I have two overrated: 'Moby Dick' and 'War and Peace'. Both were crashing bores, but I read them all the way through so I never have to read them again!
Underrated: this was tough to pick. I love reading mysteries and a lot of writers in this genre get little or no respect in popular culture. They'll get good reviews, but their work is looked on as disposable literature.
'H for Homicide' by Sue Grafton, the 8th book in her Kinsey Milhone series, is the best of the "alphabet mysteries". I read it maybe 10 years ago, and the story has still stayed with me. Kinsey goes undercover to expose a car insurance fraud ring... which sounds boring, but it was very intense. Comes with a "Holy sh!t!" surprise ending, too!
2006-12-17 22:08:51 · 14 answers · asked by Anonymous in Arts & Humanities ➔ Books & Authors
Overrated: Anything by the beats (Kerouac, Ginsberg, etc.) Just because you do drugs and write poetry, doesn't mean it is fantastic lit! Also overrated is Salinger. Catcher was a pointless book that and the writing was just mediocre.
Underrated: Science fiction as a genre. There is so much depth in books by Heinlein, but people dismiss this genre as a whole.
2006-12-18 01:24:22 · answer #1 · answered by hotdoggiegirl 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Great Question
Some books I found overrated, usually recommended to me as a MUST read:
War and Peace - How can a war be so boring?
Crime and Punishment - After the 300th or 400th page of wallowing in his own pity I wanted to murder him with an axe
Slaughterhouse V: I didn't find this book entertaining at all, in fact it hardly made any sense.
Catcher in the Rye: Just completely average to me, but is constantly praised as a classic
Atlas Shrugged: Good ideas, but extremely dull and long winded, I must prefered The Fountainhead
The ideas might be brilliant, but come on drop a real plot in there somewhere.
Underrated is sort of hard to say, because most books I find most of the authors I like without recommendations so I don't have preconcieved notions. I'll throw in some that get bad names because of snubbing.
Harry Potter series is very good, not the best written I've ever encounterd, but it's entertaining and clever. It gets put off as childish though
Stephen King: I don't really like horror but he does have a great eye for suspense
David Eddings' Elenium and Tamuli series. Good fantasy with hilarious dialogue. I usually here people praising the Belgariad over these but I much prefered them.
2006-12-18 08:19:11 · answer #2 · answered by Kevin 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Moby Dick was truly the most awful book I have ever read. I forced myself to finish reading it just so I could say that I have read it, but never again! It was just terrible.
But since you've chosen that as your worst, I'll pick another. I read "A Child Called It" as an adult (most people read this in high school or younger). I honestly couldn't get past the fact that this book was written with the intent of becoming a novel, and that much of what David Pelzer was writing was *probably* exaggerated for that reason. Child abuse is no joke and I am not saying that he wasn't badly abused. I just don't know how much of this novel was genuine and how much came from his imagination.
As for underrated books, it is difficult to choose just one. There are hundreds of amazing books that fly under the radar for many reasons. I don't know how underrated it actually is, but "Buffalo Soldier" by Chris Bojalian is one of my new favorite books. It is about a white married couple who had lost their twin daughters in a terrible flood, and they ended up taking in a black orphaned boy. It is an amazing story of the hardships endured by a family and I recommend this book to anyone.
2006-12-18 05:58:17 · answer #3 · answered by EvilFairies 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Johnny Thunders Stuff Walter entice became in contact in (The Waldos, The Heroes, The Blessed, etc.) Blue Cheer MC5 Yardbirds John Cale's solo artwork The lifeless Boys Boz Scaggs BA: i do no longer checklist human beings besides. I DID get 7 violations notices the day previous nonetheless. :(. BA2: Chocolate chip.. BA3: it relatively is up there. (hah. punny?) BA4: suitable now, it relatively is night Watch by making use of a few Russian author whose call i will't remember/spell wisely off the acceptable of my head. BA5: David ******* Bowie. (he's a action picture star, no?)
2016-10-15 04:08:21 · answer #4 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Seriously Overated - The bible.......Mien Kamf, American Psycho, and
Slightly overated Da Vinci Code....(Angels and Demons was a much better book.)
River God - Wilbur Smith
Underated - Anything written by Karin Slaughter..Tobisha Learner or James Patterson......
Impulse - Michael Weaver
One book that has really stayed with me through the years is The Shattered Horse - by S P Somtow......I read it when i was 12, im now 26 and have never forgotten it.
2006-12-17 22:24:46 · answer #5 · answered by Mintjulip 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Seriously overrated: The Catcher in the Rye. What a horribly boring and uneventful book. I could have cared less what happened to Holden.
I've never really read a book and thought of it as underrated. I'll have to think about that one a bit.
2006-12-18 01:59:33 · answer #6 · answered by Jessica H 2 · 3⤊ 0⤋
By far the most overrated book of all time is the Da Vinci Code-what a load of crap, it's badly written sensationalist toss ripping of the work of pseudo historians, if it wasn't so controversial no body would have ever heard of it it is utter toss.
underrated-anything by John Irving it amazes me how many people I've meet who read a lot but haven't heard of him apart from maybe the film adaptations of Garp and Hotel new Hampshire.
2006-12-18 02:36:16 · answer #7 · answered by H 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Overrated : Harry Potter (any of them), The DaVinci Code...those are the two that jump to mind immediately!
Underrated: Sarah Smith, especially Citizen of the Country......like you, I believe that mystery writers in general are overlooked. Sarah Smith writes wonderfully deep, tense, prosaic mysteries.
2006-12-17 23:54:11 · answer #8 · answered by aidan402 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Overrated - anything recommended by Oprah. Underrated - The Emporer of Ocean Park. Can't remember author but it is excellent. Part sociology study, part mystery.
2006-12-17 22:22:12 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
Most overrated I think was Tree of Man. It is supposed to be a good literary work but I found it boring to read.
2006-12-17 22:23:37 · answer #10 · answered by Keith 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋