The Most Overrated Classics

[Reuben 92]

I've read it, and didn't find it quite as thrilling, but it was still a great read. He is very good with a mystery. There was a recent BBC adaptation of The Moonstone which I really enjoyed, too.

[RegularGuy3]

I agree about Catcher in the Rye. I just don't grasp why anyone drew meaningful inspiration (good or bad) from what seemed like a fairly ordinary character.

[Reuben 92]

Yes, I remember several of my classmates really loving that book, but I always found Holden dull. Thanks for your comment RegularGuy3!

[Glamdring]

I may have some common titles with you, Reuben. Catcher in the Rye and David Copperfield, I couldn't finish those. I don't know if they are overrated or not but they bored me after one chap or two. In my opinion, the several first pages are the most important part of a book's reading. A good author writing a good book will not produce a clumsy or tasteless beginning. Of all the books that I have read so far, classic or modern, the nice ones have always started nice.

I adore Dumas and Maupassant too, or French classic literature in general.

[Reuben 92]

Thanks for the reply, Glamdring! Glad to hear it's not just me that feels like that about those titles...French classic literature is excellent, anything from the 19th century I will happily read.

[0719672189]

I am not a big fan of this genre,had to read it for school and now i don't enjoy reading them cause they feel like homework.

[Glamdring]

Thanks god they don't ask me to read anything at school, except some short stories and some tiny fragments that unveil nothing about the whole novels. No surprise: it was a regime which preferred the civilians to NOT be an intellectual.

Reuben: you read French classic literature in english or french? I tried to learn french and read it, but very difficult.

[Reuben 92]

I read it in English translation, though I'd love to be able to read it in French. I did French to GCSE, but I don't know enough to read a novel in French. I'm sure so much is lost in translation!

[Steph K]

Classics as required reading have a purpose. Besides the classic, "read this and we'll discuss it next week," that we've all been through in high school, I've taken a lot of literature classes that really make you think about the books in different ways. For me, The Great Gatsby, Moby Dick, and Pride and Prejudice are the most overrated classics.

Yes and yes, I never got the hype around either of these two. Ok, they give good insight into the societies with which they deal but there is very little to get excited about in terms of plot or style. I would also add Dracula to the overrated list- Bram Stoker conceived a great story & then proceeded to make a hash of the actual narration of it. Obviously just my opinion though

As for underrated, I think the genius of Maupassant & Wilkie Collins is largely lost on 21st century readers. Ok, they were dealing with French & British society in the mid-19th so that's kind of understandable but both have an incredible ability to tell stories (often witty) which compel from start to finish.

I would have to agree with you about Dracula. It always seems to work better on film. I don't think the epistolary concept conveys the story as well as other methods could have.

[Manang Muyang]

Hi, Reuben 92! Only "To Kill" and "Hamlet" are familiar to me from your list. I really liked the former (I grew up with my Dad's Perry Mason books) but can vaguely recall Hamlet's story (save for "to be or not to be").

I know Shakespeare was a great playwright, but the words and style from antiquity are a lullaby to me. Though I have a thick volume of all his works, I have yet to read all of them.

I struggled with Thomas Hardy's "The Return of the Native" in school, but I recently bought a copy so I can give him another chance with the wisdom I have hopefully gained since school haha.

I do cherish my "Sherlock Holmes" collection and remember "Wuthering Heights" and "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" with fondness.

By the way, I think the classics should include our beloved "Cinderella," "Snow White," "Beauty and the Beast," etcetera. What do you think?

[Reuben 92]

Thanks Steph K - the more I talk to people, the more I realise a lot of us feel that way about Dracula!
And good to hear from you, Miriam Molina I can understand how Hardy might have been a struggle at a young age, but I definitely recommend him highly. Not everyone enjoys his writing, but I always tell people to try one novel and see what they think! As for fairy tales, yes I very much think they count as classics - not only have they stood the test of time, but they inspire remakes and rewrites regularly And they can be just as ambiguous and tricky to read as much longer "literary" works!

[Brandi Noelle]

Classics are a tricky thing because the word "classic" would have you believe they are amazing books that transcend the test of time. However, in my opinion, many of the classics are merely old books that we have to suffer through to seem like literary intellectuals. Here is my contribution to the overrated list (& by overrated, I mean, truly awful/boring/dreary books we were forced to read in high school):

Overrated:
"A Tale of Two Cities" - Charles Dickens
"The Scarlet Letter" - Nathaniel Hawthorne
"Anthem" - Ayn Rand (anything by Ayn Rand, really)
"Grapes of Wrath" - John Steinbeck

"To Kill A Mockingbird" was not my taste, but I do think it's a good story and well-written. I wouldn't consider this overrated, just not my favorite.

Classics I recommend:
"A Farewell to Arms" - Ernest Hemingway
"The Great Gatsby" - F. Scott Fitzgerald
"Gone With the Wind" - Margaret Mitchell
"Little Women" - Louisa May Alcott
anything by Mark Twain
anything by Jane Austen
Shakespeare

[Reuben 92]

Thanks so much Brandi Noelle, that's quite a detailed list! Must admit I loved The Scarlet Letter and also The Grapes of Wrath, but I have never got round to reading Gone With the Wind yet, so I might give that a go soon!

-- 17 Oct 2017, 19:17 --

Thanks so much Brandi Noelle, that's quite a detailed list! Must admit I loved "The Scarlet Letter" and also "The Grapes of Wrath", but I have never got round to reading "Gone With the Wind" yet, so I might give that a go soon!

[Brandi Noelle]

"Grapes of Wrath" was definitely the least offender on my overrated list. It could have been that I just read it too young. However, I stand strong on "The Scarlet Letter."

"Gone With the Wind" often gets dubbed as strictly a romance, so I don't think it attracts many male readers. However, it is a fabulous Civil War saga that focuses on the fall of the antebellum era into reconstruction. An epic historical novel, well worth the read.

[Reuben 92]

Thanks Brandi Noelle, I will definitely give it a go, I'll look out for a copy next time I am in a bookshop!