Comments on: The 9 Greatest and Most Important Books I Have No Intention of Ever Reading

By: Christopher Sharpe

Christopher Sharpe — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 01:08:59 +0000

I have to chime in for WAR AND PEACE. I think I read it just to be a pretentious asshole, but I have to admit that I loved it and will definitely read it again in the near future.

However… I’ve tried and never been able to make it through LOTR.

By: R

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 15:52:03 +0000

I don’t know if I wrote that clearly enough, but I did actually finish the book just last month. It came out in fall of 2004, which is when I bought it.

I’ve seen a lot of things in those four long years, most of it online pornography.

By: R

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 15:49:43 +0000

Starting over is crazy. You end up reading the beginning multiple times (probably hundreds of pages) and still can’t say you finished the book.

I had an experience like never before with a Stephen King book recently. I usually gobble up books by King, although in the last few years, as King gets more more long-winded, it’s been taking longer to get through each book. But I couldn’t make it through Book 7 of the Dark Tower series, even though I’ve read all the others and this is supposed to be the big, exciting finish. I put it down and picked it up for four years. Four. Years. I read the stand in three or four weeks, but this one took me four years. And no way was I going to start from the beginning again. It’s the Dark Tower series anyway. You can’t remember all the little details from every book when it spans twenty years, anyway.

By: R

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 15:43:36 +0000

That should be the next article – “Nine Books (it always seems to be nine) That I Couldn’t Finish.”

By: Peter S

Peter S — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 02:36:11 +0000

I think I’ve read most of the books on your list, and would have to say War and Peace and The Lord of the Rings are my personal favourites. By no means does this make me a better person, just means I have more useless information stored in my head.
But even I can’t find a good reason to read Ulysses or anything by Salman Rushdie.

By: m

Sun, 10 Aug 2008 17:22:19 +0000

I actually enjoyed Heart of Darkness, though I’d never have read it if it hadn’t been for a lit class.

I have tried reading Anna Karenina approximately 7 times (by tired, I mean started it, put it aside, picked it up a few months to over a year later, had to sart all over again) and failed each and every time. I want to; it’s a classic, I love tragedy (Eidth Wharton is one of my favorites), I really should, etc etc. Can’t do it. I’ll keep trying, though. And probably keep failing.

I have the same difficulty with Virginia Wolfe.

By: Eric L

Eric L — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 16:36:37 +0000

Never read LOVE IN THE TIME OF CHOLERA, but I did read his book 100 YEARS OF SOLITUDE and enjoyed it very much. It reminded me a lot of Gilbert Hernandez’s PALOMAR stories. I certainly would not object to reading another of his books. Otherwise the only book I’ve read was ON THE ROAD which I liked, but at the time I pretended I loved it. But I read it for a class where I had a choice as to what book to read and I’m pretty sure it was better than the alternatives.

I’ve also neither read the LORD OF THE RINGS books nor have I seen the movies. The whole mythology just does not interest me in the slightest.

By: Robert Loy

Robert Loy — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 12:39:29 +0000

Stick with Barbeau and Tommy Lee if you want, but Love in the Time of Cholera is actually pretty good.

By: Allan

Allan — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 15:12:15 +0000

That’s grounds for divorce in most states, right?
Divorce? Try justifiable homicide.

By: Rod

Rod — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 14:27:42 +0000

I’d accept that substitution! Speaking of Tolstoy, I read last night that made his wife write out *seven* copies of his W&P manuscript by hand! By hand! That’s grounds for divorce in most states, right?

By: Michael

Michael — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 14:10:26 +0000

OK, Rod. Let’s make the choice a bit tougher. “War and Peace” or a whole season of “Idol”? And to make it a little easier you can substitute “Anna Karenina” for W & P. I know people who actually love this book, while the highest praise W & P gets is admiration.

By: Allan

Allan — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 11:37:33 +0000

I just realized that your comments are linked to the site in which you’re commenting. How wonderfully redundant!

By: Allan

Allan — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 11:35:37 +0000

I’ve actually read A Man in Full twice (which is half as many times as I’ve read Bonfire of the Vanities), so that’t probably a good indication that I’m probably right to give Tolkein’s work a miss.

By: Rod

Rod — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 23:13:19 +0000

As painful as IDOL is, I’d choose it at gunpoint over WAR AND PEACE because you could finish IDOL in an hour.

By: Rod

Rod — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 23:12:12 +0000

I’ve read HEART OF DARKNESS (assigned in high school) and the Bible (part of my three years in private school) and part of ULYSSES (assigned in college). I’d probably only ever read HEART again.

By: Bruce

Bruce — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 21:48:10 +0000

I’ve read four of the titles listed and Lord Of The Rings was the only one that kept my attention the best. I’ve got pals who have that Proust set and I ask them if they have ever read it. Usually they only got through the first book.

By: JAK

JAK — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 21:27:12 +0000

Wish Katie would have won, as she has much better legs than the dude’s.

Cool rant. Smiled out loud several times.

Lord of the Rings is more than worth a read, but then folks told me that about Wolfe’s A Man in Full and I couldn’t get past page one.

By: Eric

Eric — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 17:51:15 +0000

I’ve read MOBY DICK and it is without a doubt the best/worst book ever written. Take your pick.

By: R

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 16:05:26 +0000

This is the part I don’t get. People seem to make fun of variety shows (the kind you used to see in the 60s and 70s) all the time, yet these are probably the same people who now watch these talent shows, which are basically more expensive versions of The Gong Show. The thing is, at least the old variety shows had professional singers. They had to achieve a certain level of success just to make it on TV. Now people are going crazy over amateurs. It’s mind boggling.

And on the subject of being unable to avoid seeing clips from it unless you never turn on your TV, I’d love to be one of those people who have no idea what American Idol is. Also, a lot of other parts of pop culture. I’m just too much of a TV watcher to avoid it. Still, sometimes I’ll stop on a channel and see someone talking about an actor or actress who’s supposedly famous and I have no idea who they are. Pure joy, especially if they’ve been around for more than a year or two. I’d love to not know anything — not the current popular actors, not the TV shows or movies. Not so much to feel superior to the common masses, but just to end the ceaseless blather and white noise of it all. Sometimes I think a cabin on a lake, with a lot of books and no TV would be the best way.

Also, there should be a nudist colony across the lake and a telescope handy.

By: Michael

Michael — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 15:29:33 +0000

Of the books listed I’ve read only LOTR and “Heart of Darkness” and loved both. But I can’t say I take any pride in not having read the others. I feel safe in assuming that these so called “talent” contests on tv are godawful because everyone I know who watches them is a semi-retarded asswipe. “American Idol” has reached the stage that it’s virtually impossible to avoid at least seeing clips from it unless you just never turn on a tv. But honestly, I think if I had to choose, at gunpoint, either “American Idol” or “War and Peace” I’d go with the latter.

By: Michael

Michael — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 14:19:14 +0000

Awesome list… how have I never seen your blog before? Just looking at that pile of books next to you tells me we’re kindred spirits (WWZ, JLA, The Ruins)

Just GoogleReadered your site, looking forward to reading more!

By: R

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 14:13:59 +0000

I haven’t seen Dark Knight yet, and won’t until it’s on DVD, and yes, it’s because I’m too lazy to get in my air-conditioned car, then walk all the way across the movie theater parking lot, then sit down for two and a half hours and stare at a big screen.

Also, put me in the list of people who read The Hobbit and won’t be reading the trilogy.

By: Rhea

Rhea — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 13:53:05 +0000

This puts me at ease. I always like to think that someday, somehow I will get around to all the great books. But I have to be honest at some point and admit I will not. Good for you. I read The Hobbit and it was dumb. On the Road was good. I will not be reading the Bible, War and Peace or even Anna Karenina.

By: Wayne Hurlbert

Wayne Hurlbert — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 13:46:57 +0000

There is nothing like a wonderful rant about the books that everyone considers great, but no one ever reads. Mark Twain said something to that effect.

I am partial to Dr. Johnson’s remark about “Paradise Lost”, though. He said he never met anyone who wished that book was longer.