Over-rated/Under-rated/?
Posted In: Poetry + Prose. Reading This Thread:
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Just to start some conversation...
What authors/books does everyone think are under-rated or over-rated?
To start things off, I think Zadie Smith is incredibly over-rated. I don't want to be mean, but the multi-award winning 'On Beauty' had a weak story line, stereotypical characters and an air of pretentiousness (is that a word?!)
I was disappointed, after reading such rave reviews.
Sarah xx
What authors/books does everyone think are under-rated or over-rated?
To start things off, I think Zadie Smith is incredibly over-rated. I don't want to be mean, but the multi-award winning 'On Beauty' had a weak story line, stereotypical characters and an air of pretentiousness (is that a word?!)
I was disappointed, after reading such rave reviews.Sarah xx
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Couldn't agree more on Zadie Smith.
Ah man i'm gonna have a field day on this one when i can, although my friend tried to chuck himself under a car yesterday so i really need to try and get him sorted out before i do..........
Ah man i'm gonna have a field day on this one when i can, although my friend tried to chuck himself under a car yesterday so i really need to try and get him sorted out before i do..........
Oo dear, that's not good- Sorry to hear that Stu Yep, I think that should be your main priority! Hope he is ok (and you, too),
Sarah xx
Yep, I think that should be your main priority! Hope he is ok (and you, too),Sarah xx
Just a quickie - it went down like a sack of sh*t with the girls at Uni, this, I once had to defend myself against a whole class full of them, but I think Toni Morrison is hugely overrated. Nobel Prize my a*se, she won it because they needed a black female writer to give it to in the wake of the LA riots and she was the only half decent one around. She's not bad per se but she is nowhere near as good as she's made out to be. If I want to read William Faulkner, I'll read William Faulkner ta very much, and if I want to read William Faulkner writter by a woman, I'll read Flannery O' Connor or Carson Macullers, both of whom are infintely superior to Toni Morrison in just about every way imaginable.
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air of pretentiousness (is that a word?!)I think the correct term would be 'an air of pretension' although i stand to be corrected
I've always found Herman Hesse to be......underrated is the wrong word, but under-exposed is probably about right. he started off as a kinda standard German romantic novelist, but then he got heavily into Eastern philosophy under the influence of Jung and the painter Paul Klee, started writing mystical books like Siddhartha, Journey to the East and Steppenwolf.......the writing is wonderful, so sparse and pure, and the philosophy is so beautifully uncomplicated, it's like Steinbeck on Buddhist pills or something.......he won the nobel prize but was largely unappreciated until he was picked up by the Counter-culture in the 60s, then he faded from view again. I urge you all to give it a go if you can find any of his stuff, he really was a supremely taltented man.
I put some of his poems in the poetry thread and they're wonderful too
I put some of his poems in the poetry thread and they're wonderful too
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That's naturalism for you! See Henry James for more of this. Terrible stuff
(I've never read The Scarlett Letter by the way).
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Agreed. Although Who's Afraid of Virgina Woolf? by Edward Albee is a fine, funny play which should be read by anyone with even a slight interest in modern American drama
Old people CLEARLY need more painkillers.
Quote: the_doc
I agree with this, it's an excellent play.
And Henry James is awful, just AWFUL.
Agreed. Although Who's Afraid of Virgina Woolf? by Edward Albee is a fine, funny play which should be read by anyone with even a slight interest in modern American drama
I agree with this, it's an excellent play.
And Henry James is awful, just AWFUL.
Hope is important.
Douglas Adams is sort of under-rated, I think. - All his books are really funny and smart, but also they are really beautiful too. - They are simple and complicated all at once, I think.
Also, "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley is under-rated too - it is lots like "Nineteen Eighty Four" by George Orwell, but everything is really shallow and selfish instead of scary and intimidating. It was written before 1984 too.
Lots of childrens' books are under-rated too, I think - "The Wind in the Willows" and "Alice in wonderland" and "Tom's Midnight Garden" are have lots of ideas about how changes and new things are really scary, and also they have lots of jokes and satirical things too.
:-[
Also, "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley is under-rated too - it is lots like "Nineteen Eighty Four" by George Orwell, but everything is really shallow and selfish instead of scary and intimidating. It was written before 1984 too.
Lots of childrens' books are under-rated too, I think - "The Wind in the Willows" and "Alice in wonderland" and "Tom's Midnight Garden" are have lots of ideas about how changes and new things are really scary, and also they have lots of jokes and satirical things too.
:-[
That's not the same as being underrated.........and it's an insanely popular book, it's as much of a standard as 1984 is
Hope is important.
Quote: Little_Blue_Fox
Also, "Peter Pan and wendy" by JM Barrie is really under-rated too, I think - it is really dark and sad and tragic. - It is not like pantominesa and Disey movies so much, I think.
It is sort of about JM Barrie a tiny bit, I think.
:-[
.
Lots of childrens' books are under-rated too, I think - "The Wind in the Willows" and "Alice in wonderland" and "Tom's Midnight Garden" are have lots of ideas about how changes and new things are really scary, and also they have lots of jokes and satirical things too.
Also, "Peter Pan and wendy" by JM Barrie is really under-rated too, I think - it is really dark and sad and tragic. - It is not like pantominesa and Disey movies so much, I think.
It is sort of about JM Barrie a tiny bit, I think.
:-[
Hope is important.
Quote: Dr_Strangelove
I really like "The Sacred Art of Stealing" - the beginning in the bank is really cool, and all the characters are really different and sweet. also, I really like "One fine day in the middle of the night" and "Be my enemy" too.
Quote: Rawr
:-[ I should not write about things I do not like. I should try to recomend things and write about all the things I think are really amazing instead.
Quote: Little_Blue_Fox
Also, I think Carl Hiaasen is over-rated too - I really wanted to read all his books because he influenced Christopher Brookmyre, but he is really boring and slow.
Also it goes without saying that Christopher Brookmyre is the man. What's your favourite one?
I really like "The Sacred Art of Stealing" - the beginning in the bank is really cool, and all the characters are really different and sweet. also, I really like "One fine day in the middle of the night" and "Be my enemy" too.
Quote: Rawr
Quote: Little_Blue_Fox
I am sorry I am really horrible and mean. :-[
...says the least mean person ever
:-[ I should not write about things I do not like. I should try to recomend things and write about all the things I think are really amazing instead.
Hope is important.
It would be really sticky.
It is really silly lots of reviews and forums and, like, The Void, and lots of things are really complainy and spiteful, but they do not write about all the things they think are good at-all.
"Accidentally, I,
charm you and tell you,
of all the boys I hate,
all the girls I hate,
all the words I hate,
all the clothes I hate,
and how I'll never be anything I hate,
you smile,
mention something that you like,
oh, how you'd have a happy life,
if you did the things you like".
Oh gosh - I am sorry I am really preachy - I do not liek lots and lots of things too. :-[
It is really silly lots of reviews and forums and, like, The Void, and lots of things are really complainy and spiteful, but they do not write about all the things they think are good at-all.
"Accidentally, I,
charm you and tell you,
of all the boys I hate,
all the girls I hate,
all the words I hate,
all the clothes I hate,
and how I'll never be anything I hate,
you smile,
mention something that you like,
oh, how you'd have a happy life,
if you did the things you like".
Oh gosh - I am sorry I am really preachy - I do not liek lots and lots of things too. :-[
apparently the big pink bastard is me
Quote: Little_Blue_Fox
David-James, marry me. I think you'd be a good influence on my life.
It would be really sticky.
David-James, marry me. I think you'd be a good influence on my life.
Hope is important.
Quote: Spider_Jerusalem
Ok!
Please can we not invite Uncle Jacob - he is really rude and handsy.
Also, thank you for recommending Colin Bateman books - I borrowed "Belfast Confidential" in the library today.
Quote: Little_Blue_FoxIt would be really sticky.
David-James, marry me. I think you'd be a good influence on my life.
Ok!
Please can we not invite Uncle Jacob - he is really rude and handsy.
Also, thank you for recommending Colin Bateman books - I borrowed "Belfast Confidential" in the library today.
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