Is there a book (or film) that you really didn't think was your thing and then when you read (or watched) it, you were pleasantly surprised by how much you enjoyed it?

Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson

I am not much of a fan of sci fi, but I enjoyed this book a great deal.

As for film, I have to say that I was completely surprised at the talent in High School Musical 3. I loved it.

I would never have read the Twilight series if my DIL didn’t give to me, and I enjoyed them.

It took me two years to slog through Pynchon’s “Gravity’s Rainbow” and four years on Mann’s “Der Zauberberg” (Magic Mountain). Ultimately, both books were worth the effort. In the case of both books, I’d plow through a chapter, then put if away for up to several weeks; both are so dense that I to “digest” them that way. I’m currently re-reading the Pynchon; he has some insights that may be useful in my thesis.

@hawaii_jake I liked that book too but then I thought I would
@stranger_in_a_strange_land did you read der Zauberberg auf deutsch?

Ja, verdeutsch. I also read most of Hermann Hesse’s works in the original, much better than some of the poor translations done in the 50s and 60s.

This happens to me a lot with movies, which is why I’ve gotten to the point where I will watch almost literally anything, if even one person suggests that I should.

Books, however, usually go the other way for me. I don’t know if I just have higher standards for literature or what. Off the top of my head, I can only think of two cases where I wound up liking a book more than I thought I would. When I read Watchmen, I expected to like it well enough, but I loved it so much I slept with it for about a week. And then there was Harry Potter, which I thought I’d hate, but then shortly after the fourth book came out my nephew asked me to read them with him and I was completely hooked after the first chapter of the first book.

Movies
The End of America – Important stuff. (And Naomi Wolf is so smart and hot it’s just ridiculous.)
Zeitgeist – the first section about war is so overdrawn as to be painful, but when they get into Religion (>11:45) I was overwhelmed by the simplicity of it. Extremely profound information that somehow I had never heard before.
The 11th Hour – another Liberal movie that I thought there was no way in hell I would enjoy or respect – but it resonated.

Books
It’s a much harder question for books. Like @MacBean, I’m looking through oodles that I’ve finished and strangely enough I don’t start books that I don’t think I will like, so there is no surprise when I like it. I can’t think of one example. Well maybe I, Lucifer – by Glen Duncan. It was given to me as I was to start with a book club, and on face value was not sure, but it was a brilliantly written book that I’ve recommended to others.

Austin Powers movies. I thought ‘oh great, fart/dick jokes’. They were there but damn, those movies crack me up.

I put off watching Donnie Darko and Fight Club for quite a while because I thought they looked stupid. Fuck, was I wrong.

I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed reading 1984 and Slaughterhouse 5.

AzuManga Daioh, the series.

Shut the hell up, all of you.

The Book of Mormon is actually a pretty entertaining read. As a work of fiction it’s a lot better than I’d have expected.

@ipso The reason you hadn’t heard the info about religion in Zeitgeist before is becasue they made it all up.

Remember the Titans.

I liked Walk The Line, the story of Johnny Cash and June Carter a lot more than I expected to. My wife had rented it while coping with the flu one day, and I watched it with her. I thought the performances were magnificent.

I also liked the book The Odessa File by Frederick Forsythe. I have an appetite for science fiction, but I picked up this book one day at a used bookstore. The movie, however, was disappointing. Not bad, but not as good as the book.

Gone With The Wind. for years i resisted watching this movie. to be honest, i did not like Clark Gable. my wife, after much encouragement, persuaded me to sit through the four hour movie. the movie fascinated me with its color and the movie as a whole.

I still do not like Clark Gable.

The Twilight books.

I gave my friend absolute hell when she told me about them and urged me to read them… until she became rather fed up, bought me the first in the series, and made me read it. Seriously, the books were like crack, and I finished the series in about a week.

Then the movie came out, and that completely ruined the series for me. :-|

Twilight.
Shuttup guys.

I recently read the book The Grapes of Wrath on my Kindle and it was one of the best books I’ve ever read. I held back for a long time thinking I wouldn’t like the plot or John Steinbeck’s writing style but I was very mistaken. It is an excellent novel.

Avatar .. i don’t do well with sitting through movies, so long ones aren’t for me and i really only like chick flicks or comedies, and i really enjoyed this one! it was a nice feeling.

The Blind Side; I thought it was going to be total mush and I enjoyed it much more than I expected to.

@janbb Oh.. Yes! The Blind Side. For sure. I was pulled kicking and screaming to watch that but I loved it. Good call there.

@SmashTheState Aw you’re just hot for the angel Bony Moroni

Avatar.

I never tthought I would like Harry Potter, and refused to read the books ever since the first one came out. But I ended up reading the whole series earlier this year.

I’m not saying it was the best thing ever, but it was pretty damn epic. Anyways, back to horror books now, thx.