Sorry -- this is another really short post. And I know you've all been waiting for my brilliant, witty comments on something or other, so I have to apologize for disappointing.
Last week on his book agents' blog, Nathan Bransford asked readers to tell him about over-rated classic books written by authors who have long since passed. The responses are worth reading, if only to shake your fist at or nodd your head in agreement with.
(My votes include The Sun Also Rises and A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, two books I hated, hated, hated. Hated so much, in fact, that I never finished them.)
3 comments:
I have to respectfully (and fist-shakingly!) disagree with you on Portrait. You've missed out on a great classic.
Sun Also Rises is a fun little potboiler that every 18-year-old male should read and dream about.
I went to the site and saw the first entry mentioned Catch 22, and I turned away in disgust.
I think the key to Portrait is to have a "translator" to help you discern all the meaning and discrete themes... I studied it in school when I had the most brilliant prof, and while the plot details are long gone, I can still conjure up the fabulous images from lines like, "flour-fattened sauce - stuff it in you", and the seaweed entangled around the girls leg. In my opinion, definitely one of the greater works of lit... but I guess you and I differing on what is great literature is the general rule... I've never read Sun Also Rises, but want to.
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