View Full Version : 1* Novel Reviews
The following is a list of 1* Amazon.com reviews books from Time’s list of the 100 best novels from 1923 to the present day. It's an old post, but there are some gems in there:
clicky (http://www.themorningnews.org/archives/reviews/lone_star_statements.php)
Such as:
The Grapes of Wrath (1939)
Author: John Steinbeck
“While the story did have a great moral to go along with it, it was about dirt! Dirt and migrating. Dirt and migrating and more dirt.”
The Sound and the Fury (1929)
Author: William Faulkner
“This book is like an ungrateful girlfriend. You do your best to understand her and get nothing back in return.”
Mrs. Dalloway (1925)
Author: Virginia Woolf
“The only good thing to say about this “literary” drivel is that the person responsible, Virginia Woolf, has been dead for quite some time now. Let us pray to God she stays that way.”
Del Lardo
21-07-2010, 22:55
linky no worky. clicky is bad, mkay ;)
Catch-22 (1961)
Author: Joseph Heller
“Obviously, a lot people were smoking a lot of weed in the ‘60s to think this thing is worth reading.”
I could have written this one, I've never got C22.
I could have written this one, I've never got C22.
Nor me!
Pumpkinstew
22-07-2010, 15:44
The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe (1950)
Author: C.S. Lewis
“I bought these books to have something nice to read to my grandkids. I had to stop, however, because the books are nothing more than advertisements for “Turkish Delight,” a candy popular in the U.K. The whole point of buying books for my grandkids was to give them a break from advertising, and here (throughout) are ads for this “Turkish Delight”! How much money is this Mr. Lewis getting from the Cadbury’s chocolate company anyway? This man must be laughing to the bank.”
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA... <deep breath>.... AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH ;D
Everyone knows Turkish Delight is Frys!
Pumpkinstew
22-07-2010, 15:47
I could have written this one, I've never got C22.
That's the WW2 one with Yosarian in right?
I thought is was really patchy but the ending saved it for me. It's clearly not as inflammatory as when it was first written.
I one starred a book on Amazon once. It was something like 'naked tank girls' and didn't even deserve the one star!
Del Lardo
22-07-2010, 17:47
I one starred a book on Amazon once. It was something like 'naked tank girls' and didn't even deserve the one star!
Surely the name deserves 1*
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA... <deep breath>.... AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH ;D
Everyone knows Turkish Delight is Frys!
Yes, and just who do you think it is that owns / makes Frys products?
I LOVED catch 22! Found it really hard to get into and a bit of a headf**k but once I was in it I was gripped!
Del Lardo
22-07-2010, 21:24
I LOVED catch 22! Found it really hard to get into and a bit of a headf**k but once I was in it I was gripped!
Worth knowing, I've tried three times but never got past page 10.
semi-pro waster
23-07-2010, 11:51
Worth knowing, I've tried three times but never got past page 10.
I'm also with the "not really worth it crowd", I've read it twice just to see if I missed something the first time and I don't think I did. As a novel it's overlong for the message and not massively interesting in the way it is told - I can't deny it's had a huge impact in terms of language and thought that have been derived from it so I'm glad I've read it to be able to better identify the source but aside from that I could quite happily never read it again.
Gravity’s Rainbow (1973)
Author: Thomas Pynchon
“When one contrasts Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five with this book, it’s like comparing an Olympic sprinter with an obese man running for the bus with a hot dog in one hand and a soda in the other.”
I've never read this book but somehow don't feel inclined to after reading this review although I like the simile.
On the Road (1957)
Author: Jack Kerouac
“This book gets my nomination for the most overrated book in American Literature. It is trite, saccharine and false. The themes and insights it contains are not even good enough to be third rate. Moreover, as a prose stylist, Kerouac was probably fourth rate. In short, I despise this piece of [garbage] and would advise all of its hipster doofus fans to lose the tie-dye clothes and throw away their bongs. Maybe then they will read something good for a change.”
While I might not be quite so harsh, it's not a very good book for my money and I understand that it is credited with influencing and speaking for a whole generation - if this is all they had to say then I'm not convinced I would have missed out were I unaware of their message.
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA... <deep breath>.... AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH ;D
Everyone knows Turkish Delight is Frys!
[Random fact]
Fry's Turkish Delight factory used to be about two roads away from my late Grandad's house.
[/Random fact]
I've got On the Road at home and I've tried to read it many times. I just consistently drift away from it every time, it's that gripping.
Pumpkinstew
23-07-2010, 15:36
Yes, and just who do you think it is that owns / makes Frys products?
I knew someone would miss the point of me missing the point of someone missing the point. :huh:
So to speak.
vBulletin® v3.7.4, Copyright ©2000-2025, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.