Overated book

[lissyl78]

Just wondered if any of you have been disappointed with a well-known classic or been recommended a book that you really didn't like.

Mine would be Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier - it's written well but couldn't help but see it as a murder mystery version of Jane Eyre!

What books have you discovered to be really overated? Just curious! x

[fatcat]

Never really been disappointed with any particular book although some have taken a lot longer to read than others. LeMarchand, it took me a while to finish The Lovely Bones but I wouldn't say it primarily appeals to women. Lissyl, funnily enough I was thinking about reading Rebecca next so now I definitely will to see whether I agree or not. Although having said that, I haven't read Jane Eyre either! The murder mystery appeals to me more.

[spudqueen]

Personally I didn't like Wuthering Heights. I had no sympathy for ANY of the characters, and I think that sympathy with at least one of the characters of a book is essential. Having said that though I LOVE Pride and Prejudice, Great Expectations and Lord of the Rings, so I suppose we all enjoy different things.

[mycatis]

I absolutely love Wuthering Heights!! I'm doing my higher English just now and have chosen it as my specialist study.
I cannot seem to get past the first couple of chapters of "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest" dull, dull, dull  also "Lord of the flies" I just don't get.
Saying that the first 4 times I tried to read "Dune" I couldn't get past first few pages and now I must have read it dozens of times, it's my favourite book
Piper_Ak I love Douglas Adams, but I think the last Hitchhicker one, mostly harmless, was pretty bad.  I've got (and love) "Long Dark Tea-Time of The Soul, and Holistic Detective Agency

[Glossopswift]

Oddly enough I finished Rebecca in the bath last night (!!?) and thoroughly enjoyed it. My expectations weren�t excessively high except for the fact that I found Jamaica Inn to be my kind of thing and wanted to try another DdM and I wasn�t disappointed. Mrs GS has tried to get into Rebecca several times without success, but I have told her it is worthwhile. To add to other messages I also flit between Wuthering Heights and Tess of the Durbevilles as my favourite books, we even named our daughter Kathy (yes, I know it should be a C but we preferred her initials to start with a K) because we both like WH so much.

As a librarian I understand the emotions that go with books and so I always try to convince others that there aren�t good and bad books, only those that you like and those that you don�t. Publishers don�t publish books that they don�t think will sell. Having said that, in my hypocritically-perfect world there would be no room for James Joyce who I find to be a literary example of arty snobbishness, read and enjoyed by people who want nothing more than to say �oh yes, I�m a great fan of Joyce blah blah blah�. Yes, that was meant to be provocative, I�m quite happy to receive a backlash�..

[lissyl78]

I completely agree with the 'no good books or bad books' - that's why I asked the question. Think it's fascinating how people's tastes differ. I, too, LOVE Tess and Wuthering Heights but not Rebecca!

That's for all your comments guys x

[lushkayt]

It's amazing - I absolutely loved Rebecca; I was practically holding my breath as I turned the pages towards the end, it was so tense.

I love Jane Eyre too, but I really didn't see the appeal of Jean Rhys' Wide Sargasso Sea, about the first Mrs Rochester. People on my MA course kept raving about it but quite honestly I thought it was boring!