Books famous for not being read

Thomas

Thomas

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Someone once said Marcel Proust's 3-volume "In Search of Lost Time" was one of those books everyone's got but no-one's read. The person was a 'literary author', so I suppose that's a bit elitist.

As someone who got given and actually read “A Brief History of Time” – another one everybody knows but few have read – I picked this list up recently and wondered what yours would be …

Top 20 Lied About Books
Alice's Adventures In Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
Read it

1984 - George Orwell
Read it

The Lord Of The Rings trilogy - JRR Tolkien
Ploughed my way through all of it. And The Hobbit. And Mervyn Peake’s Gormenghast trilogy

War And Peace - Leo Tolstoy
Nope

Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
Nope

The Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle
Read it and others

To Kill A Mockingbird - Harper Lee
Nope

David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
I’ve tried to do Dickens, Lord knows I’ve tried, but I just can’t get through them ...

Crime And Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Nope – But I have done ‘A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovitch', does that count?

Pride And Prejudice - Jane Austen
Nope

Bleak House - Charles Dickens
See above … this was one of the books I failed on

Harry Potter (series) - JK Rowling
Read the first few

Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
Nope … yet ‘Barkiss is willing’ is an oft-used quote by me … strange.

The Diary Of Anne Frank - Anne Frank
Nope. I have read Primo Levi however ...
(There was a very poor stage version of this at a local theatre. apparently it was so bad that when a German soldier came to stage front and said to the evil nazi SS officer, 'we've searched the house, there's no-one there' someone in the audience called out "She's in the wardrobe!")

Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
See above

Fifty Shades trilogy - EL James
No, and no intention to either. From what I gather, James' literary style is ‘arse gravy’ along with Dan Brown

And Then There Were None - Agatha Christie
Nope

The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
Nope

Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
At least three times

The Catcher In The Rye - JD Salinger
Read it

And one of my own –
The Name of the Rose - Umberto Ecco
Started twice but not finished, although I have most of his books and have read a few of them.
 
Somehow I don't see 50 Shades as equivalent to the rest of this list! :rolleyes:

Otherwise I was subjected to some of the classics over the years in my schooling.

Thomas said:
Top 20 Lied About Books

Alice's Adventures In Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
Read it. Read it for school.

1984 - George Orwell
Read it. Read it for school.

The Lord Of The Rings trilogy - JRR Tolkien
Ploughed my way through all of it. And The Hobbit. And Mervyn Peake’s Gormenghast trilogy.
Have Read Tolkien's works over and over again thru the years, both The Hobbit & The Lord of the Rings. This was some of my favorite books when I was a teen. I've read Gormenghast, though that is a tough slog.

War And Peace - Leo Tolstoy
Nope. Nope.

Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
Nope. Nope.

The Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle
Read it and others. Nope. Never was much in to the Detective trope.

To Kill A Mockingbird - Harper Lee
Nope. Nope.

David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
I’ve tried to do Dickens, Lord knows I’ve tried, but I just can’t get through them ...
My sentiments exactly. Dickens is so turgid. I've never understood the attraction.

Crime And Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Nope – But I have done ‘A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovitch', does that count?
To answer your question. No. But then I haven't read it either.

Pride And Prejudice - Jane Austen
Nope. Does Pride & Prejudice & Zombies count?

Bleak House - Charles Dickens
See above … this was one of the books I failed on
Again with the Dickens!!!!!! NO.

Harry Potter (series) - JK Rowling
Read the first few. Tried to get thru the first one. Totally could not get into it. A hero who is famous for being a hero just because everyone says he is. Now where have I heard that before in this modern age?

Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
Nope … yet ‘Barkiss is willing’ is an oft-used quote by me … strange.
Yet again with the Dickens??? No! Beats the Dicken's outa me.

The Diary Of Anne Frank - Anne Frank
Nope. I have read Primo Levi however ...
(There was a very poor stage version of this at a local theatre. apparently it was so bad that when a German soldier came to stage front and said to the evil nazi SS officer, 'we've searched the house, there's no-one there' someone in the audience called out "She's in the wardrobe!")
Yep. Read in school.

Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
See above. See my above and above that above.

Fifty Shades trilogy - EL James
No, and no intention to either. From what I gather, James' literary style is ‘arse gravy’ along with Dan Brown.
I tried. I really, really tried to get thru the first one. Just to see what the fuss was all about. I knew that despite the kink this was essentially a romance novel and was prepared to read it from that perspective. I.E. for women. What I was not prepared for was the complete inability of the author to write. The quality of the writing in this book is along the lines of your standard self published book. Horrible writing, no editing. I got thru maybe a third of it before I couldn't stand it any more. Dan Brown is a genius in comparison!

And Then There Were None - Agatha Christie
Nope. Yes.

The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
Nope. Nope.

Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
At least three times. Yes for school.

The Catcher In The Rye - JD Salinger
Read it. Yes for school.
Click to expand...

For my bonus selection - a book that almost all fantasy genre fans own and practically none of them have read -
The Silmarillion by Tolkien. And yes I have read it cover to cover.
 
Thomas said:
Top 20 Lied About Books
Alice's Adventures In Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
Read it
Read it.

1984 - George Orwell
Read it
Read it. And assigned it to my students. I don't think they read it.

The Lord Of The Rings trilogy - JRR Tolkien
Ploughed my way through all of it. And The Hobbit. And Mervyn Peake’s Gormenghast trilogy
Read the trilogy and The Hobbit. Never read the Gormenghast trilogy.

War And Peace - Leo Tolstoy
Nope
Just started it. Pretty boring so far, imo.

Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
Nope
Half way through it. More engaging than War and Peace.

The Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle
Read it and others
Read the whole of the Sherlock Holmes collections. Found all the volumes being discarded by a local library and picked them up for $2.00 total.

To Kill A Mockingbird - Harper Lee
Nope
Read it. Don't see what the big deal is. Curious to read the sequel that was released last year since apparently it changed the way a lot of people viewed TKAM

David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
I’ve tried to do Dickens, Lord knows I’ve tried, but I just can’t get through them ...
I have the same problem with Dickens. Tried Tale of Two Cities when I was younger and never made it further than the third chapter. Never read any of his other works either.

Crime And Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Nope – But I have done ‘A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovitch', does that count?
Nope.

Pride And Prejudice - Jane Austen
Nope
Had to read it for school, but think I just skimmed a few chapters. I remember nothing about the book.

Bleak House - Charles Dickens
See above … this was one of the books I failed on

Harry Potter (series) - JK Rowling
Read the first few
Read the whole series.

Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
Nope … yet ‘Barkiss is willing’ is an oft-used quote by me … strange.

The Diary Of Anne Frank - Anne Frank
Nope. I have read Primo Levi however ...
(There was a very poor stage version of this at a local theatre. apparently it was so bad that when a German soldier came to stage front and said to the evil nazi SS officer, 'we've searched the house, there's no-one there' someone in the audience called out "She's in the wardrobe!")
Yes. Wow. That's harsh, even for community theater.

Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
See above

Fifty Shades trilogy - EL James
No, and no intention to either. From what I gather, James' literary style is ‘arse gravy’ along with Dan Brown
Tried to read the first one when I was in London a few years ago. Everyone on the Tube was reading one of the books in the series so I thought I'd try to fit in. I made it through ten chapters before I gave up. Funny story about Fifty Shades. It reads like poorly-written fan fiction because that's how it started out. It was fan fiction written about the Twilight series that James modified slightly into the trilogy that exists now.

And Then There Were None - Agatha Christie
Nope
Nope

The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
Nope
Yes, but didn't enjoy it. No idea why people love this book so much.

Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
At least three times
Yes.

The Catcher In The Rye - JD Salinger
Read it
Click to expand...
Yes.

I'll also add in not only a Brief History of Time, but also A Briefer History of Time. The latter didn't add much, in my mind. In terms of other books that I feel people claim are the classics:

Ulysses
Never read

Wuthering Heights
Read it, but did not like it at all.

Sons and Lovers
Didn't start out as a D.H. Lawrence fan before reading it. Really not a fan after reading it.
 
Devils' Advocate said:
Somehow I don't see 50 Shades as equivalent to the rest of this list! :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
No, that rather struck me as an anomaly. Even if we're talking about books that aren't necessarily classics, I don't know anyone who claims to have read 50 Shades, or why anyone would make such a claim ...
 
StevePame said:
Ulysses
Never read
Click to expand...
Nor me. Got it, though. And a few others ...

StevePame said:
Wuthering Heights
Read it, but did not like it at all.
Click to expand...
Good call. Haven't read it.

StevePame said:
Sons and Lovers
Didn't start out as a D.H. Lawrence fan before reading it. Really not a fan after reading it.
Click to expand...
Another unread classic from me ...

I wonder what determines a 'classic'?

Until recently I would have said 'Love in the Time of Cholera' by Gabriel Garcia Marquez was my number one book, but I've just finished 'The Buried Giant' by Kazuo Ishiguro and found it a book which really 'affected' me, but I couldn't put my finger on quite how ... my new No1.

I really enjoy Haruki Murakami's books ... there seems to be a 'magical realism' thing with me...
 
Hey DA, maybe Fantasy should have a thread of its own?

M John Harrison my No1. Michael Moorcock, Ursula Le Guin, Anne MacCaffrey, Stephen R Donaldson, Fritz Leiber, Mary Stewart, Philip José Farmer ... Brian Aldiss, Thomas Disch, J.G. Ballard ... lorks! What a lot o' stuff I read back then! Was anybody else into this fantasy stuff?
 
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