The Top Ten Books People Lie About Reading

The Federalist ^ | 01/16/2014 | Ben Domenech

[jocon307]

Have you ever lied about reading a book? Maybe you didn’t want to seem stupid in front of someone you respected. Maybe you rationalized it by reasoning that you had a familiarity with the book, or knew who the author was, or what the story was about, or had glanced at its Wikipedia page. Or maybe you had tried to read the book, even bought it and set it by your bed for months unopened, hoping that it would impart what was in it merely via proximity (if that worked, please email me).

[jocon307]

This article is a couple of weeks old, but it's interesting and I thought it might be good for discussion on a slow news, snowy evening.

I haven't lied about reading books, but the one I could never get through was Jane Austen's "Emma", I even made it through Gravity's Rainbow eventually, but not Emma!

[DannyTN]

I read this article - /Lying mode off

[Tax-chick]

I finished “Emma,” finally, after seeing the movie. And I like Jane Austen, even.

I’ve read three or four of the books on the list, mostly for high school or college classes. I’ve never lied about reading the ones I didn’t read. However, I lied about making it all the way through Mahan’s “The Influence of Sea Power Upon History.”

[Vaquero]

Didn’t read the article:

Moby Dick

Brothers Karamazoff

Any of “The Russians “

[DManA]

4. Moby Dick, Herman Melville: If you haven’t managed this one yet, consider that William F. Buckley, Jr. did not actually read this until he was 50, remarking then to friends: “To think I might have died without having read it.”

Ha, me too. I learned way more about whale penises than I cared to know.

[CaptainK]

I read 2 of them. I have no problem saying I didn’t read the other 8.

[dainbramaged]

I wrote a book report on Moby Dick from the Classics comic book version of Melville’s story. Got a B. Assigning that novel to a 12 year old is child abuse, IMHO.

[colorado tanker]

I tried reading Ulysses, but found the style just too distracting.

[alfa6]

A big ol’ tip of the hat for finishing Gravity’s Rainbow.

I tried way back when, 1975, IIRC and never could make heads or tails of it.

GR Reminded me of the ending to Mad Magazines 2001 parody.
“How to write an incomprehensible science fiction book and gross millions of dollars”

Regards

alfa6 ;>}

[Squantos]

Numbers 8 and 5.... I have not read on that list .... :o)

Honest...... Stay safe !

[DManA]

creates problems when you offer a comment on Watership Down

I think that is one that everyone DID read back in the 70s when it came out. And "Johnathan Livingston Seagull". And of course "Love Story".

[Buckeye McFrog]

Atlas Shrugged

I know I really should. And at times my intentions have been really good.

But then I look at all 839 pages and 3 1/2 pounds of it sitting on the coffee table....and I just can’t.

[DManA]

You have my permission to skip across big chunks.

839 pages and 3 1/2 pounds

[Mr Rogers]

“4. Moby Dick, Herman Melville: If you haven’t managed this one yet, consider that William F. Buckley, Jr. did not actually read this until he was 50, remarking then to friends: “To think I might have died without having read it.””

Well, to paraphrase Buckley: “I wish I had died without reading it...”

Like many ‘classic’ books, it is best viewed on YouTube, or reviewed in Wiki.

[Little Bill]

If you read it out loud it makes more sense.

[DManA]

I never read “Democracy in America” but last year I did read a biography of Tocqueville with an emphasis on his American trip. Fascinating life.

[ExpatGator]

Have read: 10, 7, and 3. Read some of 6 and 5, but did not finish them.

[FatherofFive]

Ulysses is the only one I didn’t read. Just can’t get past the first 50 pages.

[Dr. Bogus Pachysandra]

Wow! I loved “Gravity’s Rainbow!” I’ve read it twice.
From wiki;
“The novel shared the 1974 U.S. National Book Award for Fiction with A Crown of Feathers and Other Stories by Isaac Bashevis Singer.[1] Although selected by the Pulitzer Prize jury on fiction for the 1974 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, a single passage involving coprophilia offended the other members of the Pulitzer board, who rejected the selection. No Pulitzer Prize was awarded for fiction that year.[2] The novel was nominated for the 1973 Nebula Award for Best Novel.[3]
TIME named the novel one of its “All-Time 100 Greatest Novels”, a list of the best English-language novels from 1923 to 2005[4] and it is considered by some critics to be one of the greatest American novels ever written.[”

[the_Watchman]

The author missed a book! The number one unread book that people lie about is the Bible!