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boxer_dogs_dance t1_iye8gn0 wrote

People mean different things when they say a great read. Any book from before the 20th century is going to be slow. But people still appreciate paintings even though we now have television. The stories can be worth the effort.

But for classic novels I would start with something shorter like the death of Ivan Ilyich

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True-Abbreviations71 OP t1_iyf4pze wrote

Is it the case with every novel pre 1900 because i read Candide by Voltaire and it was the opposite of Dostojevsky in the sense that it was a very comfortable read

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boxer_dogs_dance t1_iyf832l wrote

There are always exceptions. It tends to be more universally true for books written originally in English. For translation the translator can choose a more modern style and vocabulary than a contemporary English speaking author would have used.

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