# What Books Have You Lied About Reading? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 16, 2009, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-have-you-lied-about-reading/510352 "2009-09-16T19:42:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-have-you-lied-about-reading/510352/61 "2009-09-18T15:17:06Z")
Never had,whats the point? ---
**Author:** ![palindromemordnilap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/db5fbb/32.png) [@palindromemordnilap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/palindromemordnilap)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-have-you-lied-about-reading/510352/62 "2009-09-18T15:25:37Z")
> [@Jettboy](#): > > Years ago I once lied about reading _Atlas Shrugged_. At about 30-ish, I finally knuckled down and read it cover-to-cover, and now I _wish_ I was lying about it. I skipped the 80-page radio rant by John Galt. I enjoyed the rest of the book but Rand seriously stacked the deck to make the good guys be always right and the bad guys always wrong. I think if I read it today I would not like it. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-have-you-lied-about-reading/510352/63 "2009-09-18T15:30:32Z")
I really have read: \* 1984 The Bible\* (it’s possible I skimmed some of the begets) _A Brief History of Time Midnight’s Children_ I’ve also read the first 400 pages of _Ulysses_. I was struggling through it and put it down one day and just never picked it up again. It was liberating. Stupid _Ulysses_. The truth is, I don’t think I’ve ever lied about reading any books, except maybe a couple books in high school I kind of skimmed because I was bored (_One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest_, looking at you). I really am a fairly well-read person - a “100 books everyone should read!” meme was going around Facebook recently and I had read 81 of the books on the list - I don’t feel the need to lie. ---
**Author:** ![the\_first\_supraliminal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f475e1/32.png) [@the\_first\_supraliminal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_first_supraliminal)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-have-you-lied-about-reading/510352/64 "2009-09-18T15:46:00Z")
I think it was Red Badge of Courage that I started and never finished. But I’m not sure I lied about it, just failed a test to the dismay of my teacher who thought I was her star pupil. ---
**Author:** ![Vihaga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Vihaga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vihaga)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-have-you-lied-about-reading/510352/65 "2009-09-18T15:55:55Z")
I don’t think I’ve done this, but it’s possible that I’ve mistakenly remembered reading all of something I haven’t read in its entirety. However, when I was interviewing for grad school, I did run into another candidate who (after quite a few drinks) admitted to memorizing titles, authors, and summaries of books and major papers so he could drop the names to people. I felt kind of bad for him, because he seemed very insecure about it. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-have-you-lied-about-reading/510352/66 "2009-09-18T16:53:06Z")
I actually have read all of _In Remembrance of Things Past_, or _In Search of Lost Time_, depending on the translation. Even though I read it straight through, I obtained the volumes piecemeal, so some of them have one title and the rest the other one. Took me about a year. I enjoyed it thoroughly, but it definitely won’t be included in the [What books have you read at least three times?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=532511) thread. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Borgia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_borgia/32/156_2.png) [@Larry\_Borgia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Borgia)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-have-you-lied-about-reading/510352/67 "2009-09-18T17:10:42Z")
I actually like Ulysses, thought I don’t think I could have read it without the help of Giffords annotations. Once you figure out what’s going on the prose is actually pretty amazing. I’ve probably lied about reading books in school, especially high school, when I was faking my way through an assignment. But I wouldn’t do it now, what would be the point? I’ll talk about books I haven’t read, but I’ll be honest that I haven’t read them. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-have-you-lied-about-reading/510352/68 "2009-09-18T17:44:59Z")
> [@Hal\_Briston](#): > > _Moby Dick_. I was supposed to read it and give an oral report on it in Sister Mary Arthur’s 6th grade AP English class. Any idea how hard it is to to an oral report on a book you haven’t read? There’s only so many ways you can stammer “It’s about a whale…and…ummm…” before people start to catch on. She must’ve assigned you an abridged copy or something. No way you were supposed to read Moby Dick in its entirety in middle school. I was in gifted classes all throughout primary school and the toughest thing we ever did in middle school were _excerpts_ from Shakespeare. Moby Dick is 800 of some of the most dense pages in the history of fiction. It’s beyond most adults. Hell, it’s beyond most dopers. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-have-you-lied-about-reading/510352/69 "2009-09-18T17:48:27Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > She must’ve assigned you an abridged copy or something. No way you were supposed to read Moby Dick in its entirety in middle school. I was in gifted classes all throughout primary school and the toughest thing we ever did in middle school were _excerpts_ from Shakespeare. Moby Dick is 800 of some of the most dense pages in the history of fiction. It’s beyond most adults. Hell, it’s beyond most dopers. I remember reading an abridged version of _Great Expectations_ in 9th grade English. I’ve never read the real thing to this day. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-have-you-lied-about-reading/510352/70 "2009-09-18T17:53:59Z")
I think most people who read books in middle and high school read the abridged versions and don’t even realize it. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-have-you-lied-about-reading/510352/71 "2009-09-18T17:57:54Z")
I don’t lie about reading books (or about not having read them). I’ve bullshitted my way through exams for things I haven’t read, but I never claimed to have actually cracked the damn things open. FWIW, I have read _1984_, I’ve started \*Ulysses \*a couple of times but keep getting sidetracked (or, before I had my own copy, the owner needed it back), I’ve read most of \*The Bible \*at one point or another, and _Midnight’s Children_ is one of my favorites. \*Madame Bovary \*I honestly can’t remember one way or the other–leaning towards “it was a required or optional text at some point in high school or college, but I may not have actually read any of it.” ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-have-you-lied-about-reading/510352/72 "2009-09-18T18:06:32Z")
> [@Larry\_Borgia](#): > > I’ve probably lied about reading books in school, especially high school, when I was faking my way through an assignment. But I wouldn’t do it now, what would be the point? To impress others about one’s erudition. Similar to why people lie or exaggerate on their résumés. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-have-you-lied-about-reading/510352/73 "2009-09-18T18:12:02Z")
Another thought is that I can’t imagine why anyone would _lie_ about _Midnight’s Children_, easily one of my favorite books of all time. You should just read it! It’s such a great book. /gratuitous recommendation ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-have-you-lied-about-reading/510352/74 "2009-09-18T18:24:17Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > She must’ve assigned you an abridged copy or something. No way you were supposed to read Moby Dick in its entirety in middle school. I was in gifted classes all throughout primary school and the toughest thing we ever did in middle school were _excerpts_ from Shakespeare. Moby Dick is 800 of some of the most dense pages in the history of fiction. It’s beyond most adults. Hell, it’s beyond most dopers. Come to think of it, I read what must have been a severely abridged version of _Moby Dick_ in about 6th grade–on my own, not as an assignment. It was in the class “library.” I’m not sure if I read the entire thing even so. I have read _Moby Dick_ as an adult. The boring parts–where Melville devotes entire chapters to the anatomy of the whale–were actually some of the most enjoyable for me. But then, I was a biology major! ---
**Author:** ![Brainiac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8797f3/32.png) [@Brainiac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brainiac)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-have-you-lied-about-reading/510352/75 "2009-09-18T18:27:47Z")
I lied to a teacher that I _hadn’t read_ “The Naked Ape” about man as one of nature’s species. He was a churchy creationist and sternly advised me not to buy when he saw me eying it at the PTA book sale. He later asked if I’d bought it and I lied that I hadn’t. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-have-you-lied-about-reading/510352/76 "2009-09-18T19:21:49Z")
Pretty much every book that I was supposed to read in junior high school and high school, with a couple of exceptions (notably: _Catcher in the Rye_). ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-have-you-lied-about-reading/510352/77 "2009-09-18T19:22:22Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > She must’ve assigned you an abridged copy or something. No way you were supposed to read Moby Dick in its entirety in middle school. The class – as it was explained to us – was “an experiment”. They took a dozen of us who had the highest grades in reading, and basically ran us through a literary grinder. _Moby Dick_ was where I called it quits, as did most of the class. I still don’t know if they look at the “experiment” as a failure, or as successful gauge as to where the “don’t assign this book to a 12-year-old” line is. As to the specific edition, I couldn’t say. It was a paperback, it had a red cover, and its remnants now reside somewhere at the bottom of the Metedeconk River. ---
**Author:** ![Rack-a-Bones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rack-a-Bones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rack-a-Bones)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2009, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-have-you-lied-about-reading/510352/78 "2009-09-18T23:51:27Z")
> [@Brainiac](#): > > I lied to a teacher that I _hadn’t read_ “The Naked Ape” about man as one of nature’s species. He was a churchy creationist and sternly advised me not to buy when he saw me eying it at the PTA book sale. He later asked if I’d bought it and I lied that I hadn’t. I’ve done this too. I had just finished reading a book that was apparently an Oprah book club pick. I didn’t want anyone to think I read the book because Oprah recommended it, so I told a few people I hadn’t read it when they asked me. I can’t remember the book or why it had come up in conversation. Of the list in the OP I know I read 1984 back in high school but I wouldn’t be able to tell you anything about it today. Didn’t read any of the others and I’ve never even heard of the last four on the list. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2009, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-have-you-lied-about-reading/510352/79 "2009-09-19T00:49:25Z")
> [@Rack-a-Bones](#): > > Didn’t read any of the others and I’ve never even heard of the last four on the list. _[Dreams from My Father](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreams_from_My_Father)_ is Barack Obama’s memoir. ---
**Author:** ![Rack-a-Bones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rack-a-Bones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rack-a-Bones)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2009, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-have-you-lied-about-reading/510352/80 "2009-09-19T01:23:16Z")
> [@Walloon](#): > > _[Dreams from My Father](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreams_from_My_Father)_ is Barack Obama’s memoir. :smack: Considering the fact that I followed the election very closely and was an early supporter of Obama I feel really stupid that I didn’t know that. I knew he had written a book of course, but I thought it was called something else. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-have-you-lied-about-reading/510352.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-have-you-lied-about-reading/510352.md?page=5)