As Literary As I Get

I bought a modern ebook The Art Of Racing In The Rain, a few days ago, but it sucks, and I stopped reading it. I guess it was meant to be a clever fable, but it struck me as labored and false. I've been spoiled by reading free classic ebooks.

I'm currently reading the book 1492, not the recent one, but the one published in 1922. The protagonist is a Spaniard evading his checkered past and fleeing the Inquisition. He meets Columbus at the fall of Moorish Cordoba, and happens to be present when Columbus pleads to the King and Queen to finance for a voyage to the west. I've just reached the point where he has signed on for the voyage.