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

OwaynOTT · 08-04-2014 7:23pm #1

Basically starting this thread to defend Catch 22, which is getting a bit of a battering in the Books that Disappointed Thread.
I did the reverse on Catch 22 by reading the book and then watching the film and I didn't like the film, the book is better

I did the reverse of that reverse with One Flew Over the Cuckoos nest but enjoyed both the film and the book.

I find a lot of books are being hyped to unbelievable levels nowadays so they can achieve massive figures right out of the gate. This process obviously leads to disappointments but what books have lived up to - or even surpassed the hype - for you?

vitani · 11-04-2014 11:20am

The Goldfinch

Even though it was hyped up to such a degree, it still surpassed my expectations. I had the feeling all through reading it that this was a book that would stay with me.

Wyldwood · 11-04-2014 2:32pm

11 22 63

I don't like Stephen King's books but decided to read 11.22.63 based on reviews and it did live up to all the hype.

quickbeam · 11-04-2014 6:04pm

The Count of Monte Cristo is absolutely as good as its reputation would lead you to believe.

SarahBM · 14-04-2014 9:59pm

quickbeam wrote: »

The Count of Monte Cristo is absolutely as good as its reputation would lead you to believe.

I was put off reading the Count of Monte Cristo because its nearly 900 pages long, but my god it was worth it! It is actually an amazing story! None of the films or adaptations could ever do it justice I think.

Two books that really lived up to their reputations as a classics were To Kill a Mockingbird and 1984. I reluctantly read both as I had been so disappointed with a couple of other books I had read because they were so-called classics.
But To Kill a Mocking Bird is amazing and 1984 is excellent and for me really do define what a modern classic should be.

I love the "classic" classics too like Monte Cristo and Dracula and Jane Austens books and Dangerous Liaisons . Dracula was WAY better than I thought it would be.

Rory Gallagher · 17-04-2014 5:30am

Ulysses

fiachraX · 21-04-2014 5:17pm

I'd second 'To Kill a Mockingbird'. I think it's on the Leaving Cert syllabus now, which might take the shine off it for some who have to study it, but I read it before that and it really struck a chord.

SarahBM · 21-04-2014 5:20pm

fiachraX wrote: »

I'd second 'To Kill a Mockingbird'. I think it's on the Leaving Cert syllabus now, which might take the shine off it for some who have to study it, but I read it before that and it really struck a chord.

I had to do Silas Marner. Worst book I ever read. and that is not just because I did it in school .

Dracula lived up to my expectations too. I actually liked it a lot more than I thought.

BaZmO* · 21-04-2014 5:29pm

fiachraX wrote: »

I'd second 'To Kill a Mockingbird'. I think it's on the Leaving Cert syllabus now, which might take the shine off it for some who have to study it, but I read it before that and it really struck a chord.

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.

SarahBM · 21-04-2014 5:32pm

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.

My brother had done LotF in school too, so last year I said Id read it. Sure its only 80 odd pages, how hard can it be?!?!

I hated it! took me about 3 wks to read the fecking thing because I dreaded picking it up.

I am going to read animal farm soon, its been on the list for a while!
I read Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry recently, another book that people I know have done in school. I liked that.

GerB40 · 21-04-2014 5:32pm

Catcher in the rye is the biggest load of shyte I've ever read. How it's considered a classic is beyond me..
Edit: Looks like I misread the title of this thread but I stand by what I said. Catchere in the rye is total bóllox..

SarahBM · 21-04-2014 5:57pm

GerB40 wrote: »

Catcher in the rye is the biggest load of shyte I've ever read. How it's considered a classic is beyond me..
Edit: Looks like I misread the title of this thread but I stand by what I said. Catchere in the rye is total bóllox..

Feel free to give us a book that DID live up to the hype though

Lisha · 21-04-2014 6:01pm

Room By Emma Donoghue

I found it totally enthralling.

I remember lord of the flies and to kill a mockingbird fondly from school too.

GerB40 · 21-04-2014 6:03pm

SarahBM wrote: »

Feel free to give us a book that DID live up to the hype though

The book thief. The writing style is a bit unusual but the story is brilliant..

Calina · 21-04-2014 6:12pm

quickbeam wrote: »

The Count of Monte Cristo is absolutely as good as its reputation would lead you to believe.

I second this. I read the unabridged version in French and it was utterly engaging.

In a certain respect, it comes across almost as pure fantasy now.

Swiper the fox · 21-04-2014 6:44pm

I'm not sure I understand the concept of this thread properly, it's books that you've heard are good that turn out to be good?
I could give hundreds of examples, some of which have been given by others.
The count of Monte Cristo crops up regularly on this forum, I may have a crack off it some time.

SarahBM · 21-04-2014 6:46pm

Swiper the fox wrote: »

I'm not sure I understand the concept of this thread properly, it's books that you've heard are good that turn out to be good?
I could give hundreds of examples, some of which have been given by others.
The count of Monte Cristo crops up regularly on this forum, I may have a crack off it some time.

Books that some has said to you "OMG this is the best book I have ever read! You have to read it!" and you like "Ok so, I'll give it a go"

and when you have finished your like "OMG they were so right!"

:D:D

Swiper the fox · 21-04-2014 6:52pm

SarahBM wrote: »

Books that some has said to you "OMG this is the best book I have ever read! You have to read it!" and you like "Ok so, I'll give it a go"

and when you have finished your like "OMG they were so right!" :D:D

OK, I'll give you Crime and Punishment so. Birdsong also.

SarahBM · 21-04-2014 6:54pm

Isnt Crime and Punishment that Russian book that's like 1000 pages??? I have tried reading other russian books and I nearly died. I dont think Id read that. Birdsong, I would be willing to try.

Swiper the fox · 21-04-2014 7:04pm

SarahBM wrote: »

Isnt Crime and Punishment that Russian book that's like 1000 pages??? I have tried reading other russian books and I nearly died. I dont think Id read that. Birdsong, I would be willing to try.

My copy is 434 pages, not one of which is dull.:p

SarahBM · 21-04-2014 7:15pm

Swiper the fox wrote: »

My copy is 434 pages, not one of which is dull.:p

OK ok its going on the list! :rolleyes:

Wyldwood · 21-04-2014 7:43pm

SarahBM wrote: »

Isnt Crime and Punishment that Russian book that's like 1000 pages??? I have tried reading other russian books and I nearly died. I dont think Id read that. Birdsong, I would be willing to try.

Are you thinking of War and Peace? I have the two books on my shelf for a couple of years and can't bring myself to start. So many other good books to read that are shorter!

TransAtlantic was another one that I felt lived up to the hype and the kids book Watership Down is one of my all time favourites

Miss.Mayhem · 22-04-2014 3:03pm

GerB40 wrote: »

Catcher in the rye is the biggest load of shyte I've ever read. How it's considered a classic is beyond me..
Edit: Looks like I misread the title of this thread but I stand by what I said. Catchere in the rye is total bóllox..

I completely agree. I've never hated a character in a book as much as I hated Holden Caulfield. He was such a whiny little wanker. I don't understand how this book has made it on to so many "top 100" literature lists.

Rory Gallagher · 22-04-2014 7:35pm

Miss.Mayhem wrote: »

I completely agree. I've never hated a character in a book as much as I hated Holden Caulfield. He was such a whiny little wanker. I don't understand how this book has made it on to so many "top 100" literature lists.

Yes I certainly agree with you there, Couldn't stand his self-important attitude to everything.
Maybe it was the desired effect for us to dislike him perhaps.

SamAK · 22-04-2014 7:38pm

Not one mention of 50 Shades of Grey yet?

I have to be honest, I haven't read it, but based on reviews from learned and book-wormy friends I've been avoiding it.

Maybe I should give it a go.

Thoughts?

Rory Gallagher · 22-04-2014 7:50pm

SamAK wrote: »

Not one mention of 50 Shades of Grey yet?

I have to be honest, I haven't read it, but based on reviews from learned and book-wormy friends I've been avoiding it.

Maybe I should give it a go.

Thoughts?

Get away outta that.
Read something with a bit of substance, and not something written with an appeal to the lowest common denominator.
William Trevor's once stated something along the lines that literature is being converted into some sort of fashion where much of works recently published are more talked about than read which certainly applies to 50 shades of grey.

Anyhow I really have taken a liking to James Joyce lately, I love his prose which seems to convey a joyous feeling running parallel with a morose feeling and is never tied down to a single meaning.Always multiple meanings from his inventive word-play.

Anyways Dubliners is simply astonishing,I think many people could benefit greatly from reading it.
I've read so much about 'The Dead' that when I got about ten pages into it I felt somewhat ... disapointed.The tables turned thankfully and that ending is so good.Genius writing there and I seriously recommend it.

I've not read much of Portrait yet,Read Ulysses and loved it(not getting into here, would take night and day) and I'm going over Finnegans Wake and love it.Like magic to the ear as its a very lyrical and musical book.

Miss.Mayhem · 22-04-2014 7:51pm

SamAK wrote: »

Not one mention of 50 Shades of Grey yet?

I have to be honest, I haven't read it, but based on reviews from learned and book-wormy friends I've been avoiding it.

Maybe I should give it a go.

Thoughts?

Don't! It reads like a horny 12 year old boy wrote it. Best to avoid it at all costs.

Rory Gallagher · 22-04-2014 7:53pm

Miss.Mayhem wrote: »

Don't! It reads like a horny 12 year old boy wrote it. Best to avoid it at all costs.

All it is is a trendy piece of **** designed for people that want to brag about managing to read a book.

Will be considered what it truly is when the last of the hype has been dusted away.

SamAK · 22-04-2014 8:05pm

Rory Gallagher wrote: »

Read something with a bit of substance, and not something written with an appeal to the lowest common denominator....

I mentioned giving it a go because I feel that I can't really have an opinion on it if I haven't read it. I'll try it if someone gives me a copy, because I sure as hell am not paying for it.

Reading American Gods by Neil Gaiman at the moment. Good so far, full of mythology.

Rory Gallagher wrote: »

....literature is being converted into some sort of fashion where much of works recently published are more talked about than read which certainly applies to 50 shades of grey.

I have a sneaking suspicion that the 'success' of 50 shades has something to do with hoards of sexually repressed and down-trodden housewives up and down the country reading it and realizing that they actually have a sex-drive and it's not sinful to be horny...

Just a thought :rolleyes:

Rory Gallagher · 22-04-2014 8:08pm

SamAK wrote: »

I mentioned giving it a go because I feel that I can't really have an opinion on it if I haven't read it. I'll try it if someone gives me a copy, because I sure as hell am not paying for it.

Reading American Gods by Neil Gaiman at the moment. Good so far, full of mythology.

I have a sneaking suspicion that the 'success' of 50 shades has something to do with hoards of sexually repressed and down-trodden housewives up and down the country reading it and realizing that they actually have a sex-drive and it's not sinful to be horny...

Just a thought :rolleyes:

Your sneaking suspicion is of course the reason, Alongside teenage girls that seem to hop from book to book solely on its trendy natures.Woman.:pac:

Oh yeah and American Psycho turned out to be an enjoyable.Even if the constant description of what people wore and the long conversation on things like restaurants really went through my head which was obviously the desired effect.Film was good aswell.

And Clockwork Orange is a fantastic book,First proper book I ever read.I know Anthony Burgess disliked it but that's because it overshadowed the rest of his work and it rested on the laurels of the controversy of the film version(My favorite film ever by the way)

GerB40 · 23-04-2014 6:47pm

No one mentioned the "A song of ice and fire" series yet so here ya go.. The first Three books are outstanding. They slowly but surely lead up to the third book (A storm of swords) which is a high point in literature regardless of genre in my opinion. The story, which is largely based on actual historic events, is phenomenal and the scale of the story is huge.
Due to the size the story can drag on at certain parts (some drag on a lot) but overall George R R Martin has created a modern day classic. All opinions are my own...

Harry Angstrom · 27-04-2014 2:45am

Anything by Paulo Coehlo, a writer who is vastly overrated.
Coehlo can take his magic realism and shove it up his fundament.

czechlin · 27-04-2014 2:53am

I really enjoyed The Great Gatsby, The Unbearable Lightness of Being, The Millennium series. Got stuck into Jo Nesbo's books and so far so good

Eeden · 27-04-2014 3:03am

Harry Angstrom wrote: »

Anything by Paulo Coehlo, a writer who is vastly overrated.
Coehlo can take his magic realism and shove it up his fundament.

While I agree with this, I'm pretty sure this is the exact opposite of the thread title?

Harry Angstrom · 27-04-2014 11:50am

Eeden wrote: »

While I agree with this, I'm pretty sure this is the exact opposite of the thread title?

Apologies, I clicked on the wrong thread title

Washington Irving · 29-04-2014 12:29am

For the sake of balance...

The Catcher in the Rye.

Maybe you just need a certain temperament/mentality to fully enjoy it. I can see where people are coming from with their 'self-important protagonist' comments but I don't agree. The way in which the story is told is always going to come across like that imo. Some very amusing moments, especially in the first half of the book. Holden always seemed like a pretty goddam swell guy to me.

Kalimah · 29-04-2014 12:39am

"We need to talk about Kevin "by Lionel Shriver blew me away. As did "The last testimony of Gideon Mack". I've forgotten who wrote that! The Star of the Sea by Joseph O'Connor deserves a mention too. Sometimes you finish a book and think " God I wish I had written that". Sometimes you read a book and there isn't a word out of place in it.

bearhugs · 29-04-2014 12:53am

American Gods. And The Ocean at the end of The Lane while I'm at it. I have to say Room as well, couldn't put it down, a brilliant read.

GerB40 · 29-04-2014 1:06am

Washington Irving wrote: »

For the sake of balance...

The Catcher in the Rye.

Maybe you just need a certain temperament/mentality to fully enjoy it. I can see where people are coming from with their 'self-important protagonist' comments but I don't agree. The way in which the story is told is always going to come across like that imo. Some very amusing moments, especially in the first half of the book. Holden always seemed like a pretty goddam swell guy to me.

He's a knòb..

brandom · 29-04-2014 1:35am

More biography than literature but excellent books none the less - Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand and Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts.
Also several that have already been mentioned - To Kill a Mockingbird, Emma, Room and We Need to talk about Kevin

vitani · 29-04-2014 9:22am

Washington Irving wrote: »

For the sake of balance...

The Catcher in the Rye.

Maybe you just need a certain temperament/mentality to fully enjoy it. I can see where people are coming from with their 'self-important protagonist' comments but I don't agree. The way in which the story is told is always going to come across like that imo. Some very amusing moments, especially in the first half of the book. Holden always seemed like a pretty goddam swell guy to me.

I agree. I liked Holden - I didn't see him as self-indulgent, just as a kid who's still grieving and who's lost his way. I first read it as a teenager and I really identified with his whole disconnected from society thing. I still get it in a sense. I stumbled upon a One Direction hashtag on Twitter recently and I found this entire community with rules and rituals and a passion for something I couldn't even begin to understand. I imagine that's how Holden felt looking at society.

Diane Selwyn · 29-04-2014 11:27pm

Books I recall having been foisted upon me that turned out to be great reads would include Slaughterhouse 5, A Prayer for Owen Meany and 100 Years of Solitude

seamonkey92 · 30-04-2014 6:43pm

Less Than Zero was a great read.

Diane Selwyn · 30-04-2014 11:10pm

seamonkey92 wrote: »

Less Than Zero was a great read.

I've only read American Phsyco but re-watched the film of Less Than Zero just recently and was surprised how harrowing it was - think I had in my memory lumped it in with 1980s good-but-ultimately-fluff films like Pretty In Pink and so forth. I wonder how different was the film from the book? Tame by comparison if American Physco is any example I guess. Must give it a go - there is some sequel with the Clay character as well I think?

seamonkey92 · 01-05-2014 1:37pm

Diane Selwyn wrote: »

I've only read American Phsyco but re-watched the film of Less Than Zero just recently and was surprised how harrowing it was - think I had in my memory lumped it in with 1980s good-but-ultimately-fluff films like Pretty In Pink and so forth. I wonder how different was the film from the book? Tame by comparison if American Physco is any example I guess. Must give it a go - there is some sequel with the Clay character as well I think?

Yeah, the sequel is Imperial Bedrooms. Haven't actually read it myself! Or American Physco..but love the film!

Lady Spangles · 02-05-2014 8:56pm

The Catcher in the Rye. Holden Caulfield just came across as an over privileged, whiny brat. Wanted to smack him, tbh. Urgh!

mrsdewinter · 03-05-2014 1:36pm

Well, I loved Catcher In The Rye - clearly it helps to be a whiny, self-absorbed teenage gobsh*te when you read it, but you can't dismiss it out of hand.
My nomination for books that survived the hype is The Master by Colm Toibin. Beautifully written.

Lady Spangles · 03-05-2014 8:01pm

Heavens, I posted that on the wrong thread. Apologies. I really should try Catcher in the Rye again, actually. I was at school when we read it and probably just went over my head.

A book that did completely live up to the hype: Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall and Bring up the Bodies. Absolutely stunning pieces of writing that managed to completely change my view of Historic Fiction (which I'd written off as mostly naff bodice rippers).

Stone Deaf 4evr · 03-05-2014 8:07pm

Coraline by Neil gaiman.it's very short, but surprisingly scary for childrens book. Well deserving of it's praise.

Censorsh!t · 09-05-2014 8:45am

I really liked The Catcher in the Rye when I read it...then again, I was about 15, so I'm not sure how I'd feel about it now!

The Secret History by Donna Tartt exceeded my expectations, as did The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. I hadn't read any Wilde at that stage, so wasn't sure what to expect.

Also, so far, The Dark Tower series by Stephen King has lived up to the hype. I'm only on book 4, but I love them.

Lisha · 11-05-2014 3:12pm

I just finished Donal Ryan's first book 'the spinning heart'
I loved it. He is particularly good at building multi layered characters. Initially the characters are unlike able then you read a but more background and you understand them and feel sorry for them.

I would have preferred a but more closure in the ending but that's only being picky .

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

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