1- Why lie about reading a certain book in order to impress someone? How can you lie about reading a book; if a conversation develops on said subject and it becomes painfully obvious you haven't got a clue what you are talking about, what has been achieved other than humiliation? Enough of that around already, not looking for more, thanks. (Raises the bigger issue : why lie about anything in order to impress someone? it's painfully dishonest, displays a lack of integrity, and will just come back to haunt you.)
2- why ever do people lie about reading 1984? It's not the longest or the hardest read in the world. It is on my 'read again ' list for this year as the only time thus far I have read it was at school, aged 14, when we had to read it for a prescribed text in our third year. So what's so hard about reading it?!!
and for the record, of the books listed:
1. 1984 - George Orwell (42%): yes I have read this!
2. War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy (31%): in fits and starts, on and off, more or less
3. Ulysses - James Joyce (25%) :tried it several times but never finished it; prefer Portrait of the Artist;
4. The Bible (24%): yes
5. Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert (16%) :nope, but I know I should try it
6. A Brief History of Time - Stephen Hawking (15%): nope
7. Midnight's Children - Salman Rushdie (14%):nope, no intention of trying it
8. In Remembrance of Things Past - Marcel Proust (9%): no
9. Dreams from My Father - Barack Obama (6%): waiting for a copy from eldest offspring who has this volume;
10. The Selfish Gene - Richard Dawkins (6%) : nope.
I
1 comment:
I can relate to your comment re. claiming to have read something you haven't, and the resultant, if unnoticed, humiliation: years ago, I went with a group of friends and acquaintances to see the Robert Powell version of "The Thirty-Nine Steps" at the cinema. On the bus home afterwards, we were discussing the film, and one girl was heard to say, "Of course, I knew how it would end, because I'd read the book." Nobody seemed willing to point out the obvious to her, alas...
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