Comments on: Books You Didn’t Read

Comment on Books You Didn’t Read by: Rod

Mon, 19 Mar 2007 19:28:43 +0000

Gabriel
thanks for the input, and for using such a fine upstanding literary name !
I very much echo your thoughs on Rushdie and War and Peace is simply too much like hard work to be enjoyable.

I have not read any Dunnet but I have several I cannot sell so could do seems collectors share your opinion too

Thanks again and do return to comment anytime
Regards
Rod

Comment on Books You Didn’t Read by: Gabriel Oak

Mon, 19 Mar 2007 09:02:58 +0000

I started and finished Nos 2, 4, 6, 7 and 8 on the fiction list and Nos 4, 5 and 10 on the non-fiction list. I have not started any of the others, and have no intention of doing so.

I enjoyed the unashamed escapism of all the Harry Potter books, and I could hardly put down ‘Wild Swans’, which was fascinating just because the events described were so horrific.

‘War and Peace’ is far too long and wordy, ‘The Alchemist’ is just plain dull, and I do not have the words to express my disgust at ‘Midnight’s Children’ which is a thoroughly unpleasant book. It has completely put me off reading anything else by Rushdie, or any other Booker prizewinners.

Books I have not finished include anything by Dorothy Dunnet, and one called, I think, ‘Niccolo Rising’.

Comment on Books You Didn’t Read by: Rod

Sun, 18 Mar 2007 09:04:16 +0000

Hi Ayse
thanks for taking the time to comment and for the the info, very interesting and much appreciated.
You’re always welcome back
Regards
Rod

Comment on Books You Didn’t Read by: Ayse Erin

Sun, 18 Mar 2007 00:04:55 +0000

Hi Rod.
The Viennese artist Julius Deutschbauer has realized an installation about the issue, which has been presented last year at BOZAR (Centre for Fine Arts in Brussels, Belgium): http://www.bozar.be/activity.php?id=6110
He’s built a library out of books people haven’t read. Among those, all the “should be read” classics, and number one… the Bible!(he’s received 15 of it).
Best,
Ayse Erin

Comment on Books You Didn’t Read by: Rod

Tue, 13 Mar 2007 08:47:12 +0000

Dino
some very good points - condensed books !
What about going much further than Readers Digest did. Just give a brief overview of the main characters and the story say in about a chapter !

You can sum most books up this way so people could read a classic a night in bed
The Bluffer’s Guide to Literature !
Regards
Rod

Comment on Books You Didn’t Read by: the dinosaur

Mon, 12 Mar 2007 23:55:41 +0000

I read War and Peace from cover to cover when I was in my teens, I cannot imagine doing so again but that is down to lack of time not the fault of the content! Too many other demands on my evenings, like the computer, it is a changing world and the book was written in an age when the longer the story lasted the better. The lists include plenty of recent books, if people dont have time for those should we shorten them too? Are we going to abridge all the classic literature like they do for children? What does this say about the future not just for books but about the way we live our lives now? Answers on a postcard as I dont have time to read anything longer.

Comment on Books You Didn’t Read by: Rod

Mon, 12 Mar 2007 14:08:05 +0000

As an aside, this post is too long, nicely split up and laid out but most visitors will only look at the lists before bailing out.
Nice to know I am using my time wisely !