Score

How can you say Les Mis a dumb book? Seriously, classic literature...just because it's like 1000 pages? I'm like, surprised.

I could counter with "how can people like something just because it's called classic?" The length has nothing to do with it--literally nothing to do with it: 2/3rds of the book are irrelevant to the plot. No one ever needed to know more than 80 pages of backstory on many minor characters who never make more than one appearance. (I'm looking at you, Bishop Myriel.) I'm not a big fan of verbose French writers, I don't like outdated political essays, and while Les Mis has a decent plot and made a fantastic movie with Liam Neeson in it, the book itself chokes the plot in the weeds of irrelevant social commentary and contrives a miserable ending to prove a point. Cf. The Jungle (#2) and The Tin Drum (#1), both of which outrank Les Mis (#12 out of 13) for me on this list. The truth is length has very little to do with the greatness of a book, and a great many poor books have been written at great length. A few hundred pages shorter but infinitely better are, as random examples, Dostoyevsky's The Idiot (for people who don't like happy endings but don't like to be strung along for a thousand pages), Brontë's Jane Eyre (for those who do like happy endings), and Scott's Ivanhoe (for everybody).

PS -- Some classics are above reproach for many reasons, one of which is age, but others have always been controversial. And while I have condemned the 13 books I added to this list as "dumb," I certainly hope I have very good reasons for each one. There are lots of books that didn't make this list even though I hated them or didn't like them, simply because one person not liking a book doesn't make it dumb. (On the other hand, it being "classic," or someone else liking it, doesn't make it not dumb.)

I'm not surprised that the mouthbreathers on goodreads would equate Les Miserables with The Devil Wears Prada. Further proof we are in a post-literate society.

Lord of the rings? It doesn't belong in this list.

Animal Farm? Madame Bovary? Perfume? The Handmaid's Tale? Death in Venice?

What a really, really sad lot this "list" is.

Something tells me a lot of us didn't get Animal Farm or Slaughterhouse-Five. Somehow.

I swear, sometimes this site makes me want to put my computer into a blender.

Anna-Kathrin wrote: " You may not like them, but you can't call them "dumb"...."

So true....

And this is why I don't go to Goodreads for any kind of literary insight. Started off nicely at the top of the list with Twilight, but then ya'll had to go and make absolute fools of yourselves, by clumping literary masterpieces with contemporary pieces of printed vomit.

This is why we can't have nice things.

I most certainly respect people's opinions regarding anything, however I am confused on a lot of the books present on this list. Why the Little Prince? Animal Farm? Hamlet? You may not like a story, but many times they have deeper meanings then simply appealing to audiences (Animal Farm for example). Labeling books like these "dumb" seems as though it is a attempt to be "different" or "hipster". Even though if you don't like these books, don't rate them "dumb".

If you thought Halo was bad, Hades is worse

Mavis wrote: "My Immortal's not dumb; you're dumb."

We are all entitled to our opinion. There are quite a lot of books I wouldn't have placed on this list but as I said, we are all entitled to our opinion...

I think this list should be renamed: "Most Overrated Books of All Time"

Funny list.

Imagine putting anything Dan Brown related on this list. Certified stinky. 🤢