13 Books Nobody Has Read But Say They Have

[mutepointe]

Here's the link to the article that inspired this poll.
The brief article has flip pictures of the books and there are clever comments.
I only posted the name of the book without the author because I copied and pasted the name of the book and besides if you read the book, you know the author.
You have up to 14 votes and re-voting is allowed in case your memory comes back to you. Posting your total would be nice and a total bragfest.

[Anyanka]

I have read two of them completely, and one a fair way through (it's still on my bedside table, and I WILL carry on. One day. When I'm not so busy.)

There are also three books on the list that I attempted with serious intent, but really really couldn't get beyond chapter 1.

Nowadays, I mainly read non-fiction and very short jokes.

[emmline]

A Brief History, by choice, and As I Lay Dying because I had to for AP English. But I have seen many versions of both A Christmas Carol and Man of La Mancha!

[Anyanka]

Good point. I've seen the Muppet Christmas Carol at least six times. Does that count? It is quite faithful to the original story (but how would I know that? I don't think I read it...), and the Great Gonzo does a fine turn as Dickens.

[mutepointe]

I read all of Don Quixote, the complete English version. Yeah! I read 100 pages of Moby Dick. I gave that book my best effort. That book was going nowhere slowly.

[BigDavy]

Well I have read

A Brief History of Time
The Satanic Verses (before the fuss over it started - it is cr*p)
A Christmas Carol
Canterbury Tales

I have not read Ulysses, but does the Iliad and the Odyssey count?

[mutepointe]

The Bragfest has commenced.

[Anyanka]

The Satanic Verses (before the fuss over it started - it is cr*p)

That was one of my serious-but-failed attempts. It felt like being trapped halfway up a tall building in a very small elevator in the company of two monkeys with diorrhea and a demented parrot. I did not have your stamina, BigDavy.

For the record (I thought it was a secret ballot type thing, but everybody else is divulging), the two I read all the way are Moby Dick, which I enjoyed, and War & Peace, which was very big and slow, and I can't even remember whether I liked it or not. I was young, and had way too much time on my hands. The one I intend to finish is Canterbury Tales, albeit in modern English.

[Elvellon]

Had to read War and Peace in school, suffered through half of it. Read A Brief History of Time.

[cowtime]

The only one I've read is A Christmas Carol- I bought As I Lay Dying a few weeks ago and it is next on my "to read" list. I did just read The Sound and the Fury though..which has made me a Faulkner fan.

[jsluder]

The Bragfest has commenced.

Yes. Fun, ain't it?

I've read six of them in their entirety:
The Canterbury Tales
A Christmas Carol
Moby Dick
A Brief History Of Time
The Name Of The Rose
Don Quixote

The others I haven't tried at all... yet.

[dwest]

1,3,4,6,11,13. I have nightmares that involve all of them on a regular basis. Where's a good book burning when ya need one?

[brewerpaul]

I've read Moby Dick about 4 times, once while out on the ocean during a cruise which was terrific. It is well worth the effort.

There is a book called something like The Key To The Name Of The Rose which explains EVERYTHING in the novel-- all historical references, translations of all foreign language quotes etc. I read the book first by itself and several years later using the Key, which is coordinated to the paperback version, BTW giving page numbers for easy reference. I liked the book the first time, and was totally amazed by the scholarship of Eco when I re-read it using the key.

Ulysses is the only book I've read using Cliff Notes as intended: as a reader's guide. It was still heavy going, but at least I had a general idea of what I was reading.

[mutepointe]

The Bragfest has commenced.

Yes. Fun, ain't it?

I've read six of them in their entirety:
The Canterbury Tales
A Christmas Carol
Moby Dick
A Brief History Of Time
The Name Of The Rose
Don Quixote

The others I haven't tried at all... yet.

I believe we're through with the appetizers and are now on the main course. Who knows what is for dessert.

Moby Dick four times is just plain sick unless there were something going on with that book for him that we just didn't get. And that is sicker.

[dwest]

The curtains in our bedroom growing up were a print taken from Moby Dick, I went to sleep every night watching whales getting harpooned, and whaleboats getting broken into kindling, a guy with tattoos and some dude with a peg leg. I had no choice but to read the book. Ulysses is undoubtedly the wurst book written in the Anglo language, I'd rather slide down a Barnacle encrusted rock bottom first than read that book again.