Most overrated book

I see sheep · 10-05-2020 1:03am

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?

alchemist33 · 10-05-2020 1:13am

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.

r93kaey5p2izun · 10-05-2020 1:46am

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.

Muscles Schultz · 10-05-2020 2:08am

pavb2 wrote: »

100 Years of Solitude

Nonsense. The meaning of life is contained within.

JustAThought · 10-05-2020 2:17am

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.

StupidLikeAFox · 10-05-2020 2:21am

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

kowloon · 10-05-2020 2:23am

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.

storker · 10-05-2020 2:28am

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.

.

namenotavailablE · 10-05-2020 2:35am

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.

robinbird · 10-05-2020 4:42am

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.

robinbird · 10-05-2020 4:48am

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.

Deleted User 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

r93kaey5p2izun · 10-05-2020 5:03am

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.

robinbird · 10-05-2020 5:08am

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.

r93kaey5p2izun · 10-05-2020 5:28am

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.

Hercule Poirot · 10-05-2020 7:59am

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

XxMCRxBabyxX · 10-05-2020 11:05am

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.

magicbastarder · 10-05-2020 11:11am

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.

kowloon · 10-05-2020 2:46pm

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.

magicbastarder · 10-05-2020 2:53pm

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.

growleaves · 15-05-2020 6:55pm

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.

Ardent · 15-05-2020 8:12pm

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

magicbastarder · 15-05-2020 8:13pm

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

15-05-2020 8:29pm

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

pajosjunkbox · 15-05-2020 8:47pm

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 !

KrustyBurger · 15-05-2020 8:51pm

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.

magicbastarder · 15-05-2020 8:58pm

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.

tritriagain · 15-05-2020 9:11pm

KrustyBurger wrote: »

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.

Still waters · 15-05-2020 9:25pm

The alchemist and the book thief

15-05-2020 9:34pm

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

TheAnalyst_ · 15-05-2020 9:36pm

The Alchemist.

Complete bollocks that is lapped up by certain types.

15-05-2020 9:41pm

The Alchemist is a good shout. Unadulterated drivel.

minnow · 15-05-2020 11:25pm

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.

magicbastarder · 15-05-2020 11:28pm

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.

thefasteriwalk · 16-05-2020 12:02am

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.

Ardent · 16-05-2020 1:00am

magicbastarder wrote: »

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

Correct, but it sold in absolute droves.

Muscles Schultz · 16-05-2020 1:46am

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.

New Home · 16-05-2020 11:42am

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.

pajosjunkbox · 16-05-2020 12:45pm

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.

Mick McGraw · 22-05-2020 2:36pm

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.

22-05-2020 2:40pm

Peig.

JustAThought · 22-05-2020 2:43pm

[Deleted User] wrote: »

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.

r93kaey5p2izun · 22-05-2020 2:50pm

JustAThought wrote: »

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.

Joe_ Public · 22-05-2020 2:54pm

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

r93kaey5p2izun · 22-05-2020 3:02pm

Joe_ Public wrote: »

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.

All that fandango · 22-05-2020 3:07pm

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.

CrankyHaus · 22-05-2020 3:17pm

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.

bodyguard1 · 22-05-2020 3:25pm

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 !

magicbastarder · 22-05-2020 4:01pm

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?

PowerToWait · 22-05-2020 4:10pm

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.

CrankyHaus · 22-05-2020 4:14pm

magicbastarder wrote: »

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.

Most overrated book

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