OnlineBookClub.org

Like probably anyone, I think some authors are just overrated. What authors do you think are overrated? I mean, can you think of any popular authors that you don't consider to be that good?

But Hemingway... I know. I had lots of fights with teacher over this in my college years. I was in an honors lit program, and I swear I had a teacher about have a heart attack when I said that. I actually don't like much 19th century lit. And I abhor Jane Austen; I can't take her shallow female drabble, but I suppose that was the time period. With the fire of a welding iron. I know! But you won't change my mind. I've tried- I read and re-read, but it just doesn't light my fire. There are a few more, but they don't come to mind right now.

I am an author so on this topic of authors being overarrated I will have to state this. In a world filled with billions of people authors are faced with the task of finding their audience b/c writing is more so about marketing ideas than anythingelse. Some authors meet this challenge and some don't. There are those who have been able to write pieces which relate beyond their lifetime. You may come across an author who is very popular, and may not like their writing because of style, genre or whatever. I have read alot of books, and know of some authors right now whos writing I do not like. Yet, I understand it has alot to do with my personal preferences about writing, genres, style of writing etc. So this is how I take it.

theroneshellman wrote:I am an author so on this topic of authors being overarrated I will have to state this. In a world filled with billions of people authors are faced with the task of finding their audience b/c writing is more so about marketing ideas than anythingelse. Some authors meet this challenge and some don't. There are those who have been able to write pieces which relate beyond their lifetime. You may come across an author who is very popular, and may not like their writing because of style, genre or whatever. I have read alot of books, and know of some authors right now whos writing I do not like. Yet, I understand it has alot to do with my personal preferences about writing, genres, style of writing etc. So this is how I take it.

So now I'm curious- who do you dislike?

Lol! I cannot tell. Authors should never talk negatively about other authors works. It's not good for the art or business of writing.

Break my heart... Now the curiousity burns

Lol It's one of them things I just have to live by.

I'd say Dan Brown is overrated, over overrated even. He really isn't that great a writer.

I am going to have to say Chuck Palahunick. I have read everything by him and will be the first to say he has some very original ideas and I like the overall tone of his work. However, I feel like I'm reading about the same character over and over again only in a different setting. ok he's a sex addict, now he's dealing with a dissassociative disorder, but sure enough its the same dark humored nihilistic anti-hero. I also find his use of dialetic to be very distracting. In Invisible Monsters the phrase "for real" was used so much (and by several different characters) I ended up crossing it out and re-reading it. (Sorry, Chuck). That being said, I do enjoy his books but I don't think he is as brilliant and amazing as people make him out to be. There are better Contemporary writers.

Well lots really! I heartily agree that Hemingway is over-rated. Does nothing for me at all, I find his writing full of his own self importance.

The Bronte sisters did nothing for me either. Too melodramatic for me.

I don't get Janet Evanovich. I just can't get into them, yet they are SOOOO popular!

Most of the New York Times Bestseller autors.

I disagree about CHuck! Had to get that out... Ok. All those books that are written for women, you know those sex and misery books- But all those its okay to be single- sleep with a million men, run amuck on the town bullshit novels- ugh! Sex and the City has runied a generation of culture. I hated the Bronte sisters as well, but I also feel they were probably stilted by society- I mean look at Dickinson- she wrote well and was branded, and probably driven, crazy for it. I feel ya on the Dan Brown kick too. Mediocre writing, big response. Most of the best sellers actually. I do have to say, though I am not a big Oprah fan, she's got a pretty good eye for a good novel, though I don't understand the people who will only read what she tells them too.

Hey, at least they are reading.

Yes, any reading is better than NO reading.

Ok, Thomas Harris is maybe not overrated. I'm not sure his writing is very hyped. But his books have made a lot of movies. I read Silence of the Lambs and Hannibal several years ago. Im not sure how I managed to read both. The writing was so florid and awful that it was actually physically uncomfortable for me, like when you hear nails on a chalkboard. I got the impression he was showing off how smart he was & all the big words he knew. At the end of Hannibal, he makes this same type of comment about a female character (I also sense a hint of misogyny in his writing, but that's another story). I almost choked.

I hated both books, but not more than Tess of the d'Urbervilles!

Tom Picrilli. Sure, he may have poetic prose, but his storytelling abilities are weak.