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Have you ever had the experience of either reading a book that you had low expectations of but then ended up having it blow you away? Or, on the opposite end of the spectrum, have you read something that you'd heard lots of praise but found it overrated?

For me, every now and then I'll pick up a classic piece of literature thinking that given I have a degree in English Lit, I probably should have read but didn't. These are books that I'm not necessarily dying to read but many of them have knocked my socks off. Some that have: "Dracula", "War of the Worlds", "Huckleberry Finn" (high school and REALLY didn't want to read it at the time), "Of Human Bondage". "East of Eden" and "The Grapes of Wrath" both made me weep.

A couple I've found really overrated are "The English Patient", whose plot would've been a mystery to me had I not seen the movie; "The Bridges of Madison County" - seriously, Oprah? and the top of the list: "The Davinci Code".

I'm interested in hearing others.

You see this quite clearly when working in a library. I read the DaVinci Code when it first arrived, before the hub-bub, and I thought it was good, definitely a readable thriller, but then the madness started and it seemed to be the book that everybody "had" to read. Right now, it is "the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" and I had started the first one, but couldn't really get into it, so I returned it.

And there are authors like James Patterson and Danielle Steel, whom even the readers come in and tell me the last book was crap, but they can't help reserving the next one, again and again and again.

I have no answers. I think a lot of it has to do with marketing. If you look at where the books are being sold and what books are being sold, it is no wonder you have a bestseller. Some books are even available at supermarket checkout counters, and with this kind of agressive marketing, you really get the sales and people see the book and think that people must be reading it, so they buy it.

Also, it is very hard to find hidden gems on a browsable site like Amazon or Barnes and Noble because even when you put in for the new mystery list, all you get are James Patterson, ect. and you miss some of the newer authors that might be really good.

I am blessed that I work in a library and can see the new books as they come in, read the book jackts and find new authors.

I mean, if you love the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, try Henning Mankell, Nesbo, Jo, INDRIDASON ARNALDUR, Ake Edwardson, or Karin Fossum, none of which are frequently asked for. Go figure!

I have certainly had that experience many times, Tom. Sometimes I read a book when I was too young; sometimes I just was not interested in the subject matter; and sometimes I found the writing technique to not be worth the effort. I am considering 'classics' here, since I rarely read bestsellers.

I read The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin in the 11th grade and found it totally boring, so much so that I have refused to reread it, though I suspect it would have much more meaning today. But, I had to finish it as I had chosen it to review for class. Crime and Punishment is another I read in high school, which I enjoyed, but which I didn't really get all that well then.

I don't like Faulkner, a lot of Hemingway or the Brontes, eg, since I find the subject matter most uninteresting. Give me DIckens, Steinbeck, Lawrence... any day.

And some books are just discombobulating or exasperating due to their style. Eg, The Worm Ouroboros or Mervyn Peake's Gormenghast novels and most notably Marcel Proust. There is a SciFi series about The Black Company by Glen Cook who uses a very annoying choppy, short sentence dialogue technique, which I find too annoying to read. Peake and Eddison were worth the effort, though I considered re-writing Ouroboros in readable English. I've started Swann's Way many times, but keep falling asleep. Gosh, does that mean I'm uneducated :-).

Hidden gems for me come from recommendations from others, usually a book or author I have never heard of. This has changed a lot since the internet and now there is just too much to read that I want to read. Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ has been a major cause of this.

I had very high expectations for the highly acclaimed. multiple award-winning The Time Traveler's Wife. After reading a few reviews and trusting the opinions of readers with similar taste to mine, I decided to buy the book new rather than wait for it at the library.

What a disappointment! After 200 pages, I gave up. The characters were flat, the story was dull, and the time-travel aspect was not very believable. Jack Finney's Time and Again was a far superior time-travel romance. I hated Ken Grimwood's Replay equally as much and would not hestitate to recommend it to those who loved The Time Traveler's Wife.

Kernos, I agree with you about the Black Company series. I read less than 100 pages of the first book and nearly tossed it in the trashcan. That will teach me not to buy series books until I finish the first book. Mary Gentle's Ash series, starting with A Secret History is a much more interesting, realistic, and well-written military fantasy.

All Quiet on the Western Front was required reading and loathed by nearly everyone I knew. It's been one of my favorite books since high school and I try to reread it every couple of years.

Kernos wrote: "I have certainly had that experience many times, Tom. Sometimes I read a book when I was too young; sometimes I just was not interested in the subject matter; and sometimes I found the writing tech..."

I think age makes a huge difference in the experience of a book. I read "Catcher in the Rye" in 8th grade just because I'd heard it was banned at one point. (My rebellion!) I remember thinking it was quite boring and didn't see what the fuss was all about. I re-read it just last year and wow -- I was amazed.

I think All Quiet on the Western Front is a beautiful book. I didn't read that until I was out of school, though.

I used to be of the "I'm going to finish any book I start" school, but now I don't hesitate to put down a book I'm not enjoying since there are simply too many others that I want to read! I recently did that with 'Crime & Punishment'. Ugh - the Russian classics are way too heavy for me.

I forgot about The Catcher in the Rye. It bored me in 8th grade and I never picked it up again. Maybe I'll give it a try...

I wasn't aware until just recently Erich Maria Remarque has written other books. One of my college professors said they are even better than All Quiet on the Western Front. One of these days I'll get to them.

Now that I am more than halfway through my life, I don't hesitate to set aside a book that's not engaging me. Sometimes I attribute that to mood and may pick it up at a later time and end up enjoying it. Other times, I know it's just bad and I'll stick it in the "swap box".

Nancy wrote: "I forgot about The Catcher in the Rye. It bored me in 8th grade and I never picked it up again. Maybe I'll give it a try..."

You should pick it up this week since it's the ALA Banned Books Week!

I would if I wasn't so hooked on Dennis Lehane right now. :)

When I saw the title of this thread I immediately thought "Catcher in the Rye." I read it as an adult and still thought it boring. I get what it did for literature at the time but I still didn't like it.

There are lots of great books on the list, many of them required in high school. I read a A Separate Peace for my high school modern novel class in 1980. There was another book I remember loving (James Kirkwood's Good Times, Bad Times). Not a classic, but one that would likely make this list if it was. It was also required for the same class.

Oh, lordy, for me the most over rated book was A Confederacy of Dunces. I despised that book above all others. Only book I've ever thrown away.

Tom wrote: "Kernos wrote: "...I used to be of the "I'm going to finish any book I start" school, but now I don't hesitate to put down a book I'm not enjoying since there are simply too many others that I want to read! I recently did that with 'Crime & Punishment'. Ugh - the Russian classics are way too heavy for me...."

I hear you Tom. A big problem with foreign books is that so much depends on the translator and the translator's philosophy. I wonder if there are more readable translations of Dostoyevsky? I Have not explored them. I have for other real Classics. EG, I have generally had problems with The Aeneid and translations I had were 19th century and free open source versions, but recently found a modern translation in readable English which is wonderful and I can actually read it without trying to figure out what some sentence really says.

Another example is the incomparable The Cattle Raid of Cooley central to Tain Bo Cuailnge the Irish prose epic about their greatest hero Cú Chulainn. The modern translations are not only much more accurate due to a renaissance in Irish and Celtic studies, but exciting and readable. An excellent novelization of this is Morgan Llewelyn's Red Branch

The Gay link here is that Cú Chulainn has a 3-day battle with his foster brother, best friend and lover, Ferdiad, whom he ultimately has to kill. The emotional tragedy of legendary epics can be overwhelming when appropriately expressed.

I'm reminded of the old Italian proverb: Traduttore traditore—The translator is a traitor.

@Nancy and others: I had similar experiences with Catcher in the Rye. I think it was Matty ;-) who convinced me to read it again and I can see it now one of my TBR piles. It seems appropriate with all the coming-of-age novels the groups has been reading.

I've not read All Quiet on the Western Front. I did not like the movie which I think kept me from reading the novel. I now avoid seeing before reading. BTS, there is a remake scheduled for release in 2012. I had a similar experience with that movie/classic novel about a medical student and his squeeze.

Paul wrote: "Oh, lordy, for me the most over rated book was A Confederacy of Dunces. I despised that book above all others. Only book I've ever thrown away."

Now, see - I LOVED that book! It made me belly laugh when I was reading it. But, it's a good thing there are differences otherwise it would be a really boring world!

Kelly wrote: "When I saw the title of this thread I immediately thought "Catcher in the Rye." I read it as an adult and still thought it boring. I get what it did for literature at the time but I still didn't li..."

Same here. I gave it a valiant effort, but I just couldn't bring myself to finish that book.

I liked Time Traveler's Wife, but that was before the movie came out and expectations grew. I just finished reading the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo just to see what the hub-bub was about and I had to make myself finish it. I thought it was incredibly overrated.

Crime and Punishment is one of my favorites. I thought it would be too dense, but it was amazing. After that I read the rest of Dostoevsky's books. They were all great.

I liked Confederacy of Dunces, partially because of the sad story behind it and because I have lived in New Orleans, so some of the references are familiar. But it definitely created an unnecessary hub bub too.

One book I have really really wanted to like because it is supposed to be a classic piece of literature, but I can't get through it to save my life is Moby Dick. I'm a PhD student and I can't understand half of what's going on in the plot, especially with the dialog.

Kernos wrote: "I've not read All Quiet on the Western Front. I did not like the movie which I think kept me from reading the novel..."

Kernos, were you referring to the 1930 or 1979 film?

The '30s version, Nancy. I cannot find a '79 version on IMDB. In fact because of this discussion, I got a copy of the 30's to try again. I saw it during the Vietnam war when I was in college, so was likely not objective.

Nancy wrote: "There are lots of great books on the list, many of them required in high school. I read a A Separate Peace for my high school modern novel class in 1980. ..."

Nancy I'm assuming that you're responding to this book being on the Banned Books list, not that it's overrated or impossible to read???

My least favorite classic is Melville's Billy Budd. While the good bits make it endurable, Melville's prose is incredibly offputting. Turgid doesn't quite cut it. Let me add vainly ostentatious, bombastic, & pompous.

Stephen wrote: "Nancy I'm assuming that you're responding to this book being on the Banned Books list, not that it's overrated or impossible to read???..."

You understood that correctly. :)

Someone commented on my review for Ken Grimwood's Replay yesterday and I am reminded of another book I had very high expectations for that turned out to be very disappointing.

I heard there was a movie adaptation in the works, but I most likely won't be watching it.

If you are a big fan of The Time Traveler's Wife, you may enjoy this one. I found a lot of similarities.

Paul wrote: "Oh, lordy, for me the most over rated book was A Confederacy of Dunces. I despised that book above all others. Only book I've ever thrown away."

i'm glad i'm not alone on this one!

Tom wrote: "Have you ever had the experience of either reading a book that you had low expectations of but then ended up having it blow you away?"

Something like that with Dune.
I think I started reading it two or three time before it 'took'. Even then I didn't like the characters � really, none of them � and I found the world bleak and the story depressing. About the only thing I liked was the Bene Gesserith Litany against Fear. Strangely enough I was so fascinated I read on. Then I read the others, the ones by Frank Herbert, not the other sequels. I must have read them four times by now.
Still don't like the characters, the world or the story much. Still fascinated.

Dune is one of my favorite novels of all time. I read it when it was 1st released in 1965 and have done about every 5 years since. It is one those books (series) that takes several readings before one can really start putting everything together. I think it's worth the time. I like the universe and character's so much, I even enjoy Herbert's son's efforts.

I could put everything together fine. That was not the problem, if problem there is. It's just the world doesn't appeal to me. That I nevertheless read them several times is a testimony to the vision and great penmanship of Frank Herbert.
I didn't read the sequels by others because I read two of the sequels written by other authors of Asimov's Foundation series.

I still find new relationships or things to think about when re-reading Dune. It's one of those books that can grow up with you.

Kernos wrote: "I still find new relationships or things to think about when re-reading Dune. It's one of those books that can grow up with you."

I gotta agree. I've read Dune a number of times and have found something new every time. However I'm stopped dead by the sequals. I'm not sure why but they always seem like a faded imitation of the original. They're at once too "spiritual" and yet too "shallow" if that makes any sense.

I usually read Dune thru Children of Dune in one setting since Paul's story continues. The twins also intrigue me. God Emperor really takes a big suspension of disbelief and takes the universe into the realms of fantasy. I just decided Leto was a sentient sandworm and a metaphore for absolute power being Shai-Hulud + Shaitan and like Jehovah + Lucifer would be. Once beyond that I really enjoy the rest of Frank's universe and get on with trying to understand The Golden Path.

The Kite Runner taught me to stay the hell away from bestsellers and what co-workers recommend me. That one made my eyeballs feel dirty.

Aleksandr wrote: "The Kite Runner taught me to stay the hell away from bestsellers and what co-workers recommend me. That one made my eyeballs feel dirty."

There were a lot of mixed reviews among my friends here. I'm also suspicious of co-worker recommendations. I'm curious to know what you didn't like about the book, Aleks. Is it as cliched and stereotyped as Not Without My Daughter?

I never touched NWMD - but Kite Runner is... a cynical, terrible book, Frankenstein's monster, put together from some creative writing workshop with evil characters that are so over-the-top that Dr Fu Manchu seems like well-rounded and sympathetic. I was laughing in disbelief all the way. And really angry that I shelled out the cash for it. I actually threw the book away rather than hand it over to the local charity shop. I couldn't bear the thought that somebody has to put up with that piece of sentimental trash.

I don't think I have ever read a current bestseller. I have always had too many books from the past I still wanted to read.

Yeah... which reminds me, I need to get a pile of Dorothy Dunnetts and graham Greenes...

I rarely buy bestsellers or new releases but was very pleasantly surprised by how good was, even though it's not the sort of fiction I normally read.

Kernos wrote: "I usually read Dune thru Children of Dune in one setting since Paul's story continues. The twins also intrigue me. God Emperor really takes a big suspension of disbelief and takes the universe into..."

Dune is one of my all-time favorites because of the fullness and power of the world-building and Herbert's vision. It's true, there is no "good guy" to root for, something that was a huge problem for me when I first read the book just after leaving high school. But the story and the work are incredible. When I'm studying a foreign language, Dune is one of the first translations I seek out.

As to the sequels... I tried to read them all, but when I got to Chapter House, I was done. In that book, people interview each other endlessly. It's all talking heads until suddenly someone snaps and murders the person they're talking to; then it's on to the next set of talking heads. If anything ever changes, I don't know, because I couldn't finish it.

The Sci Fi Channel did an excellent adaptation of Dune and a combined version of the first two sequels. They made a few inexplicable changes, but also made Irulan a stronger character, who acted as a detective trying to unravel her father's intrigues, hoping to determine who was the Corrinos' greater enemy: Harkonnens or Atreides.

The ending of the Children of Dune miniseries reveals that its plot is merely a copy of The Godfather, something which might or might not be true of Herbert's original stories. There's too much on my TBR pile for me to re-read them in order to find out. Still, I enjoyed the miniseries much more than those two books.

I probably don't have to mention it, but David Lynch's 1985 movie adaptation of Dune is abysmal. The costumes and potential were wonderful, but Lynch ruined it.

I never got beyond "Dune" - I couldn't get into the sequels.

Charles wrote: "I probably don't have to mention it, but David Lynch's 1985 movie adaptation of Dune is abysmal. The costumes and potential were wonderful, but Lynch ruined it...."

i love the david lynch version! the scifi network versions also had their moments, but the lynch film is an uneven work of art.

i enjoyed the series for a while, particularly books 1, 3, 4. but then it fell apart for me, became almost laughable. deadly ninja space whores? mentats now have the power of The Flash if they just concentrate really, really hard? so stupid.

i haven't heard that much about all the prequels.

I kind of came sideways to Dune through the David Lynch movie because I was such a huge Twin Peaks fan. I thoroughly enjoyed both the movie and the first book, although I haven't read any further into the series.

I did attempt to read the prequels (by Brian Herbert & Kevin J. Anderson), but the structure completely turned me off. I like to get deeply engrossed in a book, and having chapter breaks every 3-4 pages frustrated me to the point where I just gave up.