What book do you feel has more hype then it should?

[stahrwe]

I hate the sore losers on Chopped, which is probably also no surprise. I like the underdogs who are humble and think they will lose and somehow rise to the top and are grateful instead of boastful of their triumph. I desperately hate the people who can't even see why they've been "chopped," and who can't take criticism from the judges, because if you can't stand to be judged, why are you in a competition where their judgment is the only thing that will decide whether you win or lose? I don't understand those people.

I saw A Perfect Getaway because I love Milla Jovovich and Timothy Olyphant (the boyfriend who was "really hard to kill"), but haven't seen the others you mentioned. A Perfect Getaway wasn't that great, definitely overhyped, but was fine for brainless entertainment value (my boyfriend and I saw the twist coming from about 5 miles away, very early on, so there went most of the fun right there).

I may someday rent Justified when it's out on DVD, because I do like Timothy Olyphant, but Hitman I know is a lot of CGI and based solely on a video game so I won't be seeing that, and I have absolutely no interest in fishing so Deadliest Catch is right out. It's good to know that we agree on something, though.

Any books you find to be overrated, Stahrwe?

As for the topic, any of you kids ever read anything by James Mitchener? He was the author in the 60's 70's and 80's. He wrote this one book, Centeniel, a best seller of course, but it sure seemed to me that he got bored 3/4 of the way through and just started making stuff up. I know that's what an author does, but if you're a book lover you know what I mean. Just rushing to finish and insulting the reader. I never read anything of his again and he seems to have disappeared from the popular scene.

Current nomination: The Shack

[rainbells]

As for the topic, any of you kids ever read anything by James Mitchener? He was the author in the 60's 70's and 80's. He wrote this one book, Centeniel, a best seller of course, but it sure seemed to me that he got bored 3/4 of the way through and just started making stuff up. I know that's what an author does, but if you're a book lover you know what I mean. Just rushing to finish and insulting the reader. I never read anything of his again and he seems to have disappeared from the popular scene.

[/quote]


Ohhh, James Michener, how I hated his books. My brother in law loved him so much, he gave me a few Michener books as a birthday gift. I think one was called 'Hawaii' and it was so boring and awful. I think it was about the history of the Hawaiian islands, and if I remember correctly it started with the big bang, and sixty pages later we still hadn't crawled out of the primordial ooze. And it was the longest book in the world.

[GaryG48]

Ohhh, James Michener, how I hated his books. My brother in law loved him so much, he gave me a few Michener books as a birthday gift. I think one was called 'Hawaii' and it was so boring and awful. I think it was about the history of the Hawaiian islands, and if I remember correctly it started with the big bang, and sixty pages later we still hadn't crawled out of the primordial ooze. And it was the longest book in the world.

I thought Hawaii was okay as a diversion. The very long distance love story between the sea captain and the missionary's wife was interesting. And his theme that white people didn't even know how much damage they were doing to Hawaiian culture was unique. However, I could not finish the second Michener I tried, Alaska. That is all I have read, tried to read, from him.

[Genocide]

I feel like I'm going to get smote for this one... Anything by J.R.R. Tolkien. I fell asleep during The Hobbit as well as The Lord of the Rings.

I totally agree with you. I tried to read The Hobbit as a kid and failed miserably, so I let the cartoon suffice for my knowledge of the story. After the blockbuster films came out, I tried to read The Fellowship of the Rings, and couldn't get past page 2. The language was too stiff and I was already bored. I love the movies, though, but have to be in the mood or have literally nothing else to watch or do. Blasphemy to some, same old to others. One man's filth is another man's treasure, as you of course understand by loving Catcher in the Rye when I absolutely hate it.

I thought that the books were much better than the movies if you could get through them. The plot is much more involved. I did have to force myself to keep reading through the second Lord of the Rings book though because Tolkien didn't mention anything about Frodo and Sam until the last half of the book. It was quite frustrating.

That might explain why I also fell asleep during the movies...?

But I'm glad you like the books better. Something about reading a book just feels better than sitting there watching a movie. But that's just me. (I really need to stop with the smileys after every sentence)

[deathscythe210]

i have to agree with "The Da Vinci Code" i stopped about 9 chapters in and have yet to pick it back up. I thought maybe watching the movie would be better but i have the same opinion as earlier posters about it.

[VMLM]

I'd have to go with Twilight on this one... it's just so much dribble.
Actually, I've always thought Alice in Wonderland is a bit overhyped... so many of the jokes and winks depend on your knowledge of victorian england that they either fly right over you... or your reading it with a lot of annotations, in which case it just stops being fun. I'll admit it's got a lot of crazy ideas and imagery, and I just love the Jabberwocky, but I just didn't feel the buzz was justified.

Also, reading anything by Paolo Coelho makes me want to slap him in the face.

Don Quijote is waaaay overrated... it's really not that funny. And it tries to be, oh it does. But that's unfair really... it belongs to another time entirely.

Catcher in the Rye -> I really couldn't get into this one... I just can't see what all the hype is about..

HDM -> Loved it, although Golden Compass is really the best one in the series.

LOTR -> I guess really you have to be patient, open to romantic story-telling, not care much about flat characters and have a liking for intricate histories... To be frank I think that LOTR is an exercise in story-telling for another time... many of its isolated parts can be told and they'll get your audience hooked (if you leave out some of the more banal details and your audience is well disposed to listening to a fantastic story)...

War and Peace -> I've read it, it's a great book... loooooong though. And very romantic... Also, you get a mouthful of Tolstoi's opinion of Napoleon, his thoughts on how chaotic war truly is and a bit of his musings on the way history develops.

[hey_you]

Don't get mad folks, but I'm going to say The Trial by Kafka

It's one of the most important texts in 20th century Literature. However, I must add that his humor is definitely a required taste. A bit too bizarre for me.

[SusannaWirland]

Kafka's work is weird, but it is an absolutely fantastic book, so I do not agree!

[hey_you]

Kafka's work is weird, but it is an absolutely fantastic book, so I do not agree!

It is fantastic, especially when it comes to the narrative. But I remember putting it down and thinking, "why is this book SO hyped up?"

Perhaps you can enlighten me...

[franic]

I think that the most over-hyped book I ever read was "The world is flat" by T. Friedman. I didn't enjoy any page of the book. I found it so boring and obvious that I still have difficulty in grasping why Friedman is considered so good.