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Overrated Books

posted a year ago by ClementinaSpur (882)
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Which books that have received accolades and hype thoroughly disappointed you? If you'd like, also tell why you disliked them.

Mine are:

Wuthering Heights - Heathcliff and Catherine are intensely unlikable and the way the story is presented is weird

The Joy Luck Club - just a big snooze fest outside of a couple of moments that I can't even remember now but remember thinking were okay in the moment

Where the Crawdads Sing - where do I even begin with this one......it was a sign it took me nearly two months to finish such a less-than-complex read

This topic is over on the Books board, but there's zero traffic there.

[–] Otter (24464) a year ago

The works of Ernest Hemingway, who in the 20th century was regarded as a Great Author and taught in all the schools, but who seems largely forgotten today.

Okay, he was by all standards a good writer and his prose style was unique and influential. But IMHO he was vastly overrated for as long as he was, because the critical establishment was dominated by straight men, and Heminway wrote exclusively about straight men's issues. So men of literary influence either loved him for that, or didn't want to admit they didn't love him for that, because liking Hemingway was part of the 20th century Guy Code (for the college-educated). Any man who didn't like Heminway was suspected of being a Communist or gay.

[–] [deleted] a year ago

i was forced to read great expectations in high school. very long.

[–] Luffy (850) a year ago

Black Lamb and Grey Falcon by Rebecca West - chunky book that I had to DNF.
John Adams by David McCullough - boring start, first terrible impressions, DNFed.
Middlemarch by George Eliot - final nail in the coffin for me regarding Victorian books.
The Stand by Stephen King - see above, but for King books.
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari - inaccurate and false hype.
A Pelican at Blandings by P.G. Wodehouse - Unfunny as fuck.
The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas - worse than The Count of Monte Cristo.
The Well of Ascension (Mistborn, #2) by Brandon Sanderson - disappointing, boring, and naive storytelling.
Moby-Dick or, the Whale by Herman Melville - possibly the worst book on this list.
The Wise Man's Fear (The Kingkiller Chronicle, #2) by Patrick Rothfuss - the first book in the series was okay, but this one is disjointed, and laughably padded with filler.
The Moomins and the Great Flood by Tove Jansson - Terrible. Would probably get published today, but would not be a success.
Red Rising by Pierce Brown - Lost my interest in sci fi with this one.
Rhythm of War (The Stormlight Archive, #4) by Brandon Sanderson - Very boring and just not worth the insane hype.
The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton - crappy and unimaginative book.
Uncle Vanya by Anton Chekov - Too many characters with none being noteworthy. Insipid plot and symbolism
The Old Man And the Sea by Ernest Hemmingway - Underwhelming.

[–] nyctc7 (41995) a year ago

I've tried reading Moby Dick several times...have never gotten past a few pages. Elizabeth Holmes says it was her favorite book growng up.

[–] Luffy (850) a year ago

I usually don't finish books that I don't get, but for such a thick book as Moby Dick, it is a wonder that I did finish it. It was horrible to read.

[–] jriley555 (7239) a year ago

Absolutely loved it. Its one of the marvels of world literature. Not for everyone. Very discursive, much mythic epic allusions. Some of it over my my head. Melville was a heavyweight.

[–] ClementinaSpur (882) a year ago

Interesting. You make me want to read it with that description you wrote.

[–] jriley555 (7239) a year ago

It puts a lot of people off. He goes on at great length about the various types of whales, the history of whaiing - which was, of course, a current reality for his time. Some find such discursions a defect. I didn't. His words almost seemed to be roiling around atop a great ocean.

[–] Otter (24464) a year ago

I loved "The Three Musketeers", never liked any of Dumas's other books very much. Perhaps because "T3M" was based on the career of a real person, and Dumas's overactive imagination was somewhat tempered by reality. Because yes, D'Artagnan was a real person, a real-life Musketeer.

https://www.solosophie.com/real-life-dartagnan-three-musketeers/

Haven't read any of the others as far as I recall, but then I've tended to avoid Serious Literary Literature ever since I was forced to read "The Brothers Karamazov" in college.

[–] Luffy (850) a year ago

Thank you for the link :)
I have tried to listen to The Brothers Karamazov on audiobook on YouTube. Gave up on it. Can't imagine how you have experienced such a grey book in school of all places.

[–] Otter (24464) a year ago

I had to read that dreary mess "The Brothers Karamazov", half my grade was based on it! But OMFG it hurt, and just so you know, the professor gave us permission to skip the middle section which is all tedious religious philosophizing, and no story. I mean when have you ever heard of a college English professor telling their class to skip part of the standard curriculum, because nobody should have to suffer through that?

No offense, TheMan18, I'm sure you love it. But some joys can't be spared, at least with college students who aren't there for the love of prose...

[–] jriley555 (7239) a year ago

TBK is one of my favorite novels of all time. Also Crime & Punishment, Tolstoy's War & Peace. Love the classic Russian writers.

[–] Otter (24464) a year ago

It's nice someone still likes it...

[–] ClementinaSpur (882) a year ago

Great list! Thanks for adding this to the thread.

[–] Luffy (850) a year ago

Thank you, ClementinaSpur!

[–] mikethemartian (6283) a year ago

Khan Noonien Singh loved Moby Dick.

[–] davodikum (6007) a year ago

The dark tower by Stephen King. I've only read the first one, didn't care for it. I love a lot of other Stephen King books though.

[–] jriley555 (7239) a year ago

Here is a writers' rank of the greatest novels of the 20th and 19th Century :

https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2012/01/the-greatest-books-of-all-time-as-voted-by-125-famous-authors/252209/

[–] RoboReCop (2882) a year ago

Paperback and electronic formats, I dislike a lot. I always prefer hardback covers.

[–] Luffy (850) a year ago

For Where the Crawdads Sing, the author is too much in love with the English language to try write a fiction book.

[–] ClementinaSpur (882) a year ago

This unique podcast called Mean Book Club tackles Where the Crawdads Sing. It's not pretty!
https://www.iheart.com/podcast/53-mean-book-club-80614318/episode/where-the-crawdads-sing-by-delia-80988614/

[–] Luffy (850) a year ago

Thank you!

[–] Stratego (29537) a year ago

To Kill a Mockingbird

Catcher in the Rye

War and Peace