Most overhyped classic masterpiece? - Page 10

docinabox · 09-23-2009, 01:31 PM

Don Quixote

Quote:

Originally Posted by kaan

+1

I can't get past the first half of the first volume.
Does it get better?

No

Mr. Dalliard · 09-23-2009, 01:51 PM

The (KJV) Bible, of course - quotable, certainly, and worth reading once, but over-rated nevertheless.

kennyc · 09-23-2009, 01:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr. Dalliard

The Bible, of course.

Perhaps the Ultimate Over-hyped Classic.

akira28 · 09-23-2009, 02:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kennyc

Perhaps the Ultimate Over-hyped Classic.

I didn't want to be the first one to say it...thanks.

LDBoblo · 09-23-2009, 03:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by akira28

I didn't want to be the first one to say it...thanks.

Well I did, indirectly, since in the original post, I requested that folks leave religious works out of the discussion.

ahi · 09-23-2009, 03:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr. Dalliard

The (KJV) Bible, of course - quotable, certainly, and worth reading once, but over-rated nevertheless.

And also a key of sorts to a surprisingly large portion of Western art and literature... the bible in general, and the KJV to a lot of English Literature in specific.

- Ahi

WT Sharpe · 09-23-2009, 09:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr. Dalliard

The (KJV) Bible, of course - quotable, certainly, and worth reading once, but over-rated nevertheless.

I love the King James Version. It's the most poetic version on the market. True, Biblical scholarship has left it in the dust, but the prose is, IMHO, unsurpassed.

FizzyWater · 09-23-2009, 09:40 PM

I'm not sure I'd say it's overhyped, but I remember being utterly unsympathetic to the heroine in Tess of the D'Urbervilles. I read it in junior high - which made me 12 or 13 - and the little feminist in me just wanted to tell her to "get over it already"!

I have always meant to re-read the book now that I have a better understanding of the culture at the time...and an adult's ability to see more shades of gray!

Coops · 09-23-2009, 11:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FlorenceArt

Pffff... that's only a warm-up for Proust

Now you're talking.....

Proust.

I bought Swann's Way, one day. I should be grateful i didn't buy the rest of the 'series' at the same time.

Awful.

Read any glowing review.... and you're bound to hear how wonderful his description of the little boy's struggle to sleep and missing his mumsies.
Horrible little child. Couldn't read on with such a strong urge to reach inside the book and give the pesky little twerp a good slap upside the head.
A Proust lover of course will say this is an indication of his sublime descriptive skills.

Tolstoy's good fun though

Mind you, i did start with Anna Karanina first, before the 'big one'.

Nabokov - Lolita is at the other end of the scale, for me. Problem is, none of his other books come close to it.

I remember enjoying Neuromancer too... but that was some time ago. Recently reread 'Slaughterhouse 5' (1969 ok?) and am very glad i did. Excellent.

"So it goes".

Coops

ps have Moby Dick on my Sony ebook/ereader thingy - shall see about that one.

queentess · 09-24-2009, 04:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lilac_jive

I could not finish Tale of Two Cities. I just couldn't do it.

I had to read Tale of Two Cities twice, and I hated it both times. I've tried to read other Dickens works and ran into the same problem. His writing is too dry for me.

Sparrow · 09-24-2009, 04:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by FizzyWater

I'm not sure I'd say it's overhyped, but I remember being utterly unsympathetic to the heroine in Tess of the D'Urbervilles. I read it in junior high - which made me 12 or 13 - and the little feminist in me just wanted to tell her to "get over it already"!

I have always meant to re-read the book now that I have a better understanding of the culture at the time...and an adult's ability to see more shades of gray!

It was one of the books we had to study at school - I loved it then and I love it now!!!!

Polanski's film version was a disgrace.

DixieGal · 09-24-2009, 04:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Coops

... Horrible little child. Couldn't read on with such a strong urge to reach inside the book and give the pesky little twerp a good slap upside the head ...

Where you from, Coops? I thought that phrase was local to Alabama.

Coops · 09-25-2009, 12:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DixieGal

Where you from, Coops? I thought that phrase was local to Alabama.

i'm British, living in Thailand - spent some years in my childhood in Dallas, and Chicago later on, but not sure where i heard/picked that phrase up from. Just sounds good.

Coops

nomesque · 09-25-2009, 12:06 AM

Slap upside the head? If it is, it's spread via books n movies. I use it on occasion too, have for decades.

Sparrow · 09-25-2009, 03:40 AM

I suddenly woke up last night with the horrible remembrance of a work so hideous that it could rival 'Moby Dick' - Mervyn Peake's 'Gormenghast' trilogy.

I've wasted weeks of my life trying to get through that, and I'm worried I might be stupid enough to make another assault at some future date. If anyone spots me reading it, feel free to give me a good slap upside the head.

09-23-2009, 01:51 PM	#137
Mr. Dalliard Zealot Posts: 143 Karma: 35 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Osaka, Japan Device: Kindle 3	The (KJV) Bible, of course - quotable, certainly, and worth reading once, but over-rated nevertheless. Last edited by Mr. Dalliard; 09-23-2009 at 01:53 PM.

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09-23-2009, 09:40 PM	#143
FizzyWater You kids get off my lawn! Posts: 4,220 Karma: 73492664 Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Columbus, Ohio Device: Oasis 2 and Libra H2O and half a dozen older models I can't let go of	I'm not sure I'd say it's overhyped, but I remember being utterly unsympathetic to the heroine in Tess of the D'Urbervilles. I read it in junior high - which made me 12 or 13 - and the little feminist in me just wanted to tell her to "get over it already"! I have always meant to re-read the book now that I have a better understanding of the culture at the time...and an adult's ability to see more shades of gray!

09-25-2009, 12:06 AM	#149
nomesque Snooty Bestselling Author Posts: 1,485 Karma: 1000000 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Ipswich, QLD, Australia Device: PRS-650	Slap upside the head? If it is, it's spread via books n movies. I use it on occasion too, have for decades.

09-25-2009, 03:40 AM	#150
Sparrow Wizard Posts: 4,395 Karma: 1358132 Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: UK Device: Palm TX, CyBook Gen3	I suddenly woke up last night with the horrible remembrance of a work so hideous that it could rival 'Moby Dick' - Mervyn Peake's 'Gormenghast' trilogy. I've wasted weeks of my life trying to get through that, and I'm worried I might be stupid enough to make another assault at some future date. If anyone spots me reading it, feel free to give me a good slap upside the head.

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