Overrated Books

Well, I'll say right off that I have read all the WoT series (out so far) and all the Harry Potter series (out so far).

I never pay attention to hype - as a matter of fact, I found the first WoT book while browsing through a library book sale (and had never heard of it before that).

That said, WoT is not that bad. The whole series so far could probably fit into a trilogy if all the unnecessary nonsense was cut out (one example is the story recap in each subsequent book). I never compare stories and plots to other stories and plots because then I wouldn't enjoy reading - I would be doing research! No they aren't great literature but hey, they're fun and that's why I read.

On Harry Potter: I have no clue what elitist thingy you are mentioning. Please explain, your comments about the Black Plague totally confused me. Did I miss something?
 
When I checked out this topic I just knew someone was going to mention L. Ron Hubbard and his 'Battlefield Earth' book that people enjoy vilifying. I was extremely surprised it wasn't here.

A book is a book is a book. Enjoy the story, relate to it, talk to your friends about it. I can't imagine why people have to judge a book on the author, who prints it, where the storyline comes from or who else in society is reading it.

Elitism is everywhere and trying to escape it would be disastrous for our way of life (ex: renting a car, buying a home, walking a dog...). However, conciously applying it, IMHO, is not good. Ok, I'm done with pop psychology for today. I think I'll go read a book ;D
 
LOL!! I used to be a self-proclaimed Literary Snob - I wouldn't read modern fiction, I had to read Cervantes, Tolstoy, Brontes, Dickens, Hardy, Joyce, Hesse, Dostoyesvsky...

I would only read anything classed as "High Literature", though I did go off on a tangent, read Lovecraft, and then read as many of his influences still in print (Poe, Bierce, Machen).

I try to be much more chilled nowadays. ;)

But it's always frustrating if you pick up a book, hoping for something entertaining - only to find that there's something terribly disappointing about the whole associated reading experience.

No one should take this thread too seriously - after all, it's just people's comments, people's feedback.

However, "hype" in itself has a nasty habit of often raising expectations beyond what can be delivered. Same for any media, I guess.

Hence the title of this thread. ;)

Brian

PS - Never read any L Ron Hubbard, though. I guess it's simply a case of reading it for enjoyment, though, from what I've read from others. Not one for the picky, I hear. ;)
 
[quote author=brian link=board=6;threadid=61;start=15#msg1981 date=1053166390]
Am I the only one not to have read Jordan, btw? ???
[/quote]

Nope...I have never read any book by Jordan... ;D

I saw somewhere earlier in the thread Eddings was mentioned....what is wrong with Eddings?
 
Dunno - I've not read him either. :)

Not read very much mainstream fantasy at all - I got as far as Dragonlance and some Pratchett. I've read a little sci-fi, though. :)
 
[quote author=brian link=board=6;threadid=61;start=15#msg2080 date=1053934236]
Dunno - I've not read him either. :)

- I got as far as Dragonlance [/quote]

What did you think of Dragonlance?
 
I generally enjoyed it at the time and bought the "Time of the Twins" trilogy.

But nowadays I don;t think I could read it. The world-building wasn't great - there was one point when a city is under attack by dragons while the characters are in a tavern. I suddenly realised that the city had no identity - no sense of culture - and this applied to the entire world. Thus I had no reason to care for it. That damaged my perception of fantasy in general, actually.

The characters were generally good. But Raistlin is easily the most memorable element of the series - a great character - very nice friction with the others.
 
Dragonlance is quintessential fantasy. It is neither real nor meant to be. I enjoyed it when I was sixteen because that is what I demanded from bokos I read then. Now I want to read books that explore the concept of the nature and structure of the universe.
 
Yes, Raistlin was easily the most impressive character in the story.
I read a lot of stuff for mere enjoyment and as such I still enjoy the Dragonlance series and many other books based on D'n'D....I don' t like to set limits on my enjoment of things...sometimes you gotta read something just for fun ;D
 
LOL! I can take reading a little too seriously these days. Essentially I don't read for fun any more and haven't for years - I read to research other people's writing.

I can still enjoy a book, but I'm always looking to be very critical of the various structural elements, whether POV, plot, character use, actual style etc. I can still enjoy fiction, but I actually prefer non-fiction these days. :)

Either way, I don't do anywhere near as much reading as I ought to. :(
 
Ah - now I don;t know many people who enjoy reading about maths. :)

Or perhaps I should rephrase that - I don't know many people who can understand what they read about maths. ;)
 
I don't mind working on the actual equtions and so on....but the longwinded stuff that needs to surround everything so you can understand it.....Yawn! LOL
 
The formulas are usually beyond me - I just don't think mathematically.

However, I did read a very good book a while back - "The Emperor's New Mind" by Roger Penrose, who's a real biwig of mathematics somewhere within Oxbridge (I forget, but I think it's Cambridge he's a chair at).

Anyway, it was looking at the issue as to whether Artificial Intelligence would be possible. And he answered negatively in a very roundabout way which involved exploring the nature of reality itself. Full of formulas but the concepts were generally well explained, so it made for some profound reading. Not so dumbed down like Hawking's big book. :)
 
I find myself facinated by the applications and programs they run that simulate biological behavior. Prey-Predator behaviour and Swarm behaviour....they have specific reasons for modeling certain programs on these. I can't quite remember all the facts about it.....I hate it when only half of the useless facts stick...GGRRR!
But I believe that is the closes they have come as far as artificial intelligence in computers....and it's not really intelligence, but rather a set of rules of behavior, but the computer that is programmed that way can actually learn and adapt to a degree.
 
What I love most about those programs is how well they demonstrate Chaos principles. But that's another thread, I think. :)

The Penrose book covering Chaos very well. Possibly the only real look at the topic I've made, but it was certainly enlightening. :)
 
Hehe...if one wants chaos all you need is a look at my desk. It always seems to progress to that state..but it's ordered chaos mind you. I can still find everything....LOL
 
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