# Why did I wait so long to read/watch that? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 12, 2006, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-i-wait-so-long-to-read-watch-that/380108 "2006-11-12T15:15:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2006, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-i-wait-so-long-to-read-watch-that/380108/21 "2006-11-13T15:53:47Z")
I suspect I’ll have this feeling if I ever actually watch an episode of _Buffy_. ---
**Author:** ![bafaa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e480ec/32.png) [@bafaa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bafaa)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2006, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-i-wait-so-long-to-read-watch-that/380108/22 "2006-11-13T17:32:34Z")
I finally bought and started reading **Dracula**. I had always avoided it because I figured it would feel dated and old but it’s great! In fact it actually gave me a nightmare the other night which has never happened from reading a horror novel before. The nightmare was terrifying and thrilling at the same time. That was worth the price of the book right there. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Stuffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f17d59/32.png) [@Stuffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stuffy)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2006, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-i-wait-so-long-to-read-watch-that/380108/23 "2006-11-13T17:43:28Z")
Watch It’s a Wonderful Life. Mostly missed it by pure happenstance, then it became something like a point of pride. My wife finally set me down and made me watch it last year. Wow, I just bought the DVD last week. Read Catch 22. Finally saw a thread here on The Dope that made me pick up a copy. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2006, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-i-wait-so-long-to-read-watch-that/380108/24 "2006-11-13T17:50:25Z")
I didn’t read a single **Stephen King** book until I was 26. I’ve now read at least twenty of them (I’m 33). Almost all of my friends read him religiously. I think I was just turned off by the trendiness of him, and the horrible movies. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2006, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-i-wait-so-long-to-read-watch-that/380108/25 "2006-11-13T18:20:14Z")
[QUOTE=Priceguy] I suspect I’ll have this feeling if I ever actually watch an episode of _Buffy_. [/QUOTE] I did, and you will. I first saw **The Godfather** fairly recently, and it absolutely lived up to its stellar reputation. Now I should see **A Clockwork Orange** and **Dr. Strangelove** and **Raging Bull** and **Taxi Driver**. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2006, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-i-wait-so-long-to-read-watch-that/380108/26 "2006-11-13T18:24:17Z")
[QUOTE=MaxTheVool] Now I should see **A Clockwork Orange** and **Dr. Strangelove** and **Raging Bull** and **Taxi Driver**. [/QUOTE] Yes, yes, yes and yes. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2006, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-i-wait-so-long-to-read-watch-that/380108/27 "2006-11-13T18:46:13Z")
Some years ago, I read “Tender is the Night.” I heard good things about an upcoming TV production & decided to read the book first. Several times, I stopped reading & wondered at the excellence of a passage. Then–“Doofus–that’s F Scott Fitzgerald. Why did I pick a Hemingway novel for that (high school) American Lit class?” Similarly, a friend lent me “All the King’s Men.” Oh, so _that’s_ The Great American Novel! ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2006, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-i-wait-so-long-to-read-watch-that/380108/28 "2006-11-13T19:20:55Z")
Although I’ve been reading murder mysteries since I was a teenager, I only found Dorothy Sayers and Ngaio Marsh a few years ago and wonder why the hell I didn’t read them before! I only got around to reading James Galworthy’s _Forsyte Saga_ and some of his other novels after the recent remake of the miniseries. I had friends tell me that I really, really, _really_ had to see _Velvet Goldmine_ when it first came out, but I didn’t watch it until a couple of years ago–and was really, really, _really_ sorry I took so long. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2006, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-i-wait-so-long-to-read-watch-that/380108/29 "2006-11-13T19:44:46Z")
[QUOTE=Priceguy] I suspect I’ll have this feeling if I ever actually watch an episode of _Buffy_. [/QUOTE] Same here. That’s why I’m not going to watch it. 🙂 I loved _Firefly_, but right now I’m staring at about 45 discs or so of _Babylon 5_ in my Netflix queue, and I so don’t have time to get hooked on another awesome series. (B5 is, incidentally, my pick for ‘thing I don’t know why I waited so long to watch’.) ---
**Author:** ![Mrs.Cake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2acd7d/32.png) [@Mrs.Cake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mrs.Cake)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2006, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-i-wait-so-long-to-read-watch-that/380108/30 "2006-11-13T20:31:53Z")
Reading - When it was first published, I thought of picking up Christopher Moore’s frist book “Practical Demonkeeping” just for the name, but somehow never got around to it. Years later, I read a lot of reviews of his “Lamb” and thought I ought to read that, but forgot. Last June, I finished all the books I had taken with me on vacation and stopped at the bookstore to pick up a couple things to read on the plane. Prominently displayed was Moore’s latest, “A Dirty Job”. I picked it up, read the first couple pages and put it right back down. It was great, but I couldn’t afford a new hardback. Having connected the mental dots I rushed over to the paperbacks and picked up “Lamb”. Luckily, the plane was delayed so I never even had to think about putting it down. Sadly, there are only a couple left unread, and I started one of them (The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove) yesterday. I cheer myself with the thought that I’ll probably predecease Chris Moore, and so can look forward to much reading pleasure in the years to come. Watching Why oh why did it take me so long to finally see “All About Eve”? Recently added to “Ours” section of the home DVD Library (“Jane Eyre” and “Pride & Prejudice” are in the “Hers” side, “Troy” and “Crimson Tide” are on the “His” side. Nearly everything else in the “Ours”) ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2006, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-i-wait-so-long-to-read-watch-that/380108/31 "2006-11-14T02:11:38Z")
[QUOTE=Clothahump] No, I didn’t. What’s the title, since I’ll have to wait until it comes out in paperback before my limited budget can afford it. [/QUOTE] It’s called _Under Orders_, and it’s starring Sid Halley. ---
**Author:** ![cactus\_waltz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@cactus\_waltz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cactus_waltz)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2006, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-i-wait-so-long-to-read-watch-that/380108/32 "2006-11-14T14:54:48Z")
[QUOTE=Jess] Years ago I learned that the creator of Modesty Blaise, Peter O’Donnell, had also written a series of books under the pseudonym Madeline Brent. The Brent books are among my all-time favorites so you’d think I’d have hopped right on the Blaise books… [/QUOTE] This post makes me a bit ashamed, 'cause I got this Modesty Blaise book for birthday gift years ago but never really read it. This makes me feel like reading it but now I have no idea where it is. :smack: What Madeline Brent-book would you recommend? ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2006, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-i-wait-so-long-to-read-watch-that/380108/33 "2006-11-14T20:30:20Z")
Buffy. I recently got a treadmill because I needed a nice convenient exercise method, so I set it up in front of a TV with a DVD player and got myself a Netflix subscription. Since all my friends rave about Buffy, I decided to give it a try. I’m up to the 6th episode of season 1 now, and I’m already hooked. I’ve also got Firefly in my queue, even though I’ve been actively avoiding it (some representatives of the more…um…dedicated…end of the fan base kind of turn me off). I’m hoping I’ll enjoy it but not get sucked into the Whedon Zombie contingent (no offense to Whedon fans–I just get squicked out by that level of obsession with _anything_). ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2006, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-i-wait-so-long-to-read-watch-that/380108/34 "2006-11-14T20:48:45Z")
A lot of the classics that are now considered cliche’ because their “key” scenes are now part of pop culture. Psycho- Everyone knows it as the “shower stabbing scene with the screeching violins” movie but not a lot of people have never seen this movie from start to finish. It’s really, really good. Singin in the Rain- Has the cliche’ dancing in the rain number that everyone knows but the movie from start to finish is a funny satire of old Hollywood. Good stuff. ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2006, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-i-wait-so-long-to-read-watch-that/380108/35 "2006-11-14T21:06:24Z")
For me it was _Shawshank Redemption_\* - I saw the trailers on TV before it hit the theatres and said “hmm…I like the old guy feeding the baby bird. I should see that.” I never did. Years later I caught it on TV, then rented it uncut. It was so much more than an old guy feeding a baby bird. StG ---
**Author:** ![SkeptiJess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@SkeptiJess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkeptiJess)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2006, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-i-wait-so-long-to-read-watch-that/380108/36 "2006-11-16T15:34:59Z")
[QUOTE=cactus waltz] This post makes me a bit ashamed, 'cause I got this Modesty Blaise book for birthday gift years ago but never really read it. This makes me feel like reading it but now I have no idea where it is. :smack: What Madeline Brent-book would you recommend? [/QUOTE] Hmmm. That’s hard, because they are all so good. You really can’t miss with any of them as ar as I’m concerned. There are only 9 of them, anyway, dammit. I always hoped he’d write more. Probably my favorite is _Stranger at Wildings_, which is about a girl who ran away and joined a circus… Good stuff. The fabulous thing about Brent’s books is that the heroines are, to a woman, amazingly strong and competent. No damsels in distress there. Which is pretty unusual in historical romance or suspense -type books. A close second favorite is _The Capricorn Stone_ about the daughter of a jewel-thief who becomes a music-hall performer after the death of her father. I also have a soft spot for the first (_Tregaron’s Daughter_) Brent novel, which was also the first I read. It is set partially in Venice and features an extremely sexy leading man. The Modesty Blaise books are somewhat different in that Modesty is really almost a super-human character. She’s like Batman or somebody – she can do _anything_. Nothing wrong with that, and it still makes for a great read. But the Brent heroines are more human and (somewhat) more believable. I say ‘somewhat’ because they are still adventure novels (under the guise of ‘Gothic Romances’) and very dependant on coincidence, luck, and narrow escape. But, again, just so much fun! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-i-wait-so-long-to-read-watch-that/380108.md?page=1)