Books - UNDERATED BOOKS they don't get the credit they deserve

bookworm987 · 01-20-2004, 08:22 PM

So ya'll have been talking about overated books. What are some of the most brilliant books that you have read that don't get the credit they deserve?

bookworm987

StellaSlight · 01-20-2004, 11:37 PM

Good question...
It's funny because I say quite often 'this or that book is underrated' but I can't really think of many right now...

Hemingway has written alot of great books, and some crappy ones. I've always felt that his novel The Garden of Eden was underrated because it didn't get the notoriety his other works did, while it is very good. Like in comparison with The Old Man and the Sea, the most boring book ever.

Soz · 01-27-2004, 03:08 AM

I think a lot of the books I read are underrated. I tend to have vastly different taste than a majority of people though, so I like my own thing and usually can't understand why some authors are so popular while my favorites stay obscure.

fear x less · 03-10-2004, 04:11 PM

This is a tough one, I've read so many great books that never really got the credit they deserved, I guess it depends on the person reading the book. I would have to say that the author LJ Smith has gone underated within the whole..vampire fandom. She writes some of the best books I've read, The Vampire Diaries were the first books that made me cry lol. Those four books, I bought the first one and went out the next day to buy the next three and read them all in two days. She just doesn't get enough credit for Night World or her trilogies.

AdriaMichelle · 03-10-2004, 05:03 PM

I agree about LJ Smith. Her trilogy, The Forbidden Game was phenomenal and yet it did not receive the treatment it deserved. I love those books.

Lady_Amabel · 03-10-2004, 06:04 PM

Uhm... I think the novelThe Ancient Future by Traci Harding was underated.

Crossbow · 03-15-2004, 08:41 AM

Everything by Robertson Davies. The critics all love him but no one ever reads him! It upsets me that more people don't know about his work. Yeah, it's a tiny bit intellectual (In one chapter, I found four words that I'd only ever seen before on the GRE test), but definitely not so highbrow that the average person couldn't enjoy it. The writing is so fluid, reading it is almost like drinking.

*~*Sparkle*~* · 03-19-2004, 12:58 PM

A Brave New World

May seem like an odd choice seeing as many schools require their students to read it, but this book literally changed my life. Its amazingly accurate picture of today's society is just astounding for a book written in 1932.

Chelsea [img]smilies/bubble.gif[/img]

Carrie99 · 03-23-2004, 02:35 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Soz:
I think a lot of the books I read are underrated. I tend to have vastly different taste than a majority of people though, so I like my own thing and usually can't understand why some authors are so popular while my favorites stay obscure.

I definitely agree with that. Its seems like I never enjoy books that are so popular in the mainstream and I find random books more enjoyable.

One book that I really think is underrated is Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns. I only even heard about it because I was assigned to read it back in high school and I loved it.

Crossbow · 03-24-2004, 10:48 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Carrie99:

One book that I really think is underrated is Cold Sassy Tree by Olive Ann Burns. I only even heard about it because I was assigned to read it back in high school and I loved it.

Actually, that was a bestseller when I worked at Barnes & Noble. It was on the lists for lie a year. I never got around to reading it though. OK, that's not true. I made a point of not reading the bestsellers.

[img]smilies/tongue.gif[/img]

Carrie99 · 03-25-2004, 03:00 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Crossbow:


Actually, that was a bestseller when I worked at Barnes & Noble. It was on the lists for lie a year. I never got around to reading it though. OK, that's not true. I made a point of not reading the bestsellers.

[img]smilies/tongue.gif[/img]

Heh, well maybe I was just too sheltered or something in high school, 'cause I never would have know about it if I didn't have to read it for class.

goodnightboy · 03-25-2004, 05:23 AM

I had to study I'm The King Of The Castle by Susan Hill for Lit when I was 15 and it's an amazing, fantastic book. It's a bit "dark" in a sense, but the portrayal of Kingshaw is jaw-droppingly accurate. It's like you can sense his anguish. Just so you know how good this book is, I was reading it for the first time at night in my room and I was the only one in the room. When I was reading about the crow incident (as what I like to call it) I could actually feel the menacing atmosphere (for lack of a better word - I can't completely describe it.) And I was spooked out. I was so frightened I ran from my room. The subsequent times I re-read that part, I didn't get that anymore but how often do you feel so involved in a book? Plus that was more than a year ago so to remember it it must've been really something. Which, of course, it is.

Princess Bing · 03-26-2004, 12:27 AM

I've always wondered: How come nobody knows what I'm talking about when I say 'Elmore Leonard?'

StellaSlight · 03-26-2004, 06:04 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Carrie99:


I definitely agree with that. Its seems like I never enjoy books that are so popular in the mainstream and I find random books more enjoyable.

My problem with the popular books is that I'm very disappointed if the book doesn't meet my expectations (after all the praises and stuff). A less famous random book won't disappoint me as much because I don't expect much from them in the first place, and if I'm to like the book, the pleasure would be all the bigger because of the effect of surprise.

igloo155 · 03-26-2004, 10:38 PM

I would have to agree with the people finding that what they read isn't very popular in the first place. I loved The China Garden by Liz Berry and Megan McCafferty can never receive enough credit. I really hate walking into the young adult section now of the book store and seeing all these stupid really really teen books. I can't really explain it. Does anyone know what I'm talking about? Books like The Real Use for Cleavage and the Mates, Dates Ect books.