Difference between Make much of something and Not make much of something

make much of something—regard smth. as important; value smth. highly:

• We’ve always made much of our high literacy rate, but somehow that hasn’t made us into a nation of readers.

not make much of something—

1. have a poor opinion of smth.; treat smth. as unimportant:

• He has never made much of his World War II experience.

2. fail to understand smth.:

• I am not very fluent in Tamil anymore, so I couldn’t make much of the book in Tamil.