Comments on: Great Literature You've Never Read

By: Homer J. Simpson

Homer J. Simpson — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 15:23:57 +0000

"Never finished The Bible. Never even finished Genesis.
Actually. I take that back. It doesn’t really matter. I’m not even Christian."

I'm not either, but I read the Bible for its literary/historical/cultural importance.

By: drr

drr — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 10:07:09 +0000

No worries, great books come to you when you need them.

By: Moodindigo

Moodindigo — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 07:37:51 +0000

The classics are rubbish... Fair enough then, guilty feelings of missing out completely dispelled by ignorance. I feel better.

I finshed reading Jude the Obscure last year. It took me ages but was worth it. Also, after it came up in a pub quiz last week I started reading Pepys' Diary at the weekend as ignorance of its historical significance has always caused me some shame. I'm only about thirty pages in but I'm really enjoying it.

Oh, and according to my mates at the pub I should be ashamed that I've never read The Godfather but then, I didn't even finish the film.

By: Lore

Lore — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 06:59:23 +0000

I agree... the classics are rubbish. Bunch of stuff no one cares about and doesn't have much relevance in our crazy day anymore.

By: Arty

Arty — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 05:52:03 +0000

Ugh... I've never read One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest and my father constantly makes references to it. Oy.

I keep telling myself I'll read it but I keep finding other books to read instead.

By: vintagek8

vintagek8 — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 03:49:47 +0000

Apparently, I am a freak for having never read A Wrinkle in Time in my youth. I wasn't aware that this book was required reading in order to exist as a normal human being!

By: Alex

Alex — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 23:37:19 +0000

I agree with Dianne - Steinbeck is awesome, Wuthering Heights is completely insurmountable.

By: Dianne

Dianne — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 23:34:54 +0000

I've never read Little Women. Finished Jane Eyre last Spring and LOVED IT. I love anything by Steinbeck. Grapes of Wrath is a "must read." If there are a cazillion characters in a book I get bored. Never have tried War and Peace, Tale of Two Cities. Loved "Rebecca" and Frenchman's Creek. If a book spans more than 2 or 3 generations, FORGET IT. I can usually tell after 2 chapters if it's something I'm going to stick with. I have tried Wuthering Heights 5 or 6 times and just can't seem to get into it. The movie was great!!! Wonder if anybody else has had this problem with Wuthering Heights. Happy Reading. It's a great escape isn't it??!!

By: CheeseDuck

CheeseDuck — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 18:30:13 +0000

Actually. I take that back. It doesn't really matter. I'm not even Christian.

By: CheeseDuck

CheeseDuck — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 18:02:59 +0000

Never finished The Bible... Never even finished Genesis >.<

By: Homer J. Simpson

Homer J. Simpson — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 17:26:04 +0000

Books I am embarrassed not to have read:

Most of the stuff mentioned in the video

The Bible beyond the first few books of the Old Testament (I am working on this one slowly but surely)

Moby Dick (I meant to get started on it this Summer, but too many other things got in the way)

Anything by Joyce other than a couple of his short stories that I read for a class once

Paradise Lost (I did read the beginning and end of it for a class once)

The second two-thirds of The Divine Comedy

The Aeneid (I plan to tackle this one soon)

Anything by Cormac McCarthy written before Blood Meridian

By: Kate

Kate — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 16:14:22 +0000

As an English major, I'm embarrassed to admit that I never read....well, a lot of the "classics." Some classics I think are brilliant and fun (Count of Monte Cristo, anyone?) and others are just ungodly boring. Spark Notes summaries got me through many of my basic courses because I just could not get myself to read them and stay awake.

By: Tim Giachetti

Tim Giachetti — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 15:59:43 +0000

Bob is right. I still read 3 or more a week and , yes, the classics were terrible.
Don't think I missed any of the "great" classic.
Maybe we are just jaded.
The info goes in, I digest, and 90% of it makes me puke it out of my head.
But I will give Orson Scott Card his due. The Ender saga is incredibly pleasant to read, satisfying, and creative.

By: Caitlin

Caitlin — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 15:49:26 +0000

one flew over the cuckoos nest and a clockwork orange but i just ordered them on amazon so....woo!

By: HollywoodBob

HollywoodBob — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 15:09:57 +0000

I have read a lot, and I mean a lot, 3 books or more a week for the last 20 years or so. And frankly I've read a bunch of "classics" that were awful. In fact, of all supposed great literature out there, IMHO 90% of it is twaddle. So sure there's a few "great" works that I'm probably missing out on by not having read them, but I'll take that chance since the majority of the ones I have read were terrible.

By: ted

ted — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 14:32:33 +0000

Bunch of pompous twits - seems irrelevant.

By: becca

becca — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 09:10:02 +0000

I've never read The Catcher in the Rye. I tried to when I was 16 but couldn't get through it. I'll read it eventually.

By: Alex

Alex — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 07:31:48 +0000

I tried to read Romance of the Three Kingdom but got really bored as a lot of it was "who begot whom" and didn't finish.