The Most Overrated Books Showing 3,851-3,900 of 5,680

[Leslie]

I am just as annoyed by authors who "tee hee" over the sexuality of their characters as I am over scenes that are all sex and no sexuality. The Sparrow is one that comes to mind that was trying to sell the sexually liberal nature of one of the prominent female characters, but the "active sex life" between her and her husband of decades was nothing more than silly sounds through a door heard by the other characters. It was ridiculous.

[Sandra]

I have read MD and GG multiple times (English teacher). I agree they're overrated. I think the "symbolism" in MD is so ambiguous as to be meaningless, the story plodding, slowed A LOT by all the whaling lore. The old Gregory Peck movie makes the story and symbolism consistent. The characters in the book almost save the book--almost. I personally don't like GG because the characters, except for Gatsby, seem stereotypical stick figures, and NONE have redeeming qualities, so it's really hard to identify with anyone. Again, the book's worth reading and teaching because there's a lot in the book for adolescents to discuss, including background, theme and values, and whether such people actually exist (along with all the literary--style, tone, etc). At least the novel's consistent in symbols and plot.
I hated Catcher. I know a whole lot of adolescents, and many are as troubled as the protagonist. They're much more likable than he. The voice in the novel is strong, but reprehensible for sensitive readers (many of my students) and compelling for others. To me, the plot seemed tedious and the characters shallow.
I agree that Atlas Sh is overrated because, although the plotting and storytelling show some merit, the philosophy back of the novel is so narrowly focused that it makes it hard for readers to take the novel very seriously.
Godot is so boring in performance that it is insufferable, literally. (No Exit is much better.)
Twilight needed a lot of editing. 50 pages of nuzzling is not only unrealistic, but very boring. The concept of the book is fairly entertaining. Code and Twil aren't on the level of the other novels listed. They're meant to be pure entertainment. T. must have succeeded on some level. It will be interesting to see if anyone reads the novel in 5-10-or 15 years. DaV Code is interestingly plotted, if transparent in its anti-religious bent. My husband attended the opus dei sponsored university, so we met many members of various levels in the order, and they AREN'T represented fairly in the novel at all. I fact checked a lot of the other assertions/assumptions in the book, which are patently erroneous in many areas, questionable in others. The assumptions are what soured me on this "entertainment."

[Karen]

Sandra wrote: "I have read MD and GG multiple times (English teacher). I agree they're overrated. I think the "symbolism" in MD is so ambiguous as to be meaningless, the story plodding, slowed A LOT by all the ..."

I loved Holden in The Catcher in The Rye, I found him very likable, and he did remind me of some of my 7th grade students who went on to HIgh School and hopefully turned out okay.

[Petergiaquinta]

Sandra wrote: "My husband attended the opus dei sponsored university, so we met many members of various levels in the order, and they AREN'T represented fairly in the novel at all. I fact checked a lot of the other assertions/assumptions in the book, which are patently erroneous in many areas, questionable in others. The assumptions are what soured me on this "entertainment."

I suppose whalers wouldn't much like the way they're presented in Moby Dick, either.

[Karen]

Petergiaquinta wrote:
"I suppose whalers wouldn't much like the way they're presented in Moby Dick, either."

LOL !

[Leslie]

BLOCK

[Kallie]

Petergiaquinta wrote: "I suppose whalers wouldn't much like the way they're presented in Moby Dick, either. ..."

Or whales. Moby Dick was so vengeful and sneaky.

[Leslie]

Kallie wrote: "Or whales. Moby Dick was so vengeful and sneaky."

That's what I love about that whale! :)

[Kallie]

Leslie wrote: "BLOCK"


Agreed, and also about the pressure to like something a friend loaned or recommended. And to go further with the friend and books thing, I find it awkward to read and comment on a friend's writing when they push their idea of admirable or sexy or courageous or whatever through a character too much based on themselves. Any character should have a life of her/his own.

[Leslie]

Kallie wrote: "Leslie wrote: "BLOCK"


Agreed.

I find it awkward to read and comment on a friend's writing when they push their idea of admirable or sexy or courageous or whatever through a character too much based on themselves. Any character should have a life of her/his own."

That is awkward! I've encountered that, and also in over-interpretations of stories where folks insist a writer is presenting themselves in a character when it isn't necessarily the case. No only should the writer let the character have a life of his/her own, so should the reader remember to separate the two.

[Matt]

The Road and Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy. I liked his other novels, but I just couldn't stand these two.

[Leslie]

Matt wrote: "The Road and Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy. I liked his other novels, but I just couldn't stand these two."

The Road seems like a book that, at least for me, was doomed to fail. I think it suffers from the spoiler spread. For me, knowing how it ends removes all tension from the story's struggle. Without any question that they are going to reach a certain destination, going through near-starvation scenes and stranger encounter one after another, knowing that they would find food and avoid danger, was just tedious. It may have been an entirely different book for me reading it fresh. I appreciated the relationship between the man and his son, so I tried to focus on that, and it was well done. And perhaps knowing the ending and having to endure the plodding meaninglessness of the journey and ultimately dead ending is supposed to be the point.

[Laila]

Moby Dick

[Petergiaquinta]

Edward wrote: "How the fuck would you know? ."

How would I know what, Edward? The way whalers would like to be represented in fiction? I dunno...less ambergris, more scrimshaw?

Or are you inquiring about someone else's assertion about Opus Dei? It sure would help if you used the "reply" function more artfully. I'm not sure if I'm supposed to take offense or just make sorry clucking noises while I shake my head.

But I bet the folks in your life would appreciate it if you went back on your medication...

[Jeff]

Petergiaquinta wrote: "Edward wrote: "How the fuck would you know? ."

How would I know what, Edward? The way whalers would like to be represented in fiction? I dunno...less ambergris, more scrimshaw?

Or are you inquiri..."

Someone I know is having far too much fun on the discussion board tonight. Remember, the doctor said to limit your verbal drubbings to one per day.

[Leslie]

There's a pill for that.

[Renee E]

Too late for birth control, Leslie.

[Leslie]

You may not have been paying attention in sex ed. I don't know how they teach it in the South, Renee...but you can't get pregnant from verbal drubbings... ;)

[Renee E]

Retroactive birth control :D

Guess Dr. Who would have to get involved, or a tardis hijacking.

[Leslie]

Oh - ha!!

[Cassidy]

Twilight for sure. The characters are wooden and lifeless, there pretty much is no plot until the last 50 pages, and its popularity lies in the fact that it substitutes for teen romance O_o

[Rachel]

Catcher in the Rye, I don't know about Twilight but Catcher is definitely my choice. I don't understand why people liked it so much, the whole book was a mess, reading it made me frustrating. The only thing I found interesting was the idea of Holden was actually in a psychiatric hospital (see? even people in his world knows that he's crazy). If you liked it, do enlighten me, because I HATED THAT BOOK.

[Rachel]

Catcher in the Rye, I don't know about Twilight but Catcher is definitely my choice. I don't understand why people liked it so much, the whole book was a mess, reading it made me frustrating. The only thing I found interesting was the idea of Holden was actually in a psychiatric hospital (see? even people in his world knows that he's crazy). If you liked it, do enlighten me, because I HATED THAT BOOK.

[Rachel]

Cemre wrote: "Why do you spend your time hating a fictional story ? Have they forced you to read it at school ?"

Nope, I'm angry because I was expecting something good from that book. Since it has such high ratings. I'm just pissed, disappointed to be exact. I just couldn't bring myself to like it, I just can't. Why do you like it so much?

[Kallie]

Catcher and Wide Sargasso Sea are among my favorite books. These loves/likes/dislikes/hatreds are about one's personal connection with a book. A book resonates for you or it doesn't. I liked Catcher and Sargasso (both of which I have read more than once) because the voices telling those stories conjured a real person, an interesting, unique person for whom I felt a lot of empathy.

[Anne Hawn]

Cemre wrote: "In my understanding there can be two reasons for hating a book or a movie etc.
1-They affected the world badly and introduced bad ideas ( Mein Kampf etc.)

2- They ruined a thing you like. ( you..."

I find myself "hating" a book when it is by an ordinarily good author who has cranked out a poor book to satisfy the publishing industry's timetable (or because they need the money). I feel that they have used their own name to pass on shoddy goods. I hated James Mitchener's The Drifters because of that. I also "hated" Joyce Carol Oates' Mysteries of Winterthurn for the same reason. I stopped reading Martha Grimes' mysteries ditto...the last few books of hers that I read had the "1000 word essay" disease...write until you reach the required number of words or pages and then end the story...without a well thought out conclusion.

Obviously "hate" really is the wrong word since it involves a much stronger emotion that I am talking about, but it is shorthand for "thoroughly disgusted because they took advantage of their loyal readers and disappointed that they would allow inferior work to be published under their name."

Also, Edward...please try to communicate with us instead of just throwing out a group of words that have no context. I'm starting to skip what you say because it doesn't make sense and I don't have time to mess with it. This isn't a journal where you are writing for yourself, it's a discussion group. (The curmudgeon now retires...)

[Mochaspresso]

Can we talk about how different people choose to critique books? I fail to understand vague criticisms like "the book has no plot". One not liking the plot or not thinking that it is a "good" plot does not mean that the plot does not exist. Nor is that enough of a reason (imo) to completely invalidate the opinion of someone else. Goodreads reviews are full of vague declarations like "no plot", "wooden characters" with no explanation of what one actually means. Not liking a character does not make them "wooden and lifeless". Also, "wooden and lifeless" doesn't necessarily make any character or any book "bad"....Bartleby the Scrivener?

Twilight has it's flaws. I readily admit that, but to say that it is no plot is not a valid criticism, and I am not just saying this because I happened to enjoy it. Twilight does have a plot. In fact, all of the basic narrative elements are present in Twilight, in 50 Shades and in just about every fiction book that has been mentioned in this thread to date.

[Anne Hawn]

Mochaspresso wrote: "Can we talk about how different people choose to critique books? I fail to understand vague criticisms like "the book has no plot". One not liking the plot or not thinking that it is a "good" pl..."

When I was first learning to drive, my sister and I used to go on back-roads to get more practice. We had a nickle that we used whenever we came to a crossroads. We flipped the nickle to see which direction to go. On the other hand, when I needed to go somewhere important, I followed the best roads I needed to get there.

That is basically the difference between no plot and a plot. In the first I was just driving around heading nowhere, but just looking at the scenery. That could be a plot if you tied it together as a travelogue, but you would need to gather it under an umbrella such as "Wandering in Rural Virginia" or "Learning to drive" and link it together. A book like "Wandering" would not be plot driven since there was no particular goal. The book would be "character driven" with the various scenery would be the "character."

If I called my book "Learning to drive," it would have a weak plot since I didn't do anything but describe roads. You would call it "no plot" or a "weak plot" because my descriptions didn't match the stated purpose of the book.

Sometimes a writer is just using a book format to string a long list of car chases, crashes, fights and killing together or a long list of sexual encounters with no form or organization. That would be no plot. Other times a writer with a little more skill will try to give some organization or purpose to a book, but not really go anywhere. That would be a weak plot. This often happens when a type of book becomes popular, like Harry Potter, and writers jump on the bandwagon and write a similar version but they don't have a lot of skill. That's a formula plot.

You have a great point in your post. Sometimes we say that a book doesn't have a plot when we mean it doesn't have a very complex or well developed plot. I have some favorite cozy mysteries that have a very simple plot. They have some outrageous character you know is going to be killed and an amateur sleuth who solves the mystery. They have appeal because the author is good at characterization or the plot has a setting people like to read about. There is nothing wrong with that kind of book. I wouldn't nominate that it to be studied in a literary society, but it's a perfectly good book for relaxing and just enjoying something you don't have to work to understand.

I hope that helps.

[Mona]

The only one I agree with on this list is "Atlas Shrugged". I don't think Ayn Rand is a good writer. I've read "The Catcher in the Rye", "Moby Dick", "The Great Gatsby", "Waiting for Godot" and "Ulysses" and they are all great books. I've also read "The Da Vinci Code", and while it's not a great book, it is entertaining. I did not read "The Stranger" or "Twilight", so I cannot comment on them.

[David]

Moby Dick reads like an encyclopedia on whales; you might as well be reading the Encyclopedia Britannica.

[Leslie]

One might as well not read at all.

[Matt]

Leslie wrote: "Matt wrote: "The Road and Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy. I liked his other novels, but I just couldn't stand these two."

The Road seems like a book that, at least for me, was doomed to fail. ..."

I didn't know how The Road was going to end, so I didn't have that problem. I did think the story was slow. I kept waiting for something interesting to happen. The only two interesting parts were the scenes with the marauders and the cannibals, but that was about it.
I thought that the relationship between the father and son seemed distant. I would have preferred a closer relationship between them. More dialogue between them would have been better.
I was very annoyed with how many times McCarthy used the words "ash" and "grey" in the novel. I thought about inventing a drinking game where you have to take a shot every time those words are mentioned. I don't think you would get very far.
Hopefully his next novel will be better.

[Paul Martin]

David wrote: "you might as well be reading the Encyclopedia Britannica."

I've heard some good things about that one.

[Karen]

David wrote: "Moby Dick reads like an encyclopedia on whales; you might as well be reading the Encyclopedia Britannica."

I think there is more to the novel than that. :)

[max]

Skipping the Great Gatsby? What a ludicrous recommendation. Although curiously the novel received a lukewarm reception when it was first published in 1925, it is widely recognized by a broad consensus of readers as one of the greatest American novels of all time. If you are an American reader and you found Gatsby overrated, either you did not read it carefully enough or the novel is too sophisticated for you to understand. Forget what happened in your h.s. English class. The novel is a multi-dimensional masterpiece for reasons that are way too numerous to enlarge upon here.

[Leslie]

Karen wrote: "David wrote: "Moby Dick reads like an encyclopedia on whales; you might as well be reading the Encyclopedia Britannica."

I think there is more to the novel than that. :)"

Your first mistake, Karen, is thinking...one has to not think in order to come to the above-stated conclusion. Stop thinking, and you'll agree perfectly that Moby Dick is a pointless bore. Got it? ;)

See that's sarcasm...also useful when reading Moby Dick.

[Anne Hawn]

Cemre wrote: "@Anne Hawn Smith
Holden has an inner goal though. He must accept that growing up and dying are essential parts of life , he also tries to find someone who can listen to him. Whether he could do the..."

That is the kind of book that has a "character driven" plot. The actual events in Holden's life are less important than the fact that he can't resolve them. Salinger chooses various crisis causing elements and lets us into Holden's mind to see how they affect him. If I had to diagram a plot, I'd do it like this"

Suicide, death of brother, being expelled > Holden leaves school and wanders becoming more and more unstable > Holden's sister's love pulls him back from the edge (crisis) > Holden gets help.

[Kallie]

Anne Hawn wrote: "Cemre wrote: "@Anne Hawn Smith
Holden has an inner goal though. He must accept that growing up and dying are essential parts of life , he also tries to find someone who can listen to him. Whether h..."

Exactly, there are character driven plots -- plots concerned with whether and how the character grows or not. The process of bringing the reader to believe in the character growth (or lack), through skillful narrative and characterization, could also be called a plot. Captain Ahab doesn't grow; he meets his doom. Ishmael grows.

[Leslie]

Kallie wrote: "Anne Hawn wrote: "Cemre wrote: "@Anne Hawn Smith
Holden has an inner goal though. He must accept that growing up and dying are essential parts of life , he also tries to find someone who can listen..."

Ishmael is one of the most fascinating and entertaining characters in literature...it just boggles my mind to hear his story referred to as "pointless" and "boring" but...he just doesn't manage to entertain everyone. If I had to choose a fictional character to spend a day with, he'd definitely be on the list.

[Kallie]

Leslie wrote: "Kallie wrote: "Anne Hawn wrote: "Cemre wrote: "@Anne Hawn Smith
Holden has an inner goal though. He must accept that growing up and dying are essential parts of life , he also tries to find someone..."

I definitely want to spend time with Ishamel again. First I am going to read 'Pierre' because I've been meaning to do that for quite a while.

[Karen]

Paul Martin wrote;

"I've heard some good things about that one."

Lol

[Karen]

Cemre wrote;
"but ı still think hate much too strong an emotion for The Catcher in the Rye. (Unless you're a huge fan of John Lennon, then it's justified.)"

I don't think The Catcher in the Rye has anything to do with John Lennon-certainly one should be able to separate the novel from a tragedy that happened 34 years ago.

[Monty J]

Rachel wrote: "Catcher in the Rye, I don't know about Twilight but Catcher is definitely my choice. I don't understand why people liked it so much, the whole book was a mess, reading it made me frustrating. The o..."

This review may help: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Kallie]

Cemre wrote: "I understand you. Sometimes books don't turn out as you expected them to be, this happened to me with Wide Sargossa Sea ( although I don't hate it that much) , and that's why hype is bad. Salinger ..."

Cemre, just curious to know, did you like Jean Rhys's other novels? I think they give a really good idea of what being an unmarried woman -- attractive but with no money and no family -- would have been like in Britain and France in the 1920s.

[[deleted user]]

Quite frankly I don't see why the plot is so important, I merely consider it a way through which the author expresses his/her own ideas, concerns and whatnot. I mean is the Metamorphosis by Kafka one of the best short stories I ever read because of its plot? Absolutely not. As a matter of fact all I really take interest in is the quality of the writing: is it well written? What is it better than? etc. The aesthetic value should never be overlooked in my opinion. It isn't the only quality (I also judge fictional works on their wisdom and the power of thought that it stirs).

[Kallie]

Cemre wrote: "@Kallie
Unfortunately, ı haven't read her other novels, what would you recommend ?"

I would start with Voyage in the Dark, because it is early in the Rhys story. My impression is that the stories are based on her life. But read the reviews. People either love Rhys for her writing, which is remarkable, or hate the sadness and loneliness in her novels.

[Anne Hawn]

max wrote: "Skipping the Great Gatsby? What a ludicrous recommendation. Although curiously the novel received a lukewarm reception when it was first published in 1925, it is widely recognized by a broad cons..."

I agree!

[Anne Hawn]

Sebastian wrote: "Quite frankly I don't see why the plot is so important, I merely consider it a way through which the author expresses his/her own ideas, concerns and whatnot. I mean is the Metamorphosis by Kafka o..."

This boggles my mind! "Metamorphosis" means change. If the character changes then the plot is the story of the change. If there is no plot then this isn't a story, it is an essay.

[Ananya]

deleted user wrote: "Which books do you think are overrated?

Here's a quick sampling from various internet sites that recommend skipping these:
The Catcher in the Rye
Moby Dick
The Great Gatsby
Waiting for Godot
The..."
I would disagree with the catcher in the rye as that book touched me.I felt for the author nd the character while reading it.

[Gary]

Cemre wrote: "Can you give us an example of a fictional book without plot ?"

Naked Lunch maybe....