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Most overrated book

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  • #92
    XxMCRxBabyxX
    Moderators, Education Moderators Posts: 7,439 Mod ✭✭✭✭XxMCRxBabyxX


    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


  • #93
    Truthvader
    Registered Users Posts: 1,826 ✭✭✭Truthvader


    Flavour of the month I know but

    "Normal People" - Boring People - pus all that Late Late "Show meaningful" Es EEE ex


  • #94
    Spanish Eyes
    Registered Users Posts: 15,865 ✭✭✭✭Spanish Eyes


    Anything where the author is interviewed for the publicity of it imo. That kills me. But I suppose it has to happen.


  • #95
    I see sheep
    Registered Users Posts: 1,638 ✭✭✭I see sheep


    Spanish Eyes wrote: »
    Anything where the author is interviewed for the publicity of it imo. That kills me. But I suppose it has to happen.

    Every book ever? :pac:


  • #96
    Hercule Poirot
    Registered Users Posts: 4,231 ✭✭✭Hercule Poirot


    ChrisJ84 wrote: »
    Catch 22 - I love the genre, but thought it was awful and couldn't get into it at all.

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


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  • #97
    Spanish Eyes
    Registered Users Posts: 15,865 ✭✭✭✭Spanish Eyes


    I see sheep wrote: »
    Every book ever? :pac:

    Ah no, just these days.

    I'm sure you know what I mean, it's the bread and butter for some TV and radio interviewers these days. I will have a look up for sure, but it's mostly rubbish with an author connected to RTE or Newstalk whatever.


  • #98
    I see sheep
    Registered Users Posts: 1,638 ✭✭✭I see sheep


    Are the Harry Potter books any good? I'm not a fan of the genre so I never read them, I accidentally watched the last half hour of one of the movies and it was one of the worst things I've ever seen in my life.


  • #99
    Irish_rat
    Registered Users Posts: 2,554 ✭✭✭Irish_rat


    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.


  • #100
    Zaph
    Registered Users, Subscribers Posts: 47,268 ✭✭✭✭Zaph


    Three books spring to mind:

    Vernon God Little - the premise looked like something I'd enjoy. By the end of it I'd resolved never to buy another Booker Prize winner if this was the sort of thing they gave the prize to.

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

    A Confederacy of Dunces - I've rarely cared less about what happened to the protagonist of a book as I have this one, I just wanted it all to end as quickly as possible.


  • #101
    Spanish Eyes
    Registered Users Posts: 15,865 ✭✭✭✭Spanish Eyes


    Have to agree about the Booker Prize. Possibly rigged or a signal from those who think they are our betters telling us what to read.

    Follow the money.


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  • #102
    I see sheep
    Registered Users Posts: 1,638 ✭✭✭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?


  • #103
    alchemist33
    Registered Users 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.


  • #104
    r93kaey5p2izun
    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.


  • #105
    Muscles Schultz
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 302 ✭✭Muscles Schultz


    pavb2 wrote: »
    100 Years of Solitude

    Nonsense. The meaning of life is contained within.


  • #106
    JustAThought
    Registered Users Posts: 5,323 ✭✭✭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.


  • #107
    StupidLikeAFox
    Registered Users Posts: 7,696 ✭✭✭StupidLikeAFox


    XxMCRxBabyxX wrote: »
    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


  • #108
    kowloon
    Registered Users Posts: 13,264 ✭✭✭✭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.


  • #109
    storker
    Registered Users Posts: 5,644 ✭✭✭storker


    Hercule Poirot wrote: »
    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.



    .


  • #110
    namenotavailablE
    Registered Users Posts: 59,539 ✭✭✭✭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.

    Free Excel net pay calculator- https://taxcalc.eu/monthlyss/Employee%20PAYE%20calculator.xlsm



  • #111
    robinbird
    Registered Users Posts: 471 ✭✭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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  • #112
    robinbird
    Registered Users Posts: 471 ✭✭robinbird


    The White Feather wrote: »
    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
    the purple tin wrote: »
    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!!
    CrabRevolution wrote: »
    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!?
    nkl12xtw5goz70 wrote: »
    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.
    denartha wrote: »
    But i did like Little Women.

    And Friends.
    Conall Cernach wrote: »
    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
    Hercule Poirot wrote: »
    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


  • #113
    r93kaey5p2izun
    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.


  • #114
    robinbird
    Registered Users Posts: 471 ✭✭robinbird


    Ava Spicy Puffball wrote: »

    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.


  • #115
    r93kaey5p2izun
    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.


  • #116
    Hercule Poirot
    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


  • #117
    XxMCRxBabyxX
    Moderators, Education Moderators Posts: 7,439 Mod ✭✭✭✭XxMCRxBabyxX


    StupidLikeAFox wrote: »
    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.


  • #118
    magicbastarder
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 48,194 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.


  • #119
    kowloon
    Registered Users Posts: 13,264 ✭✭✭✭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.


  • #120
    magicbastarder
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Sports Moderators Posts: 48,194 CMod ✭✭✭✭magicbastarder


    namenotavailabl wrote: »
    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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  • #121
    growleaves
    Registered Users Posts: 7,683 ✭✭✭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.


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