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Worst/Most Overrated books

Hardy Boy books!! Predictable!! Surely you jest my friend!! :D

THey were and still are, top banana :)

Phil <Hugs his precious collection of Hardy Boy books>
 
Kookamoor said:
Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien. Now, I like fantasy, and I agree that he was a trailblazer in the genre. But... just because the Wright Brothers make a breakthrough in their aeroplane doesn't mean that we have to continue to use their design and say it's the 'best thing ever', does it? I think it's got some good parts, some interesting characters, but as for being 'The Greatest Fantasy Of Our Time'. Give me a break. In terms of complexity, I think David Eddings could eat him for breakfast, and I never found the characters themselves that complex. I knew more about the lichen they were standing on than about their lives. And don't even get me started on that last chapter! I did like the movies, though :D
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I loved The Hobbit when I was a teenager, and had just about made it through the second book of the Lord of the Rings trilogy when I happened upon the book "Bored of the Rings" by The Harvard Lampoon. It's a totally irreverent satire, and completely destroyed "Lord of the Rings" for me. I could never again read about Bilbo Baggins without thinking "Dildo Bugger." Or whatever his name was - I forget. And it got worse.

My teenaged son is a huge Tolkien fan, so I got him "Bored of the Rings" on Ebay, then handed it to him with a warning. I am here to say that the book still holds up after 30 years - my son and his teenage friends all cracked up. In this case, however, it did nothing to dent their appreciation for Tolkien.

I, on the other hand, STILL cannot read Lord of the Rings.
 
^ To each their own! If teenagers are reading, that's what counts.

I guess the one thing that really sticks in my craw (if anyone actually knows what a 'craw' is, feel free to let me know) is the way everything in the fantasy genre is compared to Tolkien. I guess this is the same in other genres, detective novels are compared to Sherlock Holmes, diary-style books are compared to Anne Frank, etc. While I agree there's a certain value to 'classics', I don't see why some are regarded as the yardstick to which everything else must measure up!

Does this frustrate anyone else? Do you think they'll start using Dan Brown as a yardstick soon? (Heh heh - I haven't read his books yet, but I imagine it'll get a reaction from those of you who have a rather passionate stance about him).
 
I think that a lot of Stephen King is overrated. I LOVED The Long Walk and I thought Cujo was pretty cool, but I mean it's not that AWESOME AND SPECTACULAR, the impression I get from every one of his books being on the New York Times #1 Best Seller and the reviews. After, the two I mentioned, I haven't really seen any other of his books catch my attention.

I think he's a bit overrated.
 
re stephen king: he keeps coming out with new books in the "dark tower" series, and i could not care less. i read the first one (when i was 13, however, and going through my stephen king phase) and thought it was an absolute waste of time.

the horrible-book yardstick for my book club is "the polished hoe". we frequently say things like, "well, it was bad, but it's no polished hoe." :rolleyes:
 
bookclubnazi said:
the horrible-book yardstick for my book club is "the polished hoe". we frequently say things like, "well, it was bad, but it's no polished hoe." :rolleyes:
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Hmm... I'm glad I saw that written down and in context or I might have thought you meant something else!
 
What a funny thread. Really.

Overrated, underrated, good, bad..., It's all a matter of what you like.

Things rarely live up to hype.
 
namedujour said:
If we're delving into the classics, I would have to say Tess of the D'Urbervilles wins for tiresome melodrama, and (don't hit me, but...) all of Charles Dickens with the exception of Tale of Two Cities, the only book he wrote that I was ever able to finish. The blinding tedium of his excessive detail and wordiness is what gets to me.
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Lots of folks declining Dickens. I enjoy Dickens (all except for Little Dorritt --pure, time-wasting torture). One reason he's so drawn-out is that he initially published serially (in magazines), and so had to keep folks reading and entertained for long periods between installments. Knowing that fact doesn't necessarily make it easier for 21st century folks to have patience.

I'm happy to find others who despise Hardy as I do, though I appreciate his despair over Victorian culture's power to crush individuals with the least bit of spunk.

Lately, I was very disappointed with Ann Lamott's Blue Shoe . I loved Bird by Bird , Lamott's very funny advice book on the writing process. But I found the protagonist of Blue Shoe to be irritatingly neurotic (not, as one reviewer put it, loveably neurotic).
 
This is a great idea. It shows just how very different people's taste can be. I have read some of the postings and thought :eek: 'How could you not like that one!!!', but I know that some of mine are going to be just as unpopular choices :

1) A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth (may give this another go tho)
2) Oryx and Crake - Margaret Atwood
3) Anything by Alexander McCall Smith
4) The God of Small Things - Arundhati Roy
5) The Curious Incident..... - Mark Haddon
5) The Stand - Stephen King

There, I feel better now :)

Folly xx
 
nicolediver said:
war and peace was overrated. Totally boring and overlong. Lady chatterleys lover was pants as was the lovely bones
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what does "pants" mean?
i loved the lovely bones.
 
thanks halo.
hmm. lovely bones was pants? well i heartily disagree with nicolediver. i thought it was beautiful and sad, and horrific.
 
bookclubnazi said:
most over-rated:
memoirs of a geisha
the polished hoe
the five people you meet in heaven

and i haven't read it yet, but i'm betting i'll put "the da vinci code" on that list when the time comes.

have i mentioned these are all books from my book club? ;)
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Yay! It is nice to hear something besides a rave review for The Da Vinci Code. The market is overloaded with generic fiction these days.
 
namedujour said:
I loved The Hobbit when I was a teenager, and had just about made it through the second book of the Lord of the Rings trilogy when I happened upon the book "Bored of the Rings" by The Harvard Lampoon. It's a totally irreverent satire, and completely destroyed "Lord of the Rings" for me. I could never again read about Bilbo Baggins without thinking "Dildo Bugger." Or whatever his name was - I forget. And it got worse.

My teenaged son is a huge Tolkien fan, so I got him "Bored of the Rings" on Ebay, then handed it to him with a warning. I am here to say that the book still holds up after 30 years - my son and his teenage friends all cracked up. In this case, however, it did nothing to dent their appreciation for Tolkien.

I, on the other hand, STILL cannot read Lord of the Rings.
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My friend forced me to read Bored of the Rings... it was amusing, but I thought after awhile they sort of ... lost the plot. So as a piece of humour, I'd say it was overrated...

I think the Lovely Bones is overrated. (we're studying it at the moment). I think it's good (and it does grow on you) but I don't think it's THAT good.

And I disagree that Wuthering Heights is overrated. Considering the life of the author (ie - she didn't do anything, go anywhere) I think it's, well, impressive.
I'm sure there are more books I've thought were underrated just by being published, but they don't immediantly come to mind. Good thing too, else I'd be here all night!
 
The Five People you Meet in Heaven---Mitch Albom. (I think someone had mentioned about it.)

Forced myself to get through the first chapter the other night. (How painful was that?! :( ) The speech/words made me realize what a master of words was Umberto Eco.(was reading his Misreadings at the same time.)

herenya said:
I think the Lovely Bones is overrated. (we're studying it at the moment). I think it's good (and it does grow on you) but I don't think it's THAT good.
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Agreed.
 
Harry Potter books. There's nothing special about them in any way, shape or form.

The Lord of the Rings. I can't keep myself interested long enough.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nightime. I loved the fact that the title was a Sherlock Holmes quote but then the book was such a let-down.

Da Vinci Code is over-rated but at least it's enjoyable which cannot be said for a lot of "great" books.


I'll add the rest when I think of them...
 
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