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Most overrated book

135

Comments

  • Registered Users Posts: 1,792 ✭✭✭I see sheep


    Zaph wrote: »
    Three books spring to mind:

    The Old Man and the Sea - how can such a short book feel so long and tedious?

    Jesus, second time in the thread so maybe I'm the weirdo but I love The Old Man and the Sea.

    How can such a short book feel so powerful?


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 10,969 ✭✭✭✭alchemist33


    Irish_rat wrote: »
    On the road by Jack Kereoc. Pile of rubbish avoid.

    Catcher in the rye is not much to write home about but it's readable. Handmaid's tale is ridiculously overrated.

    Wow. 3 of the first that came into my mind.

    I think The Handmaid's Tale is lauded as it is a good description of a totalitarian state. The gender issues probably appeal to some too. However, as a story it's awful, and I found it very boring and without a plot.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 3,962 ✭✭✭r93kaey5p2izun


    Irish_rat wrote: »
    On the road by Jack Kereoc. Pile of rubbish avoid.

    Catcher in the rye is not much to write home about but it's readable. Handmaid's tale is ridiculously overrated.

    I enjoyed Catcher, though I think it is overrated.

    But On the Road is such drivel. I've never been more disappointed by a book. I had to struggle so hard to finish it.


  • Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 302 ✭✭Muscles Schultz


    pavb2 wrote: »
    100 Years of Solitude

    Nonsense. The meaning of life is contained within.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,324 ✭✭✭JustAThought


    The Essex Serpent

    The Wonder

    If I could only have the money back I spent on these books and the time reading them and invest instead in a meal in a country pub on a terrace with friends on a sunny day.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,725 ✭✭✭StupidLikeAFox


    Normal People by Sally Rooney. I just don't see what all the hype was about. It's dull at best. Same goes for the TV Show

    Have you watched the show until the end? Binged on it last night - starts slow but finishes very strong. I haven't read the book but my wife has - she also wasn't impressed by the book but the TV show is very good


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 13,537 ✭✭✭✭kowloon


    robinbird wrote: »
    A lot of mentions for books that people had to read for the Leaving Cert.
    Might be better if we excluded these. As a lot of those mentioning them probably haven't gone near a book since school.

    That's a little presumptuous, perhaps they just didn't like it because it wasn't a book they would have chosen to read. Maybe they would have chosen to read it given the time but being forced to read it/study it stripped the enjoyment out of it
    For me 'Things Fall Apart' was the exception that proves the rule. Force me to do it and I'll grow to hate it.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,689 ✭✭✭storker


    I really enjoyed Catch-22, it's slightly off the wall so to speak but I think that just added to it's charm

    You need to read it twice. The second time you get it. At least, that was my experience.



    .


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 59,648 ✭✭✭✭namenotavailablE


    Foucault's pendulum by Umberto Eco- a weird storyline but the thing that really put me off was Eco's pretentious language/ writing style: "Why use 1 word when 12 semi-obscure ones will do?"
    Never again.


  • Registered Users Posts: 498 ✭✭robinbird


    kowloon wrote: »
    That's a little presumptuous, perhaps they just didn't like it because it wasn't a book they would have chosen to read. Maybe they would have chosen to read it given the time but being forced to read it/study it stripped the enjoyment out of it
    .

    Perhaps. It is a strange title for a thread. Why do people finish books they don't like. unless they are forced to read them. Maybe a better title would be something like " Books I was forced to read for the Leaving that I didn't like"

    Books that are on the Leaving Cert Syllabus include

    Catcher in the Rye
    Catch 22
    Wuthering Heights
    Jane Eyre
    Little Women
    The Great Gatsby
    Old Man and the sea
    The Handmaid's Tale

    Assume Mcgahern is as well as posters have mentioned him a few times.


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  • Registered Users Posts: 498 ✭✭robinbird


    I have a few that come to mind straight away!

    The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger - A tedious read about a whiny teenager

    The Old man and the sea by Ernest Hemingway - Old guy goes fishing in a boat. The End. zzzzzzzzz
    That's my one too.
    Day Lewin wrote: »
    "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood: unconvincing, and derivative from science fiction - the whole idea was done much better by John Wyndham.
    bubblypop wrote: »

    Jane Eyre, terrible book with a hypocritical ending. Sorry I ever bothered.
    Day Lewin wrote: »
    Oh, I disagree with you there!!
    Catcher in the Rye for me. I know it's not overly long but if I hadn't been on a transatlantic flight I'd never have finished it. South Park summed it up well when the boys read the book after they hear it's 'controversial'; but "it's just some whiny, annoying teenager talking about how lame he is."
    Sheridan81 wrote: »
    Little Women.

    Do women like it or something? I'm surprised it was made into a movie, twice. I can't remember it fully now but I recall it was a bit powderpuff. "Oh Beth, do you like the cookies I've baked?" "They're lovely Meg, what do you think of my new woolly scarf? It's awfully cold outside today!"...or something. I'm paraphrasing here.
    NedLowry wrote: »
    The Great Gatsby.
    Not terrible by any means, just... average, really.
    Sardonicat wrote: »
    What!?
    Could never agree that The Great Gatsby is just an average novel.
    JuneMoon7 wrote: »
    I never read it either..these Little Women, just how little are they? are they scary little?
    JuneMoon7 wrote: »
    Actually, i liked the Old Man and the Sea. Its short, and its deceptively simple in its execution, but beautifully written. You feel the love between the young boy and the old man, theyre kindred spirits.
    JuneMoon7 wrote: »
    I like it, its a clever way of using first person narrative but still getting several viewpoints across. I like the old Victorian books
    The Picture of Dorian Grey is also very good.
    But i did like Little Women.

    And Friends.
    I quite like Wuthering Heights but Heathcliff and Cathy are about as far from the romantic ideal that many seem to think they are as you can get. She's a delusional, manipulative headcase and he's a complete psychopath.
    ChrisJ84 wrote: »
    Catch 22 - I love the genre, but thought it was awful and couldn't get into it at all.
    McHardcore wrote: »
    I never understood the attraction to The Catcher in the Rye
    I see Catcher in the Rye getting a lot of mentions here and I'd agree, it is just a whiny teenager b1tching about everyday things that don't really matter - I was in my mid 20's when I read it and didn't get the hype at all, found it boring - I do wonder though if I had read it as a teenager it might have been one of the greatest books I'd ever read, I might have felt that the author really understands me because most of us were whiny little b1tches when we were teenagers

    All Leaving cert books


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 3,962 ✭✭✭r93kaey5p2izun


    I've read most of them, and didn't like several of them. None of them were on my LC. My LC novel was How Many Miles to Babylon? I loved it.

    I finish books I don't like because I don't think you can truly judge it otherwise.


  • Registered Users Posts: 498 ✭✭robinbird



    I finish books I don't like because I don't think you can truly judge it otherwise.

    Life's too short. I get the free samples on Kindle. I would only buy and read maybe 5% of books after reading the sample.

    I did Wuthering Heights for the Leaving. Think it's a great book.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 3,962 ✭✭✭r93kaey5p2izun


    robinbird wrote: »
    Life's too short. I get the free samples on Kindle. I would only buy and read maybe 5% of books after reading the sample.

    I did Wuthering Heights for the Leaving. Think it's a great book.

    Yes, I think Wuthering Heights is a great book too.

    Most of these are ones I would have read before Kindle existed, but if I dismissed books based on the sample I'd have missed many books I enjoyed. There are books I won't bother with at all because the subject or genre just doesn't interest me, but if I've given it a go then I'll finish it. Especially if it's a respected book - I can't just dismiss a respected piece of literature if I haven't even finished it.

    I don't think your theory about these overrated books just being people's LC books is true though.


  • Registered Users Posts: 4,231 ✭✭✭Hercule Poirot


    robinbird wrote: »
    All Leaving cert books

    You've included my post despite the fact I said I read Catcher in the Rye in my mid-20's and while I may by no means be a genius I am definitely not that much of an idiot


  • Moderators, Education Moderators Posts: 7,439 Mod ✭✭✭✭XxMCRxBabyxX


    Have you watched the show until the end? Binged on it last night - starts slow but finishes very strong. I haven't read the book but my wife has - she also wasn't impressed by the book but the TV show is very good

    I've only seen the first two episodes but considering that I didn't enjoy them and already hadn't enjoyed the book I didn't see any need to continue on. Maybe I'll go back to the show some other time but I doubt it tbh.


  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 50,345 CMod ✭✭✭✭magicbastarder


    storker wrote: »
    You need to read it twice. The second time you get it. At least, that was my experience.
    .
    Funny enough, I read it when I was maybe 16 and loved it, tried it again maybe 15 years later and couldn't get into it at all. Some books happen along at the right time for you.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 13,537 ✭✭✭✭kowloon


    robinbird wrote: »
    Why do people finish books they don't like. unless they are forced to read them.

    I guess the exception is when you want to learn about a topic but the reading isn't enjoyable, but I can't think of a novel that would apply to.

    I reckon War and Peace is a book many have laboured through for the sole purpose of being able to say they've read it. Ulysses would probably fall into the same category.


  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 50,345 CMod ✭✭✭✭magicbastarder


    Foucault's pendulum by Umberto Eco- a weird storyline but the thing that really put me off was Eco's pretentious language/ writing style: "Why use 1 word when 12 semi-obscure ones will do?"
    Never again.
    i tried reading 'infinite jest' by david foster wallace years ago; i was already in the mode of not enjoying it, and came across a five letter word i'd never seen before (alas, i can't remember the word). i looked it up, and it means 'or'.
    so i never went back to the book.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,945 ✭✭✭growleaves


    The Catcher in the Rye is the only book I've read four times, and no doubt I'll read it again. But yeah it's a very unpopular book loads of people hate it.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,342 ✭✭✭Ardent


    The Da Vinci Code. My 6 year old could write something with more substance.


  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 50,345 CMod ✭✭✭✭magicbastarder


    hardly overrated, though? you don't pick up the da vinci code expecting much.


  • Posts: 0 [Deleted User]


    The catcher in the rye was brutal..
    The tattooist of Auschwitz.. just so badly written..
    A man called Ove.. same..


  • Registered Users Posts: 375 ✭✭pajosjunkbox


    I just finished A man called Ove this morning. Sweet Jesus ... It was rubbish. Started Say Nothing straight after. The first chapter was more interesting than the whole Ove book !


  • Registered Users Posts: 221 ✭✭KrustyBurger


    The first book I put down halfway through....Lord of the rings. Absolutely hated it. Still do. A masterpiece by all accounts but not my cup of tea at all. I thought that it was far too padded with needlessly long-winded descriptions.


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  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 50,345 CMod ✭✭✭✭magicbastarder


    the fellowship of the ring is not for non-fans, he started it without knowing where the book was going. unsurprisingly, probably the book with the most left out when peter jackson made the movie.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,178 ✭✭✭tritriagain


    The first book I put down halfway through....Lord of the rings. Absolutely hated it. Still do. A masterpiece by all accounts but not my cup of tea at all. I thought that it was far too padded with needlessly long-winded descriptions.

    Tried it three times. Gave up in more or less the same place each time. Just found it so boring.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,166 ✭✭✭Still waters


    The alchemist and the book thief


  • Posts: 0 [Deleted User]


    Star of the Sea by Joseph O’Connor. Rambling, disjointed and not very interesting.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,371 ✭✭✭TheAnalyst_


    The Alchemist.

    Complete bollocks that is lapped up by certain types.


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  • Posts: 13,688 ✭✭✭✭ Terrell Ancient Rim


    The Alchemist is a good shout. Unadulterated drivel.


  • Registered Users Posts: 202 ✭✭minnow


    One Hundred Years of Solitude, by Gabriel García Márquez.

    Ridiculously long drivel about multiple generations of a family.....oh and most of them have the same name.


  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 50,345 CMod ✭✭✭✭magicbastarder


    minnow wrote: »
    Ridiculously long drivel about multiple generations of a family.....oh and most of them have the same name.
    sounds like the perfect irish novel.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 565 ✭✭✭thefasteriwalk


    Despite liking all his other works, I did not enjoy Steinbeck’s The Pearl. But then parables are my least favourite types of stories.

    I like most of the books mentioned here already. Haven’t read Normal People. I know myself too well.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,342 ✭✭✭Ardent


    hardly overrated, though? you don't pick up the da vinci code expecting much.

    Correct, but it sold in absolute droves.


  • Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 302 ✭✭Muscles Schultz


    minnow wrote: »
    One Hundred Years of Solitude, by Gabriel García Márquez.

    Ridiculously long drivel about multiple generations of a family.....oh and most of them have the same name.

    Ah stop.


  • Moderators, Arts Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators, Social & Fun Moderators Posts: 77,075 Mod ✭✭✭✭New Home


    Anything I've ever read (not by choice, they were gifts) by Cecelia Ahern was waaaaaaay overrated. On the other hand, I did like A man called Ove a lot, it's a lovely little story, but I wouldn't consider it literature in any way, shape or form.


  • Registered Users Posts: 375 ✭✭pajosjunkbox


    I felt the premise of the book A man called Ove was good but it was written like it's audience was 14 year olds. The characters were very black and white and cliched when in reality characters are much more complex . I would have liked if the characters were developed more and it had a bit more substance.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 73 ✭✭Mick McGraw


    Moby Dick is absolutely dreadful.If I wanted to read a textbook about whaling in New England in the 19th century I'd have bought one.I really hated it.


  • Posts: 0 [Deleted User]


    Peig.


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,324 ✭✭✭JustAThought


    Peig.

    i din’t think many outside the Department of Education were raving about Peig.

    The Book Thief was cery underwhelming.

    Ditto the Wonder by Emma O Donaghue and The Essex Serpent.


    Also nowadays anything by Darina Allen - the convicted pawdophile lover. It’s hard to enjoy a book knowing the profits are funding a family whose hobbies involve supporting the mutilation and rape of babies and children.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 3,962 ✭✭✭r93kaey5p2izun


    i din’t think many outside the Department of Education were raving about Peig.

    The Book Thief was cery underwhelming.

    Ditto the Wonder by Emma O Donaghue and The Essex Serpent.


    Also nowadays anything by Darina Allen - the convicted pawdophile lover. It’s hard to enjoy a book knowing the profits are funding a family whose hobbies involve supporting the mutilation and rape of babies and children.

    Do you mean wonder by RJ Palacio, or Room by Emma O'Donoghue?

    I think Room is good. Wonder is definitely overrated.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 13,023 ✭✭✭✭Joe_ Public


    The Wonder by Emma O'Donohue. Haven't read anything else of hers, but i thought that one was very ordinary.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 3,962 ✭✭✭r93kaey5p2izun


    The Wonder by Emma O'Donohue. Haven't read anything else of hers, but i thought that one was very ordinary.

    Not familiar with it. Will put it on my list.


  • Registered Users Posts: 331 ✭✭All that fandango


    How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. Wow, what a disappointing book, same mumbo jumbo repeated on every page. Very boring and not very engaging.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2,281 ✭✭✭CrankyHaus


    I think people are confusing overrated books with books that they just didn't like.

    The example given by the OP was one from an acclaimed author, with major PR backing from the publisher and the glowing reviews, blurbs and awards that that "purchases". As a result if it's actually a poor book (I have no idea if Beatlebone is but from the premise I wouldn't be surprised) nobody admits it, for fear of looking out of step with the Zeitgeist. But the readers know, and after initially strong sales based on marketing the book doesn't have the high sustained sales based on word of mouth that a genuinely good book does.

    You can't really put Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale in that category as it's been consistently popular for decades.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 127 ✭✭bodyguard1


    The Bible........he dies in the end ! Oh sorry if I ruined it for anyone who hasn't read it yet, but then there is another surprise in the Sequel !


  • Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 50,345 CMod ✭✭✭✭magicbastarder


    CrankyHaus wrote: »
    I think people are confusing overrated books with books that they just didn't like.
    are you saying that the handmaid's tale is an example of a genuinely overrated book, or just one that some people don't like?


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,789 ✭✭✭PowerToWait


    There's a general policy of over rating Irish authors in Ireland. Kevin Barry, Joseph O'Connor, Colum McCann, John Boyne, that lad from Wexford, have all written some terribly self indulgent muck, but not one critic will ever, ever criticise these sacred cows. Which is unfortunate.

    The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas was simply massively overrated.
    Everything by Joseph O'Connor is terrible. Kevin Barry similarly way overrated.


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  • Closed Accounts Posts: 2,281 ✭✭✭CrankyHaus


    are you saying that the handmaid's tale is an example of a genuinely overrated book, or just one that some people don't like?


    The latter.


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