re: Books you think are most overrated?

quote:

---

Infinite Jest is atrociously unbearable

---

I’m convinced that only a small handful of people have actually read the book cover to cover.

quote:

---

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.”

---

I give LOTR the credit it deserves for inspiring other but for me that is in no way why I think it is the greatest fantasy ever. I can easily take that aspect out seeing as I only know of a handful of authors that have talked about Tolkien being their inspiration. I'm sure most were but I've really only heard Jordan, Sanderson, GRRM, Abercrombie (who was inspired but wanted to write differently) and CS Lewis (mutually inspiring). I don't read LOTR and when something cool happens think "Man I bet this inspired other writers, that's why I like this so much." It's a very minor thing that isn't required for me to compare it to modern fantasy.

quote:

---

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.

---

Of course the Cosmere is incredibly imaginative. I love it. Most people that read it do. But even if I were to think it was more imaginative (I don't but can see why you would), that alone doesn't make it some series that is far superior to LOTR that it's actually not even fair to compare the two. I think Tolkiens writing style is smoother, certainly more poetic and beautiful, not as many slogs, and prefer the characters and overall theme better. I'm not particularly a huge fan of the "Sanderlanch" where you have 900 pages of slow story telling that build up to 300 pages of really good stuff. As good as it is, it creates some difficult reading at times.

quote:

---

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.

---

It's easy to. Along with the factors I mentioned earlier, you can simply say which story do you like better? Which series would you rather pick up and read again? Whose writing style do you like better? The answer to those questions don't have to involve influence at all. Hell the movies alone are close enough to the books that tell you that the story in itself stands up as one of the greatest ever told.

quote:

---

I’m convinced that only a small handful of people have actually read the book cover to cover.

---

That's probably fair. I've tried to read it all the way through and gave up.

I could only make it through a chapter of Tolstoy's War and Peace. I realize he was a scholar and considered a tremendous writer, but what a challenging read.

I am glad I was never assigned to read that book as a student at any level.

I found that On the Road was not cup of tea. It was a bunch of bums who mooched off of other people.