Top Ten Tuesday: Liar Liar Pants on Fire
I'll just preface this by saying that I don't like the word lied. I would prefer exaggerated:)
10. Ulysses: I have only read part of Ulysses and I don't see myself reading the rest anytime in the foreseeable future. I have read quite a few of the more famous chapters, and thus feel like I can talk about them, but I didn't read it all. I also haven't read The Iliad or The Odyssey and feel like that are prerequisite for reading Joyce's tome.
9. Jane Eyre: I also have never read Jane Eyre all the way through. I would like to remedy this.
8. Twilight: I probably play down how quickly I devoured these books. I'll just say it now: I genuinely enjoyed reading them, especially Breaking Dawn. Now, don't tell anyone.
7. Catch-22: I recommend this to people even though I've only read probably 50 pages for an undergraduate class. I did think those 50 pages were funny though.
6. David Foster Wallace: Sometimes I am a little snobbish about people who say they like David Foster Wallace. This is hard to admit. I don't believe them. The worst part about this, is that I have no basis to make that judgement. I have preconceptions about DFW that have been proven untrue when I read his book on John McCain, which was readable and intriguing. I think I'm just jealous of people who have conquered Infinite Jest.
5. Harry Potter: I read the first book and I didn't like it. I really like the movies, but I don't want to read the rest of the books.
4. Wuthering Heights: This one is kind of a lie of omission type thing. I kind of nod when people talk about it because I am afraid to admit that I haven't read it.
3. Shakespeare: I made it all the way through my M.A. without ever taking a Shakespeare class. I have read lots of Shakespeare, but sometimes I feel a little phony talking about the plays because I'm not sure I understood them totally. There are exceptions to this, and I'm sure I'm being a bit insecure, but I would like to take a class still.
2. A Million Little Pieces: I want to hate James Frey, and I kind of do. I think his fiction factory is kind of b.s., but also a little bit postmodern cool. I also read and liked the aforementioned title, and when Oprah got really mad that he had lied, I was kind of like, "Yeah, that sucks. He probably should have published it as fiction. But, I'm not really all that affected by his exaggerations." Mostly, I just felt, meh.
1. Dickens: I took a Dickens and Eliot reading course in my M.A. program. The reading list was insane. I fudged a lot on the Dickens books. I barely touched David Copperfield and I seriously skimmed Bleak House, which I felt interested enough in to actually want to read it, but now I feel like I've read most of it, and why would I do it again?
Bonus: In high school, I was supposed to read Mein Kampf for an independent reading project, but I just couldn't do it, so I beat the book up by throwing it across the room and sitting on it, etc. I didn't read any of it.
hahaha I like that you 'beat up' Mein Kampf. Was that just so it looked 'read' or as an attack on Hitler?
ReplyDeleteI've never read James Fray and I probably won't purely because I dislike his character, and because he's so in the public eye, that would definitely have an impact on the readings of his books
Frey*
ReplyDeleteI really hope that you said things like, "Take that, Hitler," as you threw it around. :)
ReplyDelete1. I loved Breaking Dawn too. I know most Twilight fans hate it, but I loved it. I'm glad I'm not the only one.
ReplyDelete2. What if I told you the Harry Potter books got better after the first two? I personally love all of them, but I understand why people don't like the first two. They're kind of slow and building up the world. The others are action-packed and lots of fun.
3. Thanks for stopping by my blog!
+JMJ+
ReplyDeleteIt's kind of fun to make the rounds of people's blogs and see all the different interpretations of "lied about." ;-)
There's someone else on the linky who has never read Jane Eyre all the way through. She said it was, at the time, her way of being a "rebel." LOL!
I remember reading of an English major who didn't want to study any Shakespeare in pursuit of her degree. And it turned out that the twisted path she had to take involved heaps and heaps of T.S. Eliot. An interesting story--but since I got it secondhand, can't remember my source, and myself came from a university in which that sort of stunt is nearly impossible, I feel like calling, "Urban legend!"
I've never read Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights or Pride & Prejudice either and that's no secret! Catch-22 sounds great and is on my TBR. Your mention of David Foster Wallace reminded me of Philip Roth. I tried reading something by him years ago and just couldn't get into it. At the time though I felt I had to pretend to like it or else I'd seem uneducated and a poor reader. Now I don't care and just read and like who/what I want!
ReplyDeleteI can't do Dickens at all, I just choose to believe that he doesn't exist, and I don't have to feel bad about a massive gap in my reading knowledge... Hey, I know all about Miss Havisham, that counts right?
ReplyDeleteMaybe you've missed out on some great books, but I think that's just a matter of personal taste. You don't have to like something just because everyoone else does (examples are on my list).
ReplyDeleteI can totally see skipping Ulysses. I own a copy (it was only 50 cents, how could I not buy it!) but everytime I think about reading it, the size scares me.
Oh my gosh, GREAT list. I'm with you on no. 9, no. 8, no. 5 and no. 3.
ReplyDeleteI do love DFW, though I haven't read Infinite Jest. I think it's okay to say you like him if you've only read his other stuff. That's what I do!
In regards to David Foster Wallace, I read his Brief Interviews with Hideous Men. It had a lot of great parts, lots of humor, and so creative - but not anything I could sit and read for pleasure. I want to tackle Infinite Jest, but I'm not sure the time and effort will be worth the payoff - at least for me. I'm jealous if other ppl are able to enjoy him though. Maybe I'll have to try out the John McCain book first.
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