over rated books

a few books come to mind. the first would have to be 'american psycho.' wow. i can't remember the last time i've been so bored by a book. to be fair, i only read the first half. still, 200 pages of the main character describing what people are wearing and eating or about him going out to a club with a murder every so often. and there was a whole chapter where he talked about genesis. give me a break. i realize the book is trying to make a point about how the upper class can be just as deviant as anyone else, but i think it could be done without repeating a handful of scenerios over and over and over.
the others i can think of are most books by chuck palahniuk. after reading everything of this except his non-fiction stuff and 'invisible monsters' i feel i can safely say that his work seems pretty much paint by numbers. what do all his books have in common? abuse of one's own body, identity confusion, same style narrator voice, main characters are social outcasts working on the fringes of society, weird jobs and/or habits and hobbies, anti climatic endings. don't get me wrong, i like his stuff, i just wish he would try and do something different. he did recently do a book of non fiction, so i'll give him the benefit of a doubt.
also overrated, most poets, even bukowski i'd say, and i absolutely love bukowski.

The Firm

i thought the fight club book was lame. i think maybe because i saw the movie first. can you fairly judge a book that way, probably not

edited to say, woops, didnt read all of your post the first time through, ms n, but i see you think chuck sucks as a writer as well. and maybe fincher is a better director than chuck is a writer

[Edited on Sep 08, 2004 by nerdboy2345]

the Da Vinci Code. this book has sold millions of copies. it is complete and utter crap, and Dan Brown is a melodramatic hack.

The Grapes of Wrath was a boring, drawn out piece of shit. I don't care if it is an "American classic". It sucked.

i think all chris palahniuk books are overrated.. his gimmickry disguised as creativity makes me sick.. and bored

The Palahniuk Hate will probably be very welcome here...

Well, what do you expect from a Canadian?

Seriously, I'm probably one of six people in America who didn't like The Catcher in the Rye. I thought it was whiny, self-obsessed, and overrated.

There, I said it. Flame away, if you dare.

I hated Confederacy of Dunces.

THANK you!

and here i thought i was alone in the palahniuk displeasure. well, i have to say, if he didnt write fight club, there wouldnt be a cool fight club movie. it worked better as a movie, but i think it had all the right pieces, director and actor wise. unless you guys think the movie sucked as well

I couldn't finish Catcher. It was just... annoying.

MisterSatan said:
...Seriously, I'm probably one of six people in America who didn't like The Catcher in the Rye. I thought it was whiny, self-obsessed, and overrated...

QUOTE]


i just thought it was boring, as was "to kill a mockingbird"

rock on. thats a book i had to read for school (im sure most of us did). nothing special at all. years later i find so many college kids singing its praises and swearing by it. i never got it

The Holy Bible

i dont think its fair to refer to any book as over rated.... people read/talk about a book if they like it, so apperently some people have to like all the books mentioned, just cause its not your thing doesnt mean it doesnt have something appealing to some people

The Satanic Verses

Naked Lunch

[Edited on Sep 08, 2004 by stockula]

just as the masses of have have an opinion to like a book (or movie or cd) a lot, i have my opinion that says "i dont like it, i dont see what the big deal is, and i dont see why all these people rave about this book. i think its over rated."

Thanks for reminding me that I need to re-read 'The Catcher in the Rye'.

I also need to re-read Faulkner's "Sound and the Fury" which confounded me in my stoner HS years ... I think I might still owe someone a paper.

[Edited on Sep 08, 2004 by crispy]