DAY 8: Most Overrated Book
Today: we've got controversy.
Can I say another subjective prompt? Just like yesterday, I find myself in a rut on what I consider overrated.
Today's definition: Overrated - a book that may be widely-read by readers from all over the world and be a favorite of many, but is given almost too much credit for it's worth. In my opinion, this is a book that could have one or all of the following: great writing, a joy to read, and sells exceptionally well; but in the end it adds little value to the literary mind and improves little on the critical thinking skills or decisions that humans make as part of a society.
Today my pick revolves around mass market paperback fictions that are given all the hype but provide no value to literature. Yes, folks, I'm talking about Twilight by Stephanie Meyer. I read the series, and enjoyed the plot itself. But then I noticed the editing errors, the badly written elements that go into the plot line - narrative voice, for instance, and in particular, the extremely cheesy lines like "So what you're saying is, I'm your brand of heroin?". Of course it's the perfect line for a cheesy mass market paperback designed to have teenage girls fawning over. They had great marketing, I'll give them that, but the writing and editing is poor quality in comparison to what makes good literature and it adds extremely little to society - thus overrated.
-Desiree
I mentioned yesterday that overrated/underrated is really just a matter of perception. So take our opinions as that: an opinion. I think we might have some less-than-popular thoughts for you!
My pick for the most overrated book is Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.
I want to make something very clear. I love JK Rowling's series. It's iconic and epic and classic. It's generation defining and will never, ever receive the amount of praise that it rightfully deserves.
But.
The first book in the series is basically exposition. It's not the 5-star material that every human denotes it to be on Goodreads. It's Rowling saying: these are my characters. If you like them, I'm going to write more about them and you will get so attached that you'll cry--often to the point of PUT THE BOOK DOWN AND GRAB A KLEENEX--and laugh and smile and imagine yourself at Hogwarts. The series is golden, but I think the first book is a little lackluster...Which is interesting, really, because the second one is usually everyone's least favorite of the seven; you'd think that would be the overrated choice. I don't think I am alone here, but let the flaming begin.
-Josh
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