This week's Top Ten from The Broke and the Bookish asks for Top Ten Books That Were Totally Deceiving.
1) What Is the What by Dave Eggers: No really… what is the what? Great book, but the title is a bit confusing.
2) The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides: I felt like people thought I was reading a marriage self-help book whenever they glanced at the cover.
3) Hideous Kinky by Esther Freud: It’s the memoir of the author’s childhood in Morocco with her sister and hippy mother, but it sounds like some weird S&M book.
4) A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick: I thought this was going to be a lot more history and a lot less romance novel.
5) The Nobodies Album by Carolyn Parkhurst: The summary, the title, I couldn’t really get a good grasp of what the plot was about until I read it.
6) A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess: At this point, most people have a good idea what this book is about, but what a weird title! I can’t imagine trying to figure it out when it was first released.
7) Before You Know Kindness by Chris Bohjalian: To be honest, I still don’t know why this book has this title. I remember the whole story, but not how the title connected in.
8) Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood: Go ahead, read the title and then find the summary (Snowman and a post-apocalyptic world), then you explain it to me. It was not what I was expecting at all.
9) Milkweed by Jerry Spinelli: The title of this story, about an orphan living in Poland during World War II, has nothing to do with the book at first glance.
10) The Ha-Ha by Dave King: It makes sense what you read it, but I didn’t know what a Ha-ha was before this. I thought maybe the author was referring to a joke or something.
15 comments:
I've read a few of these, and would agree! A Reliable Wife? That title and that cover would imply regal, historical fiction, not these horrible characters that skeezed me out. I loved The Nobodies Album. Love, love, love, but the title doesn't do it justice!
Hideous Kinky - lool! I can almost imagine the looke I would get if I read that in the metro :P
Sandy - Ugh, I know! I seriously hated The Reliable Wife and I think a big part of that was my expectations going into it. I love The Nobodies Album though, but I don't think I would have read it if it hadn't been for your recommendation.
Alex - Ha, I know. I probably never would have picked it up if it wasn't in 1,001 Books to Read Before You Die.
I agree with the title of Milkweed, and thought it was a great read. New follower via GFC :)
http://ajarndtbooks.blogspot.com/
Angela - That was a good one!
Ha ha, I love your list! I never give much thought to titles like A Clockwork Orange, because as soon as I hear it I think of the film (I've never read the book) and I can't separate them, but you're right, it's a very odd title. The words go together so well, though!
I've always wondered what Hideous Kinky was about, and now I know! And I've been curious about What is the What but bummer, because I definitely wanted to know what the what is so that's disappointing! (Talk about a title that leads you on!)
I loved Oryx and Crake!
I only knew the term "ha-ha" from a book of Agatha Christie's, one of the ones where they had a big manor house for the mystery to take place in. If not for that I'd have found the Dave King title impossible to comprehend.
I agree that A Reliable Wife isn't a good title for that book, although it does reference the personal ad, which should announce the romance novel plot. I liked reading it, but now can never remember the title when I think of it. I think of it as "that book where it was so cold."
Shannon - What is the What explains the title in the book, I just thought it was so confusing when you're trying to get an idea what the book is about. I wish Oryx and Crake hadn't been my first Atwood. I didn't know what I was getting into. I love her work now, but I don't think that's the best book to start with. I need to reread it.
Jenny - I learned what it meant in the King book, but I'd never heard of it before then!
Jeanne - It was cold! I got that there was going to be romance, but I think I was expecting more love story, less harlequin.
So I have A Reliable Wife on my TBR shelf... I didn't realize it was a romance novel... I figured it had some romance, but hmmm... I'll keep that in mind when I think the mood strikes!
I haven't read Oryx and Crake but based on the title and the original cover art I bought the book thinking it was going to be something very different than snowman/post-apocalyptic!
the thing that threw me off with What is the What is trying to figure out if it was fictional or nonfictional!
I just finished up Oryx & Crake but I knew a little bit about it before I went into it. Still, I would agree with you on that. And I would have thought the same thing about Hideous Kinky! And I've always wanted to try "What Is The What" but the darn title just puts me off. I shall have to give it a go. Great list!
Sarah - I'm thinking it would be much more enjoyable if you knew what you were in for.
Trish - I thought the What is the What was really good, but I agree that part was confusing. From what I've read in interviews, the story is completely nonfiction, but because it's based on a child's memories and they had no way of documenting most of it, they called it fiction.
Jenners - What is the What is good, but not a great title.
I can see how all of those would be misleading. I agree on Oryx & Crake, I actually have read that one. And A Clockwork Orange. I had no idea what I was getting myself into with that one.
Kailana - Clockwork was a crazy book!
Post a Comment