Paul Whybrow
Full Member
I came across this provocative article which disparages the reputations of a dozen classic novels; I agree with much of what's said about them.
12 classic books that don't deserve their praise, sorry
Many of these books are set texts for students, which goes some way towards explaining why they're put off reading for life!
I've had several 'meh' moments this year, re-reading famous novels. As my latest Cornish Detective novel featured Godrevy Lighthouse, I decided to revisit Virginia Woolf's To The Lighthouse. As a child, she holidayed close to the lighthouse, though she moved it to the Hebrides in her novel. The story isn't given a lot of form, there's hardly any dialogue and the whole thing floats along in a miasma of thoughts and observations. It's part of the Modernist movement, which saw various types of artists, including painters, writers and architects, attempt to break with established ways of expression, partly as a reaction to the carnage of WW1. I found it to be a self-conscious experiment, tedious and mannered. Woolf's stream of consciousness style reminded me of being trapped in a railway carriage with a mad woman talking to herself.
Recent Booker Prize winner Milkman by Anna Burns is also written in a stream of consciousness, which I found challenging, but I was carried along by its hectic pace and strong sense of atmosphere. Incidentally, Anna Burn's success is heartening, considering how impoverished she's been. Instead of some literary luvvie winning yet another prize, someone working-class fought through to achieve recognition. This article offers encouragement to us all:
Anna Burns’s Man Booker prize is more than a fairytale – it’s a lesson | Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett
Calling Harper Lee's Go Set A Watchman a literary curiosity, which many critics did, is being kind. I acquired a copy for £1 from my local charity shop and soon found out why the spine wasn't cracked. The story is a bloody mess, poorly written and it flops around like a dying fish. It should never have seen the light of day.
Go Set a Watchman: Why Harper Lee's new book is so controversial
It damages Harper Lee's reputation, and its publication came at a time when she was incapable of making wise decisions after suffering a stroke and being stricken with dementia. Someone made a lot of money. As P.D. James observed: "Publishers don't nurse you; they buy and sell you."
There's a problem in judging classic novels by 21st-century standards, including pacing, length, language and morals. I borrowed Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes from the library, which I'd read as a teenager, but gave up on its 900 pages. Originally published in the early 17th-century, making it one of the first novels, it's reckoned that it may have sold 500 million copies. If so, that's a lot of people who've gone to sleep reading it! I've seen paint dry quicker. It contains some fun passages, but they're miles apart.
I've nothing against long books. I enjoyed the 736 pages of Annie Proulx's Barkskins last year, and I'm girding my loins to tackle another Neal Stephenson or China Miéville doorstop. I wonder if writing long books makes a man's hair fall out, for they're as bald as bowling balls.
Are there any classic books that you think are overrated?
Have you ever revisited a story and seen it differently?
12 classic books that don't deserve their praise, sorry
Many of these books are set texts for students, which goes some way towards explaining why they're put off reading for life!
I've had several 'meh' moments this year, re-reading famous novels. As my latest Cornish Detective novel featured Godrevy Lighthouse, I decided to revisit Virginia Woolf's To The Lighthouse. As a child, she holidayed close to the lighthouse, though she moved it to the Hebrides in her novel. The story isn't given a lot of form, there's hardly any dialogue and the whole thing floats along in a miasma of thoughts and observations. It's part of the Modernist movement, which saw various types of artists, including painters, writers and architects, attempt to break with established ways of expression, partly as a reaction to the carnage of WW1. I found it to be a self-conscious experiment, tedious and mannered. Woolf's stream of consciousness style reminded me of being trapped in a railway carriage with a mad woman talking to herself.
Recent Booker Prize winner Milkman by Anna Burns is also written in a stream of consciousness, which I found challenging, but I was carried along by its hectic pace and strong sense of atmosphere. Incidentally, Anna Burn's success is heartening, considering how impoverished she's been. Instead of some literary luvvie winning yet another prize, someone working-class fought through to achieve recognition. This article offers encouragement to us all:
Anna Burns’s Man Booker prize is more than a fairytale – it’s a lesson | Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett
Calling Harper Lee's Go Set A Watchman a literary curiosity, which many critics did, is being kind. I acquired a copy for £1 from my local charity shop and soon found out why the spine wasn't cracked. The story is a bloody mess, poorly written and it flops around like a dying fish. It should never have seen the light of day.
Go Set a Watchman: Why Harper Lee's new book is so controversial
It damages Harper Lee's reputation, and its publication came at a time when she was incapable of making wise decisions after suffering a stroke and being stricken with dementia. Someone made a lot of money. As P.D. James observed: "Publishers don't nurse you; they buy and sell you."
There's a problem in judging classic novels by 21st-century standards, including pacing, length, language and morals. I borrowed Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes from the library, which I'd read as a teenager, but gave up on its 900 pages. Originally published in the early 17th-century, making it one of the first novels, it's reckoned that it may have sold 500 million copies. If so, that's a lot of people who've gone to sleep reading it! I've seen paint dry quicker. It contains some fun passages, but they're miles apart.
I've nothing against long books. I enjoyed the 736 pages of Annie Proulx's Barkskins last year, and I'm girding my loins to tackle another Neal Stephenson or China Miéville doorstop. I wonder if writing long books makes a man's hair fall out, for they're as bald as bowling balls.

Are there any classic books that you think are overrated?
Have you ever revisited a story and seen it differently?
