What classic books are the most overrated (novel, characters, teenage)

[High_Plains_Retired]

Beowulf had me holding a gun to my head. On the other hand, Bram Stoker's Count Dracula had me wanting a gun with silver bullets.

[kevxu]

Originally Posted by High_Plains_Retired

...Bram Stoker's Count Dracula had me wanting a gun with silver bullets.

Only a stake through the heart works.

[Mightyqueen801]

Originally Posted by Soda120

Catcher in the Rye did nothing for me. I don't remember the plot (if it had one). All I remember is Holden Caufield, or Caufield Holden, maybe William Holden?

Me, neither, but oddly enough my daughter loved the book when she had to read it in high school.

All I really remember about Catcher in the Rye is a scene where he pops a pimple or something.

[jtur88]

I tried to re-read Kerouac's "On the Road" a few years ago. It was dreadful, I gave up after about 30 pages. How come nobody has mentioned "Ivanhoe" and the other tripe by Walter Scott? I don't think Faulkner has stood up very well.

Yes, Anna Karenina says nothing, but says it with mind-blowingly beautiful style. I can tell that even from the English translation. I can't imagine what it must be like to be able to read it in Russian. I will never finish reading it---I wall always go back and just open it at random and bask in it.

Ayn Rand is not literature, it's just a pot-boiler that people fall in love with because it validates their economic and social philosophy. As did "On the Road".

[lolagranola]

Oh I just ADORE Anna Karenina!
It was absolutely beautifully written...yes, I agree, it must be wonderful in Russian!
It tells a story (well, 2 stories) that are still relevant today. (Levin's self-discovery, Anna's dis-satisfaction & demise)
It painted a clear picture of Russian pre-revolution society.

Those of you who hated it: send me your copies! I'll treasure them!

[Mooseketeer]

"Ulysses" and "Portrait of the Artist as young man". Not many books have defeated me but I have finally decided that life is too short for such utter crap. James Joyce might be considered a Genius and his works seminal but I would rather tattoo my own eyeballs than try to wade through those again.

"Catcher in the Rye"by Salinger . Still do not get all the fuss about it. I didn't find it well written ,perceptive, interesting and I wanted to kick the main protagonist in his arrogant little derriere the whole time. If that truly is a picture of teenage years then we might as well just all jump off a very high cliff.... Loathed that book. With a passion. Another I simply could not quite bring myself to finish.

Anything by Jane Austen. I realise this will be considered sacrilege by so many people but I do not get the appeal at all. I don't get the humour, the "wit" and find it unendurably dull and chick-lit so light it makes my eyes water. Snooze fest central. Why read Austen when Thackeray was such a more brilliant satirist IMO ? "Vanity Fair" , now that to me is brilliant social satire.



"The Great Gatsby". A readable book but grossly over rated. I read it in under an hour and did not find anything in it which made me want to linger and savour. Obvious and written in a rather facile style. Not my thing at all. Not Fitzgerald at his best.

All of Shakespeare's comedies. I adore his tragedies and histories ( apart from "Cymbeline") but I will never for the likes of me understand the appeal of " Midsummer's night Dream", " Much ado about Nothing" etc.... I have read them, seen them on the stage and screen and "Meh". Grossly over-rated again. The Bard should have stuck to Drama IMO. "Taming of the Shrew" is about the only one of his comedy I can appreciate.




I am one of those freaks who adores Russian Litterature though. Give me Chekov, Dostoievski, or Tolstoy and I am a happy Bunny... I find Russians extremely good at pinpointing human weaknesses and foibles and their sense of melancholy always appeals to me.

And I adore Walter Scott too. A Great Neo Gothic author. I had read most of his books by the age of 10 and it made me even more interested in History.

I agree about Kerouac 's "The Road". Dull, dull, dull.

[CA4Now]

Originally Posted by High_Plains_Retired

Bram Stoker's Count Dracula had me wanting a gun with silver bullets.

That's one of my favorite books EVER! Overrated, IMO, is, as someone else mentioned, The Sun Also Rises.

[Hamish Forbes]

Originally Posted by jtur88

I tried to re-read Kerouac's "On the Road" a few years ago. It was dreadful, I gave up after about 30 pages. How come nobody has mentioned "Ivanhoe" and the other tripe by Walter Scott? I don't think Faulkner has stood up very well.

Ayn Rand is not literature, it's just a pot-boiler that people fall in love with because it validates their economic and social philosophy. As did "On the Road".

Just about my sentiments exactly. Ivanhoe? Oh, mercy! Please, not again, ever! Kerouac? Aargh. Rubbish! Atlas Shrugged? About as subtle as a Buick through a plate-glass window, as they used to say (same for the recent movie). I also found James Fenimore Cooper's work to be quite dopey.

But I did enjoy Robinson Crusoe, most of Hemingway (also Steinbeck), and Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, which several other posters have found lacking. Another stalwart (although probably neither literature nor a classic) that I read and then re-read 50 years later was Kon Tiki, which I enjoyed greatly both times (these guys were either really brave or really nuts, or both).

[Debsi]

Originally Posted by lolagranola

Loved Jane Eyre! But, yeah, mention Hemmingway & I start making hairball-sounds.

I'm with you on both points.

As to Tolstoy etc, I've never taken pleasure in reading Russian literature as I don't enjoy wallowing in melancholy, but there are certainly many classic, important works.

And I'll second Moosie on Ulysses. Oy. One of the few books I never finished, although I made it at least 75% of the way through.

[jtur88]

A couple of minor classics that I quit reading very early on (for very different reasons) were Burroughs Naked Lunch and Bulgakov's Master in Margaritaville (sp?).

As for Catcher in the Rye, it never pretended to be good literature of a kind that would appeal to an adult and literate person. It was a cult breakthrough, which was read and revered by teenagers at a time when they were on the brink of, for the first time in western culture, seeking a justification for disobeying dogmatic orthodoxy. Nobody ever said the Bible was great literature, either, but it was what it was to the faithful.