Books So Overhyped It Hurts

Comments · 949

• LI

  @libraryoflouis · 2 months ago (edited) · pinned

  I love having conversations with those who disagree, or agree, this is very rewarding and interesting! I love seeing everyone give their reasons and their rewarding experiences with books! Feel free to jump in!

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• BR

  @bryanwigmore7224 · 2 months ago

  Alternating between POVs works best when each chapter adds tension/information to the other POVs as well as its own.

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• L0

  @L0ADING_3RR0R · 2 months ago

  Project Hail Mary isn’t meant to be deep. It’s just meant to be fun. It’s impressive that Weir can break down complicated scientific topics and make them easily digestible for folks. Sci Fi is one of my favorite genres and I see authors struggle with that constantly, they either make the science nonsensical or it’s convoluted and hard to understand. Weir is really great at breaking things down for folks like me with no scientific background, and he makes a fun little story of a guy and an alien saving the world out of it too. <br><br>I agree that people should read books that challenge them, but at the same time, I see nothing wrong with reading something that’s purely entertainment. In fact, I think you NEED that sometimes (I love classics and literary fiction, but sometimes I just want something fast paced). It’s the same thing with The Martian - there’s no deep concepts there, it’s just a fun (and mostly realistic) action story about a guy surviving on Mars off of potatoes.

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• NE

  @NeattheGreat · 2 months ago

  I think there is a lot of things to be said about escapism and avoidant culture, esp about how an overwhelming culture of it can ruin literary criticism (not being critical of literature but thinking critically about it in general). However, I think that not enough &quot;readers&quot; say that sometimes it&apos;s ok to just read a book to enjoy yourself in a story. Not all artists are as talked about with as many accolades as Goya, and not all artworks say as much as &quot;Saturn Devouring His Son&quot;, but sometimes it&apos;s ok to look at a pencil sketch of a puppy by internet user struggling_artist69 because you want to. Not to say that talking about the themes and art from the greats or classical artists, whoever you say they are, is bad or not needed, especially because of the zeitgeist, but sometimes words are written for less lofty reasons, and don&apos;t necessarily need to be treated like they are.

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• DE

  @determinators · 2 months ago

  thank you ginger aaron paul, i agree with your wisdom

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• TH

  @thesandconsumer1111 · 2 months ago (edited)

  Project Hail Mary was the first book I read after completing the Dungeon Crawler Carl series, which was what got me back into reading. Honestly, I just picked up the first DCC book because I heard Markiplier talking about it and wanted to see what the hype was. I was shocked to find it so intriguing, and I spent days on end reading the series rather than rotting away on a screen. So when I finally finished A Parade of Horribles, I was desperate to find something else because I didn&apos;t just want to return a screen addiction again. <br>PHM was that book for me. &nbsp;I honestly agree with everything you said about it, there&apos;s nothing incredibly special about it, and I absolutely hated the way the transitions between the present and the past were written. But PHM was an essential step in making sure I <b>continued reading</b> rather than returning to bad habits. I think most of what you said about it was correct, but this fact alone elevates the book in my mind. And it honestly is just refreshing reading about a genuine friendship and (mostly) accurate science in sci-fi, even if there isn&apos;t much to derive from it at the end of the day. <br><br>Also, in one of your previous videos, you recommended the book Pachinko, and I decided to get it. Genuinely thank you for recommending it! I&apos;m not quite done with it yet but good lord does it hit home. Thank you for the amazing recommendation, I 100% will be getting more books you recommend :]

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• JO

  @Johnnybrave13 · 2 months ago

  you know what you&apos;re allowed to have your opinions

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• IS

  @isaacoleen7965 · 2 months ago

  Hey, great video. I also just finished Way of Kings! I think most of your criticisms are valid, but they just come with the territory of Brandon Sanderson. I think that your take on the characters is a bit one dimensional though. Something I really liked about Kaladin and Dalinars stories at least is that they have already had their “character development” and their arcs are more about trying to hold true to that in the face of an incredibly challenging situation rather than growing more. That’s something that I have never really seen done before, and it’s really interesting to me. I think just saying that the characters are flat and don’t really change ignores the really impactful conflict they go through to maintain their personalities. But I do appreciate &nbsp;hearing a new perspective on it

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• VA

  @val-cant-read · 2 months ago

  how DARE YouTube hide this from me for 5 minutes

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• LI

  @lizardson · 2 months ago

  to give kind of a lukewarm defense of TWoK, kaladin does start and end the book in a similar place but IMO it’s more so sanderson playing into the symmetry thats a big thing in the series, and because most of his arc is him trying to crawl his way up from rock bottom into something close to the person he used to be. it’s a decently well realized depiction of clinical depression, and you do see his beliefs about himself and the world around him change through the book. him deciding not to kill himself isn’t the climax of the story, it’s the beginning of his arc. anyway i agree with most of what else you said, i have my own pretty major issues with the series that you didn’t touch on, but i picked up the book ~10 years ago as a severely depressed 13 year old so that character specifically is still hugely nostalgic for me 😅 shallan also i think is a genuinely good depiction of complex trauma and PTSD, even just in the first book. especially at the time it came out, it really wasn’t all that common to see commercial fantasy authors like him talking and writing about mental health to the extent that he does with stormlight so he gets at least a little credit from me, even if the market is a bit over saturated with it now.

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• SG

  @SgtFCFox · 2 months ago

  my mother and i read project hail mary together almost four years ago now. i kept pulling ahead of her just because i couldn&apos;t put it down. i&apos;ve read outsiders, i&apos;ve read gatsby, i&apos;ve read 1984. books with messaging are awesome, but sometimes I don&apos;t want a &quot;five-star&quot; dinner, sometimes it&apos;s just nice to have a good fuckin burger and a large soda. i read andy weir because the books are entertaining and &quot;hard sci-fi&quot;, which is very up my alley.

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• FL

  @Flasa · 2 months ago

  As a Brazilian reader and writer, I am so, SO GLAD you spoke about The Alchemist! Paulo Coelho is such an overrated author, we have so many other Brazilian authors that are so much more deserving of attention

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