Books that should be interesting, but aren't

Sometimes I read an old-time book just to see what the fuss was all about. There are a bunch I've always heard of, but don't know what they're about. I just finished Robinson Crusoe. You would think that would be exciting - Shipwrecked on a deserted island, facing wild savages, surviving in the face of danger. There was some interesting parts in it, but an awful lot of really boring parts, too. "Here is how I planted and cared for my carrot garden. Let me tell you about it in detail over the course of the next several chapters." I might be exaggerating some, but not a whole lot. He needed a good editor.

The Deerslayer is about a frontiersman, they say patterned after Daniel Boone. Yeah, a lot of boring parts in that one, too. Even the exciting parts weren't all that great because they weren't realistic. Natty Bumpo (No name for a hero, I might add. Not a bad name for a clown, though) would get captured by Indians, but always managed to escape somehow. Not that I'm condoning killing, but  for any group that captures someone and then is going to kill them - go ahead and do it right away. "Natty, we are going to kill you in the morning. For now we will tie you to this tree and leave you there overnight and will not post a guard or perhaps one that is sleepy. See you tomorrow."  You've got to move something like that higher on your to-do list. So, there were some interesting parts, but not enough. Way too much talking by all the characters. Shut up already and do something. Don't talk everything to death.

You figure Charles Dickens and Jane Austen are going to have a lot of talking and not a lot of action. I expected more action from The Deerslayer and Robinson Crusoe. I read Anna Karenina earlier. You wouldn't think that would be that interesting, but it wasn't bad. Anna Karenina read like Star Wars compared to those other two.