Anyway, here's what I came up with:
1.) The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky - I read Crime & Punishment and wasn't thrilled (way too long). I don't really see myself having the urge to read anything else by Dostoevsky anytime soon.
2.) Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid by Douglas Hofstadter - I have read a few excerpts of this one but I have no desire to read the whole thing.
3.) Dune by Frank Herbert - I'm really not a sci-fi fan.
4.) Ulysses by James Joyce - From what I understand, Joyce's writing is bizarre and incomprehensible.
5.) The Silmarillion by Tolkien - Because I barely managed to make it through Lord of the Rings (which, don't get me wrong, I did enjoy - although he has rather too much description and I could have done without all those lengthy poems in there). This one looks even more daunting.
6.) The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series by Douglas Adams - I tried this one, really I did. I don't think I even got through the first book. All I remember is that the main character's house gets bulldozed and then he goes on a journey in space and meets lots of weird creatures. What's the point? I don't know.
7.) Any other books by Sheila Watson - because I read The Double Hook and I wish I could get those hours of my life back. (Can we have a day for the top ten books we wish we could UN-read?) Seriously, I did not like the themes, characters or writing style of that book, and there basically was no plot, so I don't know what's left that anyone would care about.
8.) A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess - it's supposed to be super violent and I just don't think it's my style.
9.) War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy - because it sounds monstrously dense and difficult. I think it would make me fall asleep.
10.) Anything by Ernest Hemingway - I'm sorry, but his books sound boring.
What are some books you think you'll never read?
Must say most of those books also don't intrigue me!
ReplyDeleteGreat list, except I can't agree with number ten! However I can understand the hesitation.
ReplyDeleteThe Brothers Karamazov scares me! I don't think I'd make it through.
ReplyDeleteAnd Dune should have made my list, I love fantasy but sci-fi isn't my thing either.
Nice list! I've kind of decided that anyone who says they've read Ulysses is actually lying anyway... :)
ReplyDeleteYeah, War and Peace is on my list too. Russian lit in general scares me a little bit. And A Clockwork Orange should definitely have made my list. I hated the movie and can't imagine the book is any better.
ReplyDeleteDune is so dreadfully long and boring. At least, it is to me. That's probably because I also don't like sci-fi.
ReplyDeleteI've heard so many bad things about Dune being tedious that I don't think I could ever get near it, either. But man, Hitchiker's Guide is one of my favorite books! There's not really a point, it's ust silly and sarcastic and snarky and wonderful :)
ReplyDeleteHAHA. My husband just bought no 2. He likes that kind of stuff. To me it looks like the most boring book alive.
ReplyDeleteClockwork Orange IS super violent. The movie was worse. I think what I liked about Clockwork was the made up language -- I even started a "dictionary" on my inside cover until I caught on to all the words. But yes, extremely violent. I really don't know how I did read it...
ReplyDeleteI could add pretty much all of these to my own list!
ReplyDeleteI seriously was ready to put Clockwork Orange on my list, too, but then I read a few more reviews about how much everyone loves the book and I decided that maybe....so I left it off. I have read half of it and it was so violent, I was very off-put. I went with political books. Hope you aren't easily offended.
ReplyDeleteOh...Hemingway how did I miss him? I _had_ to read several of his in college, so I suppose I can't claim that I'll never read him. But I can say that I don't plan on ever picking up another one of his books.
ReplyDeleteAnd Hitchhiker's Guide? It is just so funny! Not really meant to have a point. But you do need to appreciate British humor and like science fiction a teeny bit. I loved Dune too--but then I do have a fondness for science fiction....