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).

[Calvin Locke]

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.

I read it years ago, and bought it a couple of years ago to read ago. It's sitting in the stack on my nightstand.

9. On the Origin of Species. D/L'd from Gutenberg, and that's about as far as I've gotten with it.

8. Les Miserables. Saw the pre-Lloyd Webber musical.
A Tale of Two Cities. Saw the 1930's movie.

7. 1984. Read it, and its "cousin" Brave New World.

6. Democracy in America. Always intended to...

5. Wealth of Nations. Read it.

4. Moby Dick. Read it, albeit over about four years.

3 The Art of War. Read it. Seriously. BOMC paperback.

2. The Prince. Wanted to, but obviously not badly enough.

1. Ulysses. I think I may have been given a copy, but absolutely no desire.

[left that other site]

I have Read 1984, Atlas Shrugged, Les Miserables, and Moby Dick (from the list).

Not on the list, but I have read:
War And Peace
And Quiet Flows the Don
The Bridge on the Drina
The Brothers Karamazov
The Idiot
The Fountainhead
Crime and Punishment
Captain Bligh’s Personal Journals
Dr. Zhivago
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy
Brave New World
Ben Hur
and Many Non-Fiction History Books.

Never liked Dickens, Austin, or the Brontes, but I have no “guilt’ about not having read them so I won’t lie! LOL!

[hometoroost]

There are 11 books listed in the Top Ten Books People Lie About Reading - did he do that just to see who read the list?

I've read Atlas Shrugged which could be about 500 pages shorter. The Prince, 1984, and Moby Dick were all required reading in high school. I own The Art of War and Democracy in America which I may get around to reading some day. Of the others, Wealth of Nations is the only one I'd feel compelled to read.

[latina4dubya]

but the one I could never get through was Jane Austen's "Emma"

why???? i loved Emma! :)

[jocon307]

“I wish I had died without reading it...”

Literally LOL at that!

I had a friend who was very dedicated to reading the right books (correct that is, not politically) and she finally read Moby Dick and thought it was brilliant.

[detective]

“A Tale of Two Cities is a book about alchemy”

Interesting. Sir Isaac Newton was also said to be an alchemist. I have tried to learn more about the history of alchemy and how important it was but I have not found any good sources except the ones on Isaac Newton.

[left that other site]

Oh Yes!

And I have read the Bible all the way through more times in thirty years than I can count (8 Chapters a night, every night)

[odawg]

I read “Moby Dick” and was sad that I had finished it, much like “The Hunt for Red October”.

[verga]

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.

It took me the better part of a month to work my way through it. There are parts that you would fly through and others that drag. He gives a speech about 2/3-3/4 of the way through that is about 50 pages. If you can get through that you can get through anything. It really is worth reading.

[arthurus]

I have not read Rand, Darwin, Sun Tsu, or Joyce. The rest I have and only Tale of Two Cities as a school assignment. Yoưng folks nowadays have probably read Shel Silverstein instead.

[P.O.E.]

Finnegan’s Wake (parts only, even tried Anthony Burgess’s digest version.

Gravity’s Rainbow.

[left that other site]

I am reading War and Peace right now and only have 100 pages to go (Out of 1386!).

When I turn the last page and close the book, I may have to start all over again so I won’t suffer from “Separation Anxiety”. LOL!

[latina4dubya]

i skipped a good middle chunk of Moby Dick... too much detail! and i cannot get passed the third chapter of A Tale of Two Cities... but i have read a lot of Dickens... and i love Les Miserables, that is my fave of all the classics... i have even read quite a bit of the Greeks, but for some reason i have an aversion to A Tale of Two Cities!

[Mad Dawgg]

"I first read 1984 in high school and did not really understand it then. I've read it again a few times since then. Each time I read it I am more impressed."

I think there should be a mandatory class for Seniors in American High Schools and each student would be required to Read:

1. Atlas Shrugged

2. 1984

3. Animal Farm

4. Brave New World.

Sadly I think the liberal education dweebs would happily agree and morph the books into "How To" instruction manuals for aspiring Socialist Nutjobs!

[Calvin Locke]

...Moby Dick...But I don’t think the teacher was fooled.

Had a neighbor going for her MA in English. She's doing her orals, and MD comes up, since she probably put it down as "read".

Failed miserably when she was asked why Ahab was so intensely fixated on killing Moby Dick...

[Conan the Librarian]

Never read any of them. Got close to finishing Moby Dick, but, failed.

In my opinion, there are very VERY few books that just have to be read.

For me, the Bible is one.

Others:

Asimov’s Foundation Trilogy, Lord of the Rings, Shelby Foote’s Civil War (perhaps the best non-fiction novel ever), Stephen King’s The Stand and I can’t thing of anything else.

People disdain Stephen King, but, he can really tell a story. He has the knack for getting you to care about a character like a friend, just before they are horribly killed. Too bad he is a jerk in real life.

I’ve read Faulkner, and I know there are good stories there, but, just can’t get through them. Hemingway is a bore. Thomas Hardy and Henry James have great stories, but are too wordy, I get the CD and have them read to me. Must reads? Not really.

[Ditter]

I actually tried reading Atlas Shrugged several times back when I read a fair amount. But after reading a few pages I would decide that rearranging my sock drawer was much more important and I would put it down. Maybe someday........ at the home........ :)

[arthurus]

Moby Dick was my favorite book when I was a young teenager. I tried other Melville stuff but could never get through them. Actually I first encountered Moby Dick when it was read to my 3rd grade class in 1954 by the teacher. We had an hour each of 3 days a week that the teacher used for reading to the class. She was good. No one cut up or went to sleep. Of course class was only a dozen kids at most.

[flaglady47]

How about books you have read but it was so long ago you can’t remember much if anything about them. I read A Tale of Two Cities so long ago that were it not for the movie version, I would barely remember a thing about the plot. Same with The Prince, which I read while taking a college course. I remember the gist of it, but none of the details. Too bad my memory isn’t as good as a lot of the books I have read.

[Peter W. Kessler]

Atlas Shrugged; I used to read it once a year.

1984; had to read it in high school. Liked it, and have read it a few times since.

The others: Nope, haven’t read ‘em.

No foolin’