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Aaron
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« on: March 21, 2011, 05:17:16 PM » |
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In a recent conversation with a friend, I mentioned that I have never read a full Shakespeare piece other than Romeo and Juliet and she was fairly shocked. I never felt the need to unless it was for school.
I thought of this thread after reading the Sherlock Holmes discussion in the recently read books thread and realized I've never read anything by Doyle. I've also never read any Austen or Bronte. Who are ones you've never read?
(I'll add in Dan Brown. I skimmed the davinci code and realized I'd rather read an instruction manual for a snowblower.)
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Vlad!
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« Reply #1 on: March 21, 2011, 09:39:03 PM » |
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I've not read anything by Stephen King. I also haven't read anything by Toni Morrison, which is perhaps a bit more shameful.
Of Jane Austin's books, I've only read Pride and Prejudice, which is unfortunate because she is quite a good writer. I also haven't read anything by any of the Brontës, which I don't feel too bad about because my former roommate, whose opinion often (though not always) tracks with mine considers Emily Brontë in particular to be tedious beyond bearing.
I haven't read anything by Dan Brown, Stephanie Meyer, or J.K. Rowling, though I'm actually fairly proud of that.
I tried to read Goethe's Faust, but failed. I haven't completed anything by him. I also haven't completed Dante Alighieri's or John Milton's works. I also have not read Homer's Odyssey in its entirety, though I've read some of it.
The only Russian author I've read is Solzhenitsyn (whose work I quite enjoyed); I haven't managed to read any Dostoyevsky, Nabokov, or Tolstoy. I have wanted to read Crime and Punishment for a while now, but sort of in the same way I want to travel abroad or learn the piano--there's no actual drive or motivation behind it.
I haven't read Vonnegut, which is unfortunate because I've intended to for a while.
So yeah, quite the list of shame.
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If you don’t have freedom as a principle, you can never see a reason not to make an exception. There are constantly going to be times when for one reason or another there’s some practical convenience in making an exception.
rms
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enemy anemone
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« Reply #2 on: March 22, 2011, 05:16:39 PM » |
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I haven't read anything by Dan Brown, Stephanie Meyer, or J.K. Rowling, though I'm actually fairly proud of that.
 okay, I haven't read anything by Dan Brown or Stephanie Meyer either and don't want to. |
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AldaForPresident
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« Reply #3 on: March 22, 2011, 11:06:49 PM » |
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I also haven't read anything by any of the Brontës, which I don't feel too bad about because my former roommate, whose opinion often (though not always) tracks with mine considers Emily Brontë in particular to be tedious beyond bearing.  I just paid over $10 for the complete collection of Emily's poems on Kindle, so I have to be shocked. I lovelove her. I've never read a book by Dickens. I had to read one of his essays for my English lit class a couple weeks ago and that was the first thing I'd ever read by him. I've tried twice to read The Fellowship of the Ring (and I love the LOTR films), but find it hopelessly dense and a little silly. I don't really like fantasy, though. |
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whim
Inphrequent Poster
Posts: 99
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« Reply #4 on: March 26, 2011, 01:09:10 PM » |
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I have not read Stephanie Meyer, J.K. Rowling, Danielle Steel, Jane Austen or J.R.R. Tolkien. I have no intentions of reading these authors' works.
I also have not read Kurt Vonnegut, Ray Bradbury, Fyodor Dostoevsky or H.P. Lovecraft but have wanted to for quite some time.
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Vlad!
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« Reply #5 on: March 26, 2011, 08:51:14 PM » |
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I have not read Stephanie Meyer, J.K. Rowling, Danielle Steel  Jane Austen or J.R.R. Tolkien |
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If you don’t have freedom as a principle, you can never see a reason not to make an exception. There are constantly going to be times when for one reason or another there’s some practical convenience in making an exception.
rms
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enemy anemone
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« Reply #6 on: March 27, 2011, 01:24:12 AM » |
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this thread is getting popular and annoying. I'm not going to read it anymore.  |
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NewDimension
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« Reply #7 on: March 27, 2011, 02:00:53 PM » |
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It would probably be easier for me to check off a list of popular authors that I haven't read since I probably wouldn't have read stuff from most of the authors on the list. But that would depend on the list in question. So I'll just check off stuff from what is already posted here.
I haven't read anything from these authors : Doyle, Dan Brown, Austen, Bronte, Vonnegut, Stephen King, Toni Morrison, Stephanie Meyer, J.K. Rowling, Goethe, John Milton, Solzhenitsyn, Dostoyevsky, Nabokov, Danielle Steel.
I also haven't read anything by J.R.R. Tolkein or Tolstoy but I own some of their books and intend on reading them in the future. Neither have I read Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. However, I started to read his complete works and completed his poetry and three of the tragedies before I stopped. Also haven't read any of Homer's books but I've read excerpts from them for an English class. And this is probably just the tip of the iceberg in regards to popular authors that I haven't read.
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enemy anemone
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« Reply #8 on: March 27, 2011, 02:32:35 PM » |
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It would probably be easier for me to check off a list of popular authors that I haven't read since I probably wouldn't have read stuff from most of the authors on the list. But that would depend on the list in question.
yeah, this was my thought, too. I copied the list from here and deleted the extra stuff. (please excuse any wonky formatting. the Japanese names didn't get copied properly, and I tried to find and edit them but may have missed something.) I have come to realize that I don't actually read books, so it would be easier to mark the ones I *have* read.  William Shakespeare Agatha Christie Barbara Cartland Harold Robbins Georges Simenon Sidney Sheldon Enid Blyton Danielle Steel Dr. Seuss Gilbert Patten J. K. Rowling Leo Tolstoy Jackie Collins Horatio Alger, Jr. R. L. Stine Corín Tellado Dean Koontz Aleksandr Sergeyevich Pushkin Stephen King Louis L'Amour Erle Stanley Gardner Jin Yong Jirō Akagawa Janet Dailey Nora Roberts Edgar Wallace Robert Ludlum Frédéric Dard Stan and Jan Berenstain John Grisham Zane Grey Irving Wallace J. R. R. Tolkien Jeffrey Archer Karl May Mickey Spillane C. S. Lewis Kyotaro Nishimura Charles Dickens Ann M. Martin Ryōtarō Shiba Arthur Hailey Gérard de Villiers Beatrix Potter Michael Crichton Richard Scarry James Patterson Clive Cussler Alistair McLean Astrid Lindgren Debbie Macomber Dan Brown Eiji Yoshikawa Catherine Cookson Norman Bridwell Paulo Coelho Roald Dahl Evan Hunter Andrew Neiderman Roger Hargreaves Anne Rice Robin Cook Wilbur Smith Erskine Caldwell Eleanor Hibbert Lewis Carroll Denise Robins Xueqin Cao Ian Fleming Hermann Hesse Rex Stout Anne Golon Ken Follett Frank G. Slaughter Edgar Rice Burroughs John Creasey James Michener Yasuo Uchida Seiichi Morimura Mary Higgins Clark Stephenie Meyer |
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« Last Edit: March 27, 2011, 02:37:20 PM by enemy anemone »
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Vlad!
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« Reply #9 on: March 27, 2011, 09:58:48 PM » |
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Of the 81 names in that list I have heard of only 34 and read only 17. I will now slink off in shame.
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If you don’t have freedom as a principle, you can never see a reason not to make an exception. There are constantly going to be times when for one reason or another there’s some practical convenience in making an exception.
rms
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whim
Inphrequent Poster
Posts: 99
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« Reply #10 on: March 27, 2011, 10:50:55 PM » |
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Given my work experience, I am familiar with many a name on that list. However, I too have only read 17 of them. I don't think that's necessarily something to be ashamed of.
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RedcoatJones
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« Reply #11 on: April 19, 2011, 10:20:11 AM » |
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R.L. Stine? Seriously? I guess this really is just a list of most books sold, not quality. This is the ghostwriting name of the guy who wrote the Goosebumps series for kids. I read them in 4th/5th grade or so. Never thought to see him listed as a key author you should have read!  BTW - nothing wrong with kids reading Stine. It's a nice gateway to more mature thrillers. |
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