I have to disagree with you about Annie Proulx. To me, she is the opposite of unreadable. Her novels POSTCARDS and THE SHIPPING NEWS were fascinating, full of energy and to me, quite moving. ACCORDION CRIMES was too much the same tale told over and over, but the writing was as vivid and lucid as ever.
As for the "classics," if you want to feel like you're eating coal, try DR
FAUSTUS by Thomas Mann.
DAVID LAHM
