Unpopular opinions about books -

[Kosher Dill]

After reading through Dune 1-3

Dune should have ended with book 2, and not any earlier or later. There's my unpopular opinion about books.

"Fahrenheit 451" is overrated. People love talking about how it predicted modern SJWs, but that's just a coincidence, cause it's main point is not censorship, but Bradbury's fear of technology.

It's sort of like how everyone remembers "The Jungle" for the stuff about meatpacking when it was supposed to be about socialism.

 

[curbside]

I don't really get why Haruki Murakami's stuff is so popular.

Nothing new here. This is a popular opinion among psueds.

 

[Retired Junta Member]

Márquez, Allende and the whole gang of magical realism get overhyped for sentimental reasons.

 

[EepEep]

T.H. White's 'The Once and Future King' has some of my favorite scenes in literature. But the cuckery of Arthur and how everyone defends Lancelot and Guinevere's affair makes me never want to reread it or recommend it. This isn't necessarily unpopular, but Lancelot is one of the worst additions to fiction.

Additionally ' Into Thin Air' is one of the greatest nonfiction books ever written. 'Into the Wild' is...uh, not.

 

[Ughubughughughughughghlug]

I misread this as "Unpopular opinions about Blacks"
too much drink

 

[DarkSydeHyde]

Dune should have ended with book 2, and not any earlier or later. There's my unpopular opinion about books.

I can agree with this. Or it could a trilogy of 1,2 and 4. The second being a bit longer to bridge with 4, which is supposedly good.

 

[Mnutu]

I finished reading the first three books in Dune. It's kinda meh even considering it was written decades ago. Some of the ideas presented are interesting, but it's just tiring to read. A lot of it suffers from using a page to write something that could be a paragraph. And before I say more, I knew it would be a lot of talking and not epic space battles.

The whole sci fi concept is barely present, you could had it be a fantasy story in a single fantasy world and it would probably be better for it. The world of Dune is very well realized but then everything else seems barely explained. For example, how is the empire run when it seems Paul fucks off most of the time and just moving in hugeass palace takes several hours and full of bullshit ceremony? What CHOAM anyways?

The books also suck of the Fremen and Atreides to no end on how badass they are and superior in every way to other people in morality and ability. I've heard the idea that it should be a subversion of the usual heroism in books, but for the life of me I never felt like I should have seen the two as villains, since the opposition is described as being worse their motives and competence.

Finally, there are tons of retcons between the books. The most striking one is thenature of the spice effects startsling from just making you healthier, mentally aware and connected to some sort of human shared consciousness, to awakening your genetic memory to the point it can take over your ego.

It’s been years since I’ve read them, but I’ve always had the impression that Dune was a “no heroes only villains” kind of story told right. It’s not cartoonishly evil, nor redemptive. It’s about a pawn who unlocked space jihad far too soon and fucked everything up but not really.

 

[Lisa Frank Abomination]

Man, maybe it was just the circles I rolled in at the time, but I remember a few years ago there was this story, Cat Person, and everyone was going on and on about how raw and real it was and how it stirred up all this controversy.

But it reads like any other shitty YouTuber storytime. Or like someone's sad r/AITA throwaway post. Just plain and boring.

 

[Cheerlead-in-Chief]

T.H. White's 'The Once and Future King' has some of my favorite scenes in literature. But the cuckery of Arthur and how everyone defends Lancelot and Guinevere's affair makes me never want to reread it or recommend it. This isn't necessarily unpopular, but Lancelot is one of the worst additions to fiction.

Additionally ' Into Thin Air' is one of the greatest nonfiction books ever written. 'Into the Wild' is...uh, not.

Well, Lancelot was an OC Do Not Steal for the Arthurian Mythos, btw...

 

[EepEep]

Well, Lancelot was an OC Do Not Steal for the Arthurian Mythos, btw...

Oh I'm aware. I once read a description that Arthurian lore is just a bunch of author favorites cannibalizing the previous characters. Just Lancelot and his affair with Guinevere in particular irritates me for some reason. I don't even mind Galahad that much, and he's an absolute knob. Even Guinevere isn't bad when the story embraces her earlier versions of being a straight up villain.

 

[Cheerlead-in-Chief]

Oh I'm aware. I once read a description that Arthurian lore is just a bunch of author favorites cannibalizing the previous characters. Just Lancelot and his affair with Guinevere in particular irritates me for some reason. I don't even mind Galahad that much, and he's an absolute knob. Even Guinevere isn't bad when the story embraces her earlier versions of being a straight up villain.

Hell, even YouTuber Overly Sarcastic Productions states that the whole thing is perfect to modern interpretations/changes like Saber and Mordred, in "Fate Grand Order"

 

[Bastard_Call]

T.H. White's 'The Once and Future King' has some of my favorite scenes in literature. But the cuckery of Arthur and how everyone defends Lancelot and Guinevere's affair makes me never want to reread it or recommend it. This isn't necessarily unpopular, but Lancelot is one of the worst additions to fiction.

Additionally ' Into Thin Air' is one of the greatest nonfiction books ever written. 'Into the Wild' is...uh, not.

If Lancelot annoys you, go read some actual mythology. If its not murder, its cuckoldry.

1984 and Animal Farm are Orwell's worst works. Coming Up For The Air and Keep the Aspidistra Flying are his best.

American Psycho the novel is better than the film, despite its legendary status.

Roots should have featured more Buck Breaking.

The movie is still a lot better than it has any right to be, it's like the only movie ever directed by a woman that isn't total dog shit. My biggest issue with it comes from the casting of Patrick Bates. He's too charismatic, and while the script does make it seem like Bates is a loser, Christian Bale's performance doesn't really spell that much out. I think that's why so many people are confused by the ending, Bates stands out too much for the intended message to hit.

 

[EepEep]

If Lancelot annoys you, go read some actual mythology. If its not murder, its cuckoldry.

I mean, there's a wealth of Arthurian legend without him. I was mostly keeping T.H. White's story in mind with my complaint. Personally I always preferred Sir Kay, and the old Welsh legends, but they're harder to come by in my neck of the woods.

 

[Hazel Motes]

I don't know if this is unpopular (he's hasn't big in England since the 60s) but Hubert Selby Jr. is quite a good author. I know some find his style shite and his dialogue dated, but I read The Room the other day and loved it.