Books everyone loved—but you (1 Viewer)

[Sun Wukong]

He actually wasn't the best writer. But his story is true so it's really compelling.

He also basically pioneered the idea of true whole-cloth world building that has kind of permeated genre fiction ever since. I'll be the first to admit I don't find his prose to be particularly wondrous, but his story telling ability and world building were literal game changers. He's in the upper echelon of all time writers in terms of how much impact he had.

 

[Sun Wukong]

Surprised me too
Thought I was going to love it
Did not love it

I had the opposite reaction. I have some pretty deep issues with both post-modernism and 60's cultural arts/literature/aesthetics/styles/trends in general, but ended up loving it.

 

[Mr. Blue Sky]

That was the uptown store
I worked at the one by NYU

Ok so i did some googling, and it was WHMS that was filmed there.. but interestingly , the Wikipedia page for the bookstore lists three other movies having been filmed there (only one of which I’ve seen) but I found the WHMS info on another site.

Also looks like it recently reopened last year after closing in 1996.

 

[guidomerkinsrules]

Ok so i did some googling, and it was WHMS that was filmed there.. but interestingly , the Wikipedia page for the bookstore lists three other movies having been filmed there (only one of which I’ve seen) but I found the WHMS info on another site.

Also looks like it recently reopened last year after closing in 1996.

Is that the Paris one with the wiki page?

 

[Mr. Blue Sky]

Is that the Paris one with the wiki page?

Yeah it was a movie with Paris in the title, and Before Sunset, which i saw like 25 yrs ago, and one other.

 

[St. Chris]

As far as books I was told I would like and that many other people liked, I would agree with Confederacy of Dunces.

But the worst book I ever had to read (nobody said I would like it, but it was assigned in high school) was The Lord of the Flies.

I cannot understand how anyone can like that book and I even had to watch at least one movie version and what I remember is that it was just as good as the book: ie awful and maybe the worst movie i ever had to sit through.

 

[boutrous]

I’m going to differ with you here.. I actually read Catcher in the 8th grade and, at the risk of sounding hyperbolic- it changed my life... I’m not really sure why, i think that it was just such a breath of fresh air, and its structure , and Holden’s use of language, was so unlike anything i’ve read before or since.. come to think of it, i’m realizing now that in a lot of ways, Catcher in the Rye reminds me of Pulp Fiction, just how crazy original it was... In any case, i feel like i still look at things in a different way since reading that book over 30 years ago.

I agree, however, I didn't read Catcher in the Rye until about 7 or 8 years ago and it's really stuck with me. I say it's my favorite book and I really need to read it again. It has a lot deeper meaning than some rich spoiled kid. He's obviously gone through a whole lot of trauma and can't come to grips with it in his own mind so he just goes into a pattern of self destruction / loathing.

 

[Sandman]

I agree, however, I didn't read Catcher in the Rye until about 7 or 8 years ago and it's really stuck with me. I say it's my favorite book and I really need to read it again. It has a lot deeper meaning than some rich spoiled kid. He's obviously gone through a whole lot of trauma and can't come to grips with it in his own mind so he just goes into a pattern of self destruction / loathing.

I took it as he is over-dramatizing what is going on. Things aren’t as bad as he is making them out. He hasn’t experienced real trauma. He just elevated it in his mind to excuse his behavior.

 

[boutrous]

I took it as he is over-dramatizing what is going on. Things aren’t as bad as he is making them out. He hasn’t experienced real trauma. He just elevated it in his mind to excuse his behavior.

There are hints I picked up on that he was possibly molested, although it's never explicitly uttered, that's the feeling I got. Also, his brother dies of leukemia. He's desparately clinging to innocence of childhood while teetering on the edge of being an adult, and he doesn't trust adults. Whether it's elevated in his own mind or justified and he can't admit it to himself, the feelings he has are real to him and that's the subtle beauty. Sometimes your feelings trump reality and there's not much you can do about it.

 

[tenordas]

My top three have already been mentioned:
The Not so Great Gatsby (I loathe this story. It drags on [I knew Gatsby was going to be shot abut 10 pages in and very soon was like, please do it already], the symbolism is sophomoric,, and it's preachy)
Harry Potter books (he films are much better than the books. Don't like her writing style at all, and she makes continuity mistakes that are annoying)
Confederacy of Dunces (I didn't hate the book like I do Gatsby, but found it pointless and dumb, not funny)

For the most part, I find Stephen King underwhelming. I really enjoyed The Shining and Salem's Lot. Everything else I've read has been disappointing at best. Truly, he became so popular, he could throw up into a typewriter and it would be published.

 

[zeetes]

also movies in bed are easier to share than books

so are sexually transmitted diseases

 

[Zack Lee]

to me the Harry Potter books are not made for adults. Their beauty is in the fact that they got a generation of kids reading again. They serve the same purpose that Tolkien books did in generations past and Madelein L Engle books did for a younger generation (including me)

The Tolkien Books are a whole other ball of wax for me. Never has there been such a mixed bag IMO. For me, the Hobbit and the LOTR at the beginning and toward the end are about as good as it gets. But in the middle of all that is suck trudging through mediocrity and boring that it really leaves a bad taste in your mouth for the whole product.

 

[Zack Lee]

this subject is particularly hard for me because I usually know in the first 15 pages if I will love the book or not and I simply won't give it more time if it doesn't have that feeling.

The classics are the exception to that. I try to read one of those every year and I'm as likely to think they were overrated as I am to think they were great. I can certainly appreciate the writing but a lot of times something is lost by not being in the same era as many of them.

 

[Sandman]

There are hints I picked up on that he was possibly molested, although it's never explicitly uttered, that's the feeling I got. Also, his brother dies of leukemia. He's desparately clinging to innocence of childhood while teetering on the edge of being an adult, and he doesn't trust adults. Whether it's elevated in his own mind or justified and he can't admit it to himself, the feelings he has are real to him and that's the subtle beauty. Sometimes your feelings trump reality and there's not much you can do about it.

I didn’t pick up on any molestation, but people pick up different things.

As for his brother, he seems selfish in that aspect. His parents lost a child, and his reaction is to act like he was the only one that really cared about him. Basically he took a difficult time and made it worse. I get he is a kid, and kids can be selfish. Still, I took it more as him victimizing himself more than real trauma. It happens in real life, so this isn’t an inaccurate portrayal. I just don’t like it.

Howver, I will admit that I tend to like books with “heroic” characters that can be admired. To Kill a Mockingbird, Lord of the Rings, The Book Thief, etc. Books that don’t have that, Gatsby, Catcher in the Rye... tend to go on my “do not like” shelf.

 

[UndeadSnoopy]

Birdbox

This is another case of a bad writer having a good idea.