I started Anna Karenina...
... but got completely lost in the confusing maze of plot. Rather than give up, I sat down and worked out a 'family tree' of characters and started again. It was much less confusing afterward and ended up being a really decent read that I'd recommend to anyone with a bit of patience.

On the other hand, Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy is tedium itself. Not only did I give in just a third of the way through, I chucked it straight in the bin to prevent my future self from ever suffering through any of it ever again. None of his other books are much better.
(Bob Frapples is de-lurking on, Thu 24 Jun 2010, 17:41, 2 replies)

Hardy, I wasn't keen on either.
Although I did finish his books as it's something I had to read at Uni. Some interesting bits from a literary criticism point of view, but that doesn't mean he's a good writer.

My personal least-favourite was Return of the Native.
(SnowyTheWereRabbit the Leporid from Hell, Thu 24 Jun 2010, 17:44, closed)

I love the 19thC Russians.
Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky are great.

BUT
You're right. It'd be so nice if the publishers'd include a family tree at the start.
( Enzyme is powered by sunlight, Thu 24 Jun 2010, 17:45, closed)

the only thing that mixed me up
with the Russians was the habit of using three different names for each character, and sticking random 'Princess' or 'Prince' titles in
( Amberl was stripey and dominated Europe, Thu 24 Jun 2010, 17:57, closed)

Totally with you on that.
I kept a mental crib-sheet for War and Peace, it took me a good third of the book to remember who everyone was in relation to everyone else. And even then I wasn't sure I was getting it right.
(The Empress it seems you CAN polish a turd!, Thu 24 Jun 2010, 18:03, closed)

Strangely, I loved War and Peace...
...and read it in two weeks whilst trapped on the BBC Engineering course. Skipped much of the 40-page epilogue, which was dire and the bar was open.
( Scaryduck LIKES EGG, Thu 24 Jun 2010, 18:13, closed)

it is a fantastic book
though you're right the epilogue let it down a bit
( Amberl was stripey and dominated Europe, Thu 24 Jun 2010, 18:18, closed)

Oh, I love it as a book.
It was just that, due to them all being referred to by their Russian name, their French name and their titles, it seemed as if the number of characters was three times bigger than it really was.
(The Empress it seems you CAN polish a turd!, Fri 25 Jun 2010, 10:35, closed)

Glad i'm not alone!
I'm yet to try War and Peace. It's on the (very, very, long) 'books to read before I die' list.
(Bob Frapples is de-lurking on, Thu 24 Jun 2010, 18:28, closed)

The names thing would have stumped me
were it not for GCSE Russian, and the knowledge gained therefrom that Russians rarely use surnames in everyday speech: they have patronymics where we'd have middle names, and they address each other by forename and patronymic instead.
( Enzyme is powered by sunlight, Thu 24 Jun 2010, 19:33, closed)

that explains a lot
it got especially confusing when people had additional titles
( Amberl was stripey and dominated Europe, Thu 24 Jun 2010, 20:48, closed)