Wednesday, March 22, 2023

Challenge: Famous Book I Haven't Read

(This post is part of the Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge. You can find links to other writers' answers over at Long and Short Reviews.)

Prompt: A Famous Book I've Never Read and Why

I mean, um, that's most of them to be honest. I read a lot of genre fiction, because I enjoy genre fiction, and there are only so many hours in the day. So let me just pick some quick examples: 

  • House of Leaves, by Mark Z. Danielewski. This one honestly sounds like it's right up my alley, but I've never been interested enough to sit down and read it. In this case, that's probably because nobody ever recommended it to me in a way that sounded compelling.
  • Lolita, by Vladimir Nabokov. It's been made into movies, it's referenced in one of Sting's songs, and I have never read it. Russian literature in general is usually either all-in or no-go for me, and the whole premise of this one just... doesn't do anything for me.
  • The Road, Cormac McCarthy. I enjoy a good post-apocalyptic action/adventure, but this one doesn't sound like it has enough explosions, car chases, or guys in highly unlikely punk haircuts and leather outfits.
  • The Bible, by God Almighty. All right actually yes, I have read this one. Plus several of its more notable fanfics, like Paradise Lost and The Inferno. Sorry, this is what passes for a sense of humor in the tiny mountain village of my people. When I was growing up, we were too poor to afford new jokes; we just re-gifted the existing ones when Christmas rolled around and I, unfortunately, got stuck with the "I've never read the Bible" joke the last time I went home.
I'm looking forward to seeing what everybody else does with this prompt, and in particular how the rest of y'all chose your particular books. Mine were pretty much on the basis of, "What comes into my head when I think of famous books?" (...Which is exactly how that last one got onto the list.)

10 comments:

  1. I’ve never read Lolita or House of Leaves either.

    As a preacher’s kid, I read most of the Bible many times over again. :D

    The Road was interesting but very, very dark. I wouldn’t personally read it again.


    Lydia

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I had a similar reaction to The Name of the Rose: it was well worth reading (or watching the movie) but I absolutely will not put myself through that twice.

      Delete
  2. I haven't read either of the first too as well. Preacher boy for 15 years with a year in seminary, I've read the Bible a few times.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I haven't read most of those, although I have heard of them. So that's something.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I'm with you on Lolita....I'm aware of its premise and have zero interest in trying it!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I have read Lolita, but I can see why you wouldn't want to. As for Cormac McCarthy, I did try, but I couldn't get to grips with it.

    ReplyDelete

Feel free to leave comments; it lets me know that people are actually reading my blog. Interesting tangents and topic drift just add flavor. Linking to your own stuff is fine, as long as it's at least loosely relevant. Be civil, and have fun!