1. Masked Mole

    Masked Mole Senior Member

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    Underrated Work by a Great Author?

    Discussion in 'Discussion of Published Works' started by Masked Mole, Apr 28, 2015.

    I was curious to hear your favorite underrated works by great authors. My example is Hemingway's The Short, Happy Life of Francis McComber. Most people read his more famous stories, such as A Farewell to Arms, The Old Man and the Sea, etc. The books don't have to be classics. Just pick any writer you love.
    MM
     
  2. Lemex

    Lemex That's Lord Lemex to you. Contributor

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    *Warning, this is a typical Lemex post*

    Virgil's Eclogues came instantly to mind. I'm not sure I properly understand The Georgics, but it's the work of his I have had less chance to really get to know. But most people (if they read Virgil at all) will only read The Aeneid, and that's just such a shame. The Eclogues are all extremely well-crafted, very human works.

    The fact that La Vita Nouva is not considered the prelude to Dante's Divine Comedy is, I think, one of the greatest crimes against literature ever committed. You don't get the back story to the latter without the former.
     
  3. daemon

    daemon Contributor Contributor

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    Not quite the same caliber as Hemingway or Dante, but while CS Lewis is best known for Narnia, or even The Screwtape Letters, or his nonfiction, my favorite of his books is the lesser-known Till We Have Faces. (Interestingly, it was his own favorite of his books, too.)
     
  4. daemon

    daemon Contributor Contributor

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    Relevant:

    Magnum Opus Dissonance
     
  5. Shadowfax

    Shadowfax Contributor Contributor

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    The Path of the King by John Buchan.

    His other works (e.g. 39 Steps) seem to be thriller pot-boilers by comparison, yet a fan of his had never even read it.
     
  6. Masked Mole

    Masked Mole Senior Member

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    I haven't heard of that one yet. Maybe I can find it. Thanks for sharing.
     
  7. Deloctyte

    Deloctyte Member

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    I also have C. S. Lewis in mind. His cosmic trilogy of "Out of the Silent Planet", "Perelandra" and "That Hideous Strength" are pretty amazing, and aren't known that widely. Does that count?
     
  8. EdFromNY

    EdFromNY Hope to improve with age Supporter Contributor

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    Herman Wouk's Inside, Outside. He displays a sense of humor I haven't seen in any of his other writings.
     
  9. PurpleLotusRebirthMatrix

    PurpleLotusRebirthMatrix Member

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    Kurt Vonnegut's Time quake, Bluebeard and Jailbird.
     
  10. Friedrich Kugelschreiber

    Friedrich Kugelschreiber marshmallow Contributor

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    Love that book.
     
  11. Friedrich Kugelschreiber

    Friedrich Kugelschreiber marshmallow Contributor

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    Mein Kampf sucks. Who saw that coming?
     
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  12. Alistair Black

    Alistair Black Member

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    The Eyes of The Dragon by Stephen King. A great fantasy novel with an fairy tale-like atmosphere. The villain is fantastic and the hero is an incorruptible paragon, and the side characters were fun to read.
     
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  13. Masked Mole

    Masked Mole Senior Member

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    That book is worth it for fleshing out Flagg's character and back story alone.
     
  14. Aardvark

    Aardvark Member

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    Hermann Hesse's Narcissus and Goldmund. His popular novel is Siddhartha. N and G is quite different and deals with two men who've met in a cloister. One opts to leave the cloister to become an artist. We see his awakening to the outside world, and follow him as he experiences outside influences like the bubonic plague.
     
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