Books We Lie About Having Read

[Rob Lister]

Originally Posted by twowheels

You guys are scaring me, "A Confederacy of Dunces" was the very next book on my TBR list...

Oh! You'll absolutely love it! It's a wonderful book. From the very first page to the last! An real page turner.

[kennyc]

I'm proud to say I've not read the listed books in the article, though I did just recently move "The Great Gatsby" up a notch or two on the TBR list.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by SteveEisenberg

I once read a book on this topic:

How to Talk About Books You Haven't Read

I didn't much like it, but it was short enough that I finished it anyway.
...

I'll add that to my list and make sure I talk about it.

[SteveEisenberg]

Re claiming that one never lied about reading a book:

-- Isn't that what the people who DO lie about reading books say?

-- No one has total recall. Even if I am telling the truth that it is out of character for me doesn't mean I didn't once, or twice, or three times, act out of character, and forget it all the more quickly because of it.

-- Lying is super common. I don't consider myself any more of a liar than the next person. No way I remember all my lies. And that's the truth

[applesauce]

I just can not see the point in lying. The only reason I would say I had read a book to somebody would be in order to talk about it. Pretty hard to do that if you have not read it. I am a very annoying person who once more than a chapter into a book will finish it even if it is with gritted teeth. Something I do hate about myself. It is very annoying. nor will I start another book until I finish the one I am reading. It is the main reason I read all the shades of grey books and are currently reading the dealthland ones. Tho junkie as they are at least deathland is growing on me a tad. Mindless action oh yea just what this girl needs. I guess I just do not make much of a book snob.

applesauce

[Asawi]

I can't recall ever having pretended to read something I haven't read. I might be wrong, but I'm usually pretty straightforward about what I have and haven't done.

Having said that, there are a few books I'm not that keen to admitting having read though. I'm not sure I'd deny it in the unlikely event someone would ask, but I sure wouldn't bring them up myself. (No, I' won't tell you what books!)

[mrscoach]

I have said "That is a classic book, and I might have read it in school, but if I did I don't remember it. It also doesn't sound interesting to me." I am pretty up front about things like that. But the number of times the topic has come up I can probably count on two hands, maybe one.

Now I have been asked if I read "insert name here" just to see if I know anything about it and if I think they would like it, but that's different. Usually I haven't and most of the time I have no clue what book they are talking about.

[theapatra]

hmm. my lies are about Twilight. I read 2, 3, and all but the last half of book 4...I wanted to see what all the hubbub was about. The lie is that I read the whole lot...I skipped over number one and watched the movie instead. I wish I could have that time back.

[Vic333]

Don't see the point in this. Lying is a much worse character fault than not having read some particular book.

[nogle]

I freely admit that I didn't read the vast majority of my high school reading lists. I found English to be a terrible subject because I wanted to know how to write well and instead, they just had you read tons of boring material on the (incorrect) presumption that if you read well written books, you will write well. Then in 1st year univeristy, I took a technical writing course and learned what I wanted to know.

I am far more apt to lie about not having read books that I actually did read. And I am not about to disclose those books...

[Synamon]

Originally Posted by BWinmill

Am I the only one who actually read this book?

Or are you lying?!??!?!11???!?

On the otherhand, there are books that I won't admit to reading to.

This is probably more common than lying about books not read.

[tubemonkey]

The Bible

[Barty]

Of the books on the list, I've read (completely) Corrections, Lolita, and Moby Dick. Yes, Moby Dick. For class, when I was in the hospital and had a private tutor and no one to tell me to just read the cliff notes.

I never bother lying about books I haven't read. I may lie about books I HAVE read, lol.

[BeccaPrice]

This was a worldwide phenomenon in the case of Hawking's "A Brief History of Time".

Am I the only one who actually read this book?

I read it, but don't pretend to understand it all. I did also read the Briefer History of Time, which I think I did understand pretty well.

[carpetmojo]

A blush slowly spreads o'er my visage....

Many ages ago, in a panic due to concentrating too much on the practical aspects, which I enjoyed far more than the hefty academic side, I used quotes, extracted from a small booklet on Nietzche's writings, from "Thus Spake Zarathustra", "Beyond Good and Evil", and "The Birth of Tragedy" by Nietzsche in my final thesis, together with my interpretation of the relevance of his works in the modern world in general, and the Theatre in particular.
Not only that, I greatly expanded on it in my verbal interrogation ( we called 'em vivas), chucking in Man & Superman for good measure, fuelled by a large measure of scotch, I believe it was.

The examiners found my thesis "An impressive body of work showing original thought, wide reading, and keen handling of a very difficult proposition.." and gave me an overall A+ with Distinction (never quite understood that mark, but hey ......)

It cost me a fortune in rounds of alchoholic beverages when the results went up - everyone , including me, thought I was for the old heave-ho, and a D.
I did try reading them afterwards in gratitude........