. Mostly though the books I really enjoy are filed under 'Light Reading' in my local bookshop (Georgette Heyer, PG Wodehouse). So I guess I'm just not a 'heavyweight' kinda girl!