Oh, thank God! It is not only me after all! Huh, they like them just because these books are scandalous. I don’t think this is a good reason enough to read and like something. Are they all mad? Even if we stop thinking about the flat plots, based only on the unexpected turns, where is the esthetic pleasure of the beautiful prose? I didn’t find it anywhere; am I supposed to look for it with a magnifying glass?!
Currently reading:
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon
William Shakespeare. James Joyce. Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
Margaret Atwood = totally overated.
MARIA LASACAVATA
"if you saw Atlas, the giant who holds the world on his shoulders, if you saw that he stood, blood running down his chest, his knees buckling, his arms trembling but still trying to hold the world aloft with the last of his strength, and the greater his effort the heavier the world bore down upon his shoulders--what would you tell him to do?"
"To Shrug"
perhaps you could say some novels like 'Alias Grace' or 'Oryx and Crake' are overrated (not i myself because i love Atwood's writing style) but i cannot understand how anyone could read 'The Handmaid's Tale' is overrated. As dystopian literature it is up there with Orwell's '1984'.Originally Posted by Maria L
"If you prick us, do we not bleed?"
I like the covers of Tom Robbins' books a great deal more than I like the actual literature.
P.S. Margaret Atwood = awesome.
What is the use of a violent kind of delightfulness if there is no pleasure in not getting tired of it.
- Gertrude Stein
A washerwoman with her basket; a rook; a red-hot poker; th purples and grey-greens of flowers: some common feeling which held the whole together.
- Virginia Woolf
How could you say that people such as Shakespeare and Joyce are overated!? Shakespeare did not become the greatest producer of literature in the English language and in all probability the world by being overated. And neither did Joyce produce such novels hailed as classics of 20th century litearture by being overated. I agree, however, entirely with blackbird 9. Dan Brown is greatly overated. The only reasons his books sell are because they ar controversial. Before the Da Vinci Code h was unknown, Angels and Demons, Digital Fortress and Deception Point having sold less than 10,000 copies between them. Now they sell because you could say they too are controversial and have recieved exposure.
Jane Austen is not overated; she is a brilliant novelist, it's just she wrote in the old ways, meaning that today her merit is not as greatly revered. I would like to contribute Mark Twain and Ernest Hemingway.
*jaw drops*
But Twain is hillarious, and Hemingway is...not.
What is the use of a violent kind of delightfulness if there is no pleasure in not getting tired of it.
- Gertrude Stein
A washerwoman with her basket; a rook; a red-hot poker; th purples and grey-greens of flowers: some common feeling which held the whole together.
- Virginia Woolf
I'm not sure it's possible for "overrated" authors to change the way books are written. Hemingway's style has been tremendously influencial - and his stories have the sly ability to appear very simple (when in reality they are not at all so): but that's part of the artistry.
As far as Mark Twain - huh? He too was involved in changing the face of American Literature - how can you be overrated if you're capable of doing that?
As far as Margaret Atwood goes, her poetry, short stories and novels (Handmaid and Oryx were excellent) reveal a considerable writer of vision.
"I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen, not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else." - C.S. Lewis
I admit, Handmaid's Tale is a moving novel
but otherwise I don't appreciate Atwood too much.
As for more authors who are overrated, I think I have changed my mind.
No author can be overrated. It is just the amount of publicizm their books get.
I.E: Dan Brown went Hollywood and his books became known worldwide.
The only reason authors are considered "overrated" is when some idiot who has never read in his life decides to pick one up and realizes hey - reading's not that bad! Then the book get's publicized and even more idiots read it. Then, these books become famous - even when they're not that great...
It has nothing to do with the author at all!
MARIA LASACAVATA
"if you saw Atlas, the giant who holds the world on his shoulders, if you saw that he stood, blood running down his chest, his knees buckling, his arms trembling but still trying to hold the world aloft with the last of his strength, and the greater his effort the heavier the world bore down upon his shoulders--what would you tell him to do?"
"To Shrug"
Haha, I think that's an overestimation of Shakespeare, so I guess that means I think Shakespeare has just become overrated (by Brendan Madley).
Optima dies ... prima fugit
With the help of ten fingers and a keyboard.How could you say that people such as Shakespeare and Joyce are overated!?
Subjective claim, nonsensical sentence.Shakespeare did not become the greatest producer of literature in the English language and in all probability the world by being overated.
Joyce did write some decent short stories, I am not familiar with all of his novels, but his magnum opus, Ulysses is the definition of unreadable twaddle.And neither did Joyce produce such novels hailed as classics of 20th century litearture by being overated.
That's neither here nor there though, so if you re-read the sentence you wrote again, you'll realize that claims like 'classics of 20th century' are precisely the reason people call his works over-rated. Ulysses has definitely become a classic, there's no denying that certainly - doesn't make it a particularly good book though.
I am not aware of many people who rate Dan Brown's stuff to begin with. How can you be over-rated if no body even rates you?Dan Brown is greatly overated. The only reasons his books sell are because they ar controversial. Before the Da Vinci Code h was unknown, Angels and Demons, Digital Fortress and Deception Point having sold less than 10,000 copies between them. Now they sell because you could say they too are controversial and have recieved exposure.
That's just semantics. Unless specifically stated otherwise, whenever people are talking about an author being 'over-rated', it is generally taken for the granted that they mean his literary canon, not his character as a person.The only reason authors are considered "overrated" is when some idiot who has never read in his life decides to pick one up and realizes hey - reading's not that bad! Then the book get's publicized and even more idiots read it. Then, these books become famous - even when they're not that great...
It has nothing to do with the author at all!
There's a difference between fame and appreciation. Authors like Dan Brown, Tom Clancy, Nora Roberts, Sydney Sheldon and (to a certain extent) J. K. Rowling are famous but hardly anybody 'rates' them. [rightly or wrongly] On the flip side, Shakespeare, Joyce, Tolkien, Twain, Poe and Austen are considered and accepted as literary giants even by those who haven't read them.
rebuttal mood I see.
MARIA LASACAVATA
"if you saw Atlas, the giant who holds the world on his shoulders, if you saw that he stood, blood running down his chest, his knees buckling, his arms trembling but still trying to hold the world aloft with the last of his strength, and the greater his effort the heavier the world bore down upon his shoulders--what would you tell him to do?"
"To Shrug"
Well said. Overrated depends on how the novels are being judged. Tom Clancy's novels are judged on their entertainment value, whereas Shakespeare is judged for his literary merit and the effects his works have on society. One might say that while Clancy's novels are entertaining, they may not go down in history as being the most relevant to history and society. While some say that Shakespeare is the most influential writer of the english language, his work may be boring and difficult to understand (I disagree with this last point, but I have heard it said). When one judges an author of being overrated, one must mention on what level the author's work is judged.
I'm weary with right-angles, abbreviated daylight,
Waiting for a winter to be done.
Why do I still see you in every mirrored window,
In all that I could never overcome?
Ask anybody qualified on world literature and they will tell you the merits of Shakespeare and Joyce. Something great does not neccessarily have to be readable by everybody. It is the prose and depiction of life that is of the true merit.
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