I suggested a question for Booking Through Thursday back in March when I saw an article online: “2 out of 3 Britons have lied about the books they’ve read“. I am flattered to have another question of mine chosen for Booking Through Thursday.
Two-thirds of Brits have lied about reading books they haven’t. Have you? Why? What book?
I want to take the high-and-mighty road and say I haven’t, but truth is I probably have. Normally it’s because I haven’t read the book and I’m embarrassed and just kinda nod and smile in the conversation, agreeing like I have read the book. The second circumstance is where I’ve not finished and I’ll lie and say that I have. It’s a shameful thing… but I don’t know why we feel we need to lie. There are hundreds of thousands of great books out there, and there is no way we’ve read them all.
According to the article, the most commonly lied about books are: “1984 – George Orwell (42%),War and Peace – Leo Tolstoy (31%),Ulysses – James Joyce (25%),and The Bible (24%)… Many admitted wrongly claiming they had read other “classics” including Jane Austen, the Bronte sisters, Charles Dickens, Fyodor Dostoyevsky and Herman Melville.”
I’ve actually read 1984 (no lies!), I’ve not read War and Peace or Ulysses but they are both on my “Classics TBR” list. I’ve not read The Bible from cover to cover, but I have read passages from it. In fact, my copy is the copy my mom used when she was a little girl in school. I will admit that I’ve not yet read any Jane Austen, but I desperately want to. I’ve ready some poetry by Emily Bronte and I definitely want to read Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. I think I started several Charles Dickens novels when I was younger (ambitious Elementary school kid) but they were beyond my reading level and I put them down. I have read a few Hemingway books though.
There are several excerpts of great works that we read in Literature 12 in high school that I would love to go back and read completely, including Beowulf and The Canterbury Tales. If you take a look at my TBR List here on the blog, I am quite honest about what I have read, want to read, and own (but not yet read).
October 2, 2009 at 10:35 am
I recently read my first Jane Austen. I can’t believe it took until I was 44 years old! :-) I have read the four commonly lied about books you listed, which I feel pretty darn good about. ;-)
Have a great weekend!
Lezlie
October 2, 2009 at 3:14 pm
I don’t lie about classics. I lie to be polite to people who lend me books I don’t want to read or books I read and dislike.
I’ve not read 1984. I’m sure I’d like it. I love dystopian tales in books and movies. It’s a case of so many books, so little time.
October 3, 2009 at 10:38 am
I do not purposely lie about which books I’ve read. Occasionally, I discover that a book I thought I had read (long ago) was a different one by the same author.
I have read 1984…it was a High School assignment. I have read The Bible, yes, the whole thing, and more than once! No Tolstoy, no Joyce, though I would like to read Ulysses. I have indeed read both Austen and Bronte…I have an extra copy of Wuthering Heights if you need it…Why should I lie about what I have or haven’t read? As you said, there are sooo many books out there, who has time to read them all?
October 3, 2009 at 7:06 pm
I can’t recall ever lying about it, but like Ruth, I do suspect there have been times I’ve confused details in my head, quite unintentionally.