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Original poster

The most under-rated books you have read - recommendations please

112 replies

TondelayoSchwarzkopf · 09/11/2010 18:31

OK - they are doing overrated books over in AIBU - let's do under-rated because I'm bored of being negative.

These are my favourites that need dusting off and distributing to everyone instead of the usual McEwan / Franzen / Orange / Booker / TV adaptations snooze-fests.

Main Street - Sinclair Lewis.
Beautiful book about a young woman's growing disillusion with suburban life in the midwest.

Angel - Elizabeth Taylor
I know she is raved about by those who know but it's time for her to be famous and exalted. Amazing book about an Edwardian romantic novelist who is totally deluded.

Damon Runyan short stories - hilarious vivid and brilliant - set in the New York of the 1920s and full of gangsters and molls.

The Sheltering Sky - Paul Bowles
Frankly weird but engrossing tale of travellers crossing the Sahara.

Please dig out all of the above and let me know your secret favourites.

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ElephantsAndMiasmas · 10/11/2010 19:38

It is a good book. But ROFL at "Nob"okov :o

Francagoestohollywood · 10/11/2010 14:06

I agree, Lolita is a great book. Nobokov is a superb writer, I particularly loved The real life of Sebastian Knight

saythatagain · 10/11/2010 13:47

On the back of this I've just ordered another 4 books off Amazon. Thank you.
I might add, from another thread, there are currently 12 other books sitting on the bedside table, awaiting my attention!

Original poster
TondelayoSchwarzkopf · 10/11/2010 13:46

Lolita is prob a controversial choice on Mumsnet Grin but Nabakov's Laughter in the Dark is just as awesome.

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Francagoestohollywood · 10/11/2010 13:33

of, not on

Francagoestohollywood · 10/11/2010 13:32

I noticed that Joseph Roth's novels aren't easily found in English bookshops, and I believe he is one of the best writers on the xx century.

ElephantsAndMiasmas · 10/11/2010 12:11

No-one seems to read Nights at the Circus any more, but it is the best book everrrrr.

Is the Pumpkin Eaters good? I know one of her daughters and think it might be weird to read in that context.

RoxieP · 10/11/2010 12:07

Thanks for this thread. Was jsut thinking this morning that I haven't read anything decent for ages and was stuck for ideas! I haven't really got anything to add though - all my favourites are classics that are probably rated just how they should be!

ZeroMinusZero · 10/11/2010 12:00

Have thought of a book that hasn't been nominated for any awards that is still good' Hospital by Toby Litt. A surreal yarn about a hospital where noone can die and the dead come back to life. David lynch-ian in its quirkyness. Very fun.

Original poster
TondelayoSchwarzkopf · 10/11/2010 11:56

I haven't Zero - must dig them out but I did find it so profoundly Sad.

DandyDan (is that a Bugsy Malone reference?) also hard work but brilliant in a Faulkner esque setting is Wise Blood by Flannery O'Connor.

Cowboys Are My Weakness - great collection of short stories but can't remember the author.

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Rhinestone · 10/11/2010 01:34

Frenchman's Creek by Daphne du Maurier is wonderful. One of my favourite books. Actually think Rebecca is over-rated!

DandyDan · 09/11/2010 22:45

I liked Knowledge of Angels but I didn't agree with its conclusion.

Nigel Balchin's books are very good - The Small Back Room, Darkness Falls From the Air, A Way Through the Wood.

He also invented the Aero and the KitKat.

William Faulkner is hard work but brilliant.

LittleCheesyPineappleOne · 09/11/2010 22:38

I put this on the other thread, but for very British humour (think Wodehouse but darker), try the brilliant Kyril Bonfiglioli.

ZeroMinusZero · 09/11/2010 22:22

Glad to hear it tondelayo. Have you read the others in the series? I've read 'August' but not the other one, although I really should.

Have just decided though that I probably shouldn't have mentioned it as anything Booker nominated shouldn't really count in this. Can't think of any other novels off the top of my head that are truly underrated but I'm sure I will by tomorrow.

LittleCheesyPineappleOne · 09/11/2010 22:22

Jill Paton Walsh - Knowledge of Angels - so clever, beautiful (and beautifully written), and moving. I think it was shortlisted for the Booker, but no-one seems to have heard of it.

Rohinton Mistry - I know he's known on here but I am surprised more people IRL haven't read him.

I liked We'll Go To Bed At Noon, too. And Elizabeth Taylor, who's wonderful.

pointythings · 09/11/2010 22:15

Keith Roberts - Pavane. Alternative reality fiction before the term was invented, beautifully written in terms of language used too. Quite possibly my favourite book ever.

duchesse · 09/11/2010 22:00

I found Longtime passing! Same cover as my edition too.

duchesse · 09/11/2010 21:58

Several lovely children's books that I would never have known about if they hadn't come from charity shops and people's attics when I were a wee lassie. I don't remember the authors' names.

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (a kind of feel-good, children's version of Angela's Ashes) I think this one's quite popular in the US still

Longtime Passing- about a family of settlers in the Blue Mountains (I think) of NZ. I would love to find a copy of this book again but I think it's been out of print for decades. My own copy was elderly in 1978.

Professor Branestawm- can you still buy his books? I spent literally hours aged 5 laughing myself sick reading his books- and it took a lot to do that.

jybay · 09/11/2010 21:46

Oo yes, Josephine Tey. I remember being snowed up in a Massachusetts blizzard reading Daughter of Time - wonderful.

thecatatemygymsuit · 09/11/2010 21:39

Just remembered Josephine Tey - the Franchise Affair. Fabulous.

Francagoestohollywood · 09/11/2010 21:35

I love Barbara Pym's novels.

Original poster
TondelayoSchwarzkopf · 09/11/2010 21:29

My Cousin Rachel is my favourite Du Maurier as well.

So glad I started this thread - bookmarking for the library on Thursday.

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aristomache · 09/11/2010 21:16

Reindeer moon by Elizabeth Marshal Thomas.

It is so well written that every time I read it I get lost in it. I first read it 20 years ago after having DS1, and I will NEVER tire of reading it.

some reviews..

This is a great novel that needs to come with a warning. It's has such an rich and authentic texture that those readers who like to submerge themselves in other cultures might get lost in this and never wholly emerge afterwards.

^A great book, well-written and honest. I was sad to end it and thought about it long after I finished reading it. I was completely mesmerised.

This book took me to another world and I forgot I was in this one! ^

thecatatemygymsuit · 09/11/2010 21:06

The Dud Avocado by Elaine Dundy - taught Jilly Cooper everything she knows!

I also have a soft spot for The Pumpkin Eater by Penelope Mortimer and The Garrick Year by Margaret Drabble, probably because I read them at an impressionable age. Both very 60's.

Anything by Daphne Du Maurier including My Cousin Rachel - somehwat overshadowed by Rebecca I think.

Original poster
TondelayoSchwarzkopf · 09/11/2010 20:59

Sorry that exclamation mark prob not that appropriate. Smile

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