Most overhyped classic masterpiece? - Page 2

Gideon · 09-20-2009, 04:14 PM

Loved "Tale of Two Cities" - still one of my favorites. Also loved Camus' "The Plague" But I love Camus in general... "The Stranger" is a long time favorite.

I'd put anything by Henry James on my list, and "Jane Eyre" - lord how I loathed that book.

Henry James is just tedious.. his paragraphs go on for pages!

wayspooled · 09-20-2009, 04:38 PM

I loved A Tale of Two Cities

and Mark Twain and Jane Austen.. and War and Peace before it gets listed.

I never liked Adam Bede, Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, Uncle Tom's Cabin or How Green Was My Valley.

goodellboy · 09-20-2009, 05:02 PM

I disliked Wuthering Heights, also. It was so overdramatic and the male characters were often crying their eyes out. It did not seem realistic to me. I really liked Madame Bovary, but the excellent translation that I lucked into reading may deserve a lot of the credit. All translations are definitely not created equal.

lilac_jive · 09-20-2009, 05:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gideon

Loved "Tale of Two Cities" - still one of my favorites. Also loved Camus' "The Plague" But I love Camus in general... "The Stranger" is a long time favorite.

I'd put anything by Henry James on my list, and "Jane Eyre" - lord how I loathed that book.

Henry James is just tedious.. his paragraphs go on for pages!

Ironically I enjoyed "Turn of the Screw."

goodellboy · 09-20-2009, 05:08 PM

I may have seen every movie/ballet/musical version of Turn of the Screw that exists -- I love the story that much. But I've never been able to get through the book. Henry James's writing is so dry. I love his buddy Edith Wharton, though.

Donnageddon · 09-20-2009, 06:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kennyc

Necromancer - William Gibson ( I know, I know it was after 1960 ... still...)

I had no idea that Gibson wrote that! Sounds dreadful. Perhaps you should try Neuromancer by Gibson, one of my absolute favorites!

I have to agree to a dislike of Tale Of Two cities, I mean

Quote:

It was a dark and stormy night, it was bright in the still of the night. It was raining with a gusty wind, it was calm with a dry bone aether. It was a time of sitcoms and buffoonery, it was a time of dramatic 6 part epics and medical dramas...

I mean, make up your mind Mr. Dickens! You can't have it both ways!

Thumbs down... way down.

ShortNCuddlyAm · 09-20-2009, 06:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lilac_jive

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

I finished it, but didn't like it.

And also Lord of The Rings

JSWolf · 09-20-2009, 07:19 PM

A Passage to India is a rather dreadful book. It's just got nothing going for it. The characters are dull and wooden and wimpy. The setting is uninteresting. There is nothing really going on. And the only semi-likable character got killed off about 1/2 way through the book.

kennyc · 09-20-2009, 07:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Donnageddon

I had no idea that Gibson wrote that! Sounds dreadful. Perhaps you should try Neuromancer by Gibson, one of my absolute favorites!

I have to agree to a dislike of Tale Of Two cities, I mean

I mean, make up your mind Mr. Dickens! You can't have it both ways!

Thumbs down... way down.

Oops, sorry, guess that was a Freudian slip of sorts.

(I'll go edit it if I can).

fiver · 09-20-2009, 10:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wayspooled

I loved A Tale of Two Cities

and Mark Twain and Jane Austen.. and War and Peace before it gets listed.

I never liked Adam Bede, Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, Uncle Tom's Cabin or How Green Was My Valley.

I like Twain...just not Tom Sawyer. My favorite books are Life On the Mississippi and Joan of Arc - I remember being fascinated by both reading them outside of class in High School. There are still several major Twain novels I need to read though - I remember being underwhelmed by the collection Letters From the Earth though.

Regarding Camus...I'll probably revisit someday but I found The Stranger tedious also despite being a Cure fan

One of my favorite plays is No Exit by Sartre though.

Michael

wayspooled · 09-20-2009, 11:09 PM

Yeah, I like Twain in general, didn't care as much for Tom Sawyer as I did Huckleberry Finn, a better book in my opinion. Didn't like Letters From the Earth. My favs are Life on the Mississippi, Innocents Abroad, Connecticut Yankee.

WT Sharpe · 09-21-2009, 02:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sparrow

"Moby Dick" - obviously.

Did they have editors when that was published??

Agreed, and that's the very book that came to mind when I first saw the title of this thread. I found the endless chapters devoted to describing the various types of whales tiresome. I believe they're suppose to be some kind of allegory on social conditions or some such rubbish, but it just plain vexed me. The only reason I plowed through it was just to be able to say I had read it. War and Peace was long, but at least it was interesting; especially the parts speculating about how Napoleon might be the Antichrist (every generation has a candidate).

Reader's Digest could have done wonders with Melville.

WT Sharpe · 09-21-2009, 02:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kennyc

Ulysses - Joyce

I only got about one tenth of the way through Ulysses before I gave up. Joyce obviously has an immense storehouse of fascinating and diverse information within his cranium, but the book reads as if it were written under the influence of LSD. It was interesting for a while, but I got tired of wondering where it was all going.

WT Sharpe · 09-21-2009, 02:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fiver

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer - I know it's blasphemy to bring up any Twain but Huckleberry Finn is just worlds better than this book.

I liked Tom Sawyer, but you're right about Huckleberry Finn being worlds better; perhaps in part because it is still relevant. Despite the frequent use of that word, or maybe even because of it, Twain was able to deliver a powerful sermon on race without being "preachy." The gradual humanization of Jim from his first introduction as "Misses Watson's" property to "my friend" was flawless.

That being said, I'm not so sure children under a certain age are ready for it unless they can be made to understand what Twain is trying to convey.

Loose_Appeal · 09-21-2009, 03:00 AM

What's with all the Moby Dick hate? I was loving it a lot until I stumbled upon some Space Opera fiction.

I guess I could vouch Ulysses is an over hyped classic masterpiece, or maybe I'm just not intelligent enough to absorb the book. Apparently in the end it get's.... let's say, saucy?

Apparently the book made after Ulysses, Finnegan's Wake, is even more insanely complex. Can anyone vouch for that?

09-20-2009, 05:02 PM	#18
goodellboy Member Posts: 20 Karma: 284 Join Date: Feb 2009 Device: Kindle DX	I disliked Wuthering Heights, also. It was so overdramatic and the male characters were often crying their eyes out. It did not seem realistic to me. I really liked Madame Bovary, but the excellent translation that I lucked into reading may deserve a lot of the credit. All translations are definitely not created equal. Last edited by goodellboy; 09-20-2009 at 05:04 PM.

09-20-2009, 11:09 PM	#26
wayspooled Crab In The Dark Posts: 486 Karma: 2328180 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Virginia Device: Tablet PC until a 10" comes out that I like	Yeah, I like Twain in general, didn't care as much for Tom Sawyer as I did Huckleberry Finn, a better book in my opinion. Didn't like Letters From the Earth. My favs are Life on the Mississippi, Innocents Abroad, Connecticut Yankee. Last edited by wayspooled; 09-29-2009 at 11:17 PM.

09-21-2009, 03:00 AM	#30
Loose_Appeal Fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiish? Posts: 85 Karma: 162 Join Date: Sep 2009 Device: Current: PRS-650, Previous: Books	What's with all the Moby Dick hate? I was loving it a lot until I stumbled upon some Space Opera fiction. I guess I could vouch Ulysses is an over hyped classic masterpiece, or maybe I'm just not intelligent enough to absorb the book. Apparently in the end it get's.... let's say, saucy? Apparently the book made after Ulysses, Finnegan's Wake, is even more insanely complex. Can anyone vouch for that? Last edited by Loose_Appeal; 09-21-2009 at 03:04 AM.

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09-20-2009, 04:14 PM	#16
Gideon Wearer of Pants Posts: 1,050 Karma: 7634 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Norman, OK Device: Amazon Kindle DX / iPhone	Loved "Tale of Two Cities" - still one of my favorites. Also loved Camus' "The Plague" But I love Camus in general... "The Stranger" is a long time favorite. I'd put anything by Henry James on my list, and "Jane Eyre" - lord how I loathed that book. Henry James is just tedious.. his paragraphs go on for pages!

09-20-2009, 04:38 PM	#17
wayspooled Crab In The Dark Posts: 486 Karma: 2328180 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Virginia Device: Tablet PC until a 10" comes out that I like	I loved A Tale of Two Cities and Mark Twain and Jane Austen.. and War and Peace before it gets listed. I never liked Adam Bede, Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, Uncle Tom's Cabin or How Green Was My Valley.

09-20-2009, 05:08 PM	#20
goodellboy Member Posts: 20 Karma: 284 Join Date: Feb 2009 Device: Kindle DX	I may have seen every movie/ballet/musical version of Turn of the Screw that exists -- I love the story that much. But I've never been able to get through the book. Henry James's writing is so dry. I love his buddy Edith Wharton, though.

09-20-2009, 07:19 PM	#23
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 73,983 Karma: 128903378 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	A Passage to India is a rather dreadful book. It's just got nothing going for it. The characters are dull and wooden and wimpy. The setting is uninteresting. There is nothing really going on. And the only semi-likable character got killed off about 1/2 way through the book.

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