Admit it - what's the classic book that everyone raves about but you despise?

[EverySingleStar]

I probably have more than one but The Great Gatsby is definitely up there. shudder violently Shall add more later

Some Gabriel Garcia Marques book that my DH rates as his all time fave, mysogonistic nonsense iirc.

Catch 22

great gatsby, deffo. and i know it's not a classic but the lovely bones was SHIT.

God, lovely bones. I read that before my time was so precious and I would finish every book that I started, now if it hasn't got me in 20 pages I don't bother.

yep, i gave the time traveller's wife a generous fifty and then tooooooossed it.

Wuthering Heights, urgh!

Not really a classic, but 'On The Road' is completely mysognistic and boring to boot.
Also, all of Thomas Hardy; Tess is overly long, sentimental, melodramatic and utterly unbelievable. Oh, and such 'subtle' irony: a character called Angel who turns out to be foul and judgemental. Please.
I agree about Time Traveller's Wife - such an intriguing idea but done terribly.
As for the 'Lovely Bones' - arghhhh.

Anything by George Eliot, and most of Thomas Hardy!

Cold Comfort Farm - it bored the crap out of me and I didn't find it amusing in the slightest.

Catcher in the Rye

Holden Caulfield is sooooooooo annoying!

I liked most of these - except the Time Traveller's Wif which I tried twice and hated.
I also hate Dan Brown. And Kate Mosse. And that Island book - plot was ok but I hated her writing style....

Cold Comfort Farm here too. Read it many years ago and I tried to love it but it really did nothing for me.

oh. Cold Comfort Farm is one of my all-time favourites. And Thos Hardy one of my fave authors

I have a real soft spot for Thomas Hardy, especially his poetry.

George Elliott - you are so right.
I also cannot abide louis de bernieres...Is the man trying to win the 'Most Long Words in a Paragraph' competition?

i hated the island book too, mollyroger how did you manage to find a plot in it? nothing happens.

I capture the castle

(So bloody what?)

Captain Corelli's Mandoline

(I'm angry with myself for wasting those hours of my life)

Lord of the Rings. Tried several times, including reading it out loud to my flatmate and vice versa, because we both struggled, and the audiobook. Never got past page 80.

I accept its significance, but still find it really really boring.

Oh, and I can't stand Wordsworth. The Prelude is just tosh.

Awww, I Capture The Castle is one of my all-time faves, and I love Cold Comfort Farm! Agree about George Eliot though, detest Silas Marner.

The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot. Admittedly I was about 14 when made to read it for school. I loved lots of other classic lit, but this bored me to... well, boredom really. I think the teacher thought that just because it was about children, young people would like it. We didn't.

Ulysses. Big, yes; clever, yes; interesting? hell, no.

And White Teeth. Yes, London is a bit multicultural. Thanks for noticing.

Little Women. Couldn't bear the sentimental bollocks. And oh yes Lord of the Rings. Turgid.

Love Mill on the Floss! You probably needed to be a bit older to read it.

Great Gatsby. I blame Mrs Gilshenen for that at school. Oh and Sense and Sensibility.