Great Books We've Never Read
Claire Berlinski, Ed. ·
Jun 30, 2011 at 3:02am
PJ's post about great books that are in truth tedious put me in mind of David Lodge's book Changing Places. Anyone remember that one? Dinner party at Euphoria University, Swallow proposes a brisk game of "Humiliation." The rule is you compete to name the classics of literature you haven't read. The greater the work, the higher the score. Ambitious Euphoria Professor Howard Ringbaum, seized by a spasm of competitiveness, bursts out that he's never read Hamlet, thus handily winning the game.
Because I've actually read that book, cover to cover, I know the punchline, so I'm sure not going to play. However, I encourage those of you who haven't read it to jump right in.
(I've read Hamlet, too, if you're wondering.)
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Comments :
Feb '11
Re: Great Books We've Never Read
This Hamlet novel, who wrote it? Just come out?
Re: Great Books We've Never Read
Wouldn't bother. It's full of cliches.
Mar '11
Re: Great Books We've Never Read
I read Hamlet but couldn't make up my mind what I thought about it.
May '11
Re: Great Books We've Never Read
I was chasing a Spanish lady for several years who confessed her deepest dark secret that she had never read Don Quixote.
Jun '10
Re: Great Books We've Never Read
Try reading it in the original Klingon.
Jun '11
Re: Great Books We've Never Read
My worst hole is Hamlet also, but I did see the Simpsons version. And I have read Changing Places, oddly enough.
Oct '10
Re: Great Books We've Never Read
I've not read 'War and peace' or most anything by Russian authors - too depressing. I've also not read anything by Ayn Rand.
Feb '11
Re: Great Books We've Never Read
Claire, Can it be a great book if you haven't read it?
May '10
Re: Great Books We've Never Read
I've made several attempts but for some reason cannot get into Don Quixote. I'm sure it's my fault.
Also--and this is really embarrassing--I've never read Dante.
Sep '10
Re: Great Books We've Never Read
Last week I had to admit to my 18 year old that I'd never actually made it all the way through any single Jane Austen novel eventhough I've read parts of many and greatly admire her prose style. Fortunately she already has read most of them so its probably nice for an 18yr old to have an intellectual stick to beat the old man with.
Jul '10
Re: Great Books We've Never Read
I claim difficulty points because I have a sheepskin from a major midwestern university that identifies me as an english major. Therefore, I had to actively avoid reading these seminal works:
I'll save the list of what I did read to merit the high recognition of a Bachelor of Arts for another post.
Aug '10
Re: Great Books We've Never Read
I am ashamed to admit that I have never read Cujo.
Jan '11
Re: Great Books We've Never Read
Do Cliffs Notes count?
Aug '10
Re: Great Books We've Never Read
War and Peace- Finnegans Wake- Going Rouge.
Sep '10
Re: Great Books We've Never Read
Romeo and Juliet. Never read it, never intend to.
As for David Lodge, I've read his Small World, Nice Work, and my favorite, The British Museum is Falling Down; but never Changing Places. Which David Lodge book is your favorite, Claire?
Edited on Jun 30, 2011 at 7:27amMay '10
Re: Great Books We've Never Read
Shakespeare wrote Hamlet and MacBeth. But they never wrote back! Sorry.
One could fill a library with great works I haven't read. I remember a couple I tried to read and never made it. I heard in passing (long ago) that one of Al Gore's favorite books was Stendal's The Red and the Black. I had a copy on hand and picked it up. Then I put it down. Same thing with Boccaccio's The Decameron.
Edited on Jun 30, 2011 at 7:45amMay '10
Re: Great Books We've Never Read
katievs: I've made several attempts but for some reason cannot get into Don Quixote. I'm sure it's my fault.
Also--and this is really embarrassing--I've never read Dante. · Jun 30 at 6:20am
I've logged a couple of half-hearted attempts at those, too.
May '11
Re: Great Books We've Never Read
~Paules
Try reading it in the original Klingon. · Jun 30 at 4:13am
OK, now that was funny.
May '10
Re: Great Books We've Never Read
I thought PJ's post was Great Books That Still Suck. Much snappier title, that draws you in. Hated the remake. Must've gotten hold of an earlier version of the post. Before some far suckier writer got hold of the script.
There was something netwide about a month ago which surveyed people about movies they claim to have seen, but haven't. The Godfather made the top of the list. How does anyone but that Amazon tribe not see The Godfather? OK, I haven't seen all of Casablanca (though have seen Citizen Kane, thankyouverymuch).
Must be surveying some really young people. Which totally shatters my belief that all internet women are actually 50 year old guys in their underwear.
Oct '10
Re: Great Books We've Never Read
I can’t believe the hate on Shakespeare here at Ricochet! I was an undergrad Finance major and an English minor at Indiana. I took every Shakespeare class they offered. IU even has a copy of the First Folio (a 400 year old book of the collected plays). Shakespeare rocks!Do you like sex and violence? How can you not like Hamlet or Romeo and Juliet? Go Netflix some recent film adaptations, then read the plays. The language is tough, but that’s what the footnotes are for. Once you “see” the plays and the action, the language gets easier.