This week, we have a very intriguing little BTT topic: "Two-thirds of Brits have lied about reading books they haven’t. Have you? Why? What book?"OK, this is really embarrassing to admit. The book that comes readily to mind – the one book I can remember actually lying about reading – is Pride and Prejudice.
I was supposed to read Jane Austen's masterpiece in my high school senior English class. Only made it about a third of the way through, then flipped ahead to the last few pages, and wrote the report. At seventeen, I found the goings-on of Lizzie and Darcy and their ilk soul-crushingly boring. Will they get together? Won't they get together? Does she or doesn't she? Who'll marry who? What's for tea? Don't you like my bonnet? It all seemed like just so much mindless gibberish.
A few years later, I decided to give the Bennet girls another try, and absolutely loved the book. By then I was a different person, of course, so I guess that's not so surprising. And since then, I've reread P&P at least once and it's become one of my favorites. So I guess there's no accounting for teenage tastes.
These days, my reading life isn't bound by any rules but my own – I'm free to read what I want when I want, and I read for pleasure, not to impress. So there's no need for me to lie about whether or not I've read any particular book. I'm sure I've probably committed literary subterfuge a few other times in the past, but nothing else comes to mind. How about you?
I hated most of the classics I read as a teenager. Two specific books that spring to mind are Heart of Darkness and Lord of the Flies.
ReplyDeleteI always say that some classics are such a waste to assign to HS students (most of them). I have loved P & P since the first reading waaaay back when. Wuthering Heights is a different story!
ReplyDeleteNope never read it...seen the movie (the good one with Colin Firth). It is on my TBR list though. I'm probably one of the very few women who love period novels that hasn't read any Austen.
ReplyDeleteAh, P&P was always going to be hard for hormonal, restless teenagers. :-) I think age plays a significant role in how we perceive a book.
ReplyDeleteI would love to re-read all those books that were forced upon us in HS, and now understand WHY. Like The Grapes of Wrath comes to mind. We had spent weeks on that one and I was so out of my mind with boredom. I could never read at a snails' pace the teacher dictated, so I would always read the assigned books far ahead of the class, and then la ti da for the rest of the lessons I was bored. I probably did not get as much as I should I have out of the lessons if I would have been patient and just read at a snails pace.
ReplyDeleteI am glad you liked P&P the second time around, I agree I probably would not have enjoyed the banter as much as I did when I read it when I was mature enough to understand it.
So glad you gave it another try! It is sad that we're forced to read these things in school when we're not quite ready for them. I suppose at least they're on the radar then to revisit as adults.
ReplyDeleteI loved my Lit classes in high school so I never lied about reading any of the books, but if I were to lie about a book it would be P&P! lol I still haven't read it!
ReplyDeleteI was prejudiced against P&P for years because my sister (who generally hated classics) happened to like it. I think it took two or three attempts to read it in my late 20s or early 30s until I actually read the entire book. And then I, stubborn mule that I am, still didn't particularly care for it.
ReplyDeleteThen I read Persuasion, loved loved loved it, and became an Austen convert.
I'm sure that if I had read P&P in high school I would have hated it. But, I'm reading it now and loving it!
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with reviewsbylola about Heart of Darkness & Lord of the Flies!
To this day, I still have not read any of Janes books!
ReplyDeletewww.thesocialfrog.com
Oooh - juicy! An Austen fibber. You have created a special category!
ReplyDeleteYou got that right, your life isn't bound by anybody's rules but your own. i like that statement a lot.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you. Way back when in school was one thing, but now? I just don't see the point of lying about something like what I read or didn't read.
ReplyDeleteI am not an Austen fan!!
ReplyDelete:D
If I don't like a book, I chuck it out. Lie about it, no!
Booking Through Lies
Why lie? When, oh WHEN are they going to ask a question that I'd like to answer?
ReplyDeleteLOL. I've never read Pride & Prejudice either, even when I took a college course on Jane Austen.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your post. We just finished reading Emma in our book club. It's funny because I enjoyed it the first time around when I was much younger but this time I found it a little boring. I think you really, really love Jane Austin or you just don't. I hope you have a lovely week ♥
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