most over-rated

[brionon]

Who is the most over-rated writer ? I can't decide between Henry James and Grahame Green ?

[maxdragon]

at the moment, it would have to be Dan Brown :)

Good author, but the world should also be reading other authors... he's not that great.

[jake-the-peg]

Thomas Hardy

I think you have to judge authors by the context of their time and I think Graham Greene was pretty groundbreaking!

Hardy would have bored the bearskin off of a caveman!

[mycats]

Newer Steven King (I dont even think he writes them himself anymore)

[Quizmonster]

In modern terms, Wilbur Smith and Tom Clancy. I am convinced both write their stories in a little school notebook. Then they look at each sentence in turn and ask themselves: "Now, how can I turn these 10 words into 200?" Only when they've achieved that aim do they get onto their computers/typewriters to finalise the tales.
Compare that with Elmore Leonard, say, who does precisely the opposite...ie he writes the manuscript and then tries to pare it down to the barest of bare bones. With impressive results, it has to be said.

[JamesEverton]

Thomas Hardy boring? I suppose it depends what you want out of a novel. Obviously Hardy's use of landscape was integral to his writing and this can lead to some fairly long descriptions. I could never describe either Tess of the D'Urbevilles or Jude the Obscure as 'boring', though.

brionon: why do you think James and Greene are overrated? I really enjoy Greene (although I haven't read all of his novels). I read an anthology of his short stories recently that was great. By chance, I'm currently reading The Bostonians by James and it is a change of pace to some of my other recent reads but I am enjoying it.

[SaxyJag]

JKR. Under-edited and over-written. Her plots are OK, but even they've become tedious and predictable.

[nicnic]

Jane Austen for me. I understand the arguments that what she was saying about women's lives was important socially but does anyone else find themselves wanting to strangle half the characters, especially the females. I can't stand them, they just seem like over-rated posh historical romances to me. I like classic literature, but can't get away with JA

[mycats]

Oh yeah! good choice saxyjag

[maxi29]

I tried to read James when I was a teenager and found him tedious in the extreme but, 30 years later, I'm ready to return to him now. I think reading Line of Beauty persuaded me.

Greene is awesome: Brighton Rock was the first adult book I read and I don't understand how anyone finds him tedious and Hardy is probably my favourite English writer, the way he inextricably links his characters to the landscape makes all his books memorable.

I'd agree with JKR: I tried to read one HP book and it was completely unreadable, trite nonsense. But the ultimate over-rated author has to be Tolkien. Is there anything more nonsensical, boring and tiresome than LOTR?

[Narolines]

Not counting Dan Brown (who barely counts as a writer, he's so awful) my vote goes to Ernest Hemingway. I've tried - honest I have, guv! - but he just does absolutely nothing for me. Just a self-opinionated redneck misogynist with a pretentious "style" of writing, if you ask me; I'd have run a mile to avoid being stuck in a lift with him.

[Aschenbach]

Rated by whom - critics or consumers? I think some people read hyped books (Potter, Da Vinci) then say they're 'over-rated' when book critics have unanimously panned the books. The rating is actually just a large number of sales to which they themselves have contributed.

Because I bought The Da Vinci Code based on curiousity not critical opinion I forfeit the right to call it over-rated but can say it's mediocre.

[SaxyJag]

I tend not to read hyped books until most of the hype has died down (funnily enough, the Potter books are the exception - I suppose I get them in the hope that the latest may be an improvement on the last), and sometimes not at all. I work for a library service, so it's hard to avoid media hype and prize lists, but I try always to form my own opinions rather than rely on what critics and big publishers say. I know what sort of stuff I like to read and so I just watch for it coming out.

I read DVC because I'd heard a lot about it, was facing a long flight to the USA and figured I may as well take the opportunity to read it before casting an opinion. I enjoyed it (although I agree, it's not spectactularly written). It was a good, easy-going read, easy to follow and fast moving. That's just my opinion, and you may not agree, but at least I can say it wasn't put there by some critic's review.

[Narolines]

Interesting, saxyjag - I picked up DVC in an airport bookshop because they were doing 3 for the price of 2, I'd already got 2 books I actually wanted to read, and, like you, I'd heard people talking about it so I thought I'd see what the fuss was about. Much Ado About Nothing, as it turned out...

[cole13uk]

I agree, has to be Dan Brown

[jno]

Dan Brown isn't overrated - nobody ever rated him. They bought him, but that's different. James for me, but maybe I'll rediscover him sometime.