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?