Do not min-max to start with. I play a few different classes; I actually have all but one of my character slots taken up with characters.
A rogue is fairly simple as a class. You will need to
learn some specialised techniques and forget about trying to solo, but I usually find a group in dungeons and I have got a /tell calling me half-way across Faydwer because groups needed the extra DPS. Backstab, avoid aggro, never have to worry about mana.
A monk is a good learning class in my opinion. You will almost certainly never be rich (your weight allowance is effectively 17 no matter your strength) and you might be a little under-geared, but you don't really need any gear to be effective, so corpse-runs are less painful. A monk can solo a little better than a rogue, but they are still pretty good in a group.
I would also mention the necromancer. It's not such a simple class, but you get a pet which only needs bone chips (dropped by skeletons) to summon and you can (or must) solo all day long. As casters go, the necromancer is the most forgiving of mistakes and has the least-painful corpse-runs. You will not be welcome in a number of places, so give up on seeing Greater Faydark in a hurry, but I think it makes a good class for your solo alt when your main cannot find a group.
In the end, there is not a class or race which is 'bad' for a new player. There are guides to perfect stats which you can ignore. The only guides to worry about in my opinion are
Loraen's Class Selection Guide and
Choosing the Best Class for Your Playing Style. They give a few basic guidelines, but choose whatever sounds like fun.
MY ONE CAVEAT: If you reach level ten and don't think you are having fun, you can be 99% sure that you will still not be having fun at 60. Feel free to roll up a new character, try a few different characters and see what you like playing. Just because I love playing a rogue doesn't mean that you will. Just because I could never get into my druid or wizard, maybe you will love one or both classes...
