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re: Books you think are most overrated?
Posted on 9/25/25 at 9:22 pm to UFFan
Posted on 9/25/25 at 9:22 pm to UFFan
90% of Business Books could be 200 pages shorter. If you just read the first chapter you’ve already gotten the main ideas. The rest of the book is just supporting data and validation for charging $25 for it.
0
Posted on 9/26/25 at 2:53 pm to UFFan
Stephen King books
The scarlet letter
Chaucer
Dan Brown
The scarlet letter
Chaucer
Dan Brown
Posted on 9/28/25 at 3:21 pm to Philzilla2k
quote:
It's been surpassed by many works
Name one.
I would also like an answer to this.
Posted on 10/18/25 at 6:05 pm to Breesus
The Moviegoer by Walker Percy
not that it was a bad book, but it was overhyped.
not that it was a bad book, but it was overhyped.
Posted on 10/19/25 at 2:19 pm to Lsudx256
I love Hemingway but modern day publishing houses would throw those manuscripts out with the quickness.
“The man had a boat. He went sailing. The sun was hot. He caught a fish.”
“The man had a boat. He went sailing. The sun was hot. He caught a fish.”
Posted on 10/19/25 at 11:58 pm to Rand AlThor
I am joining the list of people that would like names to the many books that have surpassed it
Posted on 10/20/25 at 9:44 am to lsugorilla
Invisible Man
Posted on 10/29/25 at 10:20 pm to cfish140
Old Man and the Sea is easy and quick. Pretty enjoyable
Posted on 10/30/25 at 5:53 am to LoveThatMoney
American Gods by Neil Gaiman. I restarted that book three times. I hated it.
Posted on 11/12/25 at 7:00 pm to UFFan
Not sure if anybody on this board has read "To The White Sea" by James Dicky, but I ended up not liking the book because the protagonist turned into an unlikable jerk.
Posted on 11/13/25 at 9:18 am to lsugorilla
quote:
I am joining the list of people that would like names to the many books that have surpassed it
Make me 5th in line who would also like to know.
Kind of ironic that it comes from someone with username Rand Al Thor. I'm assuming he thinks WoT surpasses LOTR but that's kind of laughable seeing as there would be no WoT if it wasn't for LOTR. LOTR was obviously Jordans biggest influence and in The Eye of the World it reads like a Tolkien knock off novel. Add to the fact that even among the biggest Jordan fans, it's arguable that the best book in the series was not even written by Jordan. Add to it even more that again even among WoT fans, some of books in the series aren't very good and some of them are actually skippable.
Posted on 11/14/25 at 9:39 am to iwyLSUiwy
I know i will get a ton of down votes but with the exception of "The Hobbit" anything written by Tolkien.
Posted on 11/25/25 at 8:36 am to LSUDonMCO
Infinite Jest is atrociously unbearable
Posted on 11/25/25 at 9:59 am to UFFan
Good Omens-Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. Really love both authors when they are writing solo, but they got together and enjoyed smelling each other's farts on this one. Pretentiously English.
Mr. Mercedes and/or Insomnia-Stephen King. A lot of King's books could be here but these two were particularly boring and uneventful. He has a lot of stuff that starts out well and then just dies at the end (Under the Dome and Dark Tower). Some books make you really think once you reach the end; Stephen King makes you think why did i invest so much time on this crap.
Robert Gailbraith aka J.K. Rowling-you did great on the Harry Potter stuff; please stay in your lane as detective fiction is not your bag baby.
Mr. Mercedes and/or Insomnia-Stephen King. A lot of King's books could be here but these two were particularly boring and uneventful. He has a lot of stuff that starts out well and then just dies at the end (Under the Dome and Dark Tower). Some books make you really think once you reach the end; Stephen King makes you think why did i invest so much time on this crap.
Robert Gailbraith aka J.K. Rowling-you did great on the Harry Potter stuff; please stay in your lane as detective fiction is not your bag baby.
Posted on 11/25/25 at 1:01 pm to ecb
quote:
Stephen King books The scarlet letter Chaucer Dan Brown
Posted on 11/25/25 at 1:07 pm to Rand AlThor
quote:
LOTR. I don't think it's close to bad, but as far as Fantasy goes my personal feeling is that it's held up for it's impact moreso than how actually good it is. It's fine. It's been surpassed by many works IMO, but most of those were directly inspired
by it for sure.
I love the LOTR lore. I have read the LOTR, the Hobbit, the Silmarillion, love the movies. And I agree 100%. LOTR was great for its time, but If it came out today, it would be unnoticed.
I listened to the LOTR audiobooks a couple years ago and was honestly a bit bored. The writing didn’t quite capture the scale the way the movies did. After reading WOT, First Law, and the Cosmere books, LOTR books are…basic. Which is no slight, bc they form the basis of what we have today. But again, if LOTR released today, nobody would notice or they’d be considered on par with Eragon.
Posted on 11/25/25 at 1:11 pm to iwyLSUiwy
quote:
Kind of ironic that it comes from someone with username Rand Al Thor. I'm assuming he thinks WoT surpasses LOTR but that's kind of laughable seeing as there would be no WoT if it wasn't for LOTR. LOTR was obviously Jordans biggest influence
You’re making his point. Yes, we all agree that LOTR was the original and the inspiration. But set that aside. It’s hard to do unless you think “what if LOTR released today?” Do you think it would win any accolades? Do you think Tolkien’s dialogues compare with Abercrombie’s? Do you think his world is as imaginative as WOT or the Cosmere? Elves, trolls, dragons…I love it, but it’s so highly regarded bc it’s the original, not bc it’s still the best.
Posted on 11/25/25 at 1:14 pm to iwyLSUiwy
quote:
Love this book but I can't imagine this being one I'd want to listen to on audio.
You may be right that Blood Meridian needs to be read and not heard. I only do audiobooks now though.
Posted on 11/26/25 at 9:59 am to biglego
quote:
But set that aside. It’s hard to do unless you think “what if LOTR released today?” Do you think it would win any accolades?
It's impossible to set it aside and it's not fair to. I have no idea what accolades it would win, I have no idea what current books win accolades, that's not something I base my reading on.
quote:
Do you think Tolkien’s dialogues compare with Abercrombie’s?
I am a day 1 Abercrombie fan. I think he is the best living fantasy writer. That's high praise given how many good fantasy authors there are now. In the 5 million page long Fantasy/Sci Fi thread I was the first person to mention The First Law. I got numerous signed copies of his books, read all of them multiple times. I'm a fan
But, Abercrombie's story, in particular the first trilogy, which is the most popular, is lacking as a whole. It gets by more on dialogue and great characters. Very little pay off, which I don't care, because so much else is great. LOTR overall story is significantly better with all time great characters as well. People love great characters and a hero story, Gandalf, Aragorn, Bilbo, Frodo, Sam and company would have a ton of appeal if released tomorrow. quote:
Do you think his world is as imaginative as WOT or the Cosmere?
Wheel of Time was an absolute bore to me (though I see the appeal) so I won't even compare it to that and the author of Wheel of Time wouldn't even compare it. But I am a big fan of the Cosmere. It is 100% as imaginative as the Cosmere. Especially when you consider what it accomplished in the number of pages written compared to Sanderson. Of course the Cosmere is going to have more stuff simply because it is 1 million pages long. I love it, but I'm not going to put it over LOTR simply because it has more pages about the Cosmere.
quote:
Elves, trolls, dragons…I love it, but it’s so highly regarded bc it’s the original, not bc it’s still the best.
Ahh yes, it can certainly be summed up with elves, trolls and dragons. If we wanted to talk imaginative and scope we certainly could bring up The Silmarillion. He literally told the story of creation with his story. He wrote numerous full alphabets and languages for his races. Way more scope and detail than Sanderson in that regard.
Tolkien accomplished more in his writing 5 books than Jordan did in 11 (some of which even his biggest fans said you literally can skip entire books and not really miss much) and Sanderson in however many he is at now. So yea, I completely disagree.
Posted on 11/26/25 at 2:15 pm to iwyLSUiwy
quote:
It's impossible to set it aside and it's not fair to.
Probably so. But that’s what we’re required to do to compare to modern fantasy. If we want to say “LOTR is great” as opposed to “LOTR is great bc it’s the original that all modern fantasy and from.”
quote:
But, Abercrombie's story, in particular the first trilogy, which is the most popular, is lacking as a whole. It gets by more on dialogue and great characters. Very little pay off, which I don't care, because so much else is great.
I agree with you here too. That’s why I mentioned Abercrombie’s writing of dialogue and not the story as a whole. The world and lore of LOTR is vastly more interesting and epic than the world of the First Law.
quote:
It is 100% as imaginative as the Cosmere.
It’s all subjective, but I strongly disagree. Take the Stormlight Archives. The level of ingenuity to weave together the internal lore, the magic system, the score of characters with different points of view, how it begins with local politics and develops into a cosmic struggle featuring gods. Heralds, shards, shard weapons, shadesmar, spren… it’s incredibly imaginative IMO.
quote:That was not an attempt to sum up the whole of LOTR, only the creativity aspect.
Ahh yes, it can certainly be summed up with elves, trolls and dragons.
This discussion just reverts back to the problem that we can’t analyze and compare LOTR without setting aside the impact of LOTR on subsequent fantasy.
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