Top 5 Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by Meeghan Reads
Today's prompt is "top 5 classics I didn't like". I don't often finish a book if I'm not enjoying it, so most books I don't like I just abandon. Here are four that I did finish and didn't like, and one that is giving me grief right now.
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë (1847)
Why do people insist on calling this a great romance? It definitely fits the gothic novel genre, one of my favorites, with its gloomy, dark, atmospheric plot, location, and characters. However, rather than a love story, it's a novel of abuse -- physical, emotional, and mental -- and a perfect picture of abusive relationships. That trumps any good about it, in my opinion. It is, in a word, icky.
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy (1878)
I don't look at adultery as romantic, the prose (maybe my translation?) was not engaging, and I couldn't find anything about Anna that I sympathized with or liked. The worst part was, when I FINALLY got to the climax and she did what I was expecting, the book just kept going.
The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare (1594)
Here is my review of it when I reread it in 2018. I can't believe this thing is still being performed!
Mary Poppins by P. L. Travers (1934)
HOW is this so popular? Do people say they love the book when they haven't actually read it, because they love the (so different) movie? Mary Poppins is a horrible woman and I'd let her be alone with my children over my dead body.
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas (1846)
I haven't finished this one yet, so it doesn't really count, but oh my gosh, y'all.
I don't like the Count at all; I find his obsession with vengeance appalling; I hate the use of hasheesh, the immorality of some of the characters, and his treatment of Ali and Haydée. His perfection at EVERYTHING from manipulation to info gathering to shooting with a pistol to picking out horseflesh to speaking multiple languages fluently to -- you get the picture -- is eye-roll inducing. How could he have possible learned all that?
I've come so far -- I've read nearly 800 pages this past month -- and I've STILL GOT SEVEN HOURS' WORTH LEFT TO READ.
For now, I'm setting it aside and it feels like such a relief. If you have any advice that will make this a better reading experience for me, please tell me. I'd hate to have wasted all the hours spent reading this.
From the five, it's Mary Poppins and Anna Karenina that I haven't read yet. I have read War and Peace, and after that, had decided never to read Leo Tolstoy!
ReplyDeleteMary Poppins - I have never interested in reading or watching, and after this post, might never do.
I agree heartily with Wuthering Heights, it's a horrible novel! From the Bronte sisters, only Anne's is worth reading.
Taming of the Shrew - well, I could only read Shakespeare's tragedy (Julius Caesar is my favorite); I found his comedy is usually overrated.
The Count of Monte Cristo - I have to disagree. I quite liked it, though The Three Musketeers series is my favorite from Dumas. Maybe it's because I've read the abridged translation of Monte Cristo. But Dumas' books are usually fast-paced and entertaining.
It's not that Monte Cristo is slow or boring, it's actually quite good and my translation seems to be really well done, but I just don't like it for some reason!
DeleteI enjoyed War and Peace, but it's been thirty years since I read it, so I might not like it now.
I agree about Wuthering Heights, the Brontës have written far better books. I haven't read The Taming of the Shrew but watched it. I'm not a huge fan of reading plays, I rather see them performed. I think I watched Mary Poppins once but didn't like it, so I never read it. And Dumas, well, I did like that book, even though I'm not a huge fan of French literature, but this one was quite good. And come to Russian literature, I absolutely love it. I don't think you're meant to like Anna, for all the reasons you're giving. But the story about the people, culture and mentality of the time, I absolutely loved that.
ReplyDeleteMaybe listening to Anna Karenina on audiobook put me at a disadvantage, or maybe the translation wasn't good? I did enjoy War and Peace when I read it.
ReplyDeleteI really need to push on through with the Count of Monte Cristo, I know. ..
I really dislike audiobooks, so I couldn't say. In my review (here: https://momobookblog.blogspot.com/2011/02/tolstoy-leo-anna-karenina.html, link to Goodreads on the picture) I mention a good translation by Russian/American couple Pevear and Volokhonsky who are supposed to be the best for Russian/English translations. If you can borrow it from the library, give it another try, if you like.
DeleteBut, same as with the Count ... - too many books, too little time.
Thanks for the info about the translators! I'll remember that!
DeleteYou're welcome. This was their first book, I believe, but there are others they translated, as well.
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