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Overly Pompous and Luvvie Books. (What Critically loved books do you despise?)
- Thread starter Corso
- Start date
namedujour
New Member
Bonzo said:
That explains much. Most people don't like people who have their faults. (That's why Holden called everyone else a "phony.")
I just posted this on another board - Catcher in the Rye was one of my all time, overrated reads. Yea, 16 year old boys can be whining and repetative as they meander through adolescence, but I'd rather not read about it in what little leisure time I have. I much prefer "Harry Potter" as he and his friends get their shoes out of the 'O woe is me muck' and pursue life, questioning, probing and challenging their intellects with each other as well as that of the more mature set.
MonkeyCatcher
New Member
I recently read this book, and I actually enjoyed it. The ending does let the story down a little, but I found the narration interesting. The idea of someone looking down on their killer, family etc after they died I found to be extremely compelling.DirtGlitters said:
Was it just the author's attempt to make the story touching that turned you away from the book, or were there other factors also?
~MonkeyCatcher~
Prairie_Girl
New Member
Margaret Atwood, I keep trying and I just can't get into it. Which makes me a decidedly BAD CanLit freak. As a person I find her pretentious and snobbish, she rather reminds me of Adrienne Clarkson. Her writing, to me, feels the same way. It's become something of a goal of mine to make it through at least ONE Atwood novel. And I will....someday.
Also, I've been trying to get through The Unbearable Lightness of Being and the Book of Laughter and Forgetting by Kundera for close to five years now. I pick them up, read 40-50 pages, really enjoy them, put them down to do something and can't get back into them. I'm not sure why. Someday I'll just dedicate a whole day and I'll get through them.
Also, I've been trying to get through The Unbearable Lightness of Being and the Book of Laughter and Forgetting by Kundera for close to five years now. I pick them up, read 40-50 pages, really enjoy them, put them down to do something and can't get back into them. I'm not sure why. Someday I'll just dedicate a whole day and I'll get through them.
Ell
Well-Known Member
You know, Allyson, I felt exactly the same way about Margaret Atwood at your age. Then in the last ten years or so, I *got* her. All the relationships she wrote about, the dark humour, the irony, all the things I hated about her writing when I was younger suddenly clicked. I can even understand her public persona and demeanor. She doesn't take herself at all seriously and I think what appears to be pretentiousness is her rather dry, sardonic sense of humour.
Don't force yourself to like her now - out of a sense of duty - but give her another try in about ten years. You might be surprised.
ell
Don't force yourself to like her now - out of a sense of duty - but give her another try in about ten years. You might be surprised.
ell
Irene Wilde
New Member
Having read this thread, I understand at last why I'll never fit in around here.
<*Hugs "Gravity's Rainbow," "Ulysses," "Wuthering Heights," and Anais Nin's diaries close to heart and goes for more coffee.*>
<*Hugs "Gravity's Rainbow," "Ulysses," "Wuthering Heights," and Anais Nin's diaries close to heart and goes for more coffee.*>
Miss Shelf
New Member
anything by the Brontes. I've read them all and each one of them was profoundly depressing.
Ell
Well-Known Member
Shade, I just threw out the ten years as just an example as when to try again.
I disliked Surfacing in my twenties, but re-read it in my early forties and liked it. Blind Assassin is one my favourites, but I know I would have hated it when I was in my twenties or even thirties. I would have thought the older character of Iris annoying, petty and vain. Now, I appreciate how she became who she was and Atwood's ability to get under the skin of that character. There were many scenes, particularly near the end, that I found both funny and touching.
As for my age? I'm old, very very old compared to the whippersnappers here. Just how old? Old enough to have seen the Beatles live on their first North American tour. That old!
ell
I disliked Surfacing in my twenties, but re-read it in my early forties and liked it. Blind Assassin is one my favourites, but I know I would have hated it when I was in my twenties or even thirties. I would have thought the older character of Iris annoying, petty and vain. Now, I appreciate how she became who she was and Atwood's ability to get under the skin of that character. There were many scenes, particularly near the end, that I found both funny and touching.
As for my age? I'm old, very very old compared to the whippersnappers here. Just how old? Old enough to have seen the Beatles live on their first North American tour. That old!
ell
Prairie_Girl
New Member
Ell said:You know, Allyson, I felt exactly the same way about Margaret Atwood at your age. Then in the last ten years or so, I *got* her. All the relationships she wrote about, the dark humour, the irony, all the things I hated about her writing when I was younger suddenly clicked. I can even understand her public persona and demeanor. She doesn't take herself at all seriously and I think what appears to be pretentiousness is her rather dry, sardonic sense of humour.
Don't force yourself to like her now - out of a sense of duty - but give her another try in about ten years. You might be surprised.
ell
yeah. I figure I've been trying to read her for ten years always, and I've still got a lot of time left to go. I haven't tried for a couple years, maybe I"ll pick up one and give it a whirl now, and if that doens't work, I'll wait another five years or so.