Which book do you think you should have read, but never have? (Do tell, and you could win a bundle of books worth £100)

[JaneMumsnet]

Hello,

In the run up to our first Bookfest event on 25 June (do take a look - we've got a fabulous line-up including Maggie O'Farrell, Meera Syal, Howard Jacobson, Andy Stanton and Liz Pichon, with a programme for all the family), we'll be running a survey on books and reading, and would love your help drawing up one or two of the questions.

1. Is there a book that you feel that you should have read but somehow missed out on? A classic that you've watched on TV but never perused in print? Which are the big tomes you are certain everyone around you has read, but you somehow missed out on or school or have never got round to tackling?

1. Is there a classic you are ashamed to admit you haven't read, to the extent that you might pretend that you have?

1. And - more broadly - is there an author whose greatest book or body of work has completely passed you by?

Do let us know - and all posters who tell us about the book or author who got away on this thread will be entered into a prize draw: one MNer will win a bundle of books worth £100.

Thanks as ever,

MNHQ

There are quite a few classic films or musicals that I have seen but never read the book like Oliver Twist and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

1. As a child I read most of the classics like 'Wind in the Willows'. 'Alice in Wonderland', etc but I missed out on others like 'My Side of the Mountain' and 'Swallows and Amazons' (DP's favourites) and a whole string of Enid Blyton's. I've since made up for some of these by reading them to my children. But I wish I got to them sooner. I'm still yearning to reread a book about a Magnolia tree that I read when I was about 12 and it left me with a feeling I like but I can't quite put my finger on why - maybe will Amazon-search and see what it brings up ....Oh, and 'The Jungle Book' was a classic I had to watch endlessly with my son but I shamelessly never read the Rudyard Kipling original.

1. I'm quite happy to admit I have tried to read 'War and Peace' a few times and always gave up after a few pages - but as for 'The Odyssey' ...... I have read so many extracts, isolated stories, that I know the whole story (Odysseus leaves Troy and has weird adventures until he gets back to Ithaca and reconnects with loving wife, Penelope, and then sets off again) and so it's not too shameful to pretend I have read the whole Homer original, is it?

1. I do not get Martin Amis even though I have read a few of his father's books and loved them.

Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain! Should have read as a kid & never did & also "What Katy did" & I can't remember who wrote that. Shamefully I still have the book unread from my childhood...in the loft!

Lord of the Rings - I will get around to it one day.

To kill a mockingbird, I definitely need to read it otherwise my son will be reading it before I do.

I've never read War and Peace, my parents had a huge two volume complete version of it and I used to look at it when I was little and think, I'll read that one day. I'm 39 and still haven't. I also haven't read The DaVinci Code. A small part of me wants to read it but I think I'd probably dislike it.

I like to think of myself as reasonably well-read but there are a large number of classics I haven't read, or read so long ago that I've forgotten them completely. I haven't read quite a lot of Dickens' novels, nor Villette or Shirley by Charlotte Bronte. I've never read Ulysses (but I think that's supposed to be very strange) or Moby Dick.

There are loads of books that i think i should read like 1984, swallows and amazons, The hobbit and the lord of the rings but i just cant bring myself to. I read an awful lot but the ones everyone read at school and i missed i just cant read. I tried the lord of the rings and its boring im struggling to see how they made 3 films about a long bloody walk.

Question 2 - no

1. The whole Pratchett lot I admired the man i just cannot read his books i tried watching a few of the tv films but nope just dont get it.

The girl who series managed a few pages of the first book it just didnt appeal nor do any of the bandwagon similar books.

lord of the flies is gathering dust on my bookshelf.

When I was in school & everyone else read Of Mice and Men my class read Lord of the Flies which was great but did feel like I missed out but I did start reading it during fleeting times when I was free when I was part of the backstage crew at our school production of Fiddler on the Roof.

In terms of books of people who have passed me by I instantly think of all the female authors who just don't get the recognition they deserve, like the book Herland by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. So feminist and so great and I never hear about it, such a shame.

Haven't read any Dickens, rather shamefully. Recently listened to Hard times on audiobook to ease myself in gently, and really enjoyed it, but despite having lots of Dickens in our house, I still haven't braced myself and sat down with a physical book!

I read War and Peace twice in one week at uni when I had a very significant Professor for my course and loved it so recommend reading it quickly not slowly and the same for Dickens, Great Expectations is great in 3 days.

China Mieville is my have read lots but not all author

Is there a book that you feel that you should have read but somehow missed out on? Ulysses, but then Joyce himself said it was written to befuddle lit theorists and critics rather than to be enjoyed. Also Finnegan's wake. I love the Dubliners and have read several times so in theory is love them.

Is there a classic you are ashamed to admit you haven't read, to the extent that you might pretend that you have? Lie about books? Sacrilege! Was supposed to read Jude the obscure at school, hated it! Have also tried Tess and others can't stand Hardy! Even though I love Victorian literature.

And - more broadly - is there an author whose greatest book or body of work has completely passed you by Hardy, but also Terry pratchett who both friends and lecturers have said I would enjoy. But I struggle to get into it.

Heartily recommend anything by Orwell!

1984 by George Orwell. So much of it must be happening in today's world, but I never got around to buying it, let alone reading it.

1. Arthur Conan Doyle. Loved the various TV and radio adaptations though.

1. Moby Dick. Skim read sections for my American lit degree. I get the gist.

3.Hemmingway. In all 3 of these, and Hemmingway particularly, there's too much clever-dicking around, with the plots, the style and from the writers themselves for me to deal with . Too much showy-off testosterone. I feel I ought to but the older I get the more I feel what thecat said so well: read what you need to when you need it, not what you ought to.

I'm pretty ashamed to say that I never read Gulliver's Travels as a child - my daughter is now reading it and keeps asking me questions that I just can't answer...

Cider with Rosie is on my list of books to read before I die, better hope that's some time away, cause it's been on a while now and I just can't seem to get round to it...

I'd have to go with War and Peace, for questions 1 and 2. Question 3, possibly Salman Rushtie (sp?) I tried, but have failed, to complete any of his works.

War and Peace

I've never read Anna Karenina (nor watched it) I have it in hardback, paperback and on my Kindle - have never got further than the opening passage about happy and unhappy families. I've read many more modern classics - Margaret Attwod, Kurt Vonnegut, Joseph Heller, Huxley, Orwell, Wodehouse etc, which I much prefer

I'm not ashamed to say there are numerous classics I've not read - I'm not a fan of overtly flowery prose or the like so Victorian literature in particular leaves me stone cold. I've read quite a lot of Hardy, but "Tess" defeats me every time as does "Jude"

Jane Austen is the most overrated turgid author I've ever had the misfortune to read, I just don't get the love for her books. To be fair the Brontes are equally as bad - they are tedious beyond belief, as is Arthur Consn-Doyle's Sherlock Holmes - nope Victorian writing just doesn't do it for me!

I've never read Anna Karenina (nor watched it) I have it in hardback, paperback and on my Kindle - have never got further than the opening passage about happy and unhappy families. I've read many more modern classics - Margaret Attwod, Kurt Vonnegut, Joseph Heller, Huxley, Orwell, Wodehouse etc, which I much prefer

I'm not ashamed to say there are numerous classics I've not read - I'm not a fan of overtly flowery prose or the like so Victorian literature in particular leaves me stone cold. I've read quite a lot of Hardy, but "Tess" defeats me every time as does "Jude"

Jane Austen is the most overrated turgid author I've ever had the misfortune to read, I just don't get the love for her books. To be fair the Brontes are equally as bad - they are tedious beyond belief, as is Arthur Consn-Doyle's Sherlock Holmes - nope Victorian writing just doesn't do it for me!

I've never read pride and prejudice. In fact I've never read any Jane Austen at all. I can't seem to get into 'classics'.

For number 3 i would say Terry Pratchett. I know I would like his books but there are so many it is a bit overwhelming.

1. I haven't read most of the classics but also not books like harry potter or lord of the rings...

2. No, I would not pretend to have read something I haven't.

3. No not that I know! :D

1.For me it would be most of the classics but particularly War and Peace or Sense and Sensibility. I would really like to read Lolita at some point. I think what i read at school is what put me off classics!

1. Not really, i didn't finish Wuthering Heights at college but passed my assignment (got about 60% through the book and an A for assignment) but would never lie and say i have read it when i havent. I must admit not getting book snobbery.

1. Have to second everyone who's said Terry Pratchett. Keep meaning to try his books. Also Tolkein, haven't read Lord of the Rings (or seen the films) but feel i perhaps should.

1. Lord of the Rings - I've watched all of the films and absolutely love them, but somehow to book just doesn't excite me. I have read The Hobbit though, and thought that the book was much better than the films!

1. I haven't read Ulysses, but my sister somehow got through it and loves it - she lent me the book and I've had it for so long I should probably try and get further than the first few pages...

1. All of the classics - I've started working my way through them now though, but some of them are a hard slog, particularly the Russians! I have discovered my favourite book by doing this though - The Count of Monte Cristo. After I finished it I bought pretty much everyone I knew a copy for Christmas...

I love detective fiction and historical fiction so why on earth haven't I read The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins? I really want to have read it but can't motivate myself to actually read it, lol