To be fully honest, I've only read two out of those ten novels, but the problem is that my local library decided to restrict people from my city into their place so I can't rent books from them anymore. Secondly, the only other library has hardly any books to choose from so there goes that. Thirdly, as much as I like to shop and buy books, I mostly buy books I know I'll like. If I had the resources I would of read all of them already. Schools in America are so weak and crippled that you'll be lucky to read one book in a single year now, where it used to be 6 to 7 back in the day. Standardized testing has demolished this and Common Core will destroy it further. It's rather sad, actually. I'm not trying to politicalize this thread, but that's just an example of why most people haven't read those books. I do know that Seniors in my school are required to read 1984, but other than that, I have no idea how much they actually do read but ever since I started I was lucky to read two or three books. We should try to push towards 8 to 9 books a year for English class in higher level grades. Especially in my grade. Hardly reading anything at all is such a waste. I only read The Pearl (which was solid) and Cyrano De Bergerac (meh), but those were the only two books I read all year.
I haven't read a single one and I won't pretend like I have. I don't really have intention to read those popular books that schools and the society try to push on you. I have seen the film adaptation of To Kill a Mockingbird though.
Hmmm. I've read a few on this list... 1. "Nineteen Eighty-Four" by George Orwell NOT YET BUT ON THE BUCKET LIST 2. "War and Peace" by Leo Tolstoy MADE IT A FEW CHAPTERS AND SAID DAMN THIS THING IS LONG (I was 14 what do you expect) 3. "Great Expectations" by Charles Dickens REQUIRED FOR SCHOOL YO 4. "The Catcher in the Rye" by JD Salinger NOPE 5. "A Passage to India" by EM Forster NEVER HEARD OF IT 6. "Lord of the Rings" by JRR Tolkien WHEN HE TOOK THREE PAGES TO SAY "GANDALF HAD GRAY HAIR" HE LOST ME...MOVIES WERE GREAT THOUGH 7. "To Kill A Mockingbird" by Harper Lee AGAIN REQUIRED FOR SCHOOL 8. "Crime and Punishment" by Fyodor Dostoevsky PEOPLE PRETEND NOT TO READ THIS? iT...WAS...AWESOME...LY DISGUSTING IN PARTS. 9. "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen BORED ME, BUT DID GET THROUGH IT 10. "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Bronte READ WHILE PREGNANT ON BED REST.
I'm not even going to pretend that I have read any of the books from that list, I haven't read many classics. (I am trying to rectify that though. Slowly) As for books people pretend to read, Les Miserables was probably the first book that popped into my head. I remember just a couple of weeks ago my English teacher told me (after I handed in an essay comparing four characters, including Fantine from Les Miserables) that I couldn't possibly have read the book and tried to explain the plot to me. This included her saying how it was set during the French revolution and that Eponine was a more important character than Fantine (pronounced FAN-tine) Though really, the good thing about the book is that there is an easy way of telling if someone has read the book. Just mention the Parisian sewer system and see who screams in terror.
I read the abridged version because of tangents like the one you mention. From what people have told me, I didn't miss anything important.
I read a bit of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, does that count? I did read To Kill A Mockingbird in school and really enjoyed it (I actually skipped ahead of the class because it was so good. I should reread it). I read two out of three LOTR books and decided to never read them again. I have a problem with Tolkien's prose.
I've read three off that list: 2. "War and Peace" by Leo Tolstoy I kinda felt this one was a little over-rated. I didn't get much out of it and the ending seemed really anti-climatic. Maybe a slice of life in Russia during the Napoleonic wars. 6. "Lord of the Rings" by JRR Tolkien Ok, I'll be honest, I think I might have wondered off somewhere towards the end of Return of the King, but I got like 90% of the way through including The Hobbit. I really enjoyed them, but so many years ago I would have to start all over again to fully complete them. I actually enjoyed the history background provided at the beginning of The Fellowship of the Ring. Yes, I thought the poems and songs were really boring but I did read through them. 7. "To Kill A Mockingbird" by Harper Lee This was required reading for school, so read it that way. It was ok. Some one mentioned the Bible. I have actually read that the whole way through. Books like Numbers were really boring, but I found sections like the story of Gideon in Judges to be pretty epic. The new testament is an entirely different ball game. The four Gospels are easy enough to read on their own, but some of the books after that take some research to fully understand. Revelations is kinda trippy but interesting to compare to the book of Daniel in the old testament.
