Omss-Culture: Culturebox: Overrated



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culturebox Overrated Authors, critics, and editors on "great books" that aren't all that great. By Juliet Lapidos Posted Thursday, Aug. 11, 2011, at 11:46 AM ET Every year for the past three years I've read a Thomas Hardy novel, and every year I've been sorely disappointed. I couldn't get into Tess of the d'Urbervilles, found Jude the Obscure too preachy, and deemed The Return of the Native simply dull. Hardy had reverse-Hollywood syndrome: He never met a horribly depressing ending he didn't like. And, in the manner of Hollywood, this gets pretty repetitive. Perhaps I'm to blame. Hardy, after all, is a bona fide literary master--the kind who shows up on college syllabi. (That's why I keep reading him: I'm planning to start Far From the Madding Crowd in a month or two.) But wherever the fault may lie, Hardy, to me, is one of the "greats" who just isn't all that great. I feel the same way about a number of works on the Modern Library's 100 Best Novels of the 20^th century list, including Of Human Bondage (get over her already!), and Under the Volcano (yeah, yeah, drink another mescal). To continue reading, click here. Juliet Lapidos is a Slate* associate editor. Follow her on Twitter.* Join the Fray: our reader discussion forum What did you think of this article? POST A MESSAGE \| READ MESSAGES Also In Slate Why Are Britons Defending Themselves With Baseball Bats, Not Cricket Bats? How To Be a Faster Writer Who's More Materialistic, Jay-Z or Kanye?	Advertisement
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Now playing: *Slate V, a video-only site from the world's leading online magazine. Visit Slate V* at www.slatev.com.
culturebox Overrated Authors, critics, and editors on "great books" that aren't all that great. By Juliet Lapidos Posted Thursday, Aug. 11, 2011, at 11:46 AM ET Every year for the past three years I've read a Thomas Hardy novel, and every year I've been sorely disappointed. I couldn't get into Tess of the d'Urbervilles, found Jude the Obscure too preachy, and deemed The Return of the Native simply dull. Hardy had reverse-Hollywood syndrome: He never met a horribly depressing ending he didn't like. And, in the manner of Hollywood, this gets pretty repetitive. Perhaps I'm to blame. Hardy, after all, is a bona fide literary master--the kind who shows up on college syllabi. (That's why I keep reading him: I'm planning to start Far From the Madding Crowd in a month or two.) But wherever the fault may lie, Hardy, to me, is one of the "greats" who just isn't all that great. I feel the same way about a number of works on the Modern Library's 100 Best Novels of the 20^th century list, including Of Human Bondage (get over her already!), and Under the Volcano (yeah, yeah, drink another mescal). To continue reading, click here. Juliet Lapidos is a Slate* associate editor. Follow her on Twitter.* Join the Fray: our reader discussion forum What did you think of this article? POST A MESSAGE \| READ MESSAGES Also In Slate Why Are Britons Defending Themselves With Baseball Bats, Not Cricket Bats? How To Be a Faster Writer Who's More Materialistic, Jay-Z or Kanye?	Advertisement
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Ideas on how to make something better? Send an e-mail to slatenewsletter@nl.slate.com. Copyright 2011 The Slate Group \| Privacy Policy The Slate Group \| c/o E-mail Customer Care \| 1350 Connecticut Ave NW Suite 410 \| Washington, D.C. 20036

Culturebox: Overrated

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