Overrated authors thread?

David Foster Wallace, William Shakespeare, Ernest Hemingway & Oscar Wilde.

>>9492157
>Overrated authors
The Greeks.

ITT total brainlets

t. Have read these authors.

>>9492161
Definitely Wilde and Hemingway

>>9492169
Nice bait. The Greeks are in their rightful place as the supreme rulers of lit.>>9492202

>>9492205
Agreed. I remember chucking the happy prince and other stories out the window when I was 7 lol.

>>9492205
Explain how is hemingway overrated?

>>9492253
this is a dumb question and could be applied to anyone of these authors
they're just opinions.
the fact that they're rated at all is almost enough.
Dont get all butthurt cuz someone insulted "your" author.
People like different shit, don't be selectively offended aka one of /those/ guys.

>>9492253
His writing is plebeian at best and he lacks depth. That being said I really enjoy some of his plots and how he describes his time, The sun also rises was definitely an interesting read however if you want something resembling the plot with better writing I can recommend On the road.

>>9492257
Not butthurt just interested

>>9492169
Greek Philosophy and literature is a cornerstone in our society. Disregarding their writing is the hallmark of the pleb

>>9492261
But isn't that just Hemingway's writing style? A minimalistic approach with underlying themes. On the Road is on my reading list.

>>9492286
It is his writing style, this however does not make it any better

>>9492157
Kafka isn't overrated.

>>9492292
Convince me

Camus, Kerouac

>>9492331
why

>>9492157
overrated authors:

This kid Dustin in my 7th grade class. I worked on my short story for WEEKS and this asshole just wrote his an hour after class! GOT AN A

Fuck DUSTIN

James Joyce

>>9492362
kek

>>9492331
>Kerouac

This

>>9492157
>Authors I didn't understand thread
I fixed that for you OP, you almost made yourself look pretty stupid

>>9492401
>getting triggered because not everyone loves josef K
kys

>>9492401
having opinions on authors is not the same as not understanding it, just because you dont have enough intellectual faculties to form an independant thought doesn't mean others dont.

>>9492438
Well, if you tend to have a shitty attitude about everything, if you are a contrarian and you think there's nothing worthwhile about an author that various critics love and consider important, your thought isn't independent or intellectual. It's just envious, honestly.

>>9492438
>just because you dont have enough intellectual faculties to form an independant thought doesn't mean others dont.
>If you're not a contrarian you don't have your own thoughts
Infallible logic

>>9492457
I haven't said that there is nothing worthwhile, Kafka for instance highligt some key problems of bureaucracy in "the trial". My claim is merely that despite me recognising positive aspects of the various writers I still think their fame outshines their ability.

>>9492479
Anyone that changes and inspires the next generation will have that effect.

Anyone who changes anything or does it in a new way will get praised for more than they are worth. This isn't new. Why does it bother you so much?

>>9492479
Basically you're invalidating other peoples opinions. You can have a different opinion on an author, but claiming the author is overrated is an attack on the opinions held by other people, which is non-criticism.
Besides, the use of the word "whiny" in the OP tells enough how little OP understands about the author in question.

>>9492508
Not necessarily. You can understand Kafka's predicament and still think he is whiny.

>>9492261
>reading for plot

Get out!

>>9492549
sorry, im a hedonistic piece of shit, I know

>>9492508
In my opinion i'm merely questioning how he received the fame he does. Him being "whiny" is an attack on his opinions and writing-style - It wasn't my intention to offend anyone who enjoys his writing. I concede that my criticism was in bad taste but I stand by it nonetheless.

>>9492606
You can question it. Doesn't make his work uniquely profound and innovative.

>>9492610
Thank you

>>9492157
>kafka
>whiny

anti-semite

>>9492606
Well his opinions aren't whiny and I have no idea how a writing style can be whiny. Some of the characters he wrote might be considered whiny (but really, are you whiny when you're fighting an unjust battle?) but people that equate the main character with the author should really not even bother with criticism.

>>9492261
>Recommending On the Road.
possibly even worse than the Hummer.

>>9492634
His opinions are very whiny

>>9492647
Tell me more about it, elaborate.

>>9492638
Thats your opinion; If you need a book to read for entertainment "on the road" is definitely not a bad choice

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>>9492648
Stumbled over this a couple of weeks ago, in my opinion it hits home - I have class now so will go into detail a bit later.

>>9492261
>Reading for plot.

>>9492157

Kafka isn't whiny

even Camus basically admitted that Kafka was less whiny than himself

>>9492631
muh holocaust

Albert Camus.

>>9492656
Yeah, let's criticise him for confessing to the fears and anxieties he has! Wow, such great criticism, attacks on character. I bet you think depression and trauma aren't real either. It's all just whiny bullshit by people that need to get themselves together huh?

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>>9492157
Not that I'd call someone that influential / important overrated but I agree with this guy: >>9492401

I've read Metamorphosis and a selection of his other shorts and whilst he's good, I don't get the hype. I mean, maybe I'm looking at them wrong?

>>9492272
Who talked about disregarding them?

They're just overrated, specifically because they acquired such an important cultural spot.

>>9492656
>Writes a passive aggressive and sarcastic piece of shit about Kafka.

You can think Kafka was a pussy all you want, but you won't be able to capture the feeling that his books can give people. You can't create that emotional space that he can. This is why he is beloved. We understand that people have harder lives than other people.

Look at you, bitching about Kafka from your nice little school while Chinese women work in sweatshops. Waa waa you think an author is overrated. I can do it too.

>>9492713
I have in no way had an easy life; I dont want to use ethos because I dont want/ need to persuade you. I merely want a debate on whether or not he is deserving of his acclaim. My initial criticism was far to harsh and you definitely bring up some interesting points. I have previously been medicated due to depression and I know how it feels, I appreciate the fact that some people feel touched by his description of the disease and I dont mean to cause offence.
I therefore no longer wish to focus on the "whiny argument" seeing as it is my personal opinion and isn't fair towards the debate.
I still think that kafkas writing is mediocre at best and his views are somewhat irrelevant in a existential debate.

>>9492700
>"Why are you writing a book about Vietnam! It was harder in WW2, PUSSY."

>>9492713
Sorry if I have offended you and your pro-kafka argumentation was the very reason I started this thread- you have definitely given me food for thought.

>>9492295

Why should anyone bother?

>>9492726
Why shouldn't they

>>9492722
Well now you are getting somewhere, I think.

Kafka isn't lauded for legendary prose. I've read him, and he's very average. It's not about his writing ability, really. It's about the emotion that he can put inside of his writing.There's nothing really beautiful about his writing, and people don't say that. More they talk about the realism of his emotions, how he discusses them. They talk about how he is unlike anything else of the time, which is an accomplishment even if your writing isn't very good.

People don't teach Kafka in order to gain from his prose. He's much more valuable than prose.

>>9492722
>still think that kafkas writing is mediocre at best and his views are somewhat irrelevant in a existential debate.

Have you read him in German? If not, you have no authority to say this.

>>9492734
Yes, did an analysis of him in german last year

>>9492731
In my opinion prose is essential to good literature. As I have already mentioned I dont see whats so exceptional about his description of emotions, do elaborate. In my opinion Dostoevsky hits home better than Kafka does.

>>9492731
>>9492747
I honestly disagree with this. His prose is clear, free from flowery sentences. This makes the things that actually happen feel even weirder. One can handle fantastical happenings better when they are written in a dream-like fashion, but when they are written down the way Kafka does it, they become a wicked reality.

>>9492761
So what your saying is that simplistic absurdism is the basis of his appeal?

>>9492712
When (if) you'll know more about literature you'll understand that there can't be another way. You can't create culture out of nothing.

>>9492777
Elaborate

>>9492747
That's your opinion. The part of prose that is important to literature is the flow and accessibility of it, not if it's fanciful. That's my opinion.

Kafka doesn't surpass Dostoevsky at all. He does something different. I read his works and feel uncertainty, dread. I feel a sort of afterimage of the way I do when I'm actually depressed. Something he does for me, is addresses the confusion that comes with these emotions. The why? The questioning of the sadness of life.

>>9492783
I remember feeling like this when reading the fall by camus, what book are you specifically referencing to?

>>9492768
I wouldn't really call it simplistic, rather realistic absurdism. And yes, that's a big part of the appeal for me.

>>9492790
Isn't that specific style of writing referred to as "new-modernity"? Thats the danish word for it, not sure if there is a english equivalent

>>9492799
It does have relations to the neue sachlichkeit style, not sure if that's the same thing though.

>>9492807
Post WW2 simple everyday writing? Oder was?

>>9492788
The Trial gives me this emotion. Metamorphosis, not so much, but a little. I was impacted by the hunger Artist.

>>9492817
The trial didn't really have this effect on me - maybe it was my dislike of Josef K that gave me this experience

>>9492817
Haven't read the hunger artist, will definitely give it a read if its anything like camus

>>9492813
Post-WWI reaction to expressionism, a return to a sobre and clear style.

>>9492157
These threads are fucking pointless because nobody offers any criticism they just post names of authors.

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>>9492157

>>9492365
Someone couldn't finish Ulysses

>>9492777
Yeah? I'm not saying there's any way to build culture without overrating some works. I'm just saying that the overrated works are overrated. Their high rating can't be attributed to their "real" qualities: their importance is due to an excess of meaning attributed to them.

>>9492881

They're pointless because arguing whether something is over/underrated is the equivalent of arguing about metacritic scores.

>>9492257
Are you going to explain ot what?

>>9492728
(You), in my country, are nothing.

>>9492966

>Their high rating can't be attributed to their "real" qualities: their importance is due to an excess of meaning attributed to them.

Obviously, we should instead value your own opinions on the relative worth of these works, correct?

>>9492966
>"real" qualities

Examples?

>>9493090
Something in the works themselves rather than their cultural significance due to historical reasons.

>>9493084
Yes.

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>>9493103
>Something in the works themselves rather than their cultural significance due to historical reasons.

Why are these more important?

>>9492292
Since some people consider him the best writer of all time, he likely is overrated. He's still among the best ones though.

>>9492161

Shakespeare helped formulate the English Language, how is he overrated

>>9493839
The English language is no good.

>>9492157
kafka didn't even want to be published retard

>>9492423
>hasn't read kafka's complete short stories yet complains about him being overrated