62% Person of lie about having read classic books

[Sci-2]

I confess to not having read the following classics:

1) Days of Future Past

2) God Loves, Man Kills

3) Crisis on Infinite Earths

4) Legion: The Great Darkness Saga

5) Kirby's New Gods

6) Alan Moore's Halo Jones

7) Alan Moore's or Gaiman's Miracle Man runs

8) Near Myths

9) Zenith

10) Superman #1

[all swedes are racist]

I confess to not having read the following classics:

1) Days of Future Past

2) God Loves, Man Kills

3) Crisis on Infinite Earths

4) Legion: The Great Darkness Saga

5) Kirby's New Gods

6) Alan Moore's Halo Jones

7) Alan Moore's or Gaiman's Miracle Man runs

8) Near Myths

9) Zenith

10) Superman #1

Heathen! Heretic!

At least Age of Apocalypse? X-tinction Agenda? Dark Phoenix Saga?

[mashiara]

I haven't read Catcher in the Rye, for some reason I can't make myself get to it even though we have dalThor's copy someplace around here.

A Passage to India, I'd never heard of it i before this thread. Hmmm.. that one I might give a try at some point.

The rest I've read, some I've enjoyed, some not. I've also read a lot of other books that are considered "classics". I read a lot, and I'm (or was) a fast reader. I've never felt the need to lie about what I have or haven't read.

[thecryptile]

Frankenstein, as written by Mary Shelly. Brilliant, and not much like any of the movies that were supposed to have been based on it.

I read this one too.

I'll give you Faulker, but Steinbeck is amazing! Bite your tongue!

I had to read "Of Mice & Men" in school- did not care for the ending. I will give it this much: It was much better than "As I Lay Dying", which I also had to read for school.

[The Marquis de Leech]

"A classic is something everyone wants to have read, and nobody wants to read."

[Sci-2]

Heathen! Heretic!

At least Age of Apocalypse? X-tinction Agenda? Dark Phoenix Saga?

Do the 90s animated toon versions count?

[Shryke]

I find it odd 1984 is most lied about, it's a fairly easy read I thought, I read it quickly. I've read almost no classic literature though.

Really? I think it's the most obvious one for the list in retrospec. It's a book everyone likes to quote and reference. The name has become synonymous with "government surveillance". But given how few people are likely to have read any of these, it's no surprise people lie about it.

[Seli]

Most of my classics reading was shaped by the cheap books available when I was in university. New remaindered 'classics' imprints and second hand (often Penguin).

1984 by George Orwell

- I can't remember, perhaps

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy

- yes

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

– no, I tried to get into Dickens multiple times but he just cannot keep my interest.

Catcher in the Rye by J D Salinger – No

A Passage to India by E M Forster

– perhaps, some segments in school probably

Lord of the Rings by J R R Tolkein

- yes, numerous rereads

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee – No

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky – yes

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen – No

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë – yes

[Shryke]

I honestly don't get the War and Peace hatred. Yeah, themeandering meditations on the nature of history can be a bit boring, but the entire "epic soap opera" thing figured be right up ASOIAF fan's alley.

Are you saying Game of Thrones fans should also watch Days of Our Lives?

[Phaing]

Oh, wait, I just re-read the OP.

Its a British thing.

That explains a lot, doesn't it?

[Lyanna Stark]

Bit of an odd list, but at least they didn't have Proust on it! I don't think I would ever even consider reading Proust.

1984 by George Orwell – No

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy – No, picked Anna Karenina instead and didn't even get through half. Would be interesting to try again and see if my tastes have changed.

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens – Yes, I think so (and I seem to remember part of the plot, so must have). I read everything Dickens I could get my hands on back in my late teens, but it's too long ago to remember anyway.

Catcher in the Rye by J D Salinger – No

A Passage to India by E M Forster – No (and never heard of either)

Lord of the Rings by J R R Tolkein – Yes, many times and in two languages.

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee – No

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky – No, but this is actually a classic I really want to read when I finally get some time!

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen – Yes

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë – Absolutely

[Ser Rodrigo Belmonte]

Why would anyone lie about reading 1984? That book is depressing as fuck. I read it whenever I feel like taking a dump on humanity. Needless to say I've read it countless times. tried reading LOTR, read till that part where they meet strider, got bored then and left it. The movies kinda ruined them for me cause I already knew the whole story.

I did spend several hours on the appendices as they reveal what happens before and after LOTR.

[Ser Rodrigo Belmonte]

Oh and I agree with whoever said Pride and Prejudice is a load of shit.

[brook]

1984 by George Orwell – yes

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy – yes

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens – No, I don't think I've been able to finish a Dickens novel other than possibly A Christmas Carol (I remember starting that, can't actually remember if I finished or not)

Catcher in the Rye by J D Salinger – yes

A Passage to India by E M Forster – also didn't know this existed

Lord of the Rings by J R R Tolkein – many times

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee – yes

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky – no

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen – one of my most read books.

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë – yes

As for displaying books I haven't read, a decent chunk of the books on my shelves I haven't read yet, I love books and impulse buy many more than I have time to read.

[Shryke]

Oh and I agree with whoever said Pride and Prejudice is a load of shit.

Colin Firth is glaring at you cause of this.

Very sternly too.

[Datepalm]

*swoon*

(I haven't seen it, actually, but it seemed the thing.)

[Larry.]

1984 by George Orwell – 26%

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy – 19%

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens – 18%

Catcher in the Rye by J D Salinger – 15%

A Passage to India by E M Forster – 12%

Lord of the Rings by J R R Tolkein – 11%

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee – 10%

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky – 8%

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen – 8%

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë – 5%

Eh, it is what it is, I suppose. But I thought of something a slight bit more interesting than narrating which ones I've read/haven't (read all of the listed examples). Here are the ages (if memory serves) at which I read those books:

1984 - 17 (HS senior year honors English summer reading list)

War and Peace - 23 (read outside of school)

Great Expectations - 14 (9th grade English; my mom taught the course)

Catcher in the Rye - 22 (read outside of school)

A Passage to India - 23 (read outside of school)

Lord of the Rings - 13 (read between 7th and 8th grade; discovered Tolkien after I found a copy of his works in my mom's classroom)

To Kill a Mockingbird - 16 (HS junior year honors English summer reading list)

Crime and Punishment - 16 (aborted read; was to read for class)/23 (read it in full outside of school)

Pride and Prejudice - 21 (read outside of school)

Jane Eyre - 17 (HS senior honors English summer reading list)

I remember at 22-24 being on a big classics buying/reading binge (in part due to the influence of a professor of cultural history when I was in grad school) and that I haven't read that many classics since I finished training for teaching in 1999. I wonder if there's something to that matter of the age of the reader, although in my case, the early 20s version enjoyed reading more than the late 30s version. I wonder if the poll reflects reading preferences developed prior to the age of 25; I suspect it does.

[Rorshach]

1984 by George Orwell – Yes

War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy – No

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens – No

Catcher in the Rye by J D Salinger – No

A Passage to India by E M Forster – No (funny how many here haven't heard of it. It can't really be a classic, can it, if almost no-one has heard of it?)

Lord of the Rings by J R R Tolkein – Yes

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee – Yes

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky – Yes

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen – No

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë – No

There are a couple I'd like to read, someday, when my current project of "read what I haven't read, but is found in my living room"-project stops.

[Isis]

If they'd switched A Passage To India (not read) with A Room With A View (read for school) I wonder how many of you would still be saying you'd never heard of it?

The latter was also made into a film at least once, there was one with HBC I think.

[red snow]

Two and a half out of the list (A friend asked for his copy of "catcher in the Rye" before i finished it and i'm in no rush to do so. Honestly, I'm not even interested in most of that list. I'll admit that I read mainly for entertainment rather than being able to admit to some kind of checklist. A lot of "classics" I cheated in that i read abridged versions as a kid. From the plot, there are some I'll check again at some point and others I'll continue to avoid.

Then again I may be lying about that as well. I wonder how many people lie about not having read books though? Sales for the Da vinci code, Twilight and 50 shades of grey can't all be from people proud to admit it?