History VindicatedByHistory / Literature

* ''[[Literature/SherlockHolmes The Adventure of the Final Problem]]'' was despised when first published because of Arthur Conan Doyle's decision to bump Sherlock off. Doyle spent half a decade battling fandom hatred until finally caving in and resurrecting the character. ''Final Problem'' is now one of the most respected short stories in English literature, and antagonist Professor Moriarty - who only appeared this one time in Doyle's canon[[note]] directly, with one reference in a later story[[/note]] - will always be known as THE opponent of Holmes.

* Creator/JohnKeats didn't have much time to get recognized since he died at 25. The few reviews he got were mostly negative. Not long after his death, he became recognized as one of the greats of poetry.

* John Kennedy Toole spent a number of dispiriting years trying to get his comic novel of New Orleans published. After his suicide in 1969, his mother took up the cause, and following several rejections, she finally got it into print in 1980, under the title of ''Literature/AConfederacyOfDunces.'' It's now recognized as one of the great comic works of the twentieth century.

* [[Creator/WaltWhitman Walt Whitman's]] ''Literature/LeavesOfGrass'' was a financial failure on publication and so unpopular that the only positive reviews for it were written by Whitman himself. Over time, people came to appreciate his enthusiastic patriotism and catchy verses. And today, ''Leaves of Grass'' is considered one of the finest examples of early American poetry.

* While Creator/SinclairLewis was commercially successful in his time, and he did have some defenders like Creator/HLMencken, most critics in his time regarded him as a hack who simply got lucky with his 1920 BreakthroughHit ''Main Street''. When he became the first American to win the UsefulNotes/NobelPrizeInLiterature in 1930, American critics were horrified, feeling that the only reason the Europeans liked him was because of his depictions of American society as the worst sort of boorish, materialistic {{Eagleland}} stereotypes. (Lewis Mumford stated that "[i]n crowning Mr. Lewis's work, the Swedish Academy has, [[StealthInsult in the form of a compliment, conveyed a subtle disparagement of the country they honored]].") The resurgent national confidence and PatrioticFervor after UsefulNotes/WorldWarII caused his satire of middle-class America to fall out of favor with the masses, especially as his drinking and depression [[AudienceAlienatingEra sent the quality of his later novels into decline]], and the "New Critics" of the postwar era, who believed in putting "text above social context", looked even less favorably on his work, rooted as it was in commentary on contemporary society, than before. By the time of his death in 1951, he was largely forgotten in favor of other American writers from TheRoaringTwenties like Creator/FScottFitzgerald and Creator/ErnestHemingway, his own official biographer Mark Schorer dismissing him as "one of the worst writers in modern American literature." His reputation turned around in the 21st century as a new generation of writers and critics discovered him, and saw in his books an UnbuiltTrope version of StepfordSuburbia written decades before that stereotype became fully entrenched in the popular imagination. His 1935 novel ''Literature/ItCantHappenHere'' has also been rediscovered, especially amidst the UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump Presidency, as a major early {{dystopia}}n novel and an exploration of how [[OppressiveStatesOfAmerica America could turn fascist]].

** ''Literature/FinnegansWake'', which delved into extreme narrative experimentation, alienated the pre-WWII British public. Today it's regarded as another masterpiece, in spite ([[TrueArtIsIncomprehensible or perhaps because]]) of the fact that it's still pretty much incomprehensible.

** ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' actually didn't generate much interest until TheSixties -- the critics around the time it was written hated it. Certainly a far cry from how it would later become the formative example of an entire genre of fiction.

* ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'', on release, was frequently torn apart for its problematic values and narrative issues. After much of the hype died down and some time passed, however, critics were able to take a more removed look at its [[https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/nov/02/ten-years-of-twilight-the-extraordinary-feminist-legacy-of-the-panned-vampire-saga impact and place in pop culture]]. As a result, the series has earned some praise for being a popular cult-blockbuster franchise for girls in a media environment that is traditionally male-aimed and male-dominated, and for creating an environment where other, better-received female-centred blockbuster franchises such as ''Literature/TheHungerGames'' and ''Film/WonderWoman2017'' could thrive. Furthermore, it has also been argued that much of the passionate and even vicious reaction to the series was fueled mainly by condescension and even misogyny, as [[DoubleStandard similarly flawed properties that were aimed at male audiences failed to receive anything close to the same derision]]. This has seen the franchise earn some ValuesResonance in the latter half of TheNewTens, in an environment where the place, power and inclusion/representation of women on all levels of the entertainment industry has been the subject of intense debate and reactionary pushback. That said, even post-vindication, its defenders are willing to acknowledge its faults and that it genuinely does contain some questionable values and UnfortunateImplications.

* ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'', on release, was frequently torn apart for its problematic values and narrative issues. After much of the hype died down and some time passed, however, critics were able to take a more removed look at its [[https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/nov/02/ten-years-of-twilight-the-extraordinary-feminist-legacy-of-the-panned-vampire-saga impact and place in pop culture]]. As a result, the series has earned some praise for being a popular cult-blockbuster franchise for girls in a media environment that is traditionally male-aimed and male-dominated, and for creating an environment where other (arguably better) female-centred blockbuster franchises such as ''Literature/TheHungerGames'' and ''Film/WonderWoman2017'' could thrive. Furthermore, it has also been argued that much of the passionate and even vicious reaction to the series was fueled mainly by condescension and even misogyny, as [[DoubleStandard similarly flawed properties that were aimed at male audiences failed to receive anything close to the same derision]]. This has seen the franchise earn some ValuesResonance in the latter half of TheNewTens, in an environment where the place, power and inclusion/representation of women on all levels of the entertainment industry has been the subject of intense debate and reactionary pushback. That said, even post-vindication, its defenders are willing to acknowledge its faults and that it genuinely does contain some questionable values and UnfortunateImplications.

* ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'', on release, was frequently torn apart for its problematic values and narrative issues. After much of the hype died down and some time passed, however, critics were able to take a more removed look at its [[https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/nov/02/ten-years-of-twilight-the-extraordinary-feminist-legacy-of-the-panned-vampire-saga impact and place in pop culture]]. As a result, the series has earned some praise for being a popular cult-blockbuster franchise for girls in a media environment that is traditionally male-aimed and male-dominated, and for creating an environment where other (arguably better) female-centred blockbuster franchises such as ''Literature/TheHungerGames'' and ''Film/WonderWoman2017'' could thrive. Furthermore, it has also been argued that much of the passionate and even vicious reaction to the series was fueled mainly by condescension and even misogyny, as [[DoubleStandard similarly flawed properties that were aimed at male audiences failed to receive anything close to the same derision]]. This has seen the franchise earn some ValuesResonance in the latter half of TheNewTens, in an environment where the place, power and inclusion/representation of women on all levels of the entertainment industry has been the subject of intense debate and reactionary pushback. That said, in terms of quality the series is still largely agreed to be [[SoOkayItsAverage so-so]] at best even by its defenders, who acknowledge that it genuinely does contain some questionable values and UnfortunateImplications.

* ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'' plays with this trope. On release, it was frequently torn apart for its problematic values and narrative issues. After much of the hype died down and some time passed, however, critics were able to take a more removed look at its [[https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/nov/02/ten-years-of-twilight-the-extraordinary-feminist-legacy-of-the-panned-vampire-saga impact and place in pop culture]]. As a result, the series has earned some praise for being a popular cult-blockbuster franchise for girls in a media environment that is traditionally male-aimed and male-dominated, and for creating an environment where other (arguably better) female-centred blockbuster franchises such as ''Literature/TheHungerGames'' and ''Film/WonderWoman2017'' could thrive. Furthermore, it has also been argued that much of the passionate and even vicious reaction to the series was fueled mainly by condescension and even misogyny, as [[DoubleStandard similarly flawed properties that were aimed at male audiences failed to receive anything close to the same derision]]. This has seen the franchise earn some ValuesResonance in the latter half of TheNewTens, in an environment where the place, power and inclusion/representation of women on all levels of the entertainment industry has been the subject of intense debate and reactionary pushback. That said, in terms of quality the series is still largely agreed to be [[SoOkayItsAverage so-so]] at best even by its defenders, who acknowledge that it genuinely does contain some questionable values and UnfortunateImplications.

* The French poet Creator/CharlesBaudelaire was surrounded by debts for the remainder of his life, and he once gave a series of lectures in Belgium in the vain hopes of earning money and establishing his fame. It was not until he died that a lot of his works were published posthumously, which established him as one of the leading figures of Aestheticism and the Decadent movement. His mother Caroline found comfort in her son's emerging posthumous fame and used it to pay off his substantial debts.

* Creator/GerardManleyHopkins wasn't even generally known to be a poet during his lifetime. But after his death, the publication of his poetry was sponsored by his friend and British Poet Laureate Robert Bridges. And when it comes to Hopkins, the obscurity was partly chosen, because he didn't believe literary recognition was proper for a Catholic priest.

* While Creator/SinclairLewis was commercially successful in his time, and he did have some defenders like Creator/HLMencken, most critics in his time regarded him as a hack who simply got lucky with his 1920 BreakthroughHit ''Main Street''. When he became the first American to win the UsefulNotes/NobelPrizeInliterature in 1930, American critics were horrified, feeling that the only reason the Europeans liked him was because of his depictions of American society as the worst sort of boorish, materialistic {{Eagleland}} stereotypes. (Lewis Mumford stated that "[i]n crowning Mr. Lewis's work, the Swedish Academy has, [[StealthInsult in the form of a compliment, conveyed a subtle disparagement of the country they honored]].") The resurgent national confidence and PatrioticFervor after UsefulNotes/WorldWarII caused his satire of middle-class America to fall out of favor with the masses, especially as his drinking and depression [[AudienceAlienatingEra sent the quality of his later novels into decline]], and the "New Critics" of the postwar era, who believed in putting "text above social context", looked even less favorably on his work, rooted as it was in commentary on contemporary society, than before. By the time of his death in 1951, he was largely forgotten in favor of other American writers from TheRoaringTwenties like Creator/FScottFitzgerald and Creator/ErnestHemingway, his own official biographer Mark Schorer dismissing him as "one of the worst writers in modern American literature." His reputation turned around in the 21st century as a new generation of writers and critics discovered him, and saw in his books an UnbuiltTrope version of StepfordSuburbia written decades before that stereotype became fully entrenched in the popular imagination. His 1935 novel ''Literature/ItCantHappenHere'' has also been rediscovered, especially amidst the UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump Presidency, as a major early {{dystopia}}n novel and an exploration of how [[OppressiveStatesOfAmerica America could turn fascist]].

* While Creator/SinclairLewis was commercially successful in his time, and he did have some defenders like Creator/HLMencken, most critics in his time regarded him as a hack who simply got lucky with his 1920 BreakthroughHit ''Main Street''. When he became the first American to win the Nobel Prize for literature in 1930, American critics were horrified, feeling that the only reason the Europeans liked him was because of his depictions of American society as the worst sort of boorish, materialistic {{Eagleland}} stereotypes. (Lewis Mumford stated that "[i]n crowning Mr. Lewis's work, the Swedish Academy has, [[StealthInsult in the form of a compliment, conveyed a subtle disparagement of the country they honored]].") The resurgent national confidence and PatrioticFervor after UsefulNotes/WorldWarII caused his satire of middle-class America to fall out of favor with the masses, especially as his drinking and depression [[AudienceAlienatingEra sent the quality of his later novels into decline]], and the "New Critics" of the postwar era, who believed in putting "text above social context", looked even less favorably on his work, rooted as it was in commentary on contemporary society, than before. By the time of his death in 1951, he was largely forgotten in favor of other American writers from TheRoaringTwenties like Creator/FScottFitzgerald and Creator/ErnestHemingway, his own official biographer Mark Schorer dismissing him as "one of the worst writers in modern American literature." His reputation turned around in the 21st century as a new generation of writers and critics discovered him, and saw in his books an UnbuiltTrope version of StepfordSuburbia written decades before that stereotype became fully entrenched in the popular imagination. His 1935 novel ''Literature/ItCantHappenHere'' has also been rediscovered, especially amidst the UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump Presidency, as a major early {{dystopia}}n novel and an exploration of how [[OppressiveStatesOfAmerica America could turn fascist]].

* While Creator/SinclairLewis was commercially successful in his time, and he did have some defenders like Creator/HLMencken, most critics in his time regarded him as a hack who simply got lucky with his 1920 BreakthroughHit ''Main Street''. When he became the first American to win the Nobel Prize for literature in 1930, American critics were horrified, feeling that the only reason the Europeans liked him was because of his depictions of American society as the worst sort of boorish, materialistic {{Eagleland}} stereotypes. (Lewis Mumford stated that "[i]n crowning Mr. Lewis's work, the Swedish Academy has, [[StealthInsult in the form of a compliment, conveyed a subtle disparagement of the country they honored]].") The resurgent national confidence and PatrioticFervor after UsefulNotes/WorldWarII caused his satire of middle-class America to fall out of favor with the masses, especially as his drinking and depression [[AudienceAlienatingEra sent the quality of his later novels into decline]], and the "New Critics" of the postwar era, who believed in putting "text above social context", looked even less favorably on his work, rooted as it was in commentary on contemporary society, than before. By the time of his death in 1951, he was largely forgotten in favor of other American writers from TheRoaringTwenties like Creator/FScottFitzgerald and Creator/ErnestHemingway, his own official biographer Mark Schorer dismissing him as "one of the worst writers in modern American literature." His reputation turned around in the 21st century as a new generation of writers and critics discovered him, and saw in his books an UnbuiltTrope version of StepfordSuburbia written decades before that stereotype became fully entrenched in the popular imagination. His 1935 novel ''Literature/ItCantHappenHere'' has also been rediscovered, especially amidst the UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump Presidency, as a major early {{dystopia}}n novels and an exploration of how [[OppressiveStatesOfAmerica America could turn fascist]].

* ''[[Literature/SherlockHolmes The Adventure of the Final Problem]]'' was despised when first published because of Arthur Conan Doyle's decision to bump Sherlock off. Doyle spent half a decade battling fandom hatred until finally caving in and resurrecting the character. ''Final Problem'' is now one of the most respected short stories in English literature, and antagonist Professor Moriarty - who only appeared this one time in Doyle's canon - will always be known as THE opponent of Holmes.

* ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'' plays with this trope. On release, it was frequently torn apart for its problematic values and narrative issues. After much of the hype died down and some time passed, however, critics were able to take a more removed look at its [[https://www.theguardian.com/film/2018/nov/02/ten-years-of-twilight-the-extraordinary-feminist-legacy-of-the-panned-vampire-saga impact and place in pop culture]]. As a result, the series has earned some praise for being a popular cult-blockbuster franchise for girls in a media environment that is traditionally male-aimed and male-dominated, and for creating an environment where other (arguably better) female-centred blockbuster franchises such as ''Literature/TheHungerGames'' and ''Film/WonderWoman2017'' could thrive. Furthermore, it has also been argued that much of the passionate and even vicious reaction to the series was fueled mainly by condescension and even misogyny, as [[DoubleStandard similarly flawed properties that were aimed at male audiences failed to receive anything close to the same derision]]. This has seen the franchise earn some ValuesResonance in the latter half of TheNewTens, in an environment where the place, power and inclusion/representation of women on all levels of the entertainment industry has been the subject of intense debate and reactionary pushback ([[Administrivia/RuleofCautiousEditingJudgment and that's all that will be said on the matter]]). That said, in terms of quality the series is still largely agreed to be [[SoOkayItsAverage so-so]] at best even by its defenders, who acknowledge that it genuinely does contain some questionable values and UnfortunateImplications.

* Creator/HPLovecraft spent his career in relative obscurity. In his lifetime, his stories only appeared in pulp magazines and were not collected in book form. His works only approaching general popularity in TheFifties. These days, he is credited as the creator of the CosmicHorrorStory (which is also called "Lovecraftian horror"), and is to the horror fiction field in general what Creator/JRRTolkien was to HighFantasy, with stories such as ''Literature/AtTheMountainsOfMadness'' being studied at the critical level to the same degree, if not even more so.

* ''Literature/ASongofIceAndFire'': ''A Feast for Crows'' and ''A Dance With Dragons'' were criticized for having unnecessary storylines and character [=POVs=] which dragged the main plot. When the [[Series/GameOfThrones TV adaptation]] reached Season 5, many of these storylines and characters were cut, streamlined, and altered, leading to the most controversial and divisive seasons of the show. Many realized just how intricate Martin's writing really was, since the "butterfly effect" caused by removing and altering these beats radically altered the show and the characters beyond recognition, while also cheapening the verisimilitude for the sake of RuleOfDrama and EasyLogistics which would require viewers to have WillingSuspensionOfDisbelief. As such, fans realize that the seemingly meandering plots written by Martin are indeed important and essential for the WorldBuilding and overall denouement. The fact that new readers came to the books with all five published, and without the long waits in the interim has also made the reception to these works fare better over time.