"The Most Misinterpreted Book (Round 1A)" Topic

I thought the "hero" of Catcher in the Rye was an annoying whiny little creep. Did I miss something?

I fear this Poll is going down the same path as "most underrated" polls. Nobody knows what it means. 🤷🙄

I agree that I found Holden very annoying. I just remember that my 10th grade English teacher seemed to have a different interpretation every week on Catcher in the Rye. That is why, based on my experience, it is the third most misinterpreted book behind the Bible and the Quran.

Dont know what is in round 2 , but 'Starship Troopers' should be on the list.

I'd have gone as far as "hypocritical, overambitious whiny little creep" myself, OFM. In a few years he'll be selling products not as advertised while back-stabbing colleagues and still feel great about himself, because he's not really like all the other people doing exactly the same thing.

But the poll is useless. We'd have to agree on what the correct interpretation is to speak intelligently on misinterpretation.

I'm sure Starship Troopers is coming. Must we do Stranger in a Strange Land as well? Mind you, I'm a Heinlein fan. But I have nothing after The Moon is a Harsh Mistress on my shelves, and I ditched my copy of Stranger at the same time I got rid of the late stuff.

For some of these, it's not so much misinterpreted as "many readers completely failing to understand the point."

Well, that too, Parzival. But I suspect they're dwarfed by the number of people who have firm convictions about books they've heard of but not read. (Yeah, me too sometimes.)

Not there yet but it has to be the Bible.
There is no book that has so many misinterpreting
it, ever.

For me going to think a bit on it but very hard to pick. Usually these are warnings from the authors but taken as training manuals by people

As others have said, poll is useless. One man's truth is another man's misinterpretation.

If you click on the link and read the poll description:

We also decided to exclude all religious texts from the discussion, as they would easily dominate.

Wait, Part 1 is already up to 'Dune' and both DBA and DBM were omitted!

And so will Warhammer and company be, miniMo. As specified, no religious texts.

: D

Okay, so I missed that. Sorry.

Maybe I'm just an intellectual giant, but how could you possibly misinterpret 1984?

This is an impossible poll – it requires me to know the "correct" interpretation and the commonly held "incorrect" interpretation.

I read Starship Troopers, thought it was a load of crap with an underlying fascist authoritarianism message vaguely justified through the arguments for an engaged citizenry.

Other people, incorrectly, don't agree.

So when we both answer the poll as the book is misunderstood we will be answering from diametrically opposite viewpoints.

Any data this poll produces is meaningless as it has no context- need to set up a series of separate polls offering a range of interpretations for each book.

That should be fun to wade through….

I'd already commented to the same effect about the poll, 20th. But at some point, please PM me with your understanding of fascism--and, if you would be so kind, your year of birth.

What's today denounced as fascism seems to to bear little resemblance to the political theory and practice of the interwar period--usually just an adjective meaning something the writer doesn't like.

So when we both answer the poll as the book is misunderstood we will be answering from diametrically opposite viewpoints.

So … you're saying an opinion poll will be polluted by … wait for it … opinions?

This is all kinda goofy. Hobbyists sounding off about subjects that disciplined scholars and academics have been debating (and will continue to debate) without any result, for years and years. And what has it to do with toy soldiers?

Anyway… that said I cast a vote for Catcher In the Rye along with "Ridiculous" and "Not My Tea" solely for the purpose of making a point about how John Lennon's killer took his perverted interpretations of that book as an inspiration for murder.

Other people, incorrectly, don't agree.

👍 Exactly the attitude I take into da Interwebs.
I'm right. They are wrong! Duh.

Hobbyists sounding off about subjects that disciplined scholars and academics have been debating (and will continue to debate) without any result, for years and years. And what has it to do with toy soldiers?

Oh, who cares what those s think???
If they don't agree with me, they're wrong. It's as simple as that.

I'm going back to paint in my pajamas now, and no one can stop me, not even Huckleberry Finn!

Are you doing fences?

Lucky thing!