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Most overrated book?
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Still a stunning read though imo. Loved the sparseness of the text and the way it painted such a picture of a world where hope had pretty much left. Definitely one of my favourite reads of the last couple of years, along with Island by Alastair McLeod
Agreed, stunning piece of work, shame the ending went of the rails.
Film adaptation is actually pretty good too, although some of the more harrowing imagery is left out of the film.
I got that far and I own the thing. I got annoyed with it.
Twilight - 1/3rd though and decided i didn't care about the charactors.
Couldn't get into the Time travellers wife either.
a tip. don't bother
Birdsong - fantastic - I love Sebastian Faulks
Dan Brown - tosh
the Bible - boring and only good for brainwashing folk into believing in a god, in my opinion
I'm ploughing my way through Middlemarch at the moment -hmmm
and the Steig Larsson trilogy was great I thought
I loved The Time Travellers Wife, Birdsong, The Harry Potter series, and Twilight. Enjoyed The Road, if thats the right description.
Moby's Dick is about the only book I've never finished, and also Mein Kampf.
- what more can you want from a book?
Harry Potter - sorry but i just do not get it.
Quite enjoyed Da Vinci Code at the time but wouldn't pick it up again and still haven't started his latest, fancy reading it just out of curiosity. The previous books plots are very similar, he has clearly stuck to a formula and I suspect his latest will be the same.
I loved the Harry Potters though I did think it was a bit drawn out towards the end. Maybe a 4 book series not 7.
Twilight I've not been tempted with. Teenage vampires .... don't think I'd connect with the characters. Da Vinci code I read a the top of the type - decent if far fetched plot, poorly written. Not read any of his others.
Time Travellers Wife I quite enjoyed <oh err missus> but I haven't seen the film. Birdsong I loved, the newest SF is waiting here for me to finish the Steig Larsson.
We Need To Talk About Kevin .... now that's a book which kept me reading when I should have been sleeping. Never saw the twist in the end coming. Read some more Lionel Shriver but she's never come close again.
It is all about the characters and the way they are portrayed. I've got to have some connection or empathy with them or I don't care about the book.
My 3 favourites
But, DtS those 3 are all essentially the same book written from the perspective of different people.
I know its a slag off not big up thread but had to agree with TP here.
Our very own Minky recommended it to me
Another vote for the Da Vinci Code. Big pile of drivel.
Couldn't get into the Stog Larssen books, but I might give the one I've got a second go.
Black Books by Hilary Mantel is also garbage, just didn't care enough about the chararcters to finish reading it.
I'm currently reading Wicked which I bought and struggled with last year, put down then decided to try again.
Paul Coelho's The Alchemist - apparently it's brilliant.
Pile of wanky rubbish more like.
Bad
Good
Vanity Fair - fantastic
TP/Beebs - I'm taking up your recommendation and I've ordered "We need to talk about Kevin"
Oops...I read that as ' a magic charismatic rabbit'
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time. Crappy title, crappy book. The literary equivalent of cous-cous.
The ending of Atonement annoyed me so much I determined never to read anything by McEwan again and do you know what, I never have.
Having finished Atonement, I had to ask somebody else to explain what happened in the end as it didn't make any sense. Most disappointing.
Pride & Prejudice, I first read it at school and completely failed to understand wtf Elizabeth was up to - have some back bone, woman! I still don't like it, but I suppose with age has come some level of understanding. It still leaves me frustrated and wanting to shake her. (although I'll drool over Colin Firth if necessary)
Read Dan Brown on holiday, and it filled the bill - featherlight and not at all taxing. Is it me or does he write the same book and give it different titles? They're all basically the same plot - reading them back to back gives you a dreadful feeling of deja vu.
Wow, I detested We Need to Talk About Kevin,
I thought it was overwritten, pretentious and unconvincing. Only his mother sees that Kevin has "a bit of a problem" despite all the evidence - yeah right.
Jodie Picoult's Nineteen Minutes is slightly more lowbrow but treats the same subject matter much more sucessfully.
Just bringing a but of balance to the discussion folks
Another vote for Wuthering Heights - one of only four books I didn't bother to finish.
The other three were total pants as well but I doubt they would be considered over-rated. They were just pish from the outset and I don't even remember the titles or authors.
Famous books I finished but I failed to enjoy:
Da Vinci Code - read it pretty much in a day on holiday. Gripping at the time but I was left with a feeling of having wasted a day. Definitely wouldn't read another of his.
The Pillars of the Earth - starts off ok but then turns into some bizarre soap opera yawn-a-thon. Felt like he didn't know how to finish so just kept on writing, for hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of pages.... Wouldn't read any more of his either.
Ditto Lord of the Rings trilogy (though I was 14 at the time - perhaps I would think differently now)