How about everybody NOT believing in astrology. That should take care of nearly 99% of this trash book. And the problem with this whole thing of "they didn't do anything to deserve it" is that everybody is born and then dies. In that sense every life is a kind of tragedy. But the bottom line here with this book is that it is mawkish cry p***.
John Green is a really amusing author to look back on. I (and most of my friends) really loved him in middle/high school, which in hindsight is primarily because of the way he wrote teenagers. That was how we saw ourselves, and he captured that really well. But then he'd have, like, a Big Moral for every book (people with terminal illness are more than their illnesses for TFIOS, or the manic pixie dream girl is a terrible trope for Looking For Alaska) only to have the book read like the exact opposite of that moral. I don't know how he managed to undermine his own points so fucking well but it's really hilarious Also I loved the Heir series in middle/high school so feel free to cite me as the person who liked them that you're disagreeing with :P
I stoped watching and reading John Green after that scene in The Fault in Our Stars in which they kiss in the Anne Frank house and people applaud - its just not ok to spice up your little novel by putting the Shoa in it.
"It's why i got an actual job now" YOU ARE BANNED FROM THE BOOK WORM COMMUNITY! Section 3 of the book worm constitution MANDATES that all members can only live off of youtube OR book related jobs (writting, editing, publishing); a swat team will come shortly to burn your books.
Fahrenheit 451 has a lot of conservative themes that I think a lot of people aren't aware of. Bradbury pretty much lays his thesis bare in a conversation between the protagonist Guy Montague and the fire chief. The chief is explaining how it came to be that they started burning books. He explicitly tells Montague that wasn't government censorship. The chief explains that over time people quit reading and turned toward mindless TV. He also laments how books became increasingly controversial because of all the whiny minorities being offended that had to be catered to. In the history he lays out, the end of books happened from the bottom up with the public demanding they be gotten rid of. There's a lot more that can be said about this, but the modern equivalent would be if someone wrote a story about a dystopian future where everybody is dumb and spends all their time reading social media and getting offended by things.
thanks for the "no he just wanted people to read instead of watching tv" thing, i didn't know that before but i'm glad i know it now. i think it's fine to relate to a book your own specific way (like jkr and the death of the author approach of most fandom creators nowadays), but i hate when people replace the author's actual intent with their own ideas because they think it sounds better. if a guy wants to write ventfic about how he doesn't like tv, let the man write his ventfic!
To be fair, John Greens Turtles all the way really hit me. Not the plot or the final message or anything, just that one convo mc had with her friend where mc asked her if she saw her as a burden because of her mental issues, which the friend responded to without the typical 'no im fine, youre just you I understand' like talking to a scared child, but actually chose honesty. 'Yes, your mental issues do bother me and sometimes I find you infuriating, but despite that I still want to be friends with you.' A friend that's honest with even when its not convenient is a true gem.
I've read just one of these, Fahrenheit 451, and personally I like it. Bradbury's authorial intent was basically Phone Bad: 1950s edition, which is dumb as fuck, but he accidently makes something more interesting than intended. I think there's a lot of really interesting details drip-fed to the reader, so the most interesting storytelling is actually in the worldbuilding. The characters are pretty mid but as a dystopian adventure story it gets the job done imo.
I honestly think it’s a more interesting idea in the modern day with the advent of TikTok and other short-form, algorithm forms of ‘entertainment’. It just needs to be more complex than ‘phone bad, book good’ but instead explore the idea that pushing back against ruining attention spans for easily marketable trends isn’t elitist snobbery but genuine concern for mental well-being and the future of art
*shrug* not all horror books have to have bummer endings. I’d still consider pretty much everyone is dead a bummer, but sometimes it’s nice to come out the other side of a life changing, hard experience somewhat victorious. You don’t have to have a bleak ending for it to be horror. Not everything has to be oppressively dark throughout.
It's been many years since i read the Giver in like late middle school, and concering what you said about how the world isn't that dystopian; I remeber being a little disturbed when certain girls (like 12 yo girls in the MC's class) were selected as 'mothers' bc they had wide hips or something. I just get uncomfortable thinking abut how in that world like middle schoolers (?) were selected basically just to have children, and if I remeber correctly the book also implies that the 'good lifestyle' of being a 'baby producer' isn't that glorious once their 'purpose is fulfilled'. It feels kinda dehumanazing that some of the girls are just reduced to basically their wombs
I always saw fahrenheit 451 as a commentary on culture of entertainment, that is actually pretty relevant today. In their society people live shallow lives of being entertained 24/7, which led to low attention spans and decreased interest in "slow and boring" activities like reading books, stargazing, and taking walks outside. Over time, everything became faster paced, louder, and more violent just to hold people's attention at all. We also see the effects of this superficial lifestyle with Montague's wife and many others are suffering from severe depression. At the start of the book, Montague's wife tries to commit su!cide, and the medics who take care of her brush it off and say that many of them happen each night. While this might have not been Bradbury's original intention, it's kinda freaky how much of this stuff has happened in our world. Opinions are valid though.
For "Into the Wild" the main point is that his parents were obsessed with material things that ended up causing a toxic relationship that negatively affected him and his sister. This is why he decided to rid himself of anything, material by giving his money away to charity, choosing to turn money down from strangers, and not wanting to stay in one place for long. The point was to experience the part of life where the awful parts of his childhood weren't present. Edit: Also he didn't have trouble making friends and was far from an outcast. The reason the story is so interesting is because Chris had everything going for him. He was Valedictorian, he was about to enter a prestigious law schools, charismatic, rich family. It is just so interesting to see a bright mind to choose to become a drifter instead of his other life purely based off the pain his parents brought him.
He was a fucking moron who romanticized "living the real life for real" - so he Darwined himself. Alas, not entirely. His legacy remained. Namely, that the popularity of the book and the movie has caused other people to die, trying to walk The Path of The Moron. Others had to be rescued, for similar reasons. Finally, the military had to step in and airlift that goddamn bus so morons would stop getting themselves stranded in the wilderness without skills or supplies, needing to be rescued. Abortions save lives kids! Had his mother aborted him, she'd save at least two lives. That we know of. So far.
I’m forever gonna associate TFIOS with 10 year olds making recolor ocs on instagram of characters with cancer by making them bald and giving them oxygen tubes
Even when I was 13, TFOIS didn't trick me. I saw right through it as being just teenage heartstring-pulling fluff. Maybe because I read Looking for Alaska first, but TFOIS felt really cheap. Thinking back on it, perhaps Gus' death shouldn't have happened in the book. I think it would've been more powerful if it ended with him and Hazel knowing he's back in remission and a cliffhanger of what they're going to do with their lives now, but that they'll cherish every moment or something, I dunno. I think it'd fit in more with the message than what the book actually went with.
As others have noted in the comments, the point of Into the Wild is not to glorify McCandless nor to say his antisocial attitude is necessarily good. Sure, a superficial pass reads as a generic critique of modern society, but actually delving into it shows the Krakauer is trying to make a more nuanced point about the conflict of modernity and the human aspiration for freedom through McCandless’s story. In my opinion, you’re still approaching it as if it’s a fictional work (assessing only its characters and entertainment value) and brushing over the philosophical subtext. I think it’s worth a second shot, probably in conjunction with a more modern philosophical work like Ellul’s Technological Society if the ideas are something you want to grapple with
I like Into The Wild because it's about taking off and going on an adventure to find freedom. Obviously the guy made stupid choices, but in the end, the lesson he got before he died was that it's all meaningless unless he finds people to share those experiences with. And that's what I personally find inspirational about the story. I hope people aren't actually glorifying him.
People died trying to follow his footsteps. Others had to be rescued. Military finally had to airlift the fucking bus to stop it all. Both he and the writer would have saved lives had they been aborted while there was still time.
The Black Company bit is intersting since I think it's a good exmaple that something isn't for everyone and it's not just content but style that can do it. I personally quite like the weirdness of how it was writtne and how the narrator's lack of information means we have to fill in. That said, it is the exact thing that I have seen some folks I know criticize it for, and I think not wanting to deal with it further is a good reaosn to stop. Malazon being like that too kind of is interesting as that one annoyed me a shitload more htan Black Company. I think the focus on a single narrator probably helped, bu that did a lot. Style matters alot! (Also the whole "If it takes half a series to get good, it's not good" is osmething that more folks need to realize. I have seen that on TV also.)
Future scenario where book burning occurs but it's done by the e book business because they can't make any more money off of books that already exist that people can pass around
Chris McCandless’ story is pretty interesting I think. You can take it in different ways. To one person he might be a dumbass who got himself killed because he felt he was too good for a normal life. To others he’s just someone that wanted to live on their own terms.
About Into the Wild... THANK YOU! It annoys me tremendously that people think is empowering a book about an entitled prick that gets himself killed due to his own incompetence. Worst of all,people warned him,but he thought better than 5o follow the advice of people with a lot more experience. No offence to the suffering of the family,but is so dumb to idolize him.
@@alexishagerman7038 that's a misconception. Althought that is the story that apears in the book, it was just a theory arround his death . The idea of the poisonous plants was borned because people couldn't believe someone would die with so many options of food arround him, because he was so unprepeared he didn't knew how to forage properly. His death was just his fault, he thought it would be easy for him, as he was smart.
i feel like it was less of incompetence, and more of him being lost. not knowing what to do. he still shouldnt be idolized though. he was stupid, but that doesnt make him a prick. he made his own choices, and thats that.
I finally found someone who dislikes Fahrenheit 451 as much as I do. I see why people misinterpret as being about censorship, as the government was authoritarian. And I think the authoritarianism undercuts the message that he was trying to get across which is people are losing touch, technology is pacifying the masses, and decreasing peoples attention spans. I think it was trying too hard to be 1984, when the message would have been a lot more clear if the government wasn't involved at all. Maybe it would have been better as like a corpo-dystopia, especially with the scene on the subway with the advertisement. But the main character was irritating, he never had a moment of self-awareness or remorse for his contribution to the oppressive society, had a holier-than-though attitude whenever speaking to others who were just trying to survive under the regime (ie his wife). I never felt connected to Seattle, I couldn't visualize the setting like I could in 1984 or BNW. All in all, not his best execution. October County and the Martian Chronicles are better.
To be fair, Fahrenheit 451 was more about chosen ignorance and the excuses for it, and Ray actively hated a lot of the more common interpretations of it
I didn’t understand Into the Wild until I was older and had a mortgage, and had a life time of choices to wonder about. He saw a lot of the world in two years, more than most people ever do, and he died because he couldn’t leave the wilderness after he had decided to return to society and make an adult life for himself. You should give it another chance.
I remember the point of Into the Wild being that Alex had opportunities from people across his journey to stop, learn, or change the course of his life, but his headstrong attitude (which yeah all the decisions are dumb) pushes him to his death pretty much.
Ikr it’s so good! It’s been one of my favorite series since I was in high school. I’d avoid the sequel series though, it was… not very good unfortunately 😢
The Giver isn't a good book, but your comment about how it's not much of a dystopia threw me for a loop. The idea of never being able to feel strong emotions gives me the creeps, personally! But we are all different.
We’re told & constantly accustomed to the idea that our strong emotions being special and what separates us from the animals, etc. etc. However, for many people who suffer from stuff like anxiety or depression, I’m sure they’d give up their mental disorders in order to feel content pretty much all the time.
i'm pretty sure he meant that it didn't have a message. for example, anyone can write a world where a bad thing happens, but if all the people who read it agree that, yeah, that was a bad thing, let's never do that, then that book isn't really social commentary and can't stand on the same level as genre classics like we, 1984, or brave new world. so in that way, depending on what you think, you might not consider it dystopian fiction
I personally don’t consider it dystopia bc it doesn’t touch on any current issues as far as I can tell. What makes Brave New World or Handmaids Tale dystopian is how they reflect our reality. The giver has elements of that but nothing strong. It’s also giving weird anti-communism vibes lok
As someone who's a HUGE Bradbury fan (perhaps even my favorite writer) I have to say I agree that Farenheit 451 is his weakest work. I still like it, but it just pales in comparison with Bradbury's brilliant, poignant, beautiful, amazing short stories; the medium in which his talent really shows.
I will say, I definitely agree with you about Fahrenheit 451 despite the fact that I actually somewhat enjoyed it (and I was forced to read that book for school). It's a fairly solid book, but I don't think it's THE book about censorship and shit that it gets made out to be. That being said, I'd be interested in hearing about books you love that everyone else hates, if there's any notable ones.
Great video! I completely agree about The Giver and The Fault in Our Stars. One book I'd add if I made this kind of list would be The Girl with All the Gifts. It has one of the worst cases of protagonist-centered morality I've ever read.
Sorry, it looks like the Funny Internet Man has said something you like isn't to his taste. This means you are no longer allowed to enjoy it. Burn your books and weep.
I have recently been reading a lot of Stephen King books and I actually liked Salems Lot...however a lot of Kings work hasn't clicked with me (Carrie, Firestarter, Tommyknockers, The Cell, Running Man, Under the Dome etc).
"El Camino" I find interesting that you hated. Caught me off guard after the rest ngl. Based on my most recent 3hr binge upon finding your channel, I generally agree with your taste in books, so it came to me as a surprise you disliked this, which happens to be in my top 3. Although I think most people I meet hate it as well. Overall yeah the language is simple, unclear. The scenes are Ill defined and dialogue is minimal. The actual objectives are very broad and the deliberate theming is a bit pushed. I felt like the stylistic choices were a huge reflection of the content. The disaster was very clearly nuclear war and the condition they were experiencing was nuclear winter even on these slim details. Things are burned in cities, glassed roads, and charred things, Ash falls with snow. Trees are dead and plants don't grow. I think the slim description is to make it vague, to the characters, it doesn't matter. Whereas in a video game or a movie, figuring out what happened might be a subplot of its own, its vague because it doesn't matter. The Father was clearly trying to keep his morality and instill his son with such values while keeping them alive. That conflict within the man is huge. The coke can that the father gets from the vending machine doesn't matter to his son because he was born at the beginning of this catastrophe. The father lets out some humanity in the train scene, with the whistle, that his son never heard. There is also some very obvious symbols cleverly implemented, such as Getting supplies from a ship called the Bird of Hope (Pajaro de Esperanza) from the Island of Fire (Tenerife) ,relating "carrying the fire" in the boy. Because of the Fire = Hope in cold hopeless world. Viewed like this I think the book feels put together. As a traditionally read book, where chapters and language and details are more relevant, yeah it falls short. I almost think of it as a novella. Can't really fault this though. Nailed the rest. Consider that sub button slapped.
Idk if you already have this or something similar but can you make a list of books you’ve enjoyed and you think are good? Like, nothing complicated. Just a page where labeled “books I like” and you put the title and author on there after you read it. It’s always hard for me to find some good book recommendations and I have liked a most of the books you’ve said were good and I think a lot of your critiques are very valid so it would be nice to have someone with at least similar reading opinions and taste to get some recommendations from.
I know I'm not who you were asking, but I've really enjoyed the His Majesty's Dragon series by Naomi Novik. It's an alt history series that asks "what if Napoleonic war, but dragons?" She has a couple other series too, most drawing heavily on eastern European mythology. Also if you don't mind Jim butcher, Chronicles of Alleria is fantastic. Personally I think it's far better than the Dresden files, but I might be the weirdo here.
Something Wicked This Way Comes is one of my favorite books and so much better then Fahrenheit imo. Edit: Great video! You put into words a lot of opinions I've had for years so thank you. I got to the end and strongly disagree with you about The Road. Granted, I'm super biased but I'll try to explain some points where I think you're unfair. Prose - Super hit or miss and I can't fault anyone who can't stand McCarthy's punctuation quirks. Obviously I love how he writes and I think it increases immersion and helps me get into a sort of flow state for longer back and forth conversations. I can see how it isn't for everyone. However, I don't think it's fair to call it purple prose. A lot more complex than what a lot of people like for sure, and if you don't like the rule breaking I can see how it would get annoying but most of the sentences are short and simple. It seems like the lack of grammar isn't to your taste which is cool but doesn't mean it's bad writing just like I wouldn't call someone like Sanderson a bad writer for being clear with his prose even if it's less to my taste. Themes - Your main issue as I saw it was the contradictory themes of hope and despair. I don't think the ending Is implied to be good or bad either direction. I know this is a cop out a lot of the time but the contradictory themes where sort of the whole point to me. If it went full on happily ever after because hope, then that'd defeat the entire purpose which was that hope and love and beauty exist DESPITE all the evil. Hope doesn't defeat the tragedy of their world guaranteeing a thematic ending the point was that the boy keeps the fire going even if he's headed for tragedy. You also said it wasn't as deep as people act and to each there own, but there no such thing as an original theme and the book to me was a poignant and simpler exploration of a single theme. It never presents itself as some sprawling story with a web of themes and characters. There are multiple ways to be deep Finally you talk about how you felt it was written to show how smart the author is and wasn't entertaining and this just irks me in so many ways. Books have 0 obligation to be entertaining. The Road is dismal and depressing and hard to read because that's what it's written to be. It's not entertaining and oubviosly that's going to lose a lot of people but it's lack of fun is not some flaw that happened in the mistake of McCarthy trying to sound smart. He's a very reclusive guy and I doubt he writes for anyone but himself and to put his ideas onto paper. I really hate the whole "anyone who likes this is an elitist snob" thing I see so much. Not at all saying that that's your viewpoint but I wish everyone could criticize dense and well respected novels without resorting to calling things pretentious. Ulysses is way to complex for my taste but that doesn't negate it's quality or make everyone who likes it a snob who's pretending they understand it to look smart. Totally cool for you to dislike the book and I didn't even get the impression you where calling it a bad novel or anything, just that you didn't like it. Just wanted to express the ways I disagree. Again really great video!
What was the book about that african guy who ran away from his family and learned martial arts to beat the shit out of his former friends who betrayed him
The lovely bones is just... too much. On one hand, I dislike it because it's uncomfortable and I get that that's the point, but on the other hand every time I think about it I feel terrible about existing and that's not really great. I like reading to educate and to have fun, not to end up traumatized and then have no way to get over what that book had to say. So yeah, it's definitely a double edged sword that I deeply dislike.
Farenheit 451 can’t be about censorship because it’s not being censored (beyond implying that TV is more vapid than it used to be), it’s just banning a medium, not regulating the content. It’s like they burn any books, not just ones with content the government doesn’t like. It’s interesting to look at as a product of its time, what the anxieties were in those decades. Apart from that, Comics are still legal. Which is idiotic. And so might oral storytelling.
Bad guy in a book: yeah my friends are rapists but friendship comes first James: I think we all can relate Me: Speak ENTIRELY for yourself dude (I know that isn't what was meant but it sounded so wrong)
Oh wow. I haven't read the entire Heir chronicles but I read the first book as an unpublished galley when I was a teenager reviewing books. Never thought of it since then but your mention takes me back haha.
It's interesting to hear your perspective on Chris McCandless. I just listened to a wildly different perspective on him the other day, and that person described him as seeking self-actualization and running from abusive, materialistic parents. I have no idea or opinion one way or another, but it's interesting how widely opinions can vary on the same real story.
In a way I'm not surprised by Into the Wild. The protagonist would irritate the hell out of me if we met, but the author wrote it as neutrally as possible--Krakauer certainly isn't pro recklessness in nature (see his book on an Everest expedition that went awry). You can make your own judgment.
love the vid. I must ask, will you ever consider making a video on how you started booktube/advice for those new to it? I want to start up a channel but I don't know where to start
I'm with you on the Night Angel trilogy. The books started so well, really enrapturing me in its premise. I loved the idea of the book, but then as the story developed, I struggled. I enjoyed the books, but I don't think I would return to them ever again.
I gasped when you said Cinda Williams Chima ohhhh that series. I was so excited bc I liked the first book and the second was alright, but the third didn't integrate the characters well, which I assume was the reason it was so drama based instead of plot based :/ Also when you said into the wild for a second I thought you meant the first book in the warrior cats series 😂
Without going into too much detail, one of the characters from 'Salem's Lot appears in the later books of King's Dark Tower series. That's kind of neat.
TBH James - I think general consensus is that Malazan is getting good since book 2 - Deadhouse Gates. So dunno bout Black Company - but Malazan 1 is considered newbie effort, while 2 and 3 are considered excellent.
Bradbury was actually against a lot of technology and technological advancement. He was pretty old-fashioned and conservative in some respects and that bled into his books too, often not in the best way.
My first instinct is always to start complaining when someone starts criticising Stephen King, but I get where you're coming from. Salem's Lot isn't my favourite, either. I mostly just re-read The Dark Tower over and over, to be honest.
(2:14) Fahrenheit 451 is a terrible book because it didn't come with the alternative title Celsius 233 ;) But to be honest, I really don't get why European books have their titles changed in America, but American books can't have their titles changed in Europe (or elsewhere). Since the point of the title was to tell a specific temperature, and I'm pretty sure the number 451 itself doesn't carry any meaning, having the title be Celsius 233, or Kelvin 506 even, wouldn't change the meaning of the book. It's a more sensible change than changing philosopher to sorcerer ;)
I read Fahrenheit 451 for my AP english class and the teacher literally said "we aren't allowed to read 1984, we have to read Othello instead" and like, I LIKE Othello, but 1984 would've been a great contrast to F 451. Can you tell I live in the south?
Oh ther eis a good eries based on books, der club der roten bänder about a group of friends from a childrens clinic of chronically, its sad, but also really gets across how they help each other, one is a boy in a coma, which narrates?! Really good. and really showing how they live and are friend and drama . An basically growing up with uncertainly as teenagr in a hospital wing. And a male nurse basically, inpiring th club to make it less sad, around th boy in a com, thats surprisingly sweet.
I have only read Farenheit among list, and yes, its not bad, but not that good The Eragon books are like that for me, the series fell apart in later books, when the author just kept adding stuff for "world building" sake, and then did nothing with it Its a curious case, as the author began writing the series as a teenager, and those were the best books, because he stuck to the formula, but as a young adult the series derailed with so much "not like other fantasy books" stuff, that went nowhere and had no depth
i also hate into the wild for the same reasons. My buddy went to alaska this last year, and i told him to make sure he didn't starve to death in a bus. so he decided to visit the bus and send me pics.
@@mjstew4453 yes, they moved it in 2020. but it is now located at the Museum of the North at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks. I didn't know they actually moved it until after my friend sent me the pics. He was like.. "i'm in the bus"... "they moved it"
Even though the Malazan series isn't on your list, I found the comment about it the most relatable, I do think it might be a good series but I just could never get into it, everytime I try I end up quitting mid book 1 because I don't read often so I keep losing the threads of the story and can't tell what is going on, perhaps one day when I'm old and retired with lots of free time!
I guess I'm too easy going, but I tend not to hate books; I certainly couldn't come up with a list like this. Having said that, I do have a couple of titles where I simply don't get what the fuss is all about. I thought Name of the Wind and Wise Man's Fear were basically okay, I certainly don't regret reading them, but also that they were nothing special in the doorstop Fantasy category. Honestly, if anything they seemed a bit more derivative than most. I sometimes wonder if I managed to grow an epic Rasputin tier beard I could be a best-selling author, too. As in, these seem to be books sold more on the "sizzle" of the author and his life and less on the "steak" of what is actually in the books. I've also simply decided that the Discworld books falling flat for me is some personal failing at a DNA level. Everybody loves them, I thought they were kinda meh, of the three or four I read. A bit too try-hard, perhaps? At first I thought it was that I don't like humor in Fantasy, but I like Christopher Moore, Christopher Starsheff and in the SF sphere Douglas Adams. Just books not for me on some level.
Same. I got only three chapters deep and I quit. It boggles my mind that she could take an interesting premise and concepts, but execute them in such a boring way. That, and the characters were pretty bland and generic, not really having much life outside of their role in the story/cast.
@@JediHobbit89 I bought the whole trilogy and I can tell ya, the first book is the beh... least terrible and it gets worse afterwards. I was skipping through the final book which I have never done before nor since. Oh, but it gets worse. There is going to be a movie franchise. Schwab called the script 'magical' which unfortunately means something different to me and her.
@@jacqueshardin4601 good thing I usually buy series one book at a time then. Can't imagine how much worse it could've gotten than the tripe I'd already suffered through.
Holy hell... I honestly didn't think anyone else knew about the Heir chronicles. It's been more than a decade since I read the trilogy. I remember really liking it, tho other series would certainly rank much higher in my personal tier list. The final battle was weirdly subdued, in hindsight, tho I remember finding it interesting how Nick's story turned out.
Happy to see "The Road" on here. I gave up after the first few pages because of the writing style. For "Into the Wild", I actually liked the book but not because of the story. I thought the mystery of finding out what happened and the writing style were very good and kept it interesting even when you are learning how uninteresting the subject's life was.
The Road sounds infuriating from a prose perspective alone. I can't imagine anyone out there is asking for books with no named characters and no quotation marks, yet here we apparently are.
Funny you mention Fahrenheit 451; a band I like called Royal Hunt from Denmark (their singer is from the US tho) just did two albums based on that story: Dystopia Part I & II. There are some pretty good songs. They also did an album on Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles story as well, 2001's The Mission.
Agree on The Lovely Bones. The end was disappointing. It seemed to be trying to tie up loose ends in a bad way. I don't like a lot of Stephen King books, primarily for the endings. The Stand as a whole was stupid. It wtf was that ending. The part where they had to have sex to beat the bad guy? And then he just puts the girl with the rich guy that had a crush on her at the end, when there was nothing leading up to it. The movie did better. In The Dome, the ending just happens. We have a building up to a climax and it just plateaus. Don't get me started on Hearts of Atlantis or whatever that was called. I don't think I could even finish it. That or my brain has wiped it from my memory to spare me.
Dude I SO remember The Heir Chronicles, I even read the spin offs. Granted, only really remember Not-Percy Jackson Warrior man and the spin off Sorcerer dude. But, it's basically ass, yeah. I remember Into The Wild too, it was kinda interesting, had to read it for AP Lit, fine for required reading
For me it’s To Kill a MockingBird. I hate that book, if you want a good book that addresses racism just read Native Son. TKAMB wishes it was Native Son lmao
Also, the shining. The movie is so good but the book is unbelievably boring. It drags on and on and on 😐 the only thing I wish the movie did differently was not killing Halloran bc it was unnecessary
I have realized I hate a lot of popular books 😭 I also despise the boy in the striped pajamas. The movie is bad too. I didn’t hate picture of Dorian Gray and I thought it had a lot of interesting ideas but I don’t find the idea of art for arts sake to be compelling. It’s overhyped imo.
And yeah fuck the Giver🙄 it’s a embarrassingly bad book. Sonia Levitin’s “The Cure” is better executing a similar idea. Fuck, even Brave New World tackles similar themes and does it way better and I don’t like that book either
Supertramp is a band with a song called The Logical Song about growing up going to college and how society wants you to be responsible and logical and deviating from that makes you a radical, just an FYI for where he probably chose to take his moniker from.
Totally agree with what you said about fahrenheit 451. I didn't really care about Brave New World either. I remember it feeling preachy (or at least that's how I interpreted it) in some ways I didn't agree with.
It take alot for me to HATE a book. If no one has ever written one, I'm not sure they understand how much work can go into it. However, I do agree that there are books that are over-rated. You and I share a bit of cynicism I didn't think I had. Regardless, I tend to enjoy most books, but everyone has different tastes and are drawn to different genres. I do enjoy your book reviews! I hope to never find you hating on a book I hope to publish soon!
Just got through your list finally and was surprised by your number 1. Never even heard you talk about this one, but also because I just recently gave up on the road. I was about 3/4 through near end of 2022, and just found it harder and harder to pick up. So decided to start 2023 not trying to finish it. You may be one of the first negative/critical responses for it (that I've seen), which I love. Especially because I probably did feel a bit bad for not finishing it, or that I just "wasnt ready" for his style. So thank you for that "recommendation" I guess. Makes me feel better that not everyone loves The Camino.
Fast Food Nation. I get that it has a lot of important information, but it just drags on and is so boring and redundant. I had to read it for middle school English class and I just didn't read the last 80 pages. I got an A on the exam as I missed nothing with how redundant it is. It feels like reading a dry research paper only with several hundred more pages. I also agree with you on F451. I also had to read it for class and the whole unit treated it as if the book was about censorship when the only analytical response to the reading that's accurate to the author's intent is "Okay, Boomer". For Into The Wild, I reccomend watching Wendigoon's video on Chris.
Bro the Malazan slander is killing me. Is GotM the worst of the series? Yes. But it only gets better from there, Deadhouse Gates (book 2) is incredible
How do you find the series as a whole? I've heard a lot of mixed opinions, mainly about the first book as I understand it, and am wondering if I should pick them up. I'm running out of Wheel of Time and need to find something to start on when I finish lol
37:20 I have absolutely no idea how you got that idea unless you were skimming the book. The whole thing about the giver is that the entire society is fucky and inhumane from the beginning. From taking basically hormone blockers once you hit puberty proper, language being aggressively sanitized to the point that children are beaten over saying one wrong word, and the book opening with someone being euthanized for making a mistake on the job. The color thing is just the last nail in an already plenty hammered coffin. Absolutely bizarre take. 38:29 Yes. Thats the point of the book. The society is not that bad if you are a member of it, the true horror of it reveals itself once you step outside the society like the protagonist does. The protagonist out and out states that towards the end.
Harrison Bergeron It was super ableist in its subtext,the word didn’t make any sense, Harrison Bergeron is one giant Gary stew, I had to listen to this book twice. Once in my English class and once in my Economics. It felt like someone was trying to write 1984 but didn’t understand 1984. One thing that bugs me is this book seems perfect for a left wing critic but I have seen no one talk about it.
20:48 "We've all been there" What, our friends committing war crimes but knowing in their hearts they are actually good people? Yeah man, happens every Saturday
The reason why people like a pretencious book who uses the aesthethics of intellectualism without being actually deep ia very simple: because like the author, they also like to feel smug about how intellectual and deep they are without having to actually engage with something really intellectual
![[FULL] RETROSPECTIVE : Final Fantasy Tactics](/img/n.gif)
It is called "Fault in Our Stars" because unlike Shakespeare's example there IS fault in their stars (they didn't do anything to deserve it).
How about everybody NOT believing in astrology. That should take care of nearly 99% of this trash book. And the problem with this whole thing of "they didn't do anything to deserve it" is that everybody is born and then dies. In that sense every life is a kind of tragedy. But the bottom line here with this book is that it is mawkish cry p***.
@@grosbeak6130 It is figure of speech. The book isn't in favour of astrology.
Also it was just basically about a dude getting inside a terminally Ill girl’s pants. It was pretty icky in my opinion.
@@kiethveseyofficial Both were terminally ill and he died in the book.
I'd love to see an inverse of this list in the future.
same
I’m pretty sure the death cure would be on it.
I'm sure y'all know but he did exactly what you asked for.
I saw that video before I saw this one 😂
Now I want to see James Tullos do a "10 books I love that everyone else hates" video.
Can we take a moment to appreciate the section headings give away the books without giving away the books?
Such great riddles.
John Green is a really amusing author to look back on. I (and most of my friends) really loved him in middle/high school, which in hindsight is primarily because of the way he wrote teenagers. That was how we saw ourselves, and he captured that really well. But then he'd have, like, a Big Moral for every book (people with terminal illness are more than their illnesses for TFIOS, or the manic pixie dream girl is a terrible trope for Looking For Alaska) only to have the book read like the exact opposite of that moral. I don't know how he managed to undermine his own points so fucking well but it's really hilarious
Also I loved the Heir series in middle/high school so feel free to cite me as the person who liked them that you're disagreeing with :P
I believe he goes for it on purpose, I could be giving an author I like too much credit
Are you really Alex G? Love your new album, man!
I stoped watching and reading John Green after that scene in The Fault in Our Stars in which they kiss in the Anne Frank house and people applaud - its just not ok to spice up your little novel by putting the Shoa in it.
@@FlosBlog People should be allowed to kiss where they want.
@@NotoriousLightning I disagree. There’s definitely a time and place
"It's why i got an actual job now" YOU ARE BANNED FROM THE BOOK WORM COMMUNITY! Section 3 of the book worm constitution MANDATES that all members can only live off of youtube OR book related jobs (writting, editing, publishing); a swat team will come shortly to burn your books.
Fahrenheit 451 has a lot of conservative themes that I think a lot of people aren't aware of.
Bradbury pretty much lays his thesis bare in a conversation between the protagonist Guy Montague and the fire chief. The chief is explaining how it came to be that they started burning books. He explicitly tells Montague that wasn't government censorship. The chief explains that over time people quit reading and turned toward mindless TV. He also laments how books became increasingly controversial because of all the whiny minorities being offended that had to be catered to. In the history he lays out, the end of books happened from the bottom up with the public demanding they be gotten rid of.
There's a lot more that can be said about this, but the modern equivalent would be if someone wrote a story about a dystopian future where everybody is dumb and spends all their time reading social media and getting offended by things.
oh wait, that sounds familiar...
This sounds very interesting, I wouldn't call it "conservative" at all
dude just wrote idiocracy before his time
He didn’t mean minorities like social minorities, he meant minorities more like “niche audiences.” That’s not a political take.
thanks for the "no he just wanted people to read instead of watching tv" thing, i didn't know that before but i'm glad i know it now. i think it's fine to relate to a book your own specific way (like jkr and the death of the author approach of most fandom creators nowadays), but i hate when people replace the author's actual intent with their own ideas because they think it sounds better. if a guy wants to write ventfic about how he doesn't like tv, let the man write his ventfic!
"It's easier to hate something when you don't know much about it" Wise words James, wise words
To be fair, John Greens Turtles all the way really hit me. Not the plot or the final message or anything, just that one convo mc had with her friend where mc asked her if she saw her as a burden because of her mental issues, which the friend responded to without the typical 'no im fine, youre just you I understand' like talking to a scared child, but actually chose honesty. 'Yes, your mental issues do bother me and sometimes I find you infuriating, but despite that I still want to be friends with you.' A friend that's honest with even when its not convenient is a true gem.
My basic English class read Fahrenheit 451 and the advanced English class read 1984. It shows which book is regarded to as more complex.
Same here, and I assume your teacher also misinterpreted F451 and made the whole unit about censorship.
Its funny, because 1984 is as simplistic a book as they come.
I just realised that fault in our stars author is the same guy whose educational videos I've been watching on the PBS crash course channel. Neat!
I've read just one of these, Fahrenheit 451, and personally I like it. Bradbury's authorial intent was basically Phone Bad: 1950s edition, which is dumb as fuck, but he accidently makes something more interesting than intended. I think there's a lot of really interesting details drip-fed to the reader, so the most interesting storytelling is actually in the worldbuilding. The characters are pretty mid but as a dystopian adventure story it gets the job done imo.
I honestly think it’s a more interesting idea in the modern day with the advent of TikTok and other short-form, algorithm forms of ‘entertainment’. It just needs to be more complex than ‘phone bad, book good’ but instead explore the idea that pushing back against ruining attention spans for easily marketable trends isn’t elitist snobbery but genuine concern for mental well-being and the future of art
*shrug* not all horror books have to have bummer endings. I’d still consider pretty much everyone is dead a bummer, but sometimes it’s nice to come out the other side of a life changing, hard experience somewhat victorious. You don’t have to have a bleak ending for it to be horror. Not everything has to be oppressively dark throughout.
It's been many years since i read the Giver in like late middle school, and concering what you said about how the world isn't that dystopian; I remeber being a little disturbed when certain girls (like 12 yo girls in the MC's class) were selected as 'mothers' bc they had wide hips or something. I just get uncomfortable thinking abut how in that world like middle schoolers (?) were selected basically just to have children, and if I remeber correctly the book also implies that the 'good lifestyle' of being a 'baby producer' isn't that glorious once their 'purpose is fulfilled'.
It feels kinda dehumanazing that some of the girls are just reduced to basically their wombs
I always saw fahrenheit 451 as a commentary on culture of entertainment, that is actually pretty relevant today. In their society people live shallow lives of being entertained 24/7, which led to low attention spans and decreased interest in "slow and boring" activities like reading books, stargazing, and taking walks outside. Over time, everything became faster paced, louder, and more violent just to hold people's attention at all. We also see the effects of this superficial lifestyle with Montague's wife and many others are suffering from severe depression. At the start of the book, Montague's wife tries to commit su!cide, and the medics who take care of her brush it off and say that many of them happen each night. While this might have not been Bradbury's original intention, it's kinda freaky how much of this stuff has happened in our world. Opinions are valid though.
For "Into the Wild" the main point is that his parents were obsessed with material things that ended up causing a toxic relationship that negatively affected him and his sister. This is why he decided to rid himself of anything, material by giving his money away to charity, choosing to turn money down from strangers, and not wanting to stay in one place for long. The point was to experience the part of life where the awful parts of his childhood weren't present.
Edit: Also he didn't have trouble making friends and was far from an outcast. The reason the story is so interesting is because Chris had everything going for him. He was Valedictorian, he was about to enter a prestigious law schools, charismatic, rich family. It is just so interesting to see a bright mind to choose to become a drifter instead of his other life purely based off the pain his parents brought him.
He was a fucking moron who romanticized "living the real life for real" - so he Darwined himself. Alas, not entirely. His legacy remained.
Namely, that the popularity of the book and the movie has caused other people to die, trying to walk The Path of The Moron. Others had to be rescued, for similar reasons.
Finally, the military had to step in and airlift that goddamn bus so morons would stop getting themselves stranded in the wilderness without skills or supplies, needing to be rescued.
Abortions save lives kids! Had his mother aborted him, she'd save at least two lives. That we know of. So far.
_Talks about taking peasant women after a battle and burning down a village_
"I'm sure we've all been there at some point in our lives."
Cancel James 😔
I’m forever gonna associate TFIOS with 10 year olds making recolor ocs on instagram of characters with cancer by making them bald and giving them oxygen tubes
Even when I was 13, TFOIS didn't trick me. I saw right through it as being just teenage heartstring-pulling fluff. Maybe because I read Looking for Alaska first, but TFOIS felt really cheap. Thinking back on it, perhaps Gus' death shouldn't have happened in the book. I think it would've been more powerful if it ended with him and Hazel knowing he's back in remission and a cliffhanger of what they're going to do with their lives now, but that they'll cherish every moment or something, I dunno. I think it'd fit in more with the message than what the book actually went with.
As others have noted in the comments, the point of Into the Wild is not to glorify McCandless nor to say his antisocial attitude is necessarily good. Sure, a superficial pass reads as a generic critique of modern society, but actually delving into it shows the Krakauer is trying to make a more nuanced point about the conflict of modernity and the human aspiration for freedom through McCandless’s story. In my opinion, you’re still approaching it as if it’s a fictional work (assessing only its characters and entertainment value) and brushing over the philosophical subtext. I think it’s worth a second shot, probably in conjunction with a more modern philosophical work like Ellul’s Technological Society if the ideas are something you want to grapple with
Your take on into the Wild is...wild lol. There's not understanding what it's about, and then there's *disregarding* it entirely.
'i dont know who the road was written for' MEEEEE!!!!!!
I like Into The Wild because it's about taking off and going on an adventure to find freedom. Obviously the guy made stupid choices, but in the end, the lesson he got before he died was that it's all meaningless unless he finds people to share those experiences with. And that's what I personally find inspirational about the story. I hope people aren't actually glorifying him.
People died trying to follow his footsteps. Others had to be rescued. Military finally had to airlift the fucking bus to stop it all.
Both he and the writer would have saved lives had they been aborted while there was still time.
Didn’t Eddie Vedder make an album based on Into The Wild?
The Black Company bit is intersting since I think it's a good exmaple that something isn't for everyone and it's not just content but style that can do it. I personally quite like the weirdness of how it was writtne and how the narrator's lack of information means we have to fill in. That said, it is the exact thing that I have seen some folks I know criticize it for, and I think not wanting to deal with it further is a good reaosn to stop.
Malazon being like that too kind of is interesting as that one annoyed me a shitload more htan Black Company. I think the focus on a single narrator probably helped, bu that did a lot. Style matters alot!
(Also the whole "If it takes half a series to get good, it's not good" is osmething that more folks need to realize. I have seen that on TV also.)
Future scenario where book burning occurs but it's done by the e book business because they can't make any more money off of books that already exist that people can pass around
Given how many of these books I was forced to read in school I’m beginning to think that I didn’t get that good of an English education.
Chris McCandless’ story is pretty interesting I think. You can take it in different ways.
To one person he might be a dumbass who got himself killed because he felt he was too good for a normal life. To others he’s just someone that wanted to live on their own terms.
About Into the Wild... THANK YOU! It annoys me tremendously that people think is empowering a book about an entitled prick that gets himself killed due to his own incompetence. Worst of all,people warned him,but he thought better than 5o follow the advice of people with a lot more experience. No offence to the suffering of the family,but is so dumb to idolize him.
Yeah into the wild is only really worth reading if you're learning about American transcendentalism otherwise it comes off super weird
You know the guy died because he ate plants previously labeled as safe to eat, right?
@@alexishagerman7038 that's a misconception. Althought that is the story that apears in the book, it was just a theory arround his death . The idea of the poisonous plants was borned because people couldn't believe someone would die with so many options of food arround him, because he was so unprepeared he didn't knew how to forage properly. His death was just his fault, he thought it would be easy for him, as he was smart.
I watched a nice analysis on him by Wendigoon that helped give a different perspective than the book.
i feel like it was less of incompetence, and more of him being lost. not knowing what to do. he still shouldnt be idolized though. he was stupid, but that doesnt make him a prick. he made his own choices, and thats that.
I finally found someone who dislikes Fahrenheit 451 as much as I do.
I see why people misinterpret as being about censorship, as the government was authoritarian. And I think the authoritarianism undercuts the message that he was trying to get across which is people are losing touch, technology is pacifying the masses, and decreasing peoples attention spans. I think it was trying too hard to be 1984, when the message would have been a lot more clear if the government wasn't involved at all. Maybe it would have been better as like a corpo-dystopia, especially with the scene on the subway with the advertisement.
But the main character was irritating, he never had a moment of self-awareness or remorse for his contribution to the oppressive society, had a holier-than-though attitude whenever speaking to others who were just trying to survive under the regime (ie his wife). I never felt connected to Seattle, I couldn't visualize the setting like I could in 1984 or BNW. All in all, not his best execution. October County and the Martian Chronicles are better.
I mean a protagonist doesnt have to be likable for a dystopia to work. The protagonist of 1984 is really a selfish cunt himself too.
To be fair, Fahrenheit 451 was more about chosen ignorance and the excuses for it, and Ray actively hated a lot of the more common interpretations of it
I didn’t understand Into the Wild until I was older and had a mortgage, and had a life time of choices to wonder about. He saw a lot of the world in two years, more than most people ever do, and he died because he couldn’t leave the wilderness after he had decided to return to society and make an adult life for himself. You should give it another chance.
I remember the point of Into the Wild being that Alex had opportunities from people across his journey to stop, learn, or change the course of his life, but his headstrong attitude (which yeah all the decisions are dumb) pushes him to his death pretty much.
I have such love for Cinda Williams China’s later work The Seven Realms! I just stumbled upon the first book at a bookstore and fell in love!
Ikr it’s so good! It’s been one of my favorite series since I was in high school. I’d avoid the sequel series though, it was… not very good unfortunately 😢
The Giver isn't a good book, but your comment about how it's not much of a dystopia threw me for a loop. The idea of never being able to feel strong emotions gives me the creeps, personally! But we are all different.
We’re told & constantly accustomed to the idea that our strong emotions being special and what separates us from the animals, etc. etc. However, for many people who suffer from stuff like anxiety or depression, I’m sure they’d give up their mental disorders in order to feel content pretty much all the time.
@@Varooooooom As someone who has several mental disorders, including anxiety, I disagree. But I also get that it's a personal thing :)
i'm pretty sure he meant that it didn't have a message. for example, anyone can write a world where a bad thing happens, but if all the people who read it agree that, yeah, that was a bad thing, let's never do that, then that book isn't really social commentary and can't stand on the same level as genre classics like we, 1984, or brave new world. so in that way, depending on what you think, you might not consider it dystopian fiction
I personally don’t consider it dystopia bc it doesn’t touch on any current issues as far as I can tell. What makes Brave New World or Handmaids Tale dystopian is how they reflect our reality. The giver has elements of that but nothing strong. It’s also giving weird anti-communism vibes lok
@@pepperyk4 The Giver is basically anti-communism for babies, which is why they try to teach it so early in US public education lol
As someone who's a HUGE Bradbury fan (perhaps even my favorite writer) I have to say I agree that Farenheit 451 is his weakest work. I still like it, but it just pales in comparison with Bradbury's brilliant, poignant, beautiful, amazing short stories; the medium in which his talent really shows.
I will say, I definitely agree with you about Fahrenheit 451 despite the fact that I actually somewhat enjoyed it (and I was forced to read that book for school). It's a fairly solid book, but I don't think it's THE book about censorship and shit that it gets made out to be.
That being said, I'd be interested in hearing about books you love that everyone else hates, if there's any notable ones.
Great video! I completely agree about The Giver and The Fault in Our Stars. One book I'd add if I made this kind of list would be The Girl with All the Gifts. It has one of the worst cases of protagonist-centered morality I've ever read.
it was interesting except for the end. it felt like the author didn't know how to end it... or they actually wanted to send a terrible message?
Sorry, it looks like the Funny Internet Man has said something you like isn't to his taste. This means you are no longer allowed to enjoy it. Burn your books and weep.
Salem's Lot is very relevant to most of King's other work.
Also Barlow is an incredibly well crafted villain
I have recently been reading a lot of Stephen King books and I actually liked Salems Lot...however a lot of Kings work hasn't clicked with me (Carrie, Firestarter, Tommyknockers, The Cell, Running Man, Under the Dome etc).
"El Camino" I find interesting that you hated. Caught me off guard after the rest ngl.
Based on my most recent 3hr binge upon finding your channel, I generally agree with your taste in books, so it came to me as a surprise you disliked this, which happens to be in my top 3.
Although I think most people I meet hate it as well.
Overall yeah the language is simple, unclear. The scenes are Ill defined and dialogue is minimal. The actual objectives are very broad and the deliberate theming is a bit pushed. I felt like the stylistic choices were a huge reflection of the content. The disaster was very clearly nuclear war and the condition they were experiencing was nuclear winter even on these slim details. Things are burned in cities, glassed roads, and charred things, Ash falls with snow. Trees are dead and plants don't grow. I think the slim description is to make it vague, to the characters, it doesn't matter. Whereas in a video game or a movie, figuring out what happened might be a subplot of its own, its vague because it doesn't matter. The Father was clearly trying to keep his morality and instill his son with such values while keeping them alive. That conflict within the man is huge. The coke can that the father gets from the vending machine doesn't matter to his son because he was born at the beginning of this catastrophe. The father lets out some humanity in the train scene, with the whistle, that his son never heard. There is also some very obvious symbols cleverly implemented, such as Getting supplies from a ship called the Bird of Hope (Pajaro de Esperanza) from the Island of Fire (Tenerife) ,relating "carrying the fire" in the boy. Because of the Fire = Hope in cold hopeless world. Viewed like this I think the book feels put together. As a traditionally read book, where chapters and language and details are more relevant, yeah it falls short. I almost think of it as a novella.
Can't really fault this though.
Nailed the rest.
Consider that sub button slapped.
Idk if you already have this or something similar but can you make a list of books you’ve enjoyed and you think are good? Like, nothing complicated. Just a page where labeled “books I like” and you put the title and author on there after you read it. It’s always hard for me to find some good book recommendations and I have liked a most of the books you’ve said were good and I think a lot of your critiques are very valid so it would be nice to have someone with at least similar reading opinions and taste to get some recommendations from.
I know I'm not who you were asking, but I've really enjoyed the His Majesty's Dragon series by Naomi Novik. It's an alt history series that asks "what if Napoleonic war, but dragons?" She has a couple other series too, most drawing heavily on eastern European mythology.
Also if you don't mind Jim butcher, Chronicles of Alleria is fantastic. Personally I think it's far better than the Dresden files, but I might be the weirdo here.
Something Wicked This Way Comes is one of my favorite books and so much better then Fahrenheit imo.
Edit: Great video! You put into words a lot of opinions I've had for years so thank you. I got to the end and strongly disagree with you about The Road. Granted, I'm super biased but I'll try to explain some points where I think you're unfair.
Prose - Super hit or miss and I can't fault anyone who can't stand McCarthy's punctuation quirks. Obviously I love how he writes and I think it increases immersion and helps me get into a sort of flow state for longer back and forth conversations. I can see how it isn't for everyone. However, I don't think it's fair to call it purple prose. A lot more complex than what a lot of people like for sure, and if you don't like the rule breaking I can see how it would get annoying but most of the sentences are short and simple. It seems like the lack of grammar isn't to your taste which is cool but doesn't mean it's bad writing just like I wouldn't call someone like Sanderson a bad writer for being clear with his prose even if it's less to my taste.
Themes - Your main issue as I saw it was the contradictory themes of hope and despair. I don't think the ending Is implied to be good or bad either direction. I know this is a cop out a lot of the time but the contradictory themes where sort of the whole point to me. If it went full on happily ever after because hope, then that'd defeat the entire purpose which was that hope and love and beauty exist DESPITE all the evil. Hope doesn't defeat the tragedy of their world guaranteeing a thematic ending the point was that the boy keeps the fire going even if he's headed for tragedy. You also said it wasn't as deep as people act and to each there own, but there no such thing as an original theme and the book to me was a poignant and simpler exploration of a single theme. It never presents itself as some sprawling story with a web of themes and characters. There are multiple ways to be deep
Finally you talk about how you felt it was written to show how smart the author is and wasn't entertaining and this just irks me in so many ways. Books have 0 obligation to be entertaining. The Road is dismal and depressing and hard to read because that's what it's written to be. It's not entertaining and oubviosly that's going to lose a lot of people but it's lack of fun is not some flaw that happened in the mistake of McCarthy trying to sound smart. He's a very reclusive guy and I doubt he writes for anyone but himself and to put his ideas onto paper. I really hate the whole "anyone who likes this is an elitist snob" thing I see so much. Not at all saying that that's your viewpoint but I wish everyone could criticize dense and well respected novels without resorting to calling things pretentious. Ulysses is way to complex for my taste but that doesn't negate it's quality or make everyone who likes it a snob who's pretending they understand it to look smart.
Totally cool for you to dislike the book and I didn't even get the impression you where calling it a bad novel or anything, just that you didn't like it. Just wanted to express the ways I disagree. Again really great video!
What was the book about that african guy who ran away from his family and learned martial arts to beat the shit out of his former friends who betrayed him
The lovely bones is just... too much. On one hand, I dislike it because it's uncomfortable and I get that that's the point, but on the other hand every time I think about it I feel terrible about existing and that's not really great. I like reading to educate and to have fun, not to end up traumatized and then have no way to get over what that book had to say. So yeah, it's definitely a double edged sword that I deeply dislike.
Farenheit 451 can’t be about censorship because it’s not being censored (beyond implying that TV is more vapid than it used to be), it’s just banning a medium, not regulating the content. It’s like they burn any books, not just ones with content the government doesn’t like. It’s interesting to look at as a product of its time, what the anxieties were in those decades.
Apart from that, Comics are still legal. Which is idiotic. And so might oral storytelling.
Bad guy in a book: yeah my friends are rapists but friendship comes first
James: I think we all can relate
Me: Speak ENTIRELY for yourself dude
(I know that isn't what was meant but it sounded so wrong)
Oh wow. I haven't read the entire Heir chronicles but I read the first book as an unpublished galley when I was a teenager reviewing books. Never thought of it since then but your mention takes me back haha.
It's interesting to hear your perspective on Chris McCandless. I just listened to a wildly different perspective on him the other day, and that person described him as seeking self-actualization and running from abusive, materialistic parents. I have no idea or opinion one way or another, but it's interesting how widely opinions can vary on the same real story.
In a way I'm not surprised by Into the Wild. The protagonist would irritate the hell out of me if we met, but the author wrote it as neutrally as possible--Krakauer certainly isn't pro recklessness in nature (see his book on an Everest expedition that went awry). You can make your own judgment.
Totally agree on hating The Fault in our Stars.
I never read the book but not a fan of the movie.
love the vid. I must ask, will you ever consider making a video on how you started booktube/advice for those new to it? I want to start up a channel but I don't know where to start
I'm with you on the Night Angel trilogy. The books started so well, really enrapturing me in its premise. I loved the idea of the book, but then as the story developed, I struggled. I enjoyed the books, but I don't think I would return to them ever again.
I gasped when you said Cinda Williams Chima ohhhh that series. I was so excited bc I liked the first book and the second was alright, but the third didn't integrate the characters well, which I assume was the reason it was so drama based instead of plot based :/
Also when you said into the wild for a second I thought you meant the first book in the warrior cats series 😂
Without going into too much detail, one of the characters from 'Salem's Lot appears in the later books of King's Dark Tower series. That's kind of neat.
The Giver’s sequels pretty quickly drop all of the dystopic stuff and end up throwing in a magic forest and retcons the first book.
Completely disagree on The Road but, absolutely agree on Fahrenheit 451 lol
TBH James - I think general consensus is that Malazan is getting good since book 2 - Deadhouse Gates. So dunno bout Black Company - but Malazan 1 is considered newbie effort, while 2 and 3 are considered excellent.
Bradbury was actually against a lot of technology and technological advancement. He was pretty old-fashioned and conservative in some respects and that bled into his books too, often not in the best way.
I like the Heir Chronicles, never read the last one but the spin off Demon King books are pretty good
My first instinct is always to start complaining when someone starts criticising Stephen King, but I get where you're coming from. Salem's Lot isn't my favourite, either. I mostly just re-read The Dark Tower over and over, to be honest.
(2:14) Fahrenheit 451 is a terrible book because it didn't come with the alternative title Celsius 233 ;)
But to be honest, I really don't get why European books have their titles changed in America, but American books can't have their titles changed in Europe (or elsewhere). Since the point of the title was to tell a specific temperature, and I'm pretty sure the number 451 itself doesn't carry any meaning, having the title be Celsius 233, or Kelvin 506 even, wouldn't change the meaning of the book. It's a more sensible change than changing philosopher to sorcerer ;)
I read Fahrenheit 451 for my AP english class and the teacher literally said "we aren't allowed to read 1984, we have to read Othello instead" and like, I LIKE Othello, but 1984 would've been a great contrast to F 451. Can you tell I live in the south?
THANK YOU!!!! I always felt like the odd one out to hate Fahrenheit 451.
I can see why you hated the Black Company, but I loved it for all the reasons you didn’t. Otherwise I mostly agreed with your takes
Oh ther eis a good eries based on books, der club der roten bänder about a group of friends from a childrens clinic of chronically, its sad, but also really gets across how they help each other, one is a boy in a coma, which narrates?! Really good. and really showing how they live and are friend and drama . An basically growing up with uncertainly as teenagr in a hospital wing. And a male nurse basically, inpiring th club to make it less sad, around th boy in a com, thats surprisingly sweet.
I have only read Farenheit among list, and yes, its not bad, but not that good
The Eragon books are like that for me, the series fell apart in later books, when the author just kept adding stuff for "world building" sake, and then did nothing with it
Its a curious case, as the author began writing the series as a teenager, and those were the best books, because he stuck to the formula, but as a young adult the series derailed with so much "not like other fantasy books" stuff, that went nowhere and had no depth
i also hate into the wild for the same reasons. My buddy went to alaska this last year, and i told him to make sure he didn't starve to death in a bus. so he decided to visit the bus and send me pics.
Didn’t they have to airlift the bus out of the woods so dumbasses would stop looking for it?
@@mjstew4453 yes, they moved it in 2020. but it is now located at the Museum of the North at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks.
I didn't know they actually moved it until after my friend sent me the pics. He was like.. "i'm in the bus"... "they moved it"
Those McCarthy takes are terrible.
Even though the Malazan series isn't on your list, I found the comment about it the most relatable, I do think it might be a good series but I just could never get into it, everytime I try I end up quitting mid book 1 because I don't read often so I keep losing the threads of the story and can't tell what is going on, perhaps one day when I'm old and retired with lots of free time!
I guess I'm too easy going, but I tend not to hate books; I certainly couldn't come up with a list like this. Having said that, I do have a couple of titles where I simply don't get what the fuss is all about.
I thought Name of the Wind and Wise Man's Fear were basically okay, I certainly don't regret reading them, but also that they were nothing special in the doorstop Fantasy category. Honestly, if anything they seemed a bit more derivative than most. I sometimes wonder if I managed to grow an epic Rasputin tier beard I could be a best-selling author, too. As in, these seem to be books sold more on the "sizzle" of the author and his life and less on the "steak" of what is actually in the books.
I've also simply decided that the Discworld books falling flat for me is some personal failing at a DNA level. Everybody loves them, I thought they were kinda meh, of the three or four I read. A bit too try-hard, perhaps? At first I thought it was that I don't like humor in Fantasy, but I like Christopher Moore, Christopher Starsheff and in the SF sphere Douglas Adams. Just books not for me on some level.
A Darker Shade of Magic by Victoria E. Schwab is one series I strongly dislike yet many people also really like for some reason.
Same. I got only three chapters deep and I quit. It boggles my mind that she could take an interesting premise and concepts, but execute them in such a boring way. That, and the characters were pretty bland and generic, not really having much life outside of their role in the story/cast.
@@JediHobbit89 I bought the whole trilogy and I can tell ya, the first book is the beh... least terrible and it gets worse afterwards. I was skipping through the final book which I have never done before nor since.
Oh, but it gets worse. There is going to be a movie franchise. Schwab called the script 'magical' which unfortunately means something different to me and her.
@@jacqueshardin4601 good thing I usually buy series one book at a time then. Can't imagine how much worse it could've gotten than the tripe I'd already suffered through.
Holy hell... I honestly didn't think anyone else knew about the Heir chronicles.
It's been more than a decade since I read the trilogy. I remember really liking it, tho other series would certainly rank much higher in my personal tier list.
The final battle was weirdly subdued, in hindsight, tho I remember finding it interesting how Nick's story turned out.
Happy to see "The Road" on here. I gave up after the first few pages because of the writing style. For "Into the Wild", I actually liked the book but not because of the story. I thought the mystery of finding out what happened and the writing style were very good and kept it interesting even when you are learning how uninteresting the subject's life was.
Would you be interested in reading the Seven Realms books by Cinda Williams Chima? I enjoyed them as a kid but idk how well they would hold up today
The Road sounds infuriating from a prose perspective alone. I can't imagine anyone out there is asking for books with no named characters and no quotation marks, yet here we apparently are.
Funny you mention Fahrenheit 451; a band I like called Royal Hunt from Denmark (their singer is from the US tho) just did two albums based on that story: Dystopia Part I & II. There are some pretty good songs. They also did an album on Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles story as well, 2001's The Mission.
Agree on The Lovely Bones. The end was disappointing. It seemed to be trying to tie up loose ends in a bad way.
I don't like a lot of Stephen King books, primarily for the endings. The Stand as a whole was stupid. It wtf was that ending. The part where they had to have sex to beat the bad guy? And then he just puts the girl with the rich guy that had a crush on her at the end, when there was nothing leading up to it. The movie did better. In The Dome, the ending just happens. We have a building up to a climax and it just plateaus. Don't get me started on Hearts of Atlantis or whatever that was called. I don't think I could even finish it. That or my brain has wiped it from my memory to spare me.
It's "número", not "numéro". In both Spanish and Portuguese.
Dude I SO remember The Heir Chronicles, I even read the spin offs. Granted, only really remember Not-Percy Jackson Warrior man and the spin off Sorcerer dude. But, it's basically ass, yeah.
I remember Into The Wild too, it was kinda interesting, had to read it for AP Lit, fine for required reading
For me it’s To Kill a MockingBird. I hate that book, if you want a good book that addresses racism just read Native Son. TKAMB wishes it was Native Son lmao
Also, the shining. The movie is so good but the book is unbelievably boring. It drags on and on and on 😐 the only thing I wish the movie did differently was not killing Halloran bc it was unnecessary
I have realized I hate a lot of popular books 😭 I also despise the boy in the striped pajamas. The movie is bad too. I didn’t hate picture of Dorian Gray and I thought it had a lot of interesting ideas but I don’t find the idea of art for arts sake to be compelling. It’s overhyped imo.
And yeah fuck the Giver🙄 it’s a embarrassingly bad book. Sonia Levitin’s “The Cure” is better executing a similar idea. Fuck, even Brave New World tackles similar themes and does it way better and I don’t like that book either
Malazan book 1 isn't anything to write home about but the rest of the series is so great. Such a fantastic world.
I would like to see the sequel!
Wouldn't the fault indeed be in their stars since they didn't choose to have cancer?
Supertramp is a band with a song called The Logical Song about growing up going to college and how society wants you to be responsible and logical and deviating from that makes you a radical, just an FYI for where he probably chose to take his moniker from.
HELL YEAH! I wholeheartedly agree about The Road!! I've ranted many times about it to my friends
Totally agree with what you said about fahrenheit 451.
I didn't really care about Brave New World either. I remember it feeling preachy (or at least that's how I interpreted it) in some ways I didn't agree with.
It take alot for me to HATE a book. If no one has ever written one, I'm not sure they understand how much work can go into it. However, I do agree that there are books that are over-rated. You and I share a bit of cynicism I didn't think I had.
Regardless, I tend to enjoy most books, but everyone has different tastes and are drawn to different genres.
I do enjoy your book reviews! I hope to never find you hating on a book I hope to publish soon!
Just got through your list finally and was surprised by your number 1. Never even heard you talk about this one, but also because I just recently gave up on the road. I was about 3/4 through near end of 2022, and just found it harder and harder to pick up. So decided to start 2023 not trying to finish it. You may be one of the first negative/critical responses for it (that I've seen), which I love. Especially because I probably did feel a bit bad for not finishing it, or that I just "wasnt ready" for his style. So thank you for that "recommendation" I guess. Makes me feel better that not everyone loves The Camino.
the heir chronicals set of a shockwave of repressed middle / early high school memories resurfacing through me 😭 forgot I read those
Not seeing colour got retconned. Now Jonas can see beyond in a more literal sense and it’s a magic power.
Fast Food Nation. I get that it has a lot of important information, but it just drags on and is so boring and redundant. I had to read it for middle school English class and I just didn't read the last 80 pages. I got an A on the exam as I missed nothing with how redundant it is. It feels like reading a dry research paper only with several hundred more pages.
I also agree with you on F451. I also had to read it for class and the whole unit treated it as if the book was about censorship when the only analytical response to the reading that's accurate to the author's intent is "Okay, Boomer".
For Into The Wild, I reccomend watching Wendigoon's video on Chris.
Bro the Malazan slander is killing me. Is GotM the worst of the series? Yes. But it only gets better from there, Deadhouse Gates (book 2) is incredible
How do you find the series as a whole? I've heard a lot of mixed opinions, mainly about the first book as I understand it, and am wondering if I should pick them up. I'm running out of Wheel of Time and need to find something to start on when I finish lol
@@jimjimson6208 It's like, Tolkien levels of good, but it's definitely not for everyone. It is to anthropology what Dune was to ecology
For a fast paced book with a lot of action that makes you care about its characters, try Galaxy of Thorns
37:20 I have absolutely no idea how you got that idea unless you were skimming the book. The whole thing about the giver is that the entire society is fucky and inhumane from the beginning. From taking basically hormone blockers once you hit puberty proper, language being aggressively sanitized to the point that children are beaten over saying one wrong word, and the book opening with someone being euthanized for making a mistake on the job. The color thing is just the last nail in an already plenty hammered coffin. Absolutely bizarre take.
38:29 Yes. Thats the point of the book. The society is not that bad if you are a member of it, the true horror of it reveals itself once you step outside the society like the protagonist does. The protagonist out and out states that towards the end.
No much for hypes am I right?. You should read Charlie Hernandez and the league of Shadows by Ryan calejo - it's a series trust you are gonna love
Harrison Bergeron
It was super ableist in its subtext,the word didn’t make any sense, Harrison Bergeron is one giant Gary stew, I had to listen to this book twice. Once in my English class and once in my Economics. It felt like someone was trying to write 1984 but didn’t understand 1984. One thing that bugs me is this book seems perfect for a left wing critic but I have seen no one talk about it.
I HATE HATE HATE Harrison Bergeron!!! I think it's a short story tho, not a book, or maybe we only read an excerpt in my clsss
20:48
"We've all been there"
What, our friends committing war crimes but knowing in their hearts they are actually good people? Yeah man, happens every Saturday
The reason why people like a pretencious book who uses the aesthethics of intellectualism without being actually deep ia very simple: because like the author, they also like to feel smug about how intellectual and deep they are without having to actually engage with something really intellectual