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. 1
   Atlas Shrugged

   Rand's 1957 novel, and its sixty-page speech.
   1000pts

   DI
2. 2
   Fifty Shades of Grey

   The 2011 bestseller that sold in the tens of millions and was defended by almost no one.
   777pts
3. 3
   The Alchemist

   Coelho's 1988 fable, one of the most translated books alive.
   777pts
4. 4
   Wuthering Heights

   Emily Bronte's 1847 novel, routinely sold as romance despite its cast.
   678pts
5. 5
   Moby-Dick

   Melville's 1851 whaling epic, complete with the cetology chapters.
   555pts
6. 6
   On the Road

   Kerouac's 1957 novel of American motion and very little arrival.
   555pts
7. 7
   Heart of Darkness

   Conrad's 1899 novella, argued over as much for its politics as its prose.
   555pts
8. 8
   The Grapes of Wrath

   Steinbeck's 1939 Pulitzer winner, interleaved with chapters about turtles.
   555pts
9. 9
   The Great Gatsby

   The 1925 novel assigned in every American high school.
   555pts
10. 10
    Murder on the Orient Express

    Christie's most famous mystery, and the one critics call a trick rather than a puzzle.
    0pts
11. 11
    Ulysses

    Joyce's 1922 novel, more often owned than finished.
    0pts
12. 12
    Lord of the Flies

    Golding's 1954 island parable, another classroom fixture.
    0pts
13. 13
    The Old Man and the Sea

    Hemingway's 1952 novella, short enough to argue about in one sitting.
    0pts
14. 14
    Jane Eyre

    Charlotte Bronte's 1847 novel, and the attic nobody can defend.
    0pts
15. 15
    Brave New World

    Huxley's 1932 dystopia, often compared unfavourably with its rival.
    0pts
16. 16
    Don Quixote

    Cervantes' 1605 novel, revered as the first and read by very few.
    0pts
17. 17
    The Catcher in the Rye

    Salinger's 1951 novel, adored at sixteen and often reread with less patience.
    0pts
18. 18
    A Tale of Two Cities

    Dickens' 1859 novel, famous for its first line above all else.
    0pts

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