Overrated "Classic" novels

anxiousnut

anxiousnut

1
Have you ever been excited to read a "classic" that is so hailed by everyone and their mother only to be so disappointed you want to literally burn the book?

My top three most overrated and disappointing classics:

1) Catcher in the Rye--good god, I thought everything about this book was insufferable.
2) The Great Gatsby--just don't get how some enjoy this book or get anything out of it.
3) Moby Dick--wanted to shoot myself while reading this one.

Just my opinions and don't mean to offend anyone who likes these books.

What are your top three most overrated Classics???
 
Lea

Lea

Banned
I don't know because if I don't like something, I usually don't have the patience to read through all of it. Just remember I once tried to read Franz Kafka and it was so horrible, I can't remember why but I found it unreadable. So I gave it to my grandmother who used to like reading and she said it was unreadable too :D. (We must be cultural barbarians probably).
Another book I gave up reading was Da Vinci Code. Not saying it was bad, only somehow hard to digest (maybe it's because Im too stupid).

There are many that I liked though, if I like something, then on the other hand I get so immersed in it that I can't stop reading. One of them was Sophia's Choice from Styron and many others.
 
B

beastie

Active member
I don't think it's considered classic yet, but I started reading Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy and hated it. Although I do understand why some people would find it interesting, I couldn't stand his style of writing. No idea how it's considered one of the greatest novels of the 20th century. People find something unique and assume everyone should think it's genius. Sorry if that sounds mean at all.
 
Lorraine Manca

Lorraine Manca

Well-known member
perfect thread.

GREAT GATSBY is definately overrated, ah!

Walt whitman leaves of grass, holy moses, congrats to him on writing the most unbearable poetry. its good he celebrates himself cause i dont

and most of all.. anything by James Fenimore Cooper.
 
stephen

stephen

Well-known member
My wife bought me Nausea by Jean-Paul Sartre a few years back and I still haven't made it through the first couple of chapters. I'm not much of a reader though. Sometimes I will be reading a book only to find that I stopped paying attention several pages back. It's like my eyes are still reading but my brain is off doing it's own thing.
 
Tiercel

Tiercel

Well-known member
I wasn't crazy about Doctor Zhivago.

And how many assassins and just plain weirdos have owned a copy of The Catcher in the Rye? That's honestly the only reason I have it.

Uh-oh....

:D
 
lunarla

lunarla

Well-known member
I agree that Catcher in the Rye is a bit over rated, but I wouldn't really call it insufferable. Classic novel of teenage angst, really. Very self-involved, etc. I like it though, even still.
 
C

chained

1
Lea said:
I don't know because if I don't like something, I usually don't have the patience to read through all of it. Just remember I once tried to read Franz Kafka and it was so horrible, I can't remember why but I found it unreadable. So I gave it to my grandmother who used to like reading and she said it was unreadable too :D. (We must be cultural barbarians probably).
Another book I gave up reading was Da Vinci Code. Not saying it was bad, only somehow hard to digest (maybe it's because Im too stupid).

There are many that I liked though, if I like something, then on the other hand I get so immersed in it that I can't stop reading. One of them was Sophia's Choice from Styron and many others.
Click to expand...

Kafka is boring, but he has a good point, but i wouldnt have gotten it either if we han't analyzed it in class..
 
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