Hyped up books! - did you read them?

[tobee]

I'm probably a bit too fascinated by this, but what books do you remember being hyped up to the max and "everyone was reading"? Did you read them at the time? Did they live up to the hype? Do they stand the test of time?

So, off the top of my head, I'm thinking

The Silence of the Lambs
The Secret History
The Essex Serpent
Where the Crawdads Sing
A Little Life

I think it's interesting to me because I tend to shy away from anything hyped because I assume it will be disappointing, I'm stubborn and don't want to feel duped by the hype.

For example I never hear people talking about The Essex Serpent any more or see it recommended. But people still talk about The Secret History as evidenced by the thread on here currently. The Silence of the Lambs has been superseded by the film.

I generally avoid anything that’s very hyped, most of them don’t appeal to me. I do read quite a lot of new releases though, I love browsing and spotting something that really ‘speaks’ to me, it’s a very personal thing for me. I’ve read my share of classics, but I find it odd to consider something unworthy of reading because it might not stand the test of time. I read for my pleasure, that’s all, so it doesn’t matter to me that a book I enjoyed might be out of print in 5 years 🤷‍♀️

I read The Secret History in the late ‘90s. All I remember is that I thought it was pretentious, and that I must be missing something, because I thought it was just ok, not great like everyone else.

I think The Secret History works because the main character is such an outsider, always watching the pretentiousness, secretly admiring the affectations of the wealthy, understanding that he’s included but isn’t one of them: I find this very relatable! She makes that world so cosy. (And when they all leave for winter, he literally freezes.) And then the various dramas happen, which have all been alluded to as well as foreshadowed. I find it such a comfort read, in a weird way.

Goodness I adored Lincoln in the Bardo!

A Little Life was truly in my top five shittest books ever list. Dreadful pretentious misery porn.
Crawdads. Dross.
A Secret History. Not a fan though generally I love Donna Tartt. It just goes to show that you never know.

Another thumbs down for Crawdads

Loved the Secret History a long time ago. Maybe should reread.
Crawdads, although I enjoyed it, is basically Tess of the d’Urbervilles, anyone else notice?

I think if I reread The Secret History now, as opposed in when I was in my 20s, I would think it a steaming pile of pretentious wank 🤣.

Never read Tess so can’t compare it to Crawdads.

Old hyped books in terms of everyone was reading the paperback on the London Underground (pre Kindles & Smartphones) that I read & really enjoyed included
Wild Swans
Memoirs of a Geisha
Angela's Ashes
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night

Ones I just couldn't get into were
Sophie's World
Birdsong
Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow
Secret History
Might give them another go.

Carriages used to be full of people reading the same book.
Now they're all looking at porn 🙄

I think that the last 'hyped up' books that I enjoyed were the Harry Potter series when I was at school!

I tried Bridget Jones, Twilight, The Hunger Games, various Ian McEwan, Captain Corelli's Mandolin and a lot of others. I gave up on them all, and haven't touched the hyped-up ones since.

@MilnersGold It's nice to see that someone else enjoyed Educated! Most people look very blank when I mention books like that. Daughter of Gloriavale was one that I read round about the same time, and I liked that one, too.

I also read 'I am Pilgrim' because of the hype even though it's way off my normal genre and I loved it!

I rarely like books that have been hyped up

Hated Tomorrow, Tomorrow and Tomorrow, Lessons in Chemistry was just ok, Small Pleasures was disappointing

I did enjoy All My Mothers and Dear Mrs Bird but haven’t bothered with the sequel yet

Hillbilly Elegy - what a dull book.

Oh, the Dear Mrs Bird books are great!

You’re so right, I’d forgotten about some of these but yes, in the tube you’d see the same books over and over. I was working in bookshops when a lot of these came out, couldn’t get into most of them either.

Miss Smilla! God, that was everywhere.

I hated the girl on the train. Everyone else seemed to love it. Just not my thing.

Elinor Oliphant
Lessons in chemistry
Where the crawdads sing
All Kate Atkinson books

I loved ‘I am Pilgrim’ too - short chapters and lots of cliffhangers.

Couldn’t get on with ‘Cloud Atlas’ at all - I slogged through it and found it massively unsatisfying.

It’s not very … elegiac?

In the mid 80s everyone was reading The Name of the Rose. And so they should - superb! The film didn't capture the atmosphere at all.

I absolutely hated secret history. Crawdads was ok. I read a little life whilst I was in hospital pretty poorly. It felt like I was torturing myself mentally to forget about how I was feeling physically.
I’d add (I’ll say if I didn’t get on with it)
life of pi (total shite)
normal people, average
the alchemist (i seem to remember i enjoyed this, i know a lot don’t)
the book thief
tattooist of Aushwitz
Atonement (Didn’t like that either)
handmaids tale (still haven’t got around to that)
50 shades (will never read that)
Half a yellow sun
The shadow of the wind
This is going to hurt (tended to be annoying)
Lovely bones, average
The da Vinci code, ok for what it is. I read it as my DP bought it.
Girl with the dragon tattoo series
Harry Potter (never read them)
poisonwood bible
satanic verses
Also, showing my age, who remembers Adrian Mole?😂

I only finished it because I was on holiday in Greece and I’d already read the other books in the little book exchange.

Elinor Oliphant is completely fine - utter GARBAGE

But this misses some of the reasons people might like to read contemporary fiction -- it isn't all (or I think mostly) about wanting to be 'in'. I read across different genres but I do like contemporary fiction in part because I want to read things that feel like a reaction to and insight into the world in which I live right now. I read classics too, but I get something quite different out of those.

Loved the Adrian Mole books. When my DD was 3 she said her Dad (my ex-husband) wanted to know what I spent her child benefit on. I said “gin” like Adrian Mole’s Mum.

Oh god, The Poisonwood Bible 🤮

I will never understand the love for that book or We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves. Couldn’t get past the first couple of chapters

West With Giraffes - so tedious, and a reminder of how vile we were, and still are, to beautiful wild animals

Agreed. I didn't get through more than a couple of chapters.
Loved Jackie Collins in the 80's and couldn't help comparing.
Lucky Santangelo 🤩