MelissaA
Brenton
Shilpa Karhik
BOOKS & Other Literary Works The CRITICS Got WRONG!!!
July 28th 2009 12:10
In a tale as old as time, here is a short list of classic books and other literary works that were originally attacked by critics and subsequently given bad reviews.
* A Midsummer Night's Dream - William Shakeaspeare - performed in London in 1662.
"The most stupid ridiculous play that I ever saw in my life."
- Samuel Pepys, Diary.
* Gulliver's Travels - Jonathan Swift - 1726.
"..evidence of a diseased mind and a lacerated heart."
- John Dunlop, 'The History of Fiction', 1814.
* Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert - 1857.
"Monsieur Flaubert is not a writer."
- Le Figaro.
* Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy - 1877.
"Sentimental Rubbish"
- The Odessa Courier.
* The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald - 1925.
"What has never been alive cannot very well go on living. So this is a book of the season only."
- New York Herald Tribune.
* Catch-22 - Joseph Heller - 1961.
"Heller wallows in his own laughter... and the sort of antic behaviour the children fall into when they know they are losing our attention."
- Whitey Balliett, New Yorker.
* A Midsummer Night's Dream - William Shakeaspeare - performed in London in 1662.
"The most stupid ridiculous play that I ever saw in my life."
- Samuel Pepys, Diary.
"..evidence of a diseased mind and a lacerated heart."
- John Dunlop, 'The History of Fiction', 1814.
* Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert - 1857.
"Monsieur Flaubert is not a writer."
- Le Figaro.
* Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy - 1877.
"Sentimental Rubbish"
- The Odessa Courier.
* The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald - 1925.
"What has never been alive cannot very well go on living. So this is a book of the season only."
- New York Herald Tribune.
* Catch-22 - Joseph Heller - 1961.
"Heller wallows in his own laughter... and the sort of antic behaviour the children fall into when they know they are losing our attention."
- Whitey Balliett, New Yorker.
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Comment by Morgan Bell
Science News
Deep Pencil
Business News
Movie Train
Artist Quirk
- Samuel Pepys, Diary.
- John Dunlop, 'The History of Fiction', 1814.
harsh!
although i have to agree on Bovary, it is a timeless story but it is not written well, it is very dull and long-winded
Comment by Jose
Orb of Insight
Political Writing
You could do something similar for movies, too. For example, Gone With The Wind winning the Best Picture Oscar in 1939 over The Wizard of Oz sounds and is absolutely outrageous (to be fair, a lot of people at the time were angry about that one).