"All Fluorescent bulbs are undimmable and produce a cold, harsh, and to my mind, flat, characterless light, "

Some of the CFs are dimmable.

You have to seek out the warm white tubes that actually enhance the colors in a room.

It depends on th K or Kelvin rating of the tube, the color temperature.

Warm white or Soft white 3000 K or less
White or Bright White        3500 K
Cool white 4000 K
Daylight   5000 K or higher

The lower the K of the tube the yellower or even pinker the light and the better it shows off colors.

The higher the K the bluer or colder the light and the drabber the colors are "rendered".

I get my CFs at Home Depot in $7 packs of 4 in a mostly green blister pack which makes the colors nice.

They are called N:VISION soft white.

I have had a few out of dozens of these go out in a week but the rest have been working for years.

Some of them "sing" and if they are in like a desk lamp they bother your ears. In that case you just swap it with another one that is quiet.

CFs are 17 to 21% efficient at converting electric power to radiant power as opposed to 5-10% for incandescent bulbs.