The Greats and their not-so-great (?) moments

[Ihe]

Am I the only one that gets an eye twitch whenever encountering the beginning paragraph of "A Tale of Two Cities"? Far be it from me to question the literary superstar that was/is Dickens, but I live with this bordering-on-irrational nagging feeling that it should be punctuated differently--please don't pelt me . At this point, I know I must be wrong, because that story is an all-time great. And still...

Any other bits by great writers that rub you the wrong way at a writerly level? I'm talking anything: grammar, duration, tone, pace, twists, plot devices, characters, beginnings, endings; heck, even the very choice of the book's title.

It's always therapeutic to criticize our betters, even if you're wrong. Get on board!

 

[monsterchic]

Many of those who are considered to be the Greats can't hold my interest for more than a few pages. Even Tolkien. The stories are great, but I can't force myself to slog through reading them :/

Except Poe. I can read me some Poe.

 

[sknox]

I couldn't manage Doctor Zhivago. Never saw the movie. I wanted to like the book, but it is so over-written and over-wrought, I stopped caring about any of the characters. Histrionics on every street corner.

 

[Ihe]

I read Poe when I was 9. Boy that was intense. And way over my head. Which added to the intensity, as I filed in on my own what I hadn't understood, which made it worse.

 

[TheDustyZebra]

That opener is technically not incorrect, but I would much prefer semicolons. However, I wasn't consulted.

 

[Ihe]

That opener is technically not incorrect, but I would much prefer semicolons. However, I wasn't consulted.

Yeah, those were my thoughts exactly. The semicolon never seems to get enough love, IMO.

 

[Venusian Broon]

Can't say a bad word at all about Dickens, I've read all of his major novels. I took them as Steampunk fantasy (well, they talk about a Britain that doesn't exist). Except no magic or orcs etc...

The only Classic that has really rubbed me up the wrong way was Don Quixote. Probably because it is the first modern Western novel, so we were just working out how to do this stuff, and the translation may not have been great - but then it is very old...but it took me a long time staring at it hard to get to the end. Did not enjoy it. (Although I did laugh out loud at the moment Sancho makes a 'movement' whilst remaining on his mount)

 

[CTRandall]

Dumas and The Three Musketeers for me. More because it's age makes the style almost alien but still, that was tough reading.

Amongst the moderns, George R R Martin. I almost put the first Game of Thrones down after reading the prologue. There are some great characters but the only way I can make it through is by skipping pages at a time. If a chapter starts with characters I can't remember on a mission I can't remember, I assume they'll die without accomplishing anything and move on.

 

[sknox]

I agree about Dumas. A convoluted style. But has anyone read The Black Count by Tom Reiss? It's about another member of the Dumas family and is fascinating reading.

Gotta disagree about Cervantes. The prose is slow going (but try John Bunyan!), but the structure of the novel is extraordinary. Way more complex than anything attempted for another three hundred years.

 

[BAYLOR]

I agree about Dumas. A convoluted style. But has anyone read The Black Count by Tom Reiss? It's about another member of the Dumas family and is fascinating reading.

Gotta disagree about Cervantes. The prose is slow going (but try John Bunyan!), but the structure of the novel is extraordinary. Way more complex than anything attempted for another three hundred years.

Dumas wrote about 277 novel, Because of prolificness , some of the critics of his day referred to him as a novel factory.

 

[MemoryTale]

Moby Dick is my all time bugbear. Everyone talks about the brilliant story of revenge on the high sea, nobody ever mentions the chapter devoted to talking about types of whale, or the three chapters devoted to different pictures of whale, or that essential chapter where two characters are torn between the cod chowder or the clam chowder. They had both. They had both! *runs away crying*

 

[Cathbad]

Isn't Moby Dick a training manual for the would-be whaler?

 

[MemoryTale]

Isn't Moby Dick a training manual for the would-be whaler?

Unless it's a training manual of how not to do it,

Spoiler

a manual where the ship gets sunk and nearly everyone dies at the end

isn't necessarily the best way to go about it

And yes, I just spoiled the ending so anyone who was thinking of reading it need not bother. You're welcome

 

[Ihe]

All these whale-lovin' hippies don't know what they're talkin' about...

 

[Phyrebrat]

Horses for courses: I’d enjoy a chapter on whales, and possibly a chapter on whale pictures, but I am odd.

pH

 

[Martin Gill]

I loved 3 Musketeers. I’ve read it about 3 times. It’s massively antiquated, but I really like the period and sword fighting, so it works for me.

I can’t abide Jane Austin. OMG that felt good to finally admit and Last of the Mohicains. Natty Bumpo, really?

 

[Ihe]

I loved Don Quixote, but I read it in Spanish, which might account for some of it. I bet there are many other works negatively affected by translation. I recall reading Metro-something which was translated into English from it's original Russian I believe, and the translation was NOT good.

 

[Phyrebrat]

I can only think of one Thomas Hardy story I liked. The others; bleurgh... pages of description of Wessex countryside ... and DH Lawrence is another bore fest.

If you want an outstanding writer of that period, you can’t beat EM Forster. The encroachment of utilitarian urban society on the blissful countryside in Howard’s End is depressing but beautiful. And he’s funny.

pH