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62% of people pretend to have read classic novels
- Thread starter Messofanego
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I think most people here are content with the amount of bible they get taught at school and confirmation. The reader's digest version, as it were.
In Russia, pretty much every student in the country has to read War and Peace, Crime and Punishment, Dead Souls etc. for class. It's really brutal, 90% of the kids just end up reading Wikipedia summaries. It's a shame, those novels are really spectacular, and forcing them down the throats of the population is going to completely kill all love of reading
John Rabbit
Banned
having actually read this book in high school, i don't know why you'd lie about it. it's awful.
equippedwithtowel
Member
Charles Foster Kane
Rosebud
I have proudly pretend read many novels. They were great (specially War and Peace).
crimzonflame
Member
I made it half way through To Kill A Mockingbird in grade 10. that was the last time i read a book
WrenchNinja
Member
I read Great Expectations in seventh grade.
Catcher in the Rye in eleventh grade.
To Kill a Mockingbird in tenth grade.
Jane Eyre in eighth grade.
Haven't read the others. But I know stuff from them through osmosis I guess and seeing stuff referenced in other works.
Catcher in the Rye in eleventh grade.
To Kill a Mockingbird in tenth grade.
Jane Eyre in eighth grade.
Haven't read the others. But I know stuff from them through osmosis I guess and seeing stuff referenced in other works.
Personally, I'll never understand why anyone would find Stephen King's drivel more interesting than Dickens, but to each their own.
Read 6/10 of those, War and Peace & Catcher in the Rye are in my backlog, never heard of Passage to India and you couldn't pay me enough to read Lord of the Rings.
Also surprised people would claim to have read Jane Eyre over Wuthering Heights. I always assumed the latter was the more famous novel.
WrenchNinja
Member
It's cause Holden is a whiny asshole. That's all teenagers really but being to forced to read about him in school was an unpleasant experience.
It really is. War and Peace is one of my favourites. I actually started my introduction to russian realism with reading Tolstoi's and Anton Tshehov's short stories, got addicted and then moved towards harder drugs. Demanding to read War and Peace without any gateway literature would be bad - it's an overkill.
I never finished the "great classics" I was supposed to read at school.
I probably wouldn't had hated it, but my eighth grade teacher made us read it like ten times
I've only read Great Expectations (and three or four other novels) by Dickens and Lord of the Rings (by TolkIEn). I never read P&P, but I did read Emma by Austen and Wuthering Heights by Emmily Bronte.I really liked Charles Dickens a long time ago. They're hugely entertaining, huge (600+ pages) potboilers.
Some big bookstores, like The Strand in New York, have a service where you can buy books by the pound or meter so you can fill your bookshelves easily and cheaply. Or you can buy them only with specific colours on their backs so they are coordinated with the rest of your decor. This service is probably used a lot by people who only want to seem sophisticated, but have no intention of reading any of it.
Chainsawkitten
Member
Haven't read a single one of those. Tried Lord of the Rings but found it terribly boring. Looking forward to Crime and Punishment, though, as I read one of his short stories and loved it. (Uni library only has it as ebook, though. 
)
)Broken Joystick
At least you can talk. Who are you?
Jane Eyre was the novel I had to do for my literature AS last year. Hated it, hated it, hated it. Never finished it, got a C in my exam. Happy with that. Got The Great Gatsby this year which sounds a little better.
I had no idea this was thing. It's... almost insulting.
IdreamofHIME
Member
Out of the top 10 I've only read LOTR and Mocking bird.
...or have I?
yes I have.
...or have I?
yes I have.
Had to read the following books during AP English in my senior year in high school.
1984 by George Orwell 26%
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens 18%
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky 8%
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë 5%
Read that during my junior year
To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee 10%
1984 by George Orwell 26%
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens 18%
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky 8%
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë 5%
Read that during my junior year
To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee 10%
SteveWinwood
Member
Race to be King
Banned
This makes me a sad panda.
Also, it's gonna be pretty damn obvious if you've got a whole shelf of books that just so happen to have green spines.
Angry Grimace
Two cannibals are eating a clown. One turns to the other and says "does something taste funny to you?"
I never read anything in high school. I just pretended to.
All my classmates did the same, with a few exceptions here and there.
I almost felt like a sinner for rereading Crime and Punishment within the year it was introduced to us. Almost.
Anyway, people, read some of these. They are great. 1984, Catcher in The Rye, and Crime and Punishment especially.
My biggest regret was really rushing through the dramas and not contemplating over them at all....I will have to hunt down a few classics, now that I am not scared away by the structure.
It's nice to be literate and all. But really, would you rather have books to read words from regardless of their possible colour clash with your home decor or have a perfect home with a perfect colour harmony?
Baron von Loathsome
Member
Of these, I've only read Nineteen Eighty-Four, To Kill a Mockingbird, and Catcher in the Rye. I enjoyed the former two, but Catcher was only okay.
Rich Guy: Those books. How much?
Bernard: Hmmm?
Rich Guy: Those books. The leather-bound ones.
Bernard: Yes, Dickens, the Collected Works of Charles Dickens.
Rich Guy: Are they real leather?
Bernard: They're real Dickens.
Rich Guy: I have to know if they're real leather because they have to go with the sofa.
[Bernard looks confused]
Rich Guy: Everything else in my house is real. I'll give you two hundred for them.
Bernard: Two hundred what?
Rich Guy: Two hundred pounds.
Bernard: Are they leather-bound pounds?
Rich Guy: No.
Bernard: Sorry. I need leather bound pounds to go with my wallet. Next.
Race to be King
Banned
Andrew Korenchkin
Member
Ha, I've read Crime and Punishment, Catcher in the Rye, Wuthering Heights, and 1984 only.
Still, I find this pretty funny. I do believe that, sadly, people end up faking it because they are afraid of being out cast by snobs because they enjoy a good old fashioned mystery or action novel. Kind of sad, really.
Still, I find this pretty funny. I do believe that, sadly, people end up faking it because they are afraid of being out cast by snobs because they enjoy a good old fashioned mystery or action novel. Kind of sad, really.
1984 by George Orwell Read it
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy Planning to read it in the near future
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens Haven't read it
Catcher in the Rye by J D Salinger Haven't read it
A Passage to India by E M Forster Haven't read it
Lord of the Rings by J R R Tolkein Read it
To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee Read it
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky Read it
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen Haven't read it
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë Haven't read it, but I understand Charlotte is better than her awful sister Emily so I might at some point
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy Planning to read it in the near future
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens Haven't read it
Catcher in the Rye by J D Salinger Haven't read it
A Passage to India by E M Forster Haven't read it
Lord of the Rings by J R R Tolkein Read it
To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee Read it
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky Read it
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen Haven't read it
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë Haven't read it, but I understand Charlotte is better than her awful sister Emily so I might at some point
OfWhiteSkinOnRedLeather
Member
I've truthfully read three of those. Well, five, since Lord of the Rings is three books. 1984, The Catcher in the Rye, and Lord of the Rings. I started, but never finished, To Kill a Mockingbird.
I've also read the rest.
I've also read the rest.
I still remember the disappointment I had as a child when I found out that the books in the furniture store had styrofoam inside instead of real pages.
I tried to read it. Read about 700 pages and then gave up.
Even if you were a fast reader, the book is full of characters. There are new characters introduced every couple of pages. In fact, I remember in some chapter, the author introduced a dog as a character, gave it a name, fully described its movements, looks and behaviors with details, then a couple of pages later, the
dog was killed
Everybody I know who has read it had to use lists and drawings to keep up with the novel. It is just a massive work that is more of a challenge than entertainment.
See You Next Wednesday
Banned
storafötter
Member
I have no interest in reading any of those except maybe George Orwells Animal Kingdom since historians love to refer to him. There seem to be plenty of missing classic novels on that list too.
Messofanego
Banned
He also wrote a short story where the narrator is a horse. 50 pages long short story.
Dostoevsky and War and Peace (I say war and peace specificially because it's the only Tolstoy I've read) are, to me, thoroughly more readable than Dickens or Bronte.
As an avid reader I would never berate someone for not reading Dickens. Shit is boring and long winded.
Rhomega Beta
Member
I read To Kill A Mockingbird freshman year. I also read A Christmas Carol a few years ago.
ItWasMeantToBe19
Banned
1984 is super easy to read, really short, and is incredibly powerful from an emotional perspective. Really weird that it's #1.
I love War and Peace so all the hate it seems to get kind of makes me sad
I love War and Peace so all the hate it seems to get kind of makes me sad
Brawndo Addict
Banned
Yeah, I had to make a character tree to keep track of everything but I imagine if you were familiar with Russian naming conventions it would be easier. Still really enjoyed the book, but I'm the kind of person who actually enjoyed the segway when Tolstoy starts waxing about Napoleon and the the philosophy of power and history.
Secret Fawful
Member
I feel sorry for people who can't read and enjoy Dostoevsky.
Rodney McKay
Member
1984 by George Orwell – Read it
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy – Read it
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 – Not read
Lord of the Rings by J R R Tolkein – Not read
To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee – Not sure
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky – Read it
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen – Not read
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë – Read it
After graduating from high school, I realized that I had made it through 12 years of public school without reading most of the classics. I was a voracious reader already so I made it a purpose to go to the library and read them. I've read these above and so many others. People who avoid these books because they assume they're boring are missing out. Yeah, some are a slog (Brothers Karamazov went completely over my head at 19 and Dr Zhivago was a pussy; I threw the book across the room when I finally finished it) but so many others were phenomenal and once I got used to how they were written, were as easy to go through as anything written by contemporary authors.
I remember my boss at the time asking me why I was reading all these old books. I thought about it for a moment and responded, "To have read them." He took it to mean I wanted to brag about it or something. Eh, I couldn't make him understand that it wasn't about anyone else.
War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy – Read it
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 – Not read
Lord of the Rings by J R R Tolkein – Not read
To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee – Not sure
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky – Read it
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen – Not read
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë – Read it
After graduating from high school, I realized that I had made it through 12 years of public school without reading most of the classics. I was a voracious reader already so I made it a purpose to go to the library and read them. I've read these above and so many others. People who avoid these books because they assume they're boring are missing out. Yeah, some are a slog (Brothers Karamazov went completely over my head at 19 and Dr Zhivago was a pussy; I threw the book across the room when I finally finished it) but so many others were phenomenal and once I got used to how they were written, were as easy to go through as anything written by contemporary authors.
I remember my boss at the time asking me why I was reading all these old books. I thought about it for a moment and responded, "To have read them." He took it to mean I wanted to brag about it or something. Eh, I couldn't make him understand that it wasn't about anyone else.
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