Books we pretend we've read

I think that’s a very fair baseline for Secret Garden. They are quite similar in tone. The secret garden can be read and enjoyed by adults. It’s not too long or taxing and the story itself is charming.

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All white authors. Mostly romantic/tragic novels. Pretty bland selection of books they had you reading. You read the shortest three?

0/10

I hate to read anything other than technical/computer manuals.

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I pretend i’ve read a thread before contributing a message.

Books= Long term sustained effort, nah

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When I was traveling in the late 80s the pretentious book de jour was the Brothers Karamazov. People would haul that around like it was the holy gale.

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3/10.

I carry a 3 others of those on my e-reader and in case I get inspired.

1984 is definitely worth a go. Or you could just read the news. :sweat_smile:

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Well, The Secret Garden I’ve read, but not the other two.

True. There are other books by the same guy! :scream:

Can I ask where? Most of the travellers’ books I noticed people reading were books connected (often loosely) to the area (often defined loosely). The White Nile by Alan Moorehead was all the rage in Africa, One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez in Central America (and I heard in South America, never went there), The Snow Leopard by Peter Mattheissen in Asia, Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie especially in India, The Songlines by Bruce Chatwin in Australia- often met with pretended astonishment you hadn’t read them.

South east Asia

The Beach

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I’ve read 1984 and I did not like it and I’ve probably read The Alchemist when I was very little, but I don’t remember anything.

Not terribly interested in the rest either. Not a very fun selection imo.

There is a strange similarity between Marquez and Rushdie

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Two of my all-time favorites are “Midnight’s Children” and “One Hundred Years of Solitude.”
I’m almost afraid to reread them.

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so, like, the davinci code?

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have read the hobbit from that pic.

I am curious why anyone would pretend to read a book. that seems insanely counterproductive. is this an actual thing, or am I missing the punchline?

if it’s about school time reads. the only ones I found mildly entertaining as a child in middle school were the Chrysalids and the hobbit (loved the hobbit as a kid). otherwise, better books outside of school time. we were limited in english, and biology, by Christian groups so the pickings were fairly filtered.

if thread is about passing school tests without reading: everything shakespear!

Playboy. I swear takes me YEARS to read one

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Because the pages are stuck together?

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1984 was a cool
Read
In 1975

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