Don Quixote
Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
Could not finish it
When I start a book, I finish it, almost always. There is a very short list of books I began with the intention of reading to the end and didn't finish. On that short list you will find Fifty Shades of Grey and Don Quixote. I have to wonder how many times those two novels have been paired.
Yes, I know Don Quixote is a classic, a Great Work Of Literature. Many people whose opinions I esteem have read it and enjoyed it. I tried very hard. I have begun it at least six times, some of those in the native Spanish, and some in English translation. And I have never managed to get to the end.
It is just so extraordinarily tedious. Obviously, everything I say here comes with a "to my personal taste" qualification. The plot, such as it is, plods along slowly without getting anywhere. The jokes are not funny. They are jokes that sound, from a purely academic perspective, like they might be good jokes, but they don't make me laugh. And it is LONG.
So, here, for those of you who did not enjoy Don Quixote but have always been ashamed to admit it, is the one-star review you need to give yourself permission to not stand in awe.