Overrated books
- Thread starter ThierryEnnui
- Start date
littlebabyjesus
one of Maxwell's demons
Junky is a conventional, well-written book. I liked Naked Lunch, but I think Gysin led him astray with his automatic writing experiments, to which he lent far too much significance, and eventually he disappeared up his own mystic arse. A pity.Madusa said:
I even called my kid Jude - when I told my mum she looked horrified and said. 'Not after the book!!!' 
Chairman Meow
Perth, WA
veracity said:x 100!
Only because it's a nice name though.
ThierryEnnui
pedantic tit
littlebabyjesus said:I loved Catch22, and proceeded to Heller's Something Happened as a result.
Closing Time is shit as well.
He only had one good book in him.
I agree, Good As Gold is a load of self indulgent cack as well.
Barking_Mad
Non sibi sed omnibus
Ah yes, Ann Rand - I wonder what was going on here when people voted for their favourite novel then?
http://www.randomhouse.com/modernlibrary/100bestnovels.html
http://www.randomhouse.com/modernlibrary/100bestnovels.html
littlebabyjesus
one of Maxwell's demons
The problem with Heller, I think, is that his brand of ultra-cynicism was perfect for a book about war, but when applied to civilian life it just comes across as bitter and vindictive.ThierryEnnui said:
5t3IIa
Registered User
Reno said:
I think the reviews were written by her close comtemporaries and they all secretly loved seeing themselves portrayed as intellectual bullies, cus being arrogant makes you cool. It's readable, but it's basically wank.
100 Years got swept up in a magical realism genre shock and if read with that in mind it's nice and sweeping and whirling.
littlebabyjesus
one of Maxwell's demons
It's tedious and lacking in any real insight.5t3IIa said:
quimcunx
imprimeo, lamino, distribuo
100 years of solitude was all right except trying to keep up with pedro segundo etc. I prefer pretty much all of his other books to it.
To Kill a Mocking Bird, again I think a good book ruined by school
Catcher in the Rye. Dull, dull, boring, dull. One of those books where nothing happens just gets alluded to. He lost his virginity and I didn't even notice. Dull
The Confederacy of Dunces. Everyone else who read it thinks it's hilarious. no, no it's not.
To Kill a Mocking Bird, again I think a good book ruined by school
Catcher in the Rye. Dull, dull, boring, dull. One of those books where nothing happens just gets alluded to. He lost his virginity and I didn't even notice. Dull
The Confederacy of Dunces. Everyone else who read it thinks it's hilarious. no, no it's not.
veracity said:
Can't believe that people don't rate 'Catch-22' and '1984'!
Or Dickens!
FWIW I also quite enjoyed '100 Years of Solitude'
For me the most over rated books have to be the Harry Potter series. Yes I know they are children's books but bloody hell, there's far better children's literature out there than that load of cliched, poorly written tripe.
*gets coat*
All true.
littlebabyjesus
one of Maxwell's demons
Ok, a metanarrative that was lost on me. Everyday life is tedious, and I will illustrate this by writing a long, tedious novel about it, thus adding to the tedium of the reader's already tedious life. Life sucks and this book proves it. Hmmm.5t3IIa said:
Paulie Tandoori
shut it you egg!
Junkie was his debut novel and written straight-up, more or less. After shooting his wife dead, Burroughs started getting stuck into the psychedelics and whilst living in Tangier, authored what would be edited together into the Naked Lunch, in a style that was heavily influenced by Brion Gysin and his cut-up techniques. There were then 3 subsequent books, including Soft Machine that took this approach further, with varying degrees of success imo.Madusa said:I guess it is a 'well written' book compared to say, 'Soft Machine' which gave me a headache trying to decipher what the hell he was on about. So compared to that, Junk is just about comprehendable.
But i do think that William S Burroughs was a tremendous author, with work that is visceral and vibrant, it doesn't work like normal books and does demand a lot of the reader but I think it's worthwhile making the effort. His books often aren't about anything at all as such but they are about all sorts of things, all jumbled up.
Paulie Tandoori
shut it you egg!
Best stick to these then 
littlebabyjesus
one of Maxwell's demons
He mistook coincidence for significance and spent thirty years on the wrong path. Naked Lunch should have been the end of an experiment, not the beginning of one.Paulie Tandoori said:
Hellsbells
World's best procrastinator
Fez909 said:
i had to read him at uni. I think I only read the study guides though.
I always thought Joseph Conrad's Heart of darkness was a load of unreadable, very dull pants.
littlebabyjesus
one of Maxwell's demons
A portrait of the artist as a young man is a beautiful book.
Chairman Meow
Perth, WA
Hellsbells said:i had to read him at uni. I think I only read the study guides though.
I always thought Joseph Conrad's Heart of darkness was a load of unreadable, very dull pants.
Oh Christ yes - worst book ever! I don't care that he wrote it in his second language its still shit. Hard to believe that such a short book could be so totally fucking boring really.
