My impression of the Three Musketeers was that it was a fun (and reasonably accessible) ride, sort of…but was thoroughly laced some very dated morals, in a way that seemed more severe than most classics I’ve read. I felt certain it would turn off a majority of people (or Americans at least) my age and younger.

I def skim the songs lol, I’ll admit that.

he was not a good storyteller

Now this one is a genuinely bad take. Have you read The Hobbit? After 86 years and plenty of changes in convention and language, it remains one of the most pleasant and approachable fantasy novels available. Even if you don’t enjoy LOTR…there’s nothing “good faith” about a blanket claim that his writing is dry or boring, or that he just wasn’t a good storyteller.

LOTR is long, both expansive and detailed, (mostly) serious, written in language that isn’t as familiar today, and layers a lot of subtlety into the prose. I found it a dense read. As a child. The same would have been true for a lot of popular contemporary fantasy had I attempted it at 12…in fact the more praise an author receives specifically for their prose, the more difficult and boring I would have found it. There’s nothing wrong with accessible Sanderson directness, but there’s plenty of room for other styles and they aren’t inherently bad just because they’re a little more challenging and require some focus.

I’m not a Tolkien fanboy, LOTR not in my personal favorite top 5 book series, and I’d have to think a while about who would round out top 10. This is the most I’ve spoken or written about his work in several years. But I cannot “in good faith” call it dry, or agree that the movies are better.

I’m not going to downvote you because you’re not a jerk about it, just stating how you feel. But I’m gonna be a little bit of a jerk lol.

I thought they were dry and a really dense read when I was 12, but I still got some enjoyment from them. By high school they were quite good to me and easier to read. As an adult they’re an incredibly stimulating read. So it’s hard for me to hear how they’re dry or put you to sleep as someone else replied…and not see it as childish I guess

Interesting take. I’ve only seen the beginning of the show, and strongly disagree as it’s okay, while the books are an all-time great sci-fi series imo. The first two in particular were absolute rides, and the show didn’t really capture that for me (not enough for me to keep watching obviously)

Idk how generally that applies. I def have a much stronger relationship with the books I’ve loved as an adult. I still like Harry Potter, Eragon, Dragonriders of Pern, A Series of Unfortunate Events, and so on…but most of it tends to feel shallow, significantly flawed, or both, as of my last readings.

Cradle by Will Wight and The Wandering Inn inspire more childlike joy and fascination for me. Robin Hobb hits the emotional notes in a way no one else can. Malazan, The Exapanse, The Witcher, Grossman, GRRM, even Tolstoy and Dumas, all feel more impactful and I could wax on about them much more comfortably than I could my childhood faves. Maybe the overlap would be like Tolkien, Twain, Pullman, and a few of OSC’s books (Ender’s Game, Ender’s Shadow, and Speaker for the Dead as a set), things I enjoyed as a kid but which I understood very differently as I grew and reread.