What is the most overrated classic novel?

Every one of these is somebody's favourite book and somebody else's wasted fortnight. Set texts, prize winners and airport sensations together.

1

Atlas Shrugged

Rand's 1957 novel, and its sixty-page speech.

1000pts

DI

2

Fifty Shades of Grey

The 2011 bestseller that sold in the tens of millions and was defended by almost no one.

777pts

3

The Alchemist

Coelho's 1988 fable, one of the most translated books alive.

777pts

4

Wuthering Heights

Emily Bronte's 1847 novel, routinely sold as romance despite its cast.

678pts

5

Moby-Dick

Melville's 1851 whaling epic, complete with the cetology chapters.

555pts

6

On the Road

Kerouac's 1957 novel of American motion and very little arrival.

555pts

7

Heart of Darkness

Conrad's 1899 novella, argued over as much for its politics as its prose.

555pts

8

The Grapes of Wrath

Steinbeck's 1939 Pulitzer winner, interleaved with chapters about turtles.

555pts

9

The Great Gatsby

The 1925 novel assigned in every American high school.

555pts

10

Murder on the Orient Express

Christie's most famous mystery, and the one critics call a trick rather than a puzzle.

396pts

11

Ulysses

Joyce's 1922 novel, more often owned than finished.

396pts

12

Lord of the Flies

Golding's 1954 island parable, another classroom fixture.

396pts

13

The Old Man and the Sea

Hemingway's 1952 novella, short enough to argue about in one sitting.

396pts

14

Jane Eyre

Charlotte Bronte's 1847 novel, and the attic nobody can defend.

396pts

15

Brave New World

Huxley's 1932 dystopia, often compared unfavourably with its rival.

396pts

16

Don Quixote

Cervantes' 1605 novel, revered as the first and read by very few.

396pts

17

The Catcher in the Rye

Salinger's 1951 novel, adored at sixteen and often reread with less patience.

396pts

18

A Tale of Two Cities

Dickens' 1859 novel, famous for its first line above all else.

396pts