Okay, full disclosure - I skipped the philosophical chapters of War & Peace. Otherwise, I've read just about everything a 19th c. Russian ever wrote. I think The Brothers Karamazov is the best novel ever written. (When I told my husband this, he read it and joined the Orthodox Church. Beware of what you recommend to people.)
I haven't read much Proust because I find him boring when he's not writing about the French gay life. But I've read most of Flaubert, including Salammbo, a little gem of costumed sadism.
BORING BOOKS THAT I'VE READ:
The Newcomes, The Virginians, and The Adventures of Philip - all by Thackeray
Barnaby Rudge, by Dickens
MOST FAMOUS BOOK I FOUND BORING:
Heart of Darkness, by Conrad (and never read another line of him except The Nigger of the Narcissus, which was forced on me in college).
TRASHY BOOKS THAT I LOVE:
The Three Musketeers and all its sequels, by Dumas.
(RSG - you really should give Confederacy of Dunces a try. As a former New Orleanean - I think it's priceless.)
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