History CommonKnowledge / Literature

** In ''Literature/HarryPotterAndTheHalfBloodPrince'', Several readers, including those on [[Website/TVTropes This Very Wiki]], think that the book and Harry and Dumbledore somehow justify Merope Gaunt's rape of Tom Riddle Sr. via LovePotion. In actuality, the book not only ''doesn't'' condone her actions, Harry outright calls any use of love potions as black magic. Harry and Dumbledore ''do'' sympathize with Merope's childhood but they never try to justify what she did to Tom.

** The only thing everybody knows about Lovecraft as a person is that he was extremely racist, which means that all the unknown horrors in all of his stories are seething, thinly-veiled allegories for black people and/or other minorities, right? Not so. Not only did Lovecraft not really write any stories that could be considered allegorical, but he was a sheltered, antisocial man with ''many'' phobias (including that of the sea and of the oppressive soul-crushing expanse of the stars, which show up very, very often in his writings). He really was ''that'' racist, but the extent to which it seeped into his writing is often vastly overblown, probably because when it actually ''does'' it's very blatant (Cf. ''Medusa's Coil'') .

** The primary conflict of the story is the struggle of the brilliant architect Howard Roark (who is very deliberately portrayed as the ideal man) to preserve the beauty and integrity of his work in a world of corruption and compromise. Throughout the book, Roark constantly refuses opportunities that would grant him fame and fortune because they demand compromises which he isn't willing to make. It is Roark's fellow architects -- his corrupt ''foils'' -- who immediately agree to any work which promises them money and reputation. In reality, the ''Fountainhead'' is at the top of the list of stories that argue ''against'' the idea that profit is inherently good. While profit is not portrayed as inherently ''evil,'' it is made vehemently clear that it should always come second to moral considerations and to put profit above such considerations ''is'' evil.

** The primary conflict of the story is the struggle of the brilliant architect Howard Roark (who is very deliberately portrayed as the ideal man) to preserve the beauty and integrity of his work in a world of corruption and compromise. Throughout the book, Roark constantly refuses opportunities that would grant him fame and fortune because they demand compromises which he isn't willing to make. It is Roark's fellow architects -- his corrupt ''foils'' -- who immediately agree to any work which promises them money and reputation. In reality, the Fountainhead is at the top of the list of stories that argue ''against'' the idea that profit is inherently good. While profit is not portrayed as inherently ''evil,'' it is made vehemently clear that it should always come second to moral considerations and to put profit above such considerations ''is'' evil.

** The real villains of the story are not government regulators -- who are not criticized or even mentioned at all -- but the 'social intelligista' -- the "woke" crowd of the period -- whom Rand mercilessly criticizes as immersed in hypocrisy, fanatically obsessed with being morally congratulated, and who secretly -- even to themselves -- desire a world with as much suffering and misery as possible, because groveling on behalf of victims is the only place they are able to obtain power and praise.

** Contrary to how he's often imagined (and how he's often depicted in illustrations and adaptations), Gandalf is explicitly noted to be not particularly tall. This misconception may have something to do with the fact that he's often around hobbits and dwarfs, which makes him ''seem'' tall in comparison.

** In ''Literature/TheLionTheWitchAndTheWardrobe'', thanks to [[Film/TheLionTheWitchAndTheWardrobe the 2005 movie]], many people assume that the Pevensie siblings' father serves in UsefulNotes/WorldWar2, that Edmund especially misses him, and that this is his FreudianExcuse for his bad behavior and later betrayal of his siblings. The books actually never imply that Mr. Pevensie serves in the war, and Edmund's implied FreudianExcuse is that he's been attending a bad school.

** A common joke in the fandom is that [[https://www.bustle.com/p/these-harry-potter-book-titles-reimagine-hermione-as-the-main-character-its-totally-brilliant-30634 Harry would have died in the first book if not for Hermione]], and that Hermione was an OnlySaneWoman who solved all of Harry and Ron's problems without getting any of the credit. While this is true to a point (she ''is'' an empowered woman of strong conviction, and she's the most academically gifted of the trio), she also has her share of NotSoAboveItAll moments, and Harry and Ron save ''her'' almost as often as she saves ''them''. Case in point: Hermione first became friends with Harry and Ron when the latter two saved her from almost getting eaten by a (magical, not online) troll. Some of these misconceptions are likely due to the film adaptations, which omit many of these less shining moments while also giving Hermione a disproportionate role when it comes to saving others; for instance, the movie version of the Devil's Snare scene has her being the one who keeps her cool while ''Ron'' almost gets killed because he panics and has to be rescued by Hermione.

* Creator/HPLovecraft

** [[OurElvesAreDifferent It's common today to depict Tolkien-style "human" elves as androgynous]], and game-based fantasy universe are also likely to make them [[FragileSpeedster smaller and/or frailer]] than humans to "balance" their advantaged in speed and agility. Tolkien never described his elves that way and was reputedly ''annoyed'' when artists drew Legolas as a PrettyBoy. To Tolkien, elves were lean, but also tall, muscular, and strong (even the women were stated to have less of a strength differential compared to their men than was the case with humans), befitting a ProudWarriorRace.

** Also, many people who have never read the book or watched adaptations of it assume that the story is about Alice is having a drug trip instead of simply dreaming. Others assume that the book was written in an attempt to advertise psychedelic drugs and/or alcohol to children, but it's just a nonsensical fantasy story. The former comes from the time and space displacement that Alice undergoes during ''Literature/AliceInWonderland'' (as well as the [[WorldOfChaos general nuttiness]]). In fact, the growing and shrinking, like the frequent presence of magical food and drink, are just because children like that kind of thing. (And possibly as [[AuthorAppeal a math joke.]]) The general nuttiness comes from the fact that ''Literature/AliceInWonderland'' was actually parodying just about everything Carroll could think of. In fact, the idea that the story is random wackiness for nonsense's sake completely overlooks the vast amount of cultural context and parody that went into Alice's experiences in the story.

** The Cheshire Cat is often believed to be a TricksterArchetype and WildCard with RealityWarper powers just as likely to screw Alice as help her. In actuality, the cat is one of the few unironically ''helpful'' characters Alice encounters in either book, and perhaps the only one she seems to genuinely enjoy talking to. He's also not an independent character, but the pet cat of the Duchess, and his RealityWarper powers are only ever shown to concern making parts of his body vanish or teleport, never once does he manipulate any of his surroundings or other people.
** The books don't revolve around Alice learning to be more rational and responsible by seeing just how nightmarish a world of nonsense would really be. (Though [[WesternAnimation/AliceInWonderland Disney's animated version]] might create that impression.) Nor do they revolve around teaching her to embrace weirdness and rebellion against convention. (That's more [[Film/AliceInWonderland2010 the Tim Burton version.]]) The books are pure satire, nonsense and fantasy, with no {{Aesop}}, and they constantly make fun of the moralizing children's stories and poems that were popular and the time.

* ''Literature/{{Matilda}}'': The villainous [[SadistTeacher Miss Trunchbull]] isn't Matilda's teacher. She's the headmistress/principal of the school. Matilda's actual teacher is the kindly Miss Honey, who [[spoiler: becomes her adoptive mother in the end.]]

* Creator/StephenKing

** Despite what Music/TheRamones would have you believe, being buried in the titular location of ''Literature/PetSematary'' will not result in resurrection. It's the IndianBurialGround '''beyond''' said location that will [[CameBackWrong bring you back wrong]].

* ''Literature/TomSwift'' novels are commonly thought to be filled to the brim with [[TomSwifty Tom Swifties]], puns where an adverb gratuitously matches the theme sentence, as in particularly painful [[SaidBookism Said Bookisms]]. The truth is, Tom Swifties are a ''parody'' of the adverb-heavy style of the original books, and are nowhere to be found on them. It's also worthy of note that Tom Swift wasn't the TropeMaker of the Edisonade-style of teenage inventor stories, or even the TropeCodifier. [[OlderThanTheyThink Those stories started out 50 years earlier as dime novels]], with the Tom Swift books being closer to a renaissance.

** Some people tend to assume that Achilles and Patroclus were depicted as LoverAndBeloved and that this was [[{{bowdlerization}} bowdlerized]] out by later translations and adaptations. While there is certainly a long history of reading their relationship as erotic (starting as early as some ancient Greek writers, such as Creator/{{Plato}}, who was post-Homer), the ''Iliad'' (or, at least, the version we have) only ever depicts them as very close friends. Achilles is also shown in the original story to be attracted to women--while this hardly precludes the idea of being interested in men, especially in Ancient Greece, it would still make him bi or pan rather than exclusively gay.

** Possibly the most famous image associated with the story is of Heathcliff and Catherine wandering and frolicking on the moors together as young adult lovers. But this image actually comes from screen adaptations. In the first place, Heathcliff and Catherine are never shown frolicking on the moors together in the book –- they love to do it, but we only hear about it second-hand, since the UnreliableNarrator Nelly Dean never joins them. Despite the book's association with the Yorkshire moors, most of its actual scenes take place indoors. Secondly, they don't do it as young adults, but only as children –- unlike in the film versions, they're only 12 and 13 when Catherine is transformed by the Lintons into a ProperLady. The young adult lovers who wander the moors together are [[spoiler:the younger Cathy and Hareton in the end.]]

* ''Literature/JaneEyre'': Helen Burns is never said to have curly red hair, nor is her hair cut by Mr. Brocklehurst to discourage her from vanity. The girl with the red curls which Brocklehurst orders cut is named Julia Severn. The 1943 and 1996 film versions give the curls and the TraumaticHaircut to Helen, and the subsequent 2006 miniseries and 2011 film also feature curly red-haired Helens, even though neither includes the haircut scene.