I am an enthusiastic reader of 18th, 19th, and 20th century novels. I tend to re-read novels that I enjoyed, and thus skip other titles written by my favorite authors. Thus, I occasionally will select a random unread title by a favorite author to see if I've been missing anything. Or to discover a new favorite novel. It's a hit-or-miss experience, and some of the misses have been memorable.
My latest miss is Anthony Trollope -
He Knew He Was Right. It literally took me months to slog through it (over 100 chapters). A preposterous plot populated with improbable characters, with 3 equally inane subplots. Finishing it became a sort of personal endurance goal for me ... whew!
So, what books have you struggled to finish, only to rue the loss of time and brain cells you expended to reach "The End"?