Books I'm too embarrassed to say I've never read.....

[kweggie]

War and Peace
Anna Karenina
To Kill a Mockingbird...

There! It's out in the open! I did it!

I've not read your first 2 either but have read the third. Don't be embarrassed

I've never read them either. I did try Anna Karenina, but seriously - too depressing.

War and Peace has too many characters whose names start with the same letter. I have enough trouble remembering all the characters normally, so I stand no chance. Also, no-one has ever ever (who has read it) told me what a fantastic story it is...which speaks volumes to me.

Mockingbird I also never read. Mainly because I like happy endings and was told by a friend that it is a perfect book to read when you are 13 and full of angst.

I'm not read War and Peace or Anna Karenina but have read To kill a mockingbird.

I'm also ashamed not to have read Crime and Punishment, Les Miserable, Vanity Fair, Persuasion, Tess of the D'Urbervilles, A Town Like Alice, Dracula and any Oscar Wilde or Charles Dickens.

I've read loads of 'modern' classics though

I've never made it past the first three pages of Ulysses.

I haven't read War and Peace or Anna Karenina as I had to read loads of Dostoyevsky (sp?) at university and that put me off all Russian writers.

I don't like Dickens (I have read a fair few of his but found them a bit of a drag).

I didn't read Catcher in the Rye until I was in my 30s and I really hated it.

I've only read a couple of Brontes, and I can't remember (and don't really care) which Bronte wrote them.

Really, don't be embarrassed. Its not the law or anything.

I haven't read War and Peace either, but I have read Anna Karenina, and really enjoyed it. It's weighty but worth it.

I live in Wales and I'm embarrassed to say I've never read any Dylan Thomas.

Let's face it, nobody prior to 1890 or thereabouts had ever read War and Peace either, and they survived.

DH gave me a beautiful copy of Anna Karenina shortly after we met because I hadn't read it. I'd been about to read it for 20 years. I've now been about to read it for 28 years.

[whisper: actually, War and Peace is fucking amazing, once you get past the first chapter, which is like a French and Saunders spoof of 19th century period drama. But I read it before I had kids.]

I've read Anna Karenina but I couldn't possibly discuss it because I have no idea how to pronounce Karenina

Can someone tell me if it's phonetic? Or is it ka-ree-na ?

I didn't manage to finish Crime and Punishment.

ca - REN - inner.

I haven't read any of the books mentioned. I'm not embarrassed, they just don't interest me, I'd rather get stuck into a good sci-fi or murder mystery, Horses for courses and all that.

Really glad someone else hates Dicken's - I have tried & tried. Too depressing and the stupid names annoy me. I am sure he was good in his day and all that. Anna Kareniner is just boring.

No Dickens except A Christmas Carol.
Not a single Bronte
No George Eliot
No Hardy
No Thackery or Trollope

Can you tell I'm not really into the Victorians?

Read Anna Karenina but not War and Peace

On the other hand I have read all the Lee Child Jack Reacher novels more than twice

I think I'm embarrassed because I'm known as a bookworm and a reader and people assume I've read everything. But there are big gaping holes in my mental library

I'm reading Anna Karenina now - have just suffered through a lot of theory of farming but am getting back to Anna and her woes so it's getting better.

I've never read Lord of the Rings, although my knowledgeable opinion is that it's rubbish

I have read To Kill A Mockingbird.

I haven't ever read Dickens or Jane Austin or any Hobbit/Lord of the Rings and yet I love books and don't shy away from classics etc.

I have tried to read them but I have to say I very glad they're availabale on films or tv instead Especially Lord of the Rings, which if the film version is anything to go by is not something I want to immerse myself in for umpteen weeks reading.

I've read Anna Karenina and To kill a Mockingbird. War and Peace is not a commute friendly book given that it has 1000+ pages unless you get it in two volumes. Never been compelled to read it.

I'm completely defeated by bloody Middlemarch! On my 4th attempt and I'm still getting stuck at where Dorothea has just married Casauban.

Anyone seen the new Anna Karenina film? I thought the trailer looked good. I'm dubious about Keira Knightley being cast as Anna though but then it is another Joe Wright film.

I've read the first two pages of War and Peace about 17 times but never made it any further
To Kill A Mockingbird is great though, it is not only gripping and thought provoking, it is readable and thus easy to read iykwim, I never once had to "plod on" or "force myself" to read it, I actually wanted to read it, and enjoyed reaing it.
I've never tried Anna Karenina.
LOTR is the only time I've ever said the film was better than the book I've never managed to get past the first few pages of it it just doesn't do it for me, which is weird because I do lile fantasy and sf stuff.

War and Peace is massive. I'm sure most people haven't read it. There's no need for embarrassment.

I liked To Kill a Mockingbird.

boogiewoogie, I finally managed to finish Middlemarch about 3 months ago, and having read your post, have realised that I can't remember how it ended

I read To Kill A Mockingbird at school for O Level. I loved it. I must read it again :)

I haven't read War and Peace or Anna Karenina. I don't like Dickens - like Samantha says above the stupid names also irritate me.

I'm not embarrassed to say that I read for pleasure. I'm not studying books for an exam so don't see any reason to read a book I don't enjoy. Life's too short. I read classic novels from time to time but only the ones I really like, and there's nothing wrong with that.

I consider myself an avid reader.
I have a degree in English, specialising in American literature.

But a lit of the classics I haven't even opened.
Mill on the floss, most of Dickens and Shakespeare (i figured I cold pass with 3 Shakespearian plays read and I did). Jane Austen too and Hardy.
Vanity Fayre is one of the most awful books ever written.

And as for romantic poetry ......

Im an avid reader so this year I decided to read some more of these literary classics that people are always harping on about. Read Oliver Twist and A Town LIke Alice and loved them. Read The Great Gatsby and Brideshead Revisited and was seriously disappointed. Didnt think much of them at all. I dont get why some books are revered as 'classics'.

I've never read any Dickens despite having a mint hardback collection passed to me from my grandfather.

I passed an exam for my English exam using spark notes lol

Moby Dick has to be one of the most unreadable 'classics' I've ever tried reading. It was very hard work getting through that one.

I've never managed to get through The Mill on the Floss although I did finally manage Middlemarch about 5 years ago.

I'm quite fond of Dickens but I can understand why people are put off. I love Trollope, especially the Barsetshire novels.

Henry James has always been a mountain to climb for me - especially The Ambassadors - as I mentioned on the other thread. And, apart from Under the Greenwood Tree, I refuse to read any more Hardy.

And I have only read Dubliners - I can't face anything else by Joyce.

The thing is I do feel inadequate when I don't manage to read things that other people rave about.