Ringworld, by Larry Niven, is a classic; and indeed I was reading the SF Masterworks edition. But I didn't finish it. About half way through I got bored, annoyed, frustrated and just decided to stop. Here's a review on Goodreads that roughly says what I will.I can put aside the casual sexism and clunky dialogue; I'm not looking for high or sensitive literature. But I'm less happy with the stupidity. Foremost amongst this is the bizarre nonsense about the hereditability of luck. That's so stupid that I really can't think of anything else to say about it. It wouldn't be so bad except it keep recurring. Secondly there's the implausible casualness of the entire expedition; to some extent one has to forgive this because so much scifi is similar but really: to go all that way with absolutely no plan whatsoever; to not have a backup ship around to observe; to not spend weeks if not months carefully studying the object before getting close; and so on.
Where I stopped was somewhat after the first episode with the natives, where they fly over a vast empty city, and don't stop, because they wouldn't learn anything. WTF? The author knows they wouldn't learn anything, and anyway he hasn't got any ideas about what they might find in the city; but there is no way they could possibly know that, and not stopping for a look around is both delinquent and speaking of an astonishing lack of curiosity.
There's a contrast to be made with, say, Clarke's Rendezvous with Rama, where the sense of mystery sustains interest.
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