Support NeoGAF

[Messofanego]

Yes, it's the UK but I can see this being applied in many places. Though, I'm sure Books-GAF have read all of these

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/...f-of-us-lie-about-reading-classic-novels.html

The survey was commissioned to mark the launch of American geek sitcom The Big Bang Theory season 6 on DVD this week.

In a bid to appear more intelligent, more than 60 per cent of people have lied about reading classic novels. A leading research team polled 2,000 members of the British public to find out the tactics people employ to appear more intelligent, with some enlightening results.

The most popular ruse is pretending to have read classic novels, with 42 per cent of people relying on film and TV adaptations, or summaries found online, to feign knowledge of the novels. Surprisingly, half of the adults questioned admit to having displayed books on their shelves without ever having read them.

The top ten books people claim to have read, but haven't, are:

• 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%

Titles that just missed the cut are The Bible (3%), Homer’s Odyssey (3%) and Wuthering Heights (2%).

Kind of a bitch thing to lie about, but then I guess there are many ways we lie to look more intelligent that are covered in that survey.

I've never read the books in this list (these weren't the ones I was forced to in school), except for Great Expectations because Dickens books were fun to read as a kid.

Why would you lie about Crime and Punishment? It's 720 pages. War and Peace is 1408 fucking pages! Someone is going to call you out on that.

Women are more likely than men to bluff that they are well-read when they have often only seen literary classics dramatised in films or on TV.

But men are more likely to fib when bragging of their academic achievements and jobs.

They are also twice as likely as women to cite famous quotations to appear wise and worldly.

Behavioural psychologist Jo Hemmings said: ‘The study shows that being intelligent has never been more sexy and that the vast majority of us are working hard to appear smarter than we actually are.

‘From expertise in literature and wine to a penchant for correct grammar and art-house or foreign language films, wannabe geeks are exaggerating their worldly qualities in order to appear more nerdy.’

Now, that's quite interesting. Geek is the new cool and all (movies/games/comic books), but didn't know books factored into that now.

 

[Slayven]

Shits be boring B

 

[ComputerMKII]

Classic novels are boring. Don't force yourself to read them. You only have one life.

 

[Alpende]

Why would you lie about stuff like this. I've only read The Lord of the Rings and that took a while.

 

[Currygan]

hah, not surprising. I've tried War and Peace countless times

 

[Alucrid]

Great simpectations

 

[ThoseDeafMutes]

I pretend that my username comes from Catcher in the Rye if someone doesn't know / like GITS.

 

[faridmon]

I always try to read, I really try, but contemporary ones just take over my life and bam...

:/

 

[Jburton]

Classic novels are boring. Don't force yourself to read them. You only have one life.

The Lord of The Rings is a great read.

Never liked the Catcher in The Rye,made to read it at school.

The Odyssey is also a great read, although I helps if you enjoy mythology in general.


The rest of that list I have never read.

 

[Race to be King]

I've got a BA in English.

How you doin'?

 

[Alucrid]

I've got a BA in English.

How you doin'?

I have a job.

 

[Doffen]

I've actually read 1984 by George Orwell. I'm so fly.

 

[Race to be King]

I have a job.

Well fuck.

 

[ComputerMKII]

I pretend that my username comes from Catcher in the Rye if someone doesn't know / like GITS.

I've just finished watching it and now I sort of understand your username. Still, I wonder how they came up with such an idea. It seemed far-fetched to me.

 

[Raiden]

Lol pretending to have read Lord of the Rings .. Why would anyone do that?

 

[GarthVaderUK]

I watched the South Park version of Great Expectations.

 

[faridmon]

I have a job.

Good for you...

 

[Slayven]

Lol pretending to have read Lord of the Rings .. Why would anyone do that?

Thats like bragging about smashing your dick with hammer.

 

[rakhir]

I've read and liked LotR and 1984, and i've read and disliked Cather in the rye - it was really kinda pointless in my eyes.
Never touched anything more from this list.

 

[Bleepey]

I haven't read any of the books on that list. I started but didn't finish the Fellowship but I did read the hobbit. I am kinda ashamed of the ones I haven't read like To kill a mockingbird and 1984.

 

[Messofanego]

Classic novels are boring. Don't force yourself to read them. You only have one life.

They may be boring, but there must be some effort justification that happens when you've finished reading them and go "yup, done and dusted!".

 

[BrokenEchelon]

You could finish some of those books on a lazy weekend afternoon. :|

 

[MrCookiepants]

Proudly never read any of them.

 

[TCRS]

I've only read The Lord of the Rings. I keep thinking I should read Dickens or something, but then I just buy a Star Wars book.

I have a job.

#rekt

 

[Peru]

If you pick one of those to actually read for the first time... Great Expectations is a lot of fun, page turning stuff.

 

[Currygan]

Proudly never read any of them.

proudly because..?

 

[Jasup]

Well fuck, now no one will believe that I've actually read War and Peace.

 

[Row]

read what interests you, classics are hit or miss

 

[Riposte]

Ghost in the Shell is better than Catcher in the Rye, anyway.

 

[AnkitT]

I've only managed to read 1984 out of the ones listed. Though I only started reading books seriously a few years ago, so maybe in a couple of years i'll be further along the list.

 

[entremet]

Never read them either.

 

[faridmon]

Kind of a bitch thing to lie about, but then I guess there are many ways we lie to look more intelligent that are covered in that survey.

I've never read the books in this list (these weren't the ones I was forced to in school), except for Great Expectations because Dickens books were fun to read as a kid.

Why would you lie about Crime and Punishment? It's 720 pages. War and Peace is 1408 fucking pages! Someone is going to call you out on that.

Actually the longer the book is, isn't easier to lie about since
no one would remember anything about? I mean its bloody long, if someone asks, you could just say its so long can't remember anything about that passage. Also, you could quote the number of pages it has and then you would appear that you did read it.

People lie and brag about stupid things that never happened. Bragging about whether you do read a lot of books its just one of them. I never do, since I read a lot of Police Procederul which happens to be written in the 60s and 70s which is enough for me

 

[ThisWreckage]

“If you go home with somebody, and they don't have books, don't fuck 'em!”
― John Waters

 

[Pandaman]

Why would you lie about stuff like this. I've only read The Lord of the Rings and that took a while.

but did you read the songs?

 

[Race to be King]

“If you go home with somebody, and they don't have books, don't fuck 'em!”
― John Waters

I shall seduce you with my Kindle carousel...

 

[BigDes]

but did you read the songs?

Don't be ridiculous, no one read the songs

 

[cyberheater]

1984 by George Orwell – Read it.
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy – Not yet. Probably not ever.
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens – Read it.
Catcher in the Rye by J D Salinger – Read it.
A Passage to India by E M Forster – Never heard of it.
Lord of the Rings by J R R Tolkein – Read it. And some of his other works.
To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee – Read it.
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky – Nope.
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen – Never.
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë – Never.

 

[Zeliard]

I've actually read 1984 by George Orwell. I'm so fly.

1984 was a part of my English curriculum in high school, along with Animal Farm. I imagine it was the same for a decent amount of people.

I'm a bit surprised to see 1984 that high up in the poll. It's a relatively short novel and Orwell's prose is famously clear and precise. All of you non-book reading plebes should give it a shot.

 

[CassidyIzABeast]

I watched all the Thug Notes videos a few days ago, now I'm well read and shit.

 

[ThisWreckage]

I honestly won't associate with anyone that doesn't read. It's such an enormous turn off. It's also one thing to be stupid, but it's another thing entirely to be brazenly stupid.

 

[Fularu]

Most of those books are amazing

 

[battousai11]

1984 by George Orwell – 26%
Catcher in the Rye by J D Salinger – 15%
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen – 8%

I've only read these three. Made it through 2/3 of LotR before I stopped; it was so wordy.

 

[Lear]

Classic novels are boring. Don't force yourself to read them. You only have one life.

Bollocks. I mean, by all means don't read them if you don't want to, but don't dismiss all non-contemporary literature as 'boring'.

I've read 8/10 (haven't read A Passage to India - though I've read other Forster novels - or Catcher in the Rye) but I'm better read than a lot of people. I don't particularly see the point in lying about having read a book. I'll judge you for not reading at all, but not for what you have/haven't read (the one exception being Twilight and 50 Shades - if you enjoy that nonsense then you deserve my disdain).

 

[perkyz]

nobody even bothers to pretend they read the brothers karamazov

 

[Tesseract]

i haven't read any of those. florida don't need fiction, we gots enough real life fictionals in the birds, waves, stars.

fml

 

[Jasup]

I honestly won't associate with anyone that doesn't read. It's such an enormous turn off. It's also one thing to be stupid, but it's another thing entirely to be brazenly stupid.

I've actually heard an elementary school teacher boast how he hasn't read any book cover to cover ever.

 

[Chichikov]

Lol pretending to have read Lord of the Rings .. Why would anyone do that?

Yeah.
I'm really puzzled by that one.

1984 by George Orwell – Read it.
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy – Not yet. Probably not ever.
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens – Read it.
Catcher in the Rye by J D Salinger – Read it.
A Passage to India by E M Forster – Never heard of it.
Lord of the Rings by J R R Tolkein – Read it. And some of his other works.
To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee – Read it.
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky – Nope.
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen – Never.
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë – Never.

You mostly chose wisely.
Crime and Punishment is truly great, believe the hype, but you're not missing much with others you haven't read if you ask me.
Well, I guess there is significance to those books, some more than other, but they're not particularly good reads in my opinion.

 

[peanutbutterlatte]

Well fuck it, I made it through the depressing slog that is Wuthering Heights, I get to brag about it.

 

[Cerity]

I've watched a few of the movie adaptations with subtitles on.

I guess it counts as reading them.

 

[entremet]

I honestly won't associate with anyone that doesn't read. It's such an enormous turn off. It's also one thing to be stupid, but it's another thing entirely to be brazenly stupid.

Most people stop reading altogether out of college.