Of all the authors I've read, Dan Brown was the most overrated. When I finished Angels and Demons, I thought it was complete drivel. I could barely get 1/3 of the way through The Da Vinci Code.
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Of all the authors I've read, Dan Brown was the most overrated. When I finished Angels and Demons, I thought it was complete drivel. I could barely get 1/3 of the way through The Da Vinci Code.
I agree with that. That's really what separates Huxley and Orwell. Orwell was always a journalist at heart, and even his novels are in some form journalism. He was extremely observant, and 1984 is showing the world what's already happened in Russia, but applying it to the rest of the world.Quote:
Originally Posted by JBI
I found Dan Brown's books entertaining in an intellectually devoid sort of way, a bit like watching the latest explosion-happy Hollywood movie.
Eh... she innovated Free indirect speech about 90 years before the modernists, and quite effectively, as many critics and readers would agree.Quote:
Originally Posted by kandaurov
That's pretty significant.
One of the reasons she is so highly admired is because she showed how complex her world was, mostly through irony and her sharp observation for social satire and commentary.Quote:
She lived in a world of her own, she made believe as if the world were that simple.
You're very right about the indirect free speech, I stand corrected. As for the satire component, I don't know how effective it is. What she did was to criticize social conventions, while at the same time acknowledging that they were necessary. I, at least, never saw a character actively rebelling against what she "criticizes". As I read her I remember sensing hypocrisy, but that may be just me. I mean, of course you can like her and think her wit was something else other than just adornment of her prose, I fully respect that, but now that I've explained my opinion I like to think I'm entitled to it.
Well said, Antiquarian! And it's not that I don't think Jane Austen was a bad writer, not at all!, I just wouldn't rank her among the best 5 novels of all time, like some polls did. By the way, this is interesting: you love Jane Austen and you think that the publishers should keep their standards high. Do you remember / have you heard of this: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2007/ju...ooks.booksnews ? Terrible, I know!
Hilarious stuff :lol: :lol: :lol: Literally left me in stitches. I strongly believe that both music 'industry' and publishing 'industry' need dismantling by all means possible. The Guardian article above strongly confirms my notions.Quote:
Originally Posted by kandaurov
But she sells enormously, no? Every bookstore I go to there's an abundance of Austen novels, and everytime I turn on the TV there's a movie or a tv series with her name in the title. I find it insufferable. Such an overrated writer...Quote:
Originally Posted by Antiquarian
Hey everyone! I'm new, but I'm really excited about meeting you guys and jumping in on literature debates.
That being said, I agree with kandaurov. Jane Austen is overrated, and I always felt that what she claimed to disdain in society she sort of taught in her literature. I do think that she brought a lot to the "literature table," especially for women, but I don't think she was as much of a "feminist" as she claimed to be, and in that light many of her books seem to be, at least to me, self-contradictory to what she believed in.
I also agree that Dan Brown is largely overrated. I read Angels and Demons and almost got through it, and it was remotely entertaining in a "leave your brain at home" way, but it was cheesy. I started The DaVinci Code and couldn't get past the first few chapters.
The most overrated author in my opinion? I'd have to go with Hawthorne. I've probably made a ton of enemies right then and there, but honestly, I just don't like his work. It's stale and repetitive. But that's just my personal opinion.
Well, that's self explanatory. Every work of art, however universal, could not have emerged at any other time than it originally did.Quote:
Originally Posted by Antiquarian
It's not so much that she's late 18th century as it is the fact that all her novels are tedious comedies of manners with only the characters and order of events altered. For future Austen readers: read Pride & Prejudice and call it a day. Everything else is...well, it's flat out the same.Quote:
I don't personally find her at all overrated. I love all her books, but they are definitely late 18th century, which is part of the charm for me and part of the insufferability for others.
I've never read Diane Johnson, but I'll take this as a warning to stay away!Quote:
Originally Posted by Antiquarian
I wonder what future drivel Dan Brown is going to have published.