I loved The Pillow Book. So not all is negative.



Clearly you have been picking the wrong books for you. Classics are not a homogenous group, so it is difficult to recommend one that will blow you away without knowing what you like to read. That does not mean you should dismiss all books with the label. It is not a genre. In fact, part of the definition is that it should be something that stands out and is different from the literature that surrounds it. Age is not the only criterion.

Pick up Aristophanes (unless you hate plays). Or Oscar Wilde (lovely plays, but also lovely prose fiction). Or Virginia Woolf. You seem to have been sticking to books that are not famous for their depth or artistry. Perhaps you would like something with more meat. If you can read Erikson, you can read War and Peace.