Books that you have read which did live up to the hype

Harry Angstrom · 19-07-2014 1:21am

marienbad wrote: »

American Pastoral by Philip Roth . Quite simply stunning. Will live long with me.

Roth is a genius.

Oranage2 · 03-08-2014 7:43am

I thought animal farm was a master class, short, simple and very enjoyable.

A clash of kings is also one of the most exciting books I've ever read. By no means a classical writing style but the story and characters are so compelling.

foxy06 · 03-08-2014 7:49am

BaZmO* wrote: »

Thirded! Fantastic book.

I don't think having to study it will take that much of a shine off it. I had to study Lord of the Flies and Animal Farm for school, and if anything, I enjoyed them more for it, especially LotF. It was nice having the added depth teased out for us, probably would've missed a lot of it if I was left to my own devices.

When I read this I was googling a book called 'thirded'

FrKurtFahrt · 03-08-2014 8:24am

A Conspiracy Of Dunces. It was forced on me by a friend, and I laughed my way through it - loved it, and not just for the humour. I, in turn, foisted it on a couple of other friends. They pronounced it to be utter crap. Oh well.

lockman · 06-08-2014 8:45pm

marienbad wrote: »

American Pastoral by Philip Roth . Quite simply stunning. Will live long with me.

I read this work around the year 2000, and I still think about it regularly. A brilliant piece of writing.

Rothko · 10-08-2014 12:00am

1984
Animal Farm
Dracula
The Lord Of The Rings
Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas

Harry Angstrom · 10-08-2014 12:03am

Suas11 wrote: »

1984
Animal Farm
Dracula
The Lord Of The Rings
Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas

Orwell had great ideas but he was a very poor writer. 1984 bored me to tears.

SarahBM · 10-08-2014 12:28am

Dracula actually surpassed my expectations

Pidge96 · 10-08-2014 12:43am

I thought "Never let me go" by Kazuo Ishiguro was pretty good.

is mise spartacus · 10-08-2014 12:44am

To Kill A Mockingbird and Dracula

GerB40 · 10-08-2014 1:46am

SarahBM wrote: »

Dracula actually surpassed my expectations

Same here. It's one of the few 'classics' I've read that I loved.. And despite the whole vampire thing being done to death since, it has aged fairly well.

GLaDOS · 10-08-2014 9:02pm

I thoroughly enjoyed 1984 once I finally got around to reading it

Duck's hoop · 10-08-2014 9:08pm

Harry Angstrom wrote: »

Roth is a genius.

Read 'The Plot Against America' a few years back. Most excellent I thought. Fascinating alternative history.

Cormac McCarthy's 'Blood Meridian' is sublime.

Dracula and Frankenstein both superb.

youcancallmeal · 01-12-2014 9:42pm

The kindly Ones by Jonathan Litell. Huge and tough going at times but truely a uniquely remarkable book.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Kindly_Ones_%28Littell_novel%29

Yarf Yarf · 01-12-2014 11:03pm

I must second Charles Dickens, particularly Great Expectations. I loved that novel the first time I read it.

Anything by Gabriel Garcia Marquez has always lived up to my expectations.

Jamaican Me Crazy · 04-12-2014 4:40pm

The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. I felt both of these were fantastic books.

The Fault in our Stars

Still to this day Adrian Mole will always be my favourite. Adrian himself is an annoying whinge-bag but the other characters are fantastic (I adore his mother)

I am about to start What Maisie Knew which I did not realise was a classic until I bought it. I loved the movie but it had been modernised for that. I will be interested to see how the story was originally written.

r3nu4l · 06-12-2014 8:26pm

The Count of Monte Cristo
The hobbit
The lord of the rings
Catch 22
American Gods
Crime and punishment

All surpassed expectations for me. There are of course others that totally disappointed me but that's for the other thread

Montefiore · 07-12-2014 2:39am

Catch 22 is the literary equivalent of The Office for me. People tell me I should love it. But it's three jokes and one profound truth spread over 400 pages.

It's not a new book, but Red Plenty by Francis Spufford was one of those weird books that require you to turn over to another page while forming opinions about the subject matter as you read. It has fiction, fact, high farce and feeling all in a really lovely set of interconnected short stories.

FaulknersFav · 13-03-2015 11:27am

Infinite Jest, even after reading the outpourings of affection from every corner of everywhere.

SarahBM · 17-05-2015 9:35pm

Wonder by RJ Palacio - recommended by a friend at work. Really is a wonderful book.

Lisha · 17-05-2015 9:51pm

Jamaican Me Crazy wrote: »

The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. I felt both of these were fantastic books.

The Fault in our Stars

Still to this day Adrian Mole will always be my favourite. Adrian himself is an annoying whinge-bag but the other characters are fantastic (I adore his mother)

I am about to start What Maisie Knew which I did not realise was a classic until I bought it. I loved the movie but it had been modernised for that. I will be interested to see how the story was originally written.

I love the Adrian Mole books too . I also throughly enjoyed Sue Townsend 'the queen and I' and I loved 'the woman who stayed in bed for a year'.

Jamaican Me Crazy · 19-05-2015 1:09pm

Lisha wrote: »

I love the Adrian Mole books too . I also throughly enjoyed Sue Townsend 'the queen and I' and I loved 'the woman who stayed in bed for a year'.

I'll be sure to check them out. Thanks

sudzs · 25-05-2015 9:55pm

Before I Go to Sleep... mother of god! :rolleyes:

marienbad · 25-05-2015 11:32pm

Middlesex - Jeffrey Eugenides . Just an astonishing book

The Martin Bora novels by Ben Pastor , A German officer in WW 2 investigating murder and fighting a war . A really original series and very well written . Nothing black and white here including the main character . No easy answers 'Good German' in this one .

Eeden · 25-05-2015 11:48pm

Has anyone read The Girl on the Train? It's a New York Times bestseller. Just curious if it lives up to the (considerable) hype.

Books that you have read which did live up to the hype

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