What is the most famous Book you have never Read?

[molliewoof]

Lord of the Rings. I know I should. I know. But dammit, it's so big... I just can't get to reading it.

dont worry, you arent missing much, LOTR was new and exciting at the time but isnt the best read anymore.

[willtron]

The dictionary

[uuuhname]

war and peace?
the art of war?
the bibble?
anything written by Ayn Rand?

[AlexPav]

I haven't read much at all, it's embarrassing.

[Viikkis]

Many people say the bible so does it only count if you've read the whole book? Because we had to read (parts of) it in school.

[Toxuvox]

dont worry, you arent missing much, LOTR was new and exciting at the time but isnt the best read anymore.

I disagree. I'd say that if you plan on reading any contemporary high fantasy, reading Lord of the Rings first is almost required. It is, after all, the foundation upon which almost all modern day swords and sorcery high fantasy novels are built.

[Shadowferal]

Many people say the bible so does it only count if you've read the whole book? Because we had to read (parts of) it in school.

Considering that it's a collection of books... I'd say it could count as "read."

[Kokolums]

In the film "idiocracy", there is a TV show called ASS. Its actually based on a book but I've never read it. I heard its pretty cheeky.

[molliewoof]

I disagree. I'd say that if you plan on reading any contemporary high fantasy, reading Lord of the Rings first is almost required. It is, after all, the foundation upon which almost all modern day swords and sorcery high fantasy novels are built.

id probably recommend reading lotr later, there are books that are written more recently that are just better than lotr and a better introduction, tolkien is also more of a world builder with some storytelling skills than a storyteller, imo thats why later books are awful to read, his son wasnt able to translate JRRs notes to a decent story as well as JRR could

I would consider the riyria books by michael j sullivan a better start point to fantasy than LOTR then when you realise you like fantasy you can look into its history and roots

[schwank05]

Basically all of them, I have not read a book since the Thrall Pre Cata book. And before that I had only read 2 other WOW books between High School and the Cata Book. I work 12-15 Hours 6 days a week I don't have time to read, and never found it enjoyable in general.

[Jonnusthegreat]

The Bible. I've read parts of it as required indoctrination, but haven't read it as a whole.

[deenman]

A ton. Of all the acclaimed novels you'd see in a 'greatest' list, I've only read a few.

Weird to see the Bible listed here. It's not intended to be read from front to back... it's a collection of inaccurately translated scattered writings, edited over time to fit someone's preferred interpretation, and then thrown together into 1 of any number of 'versions' of the word of god.

I mean its still A book now,regardless of how it was put togheder,im not at all surprised the bible comes up often,its been printed like over 5 bilion times that we know of,but a quick google search also has Don Quixote as the best selling book by a fair ammount 500mil vs 200mil second place,i found that really surprising for some reason

[Toxuvox]

id probably recommend reading lotr later, there are books that are written more recently that are just better than lotr and a better introduction, tolkien is also more of a world builder with some storytelling skills than a storyteller, imo thats why later books are awful to read, his son wasnt able to translate JRRs notes to a decent story as well as JRR could

I would consider the riyria books by michael j sullivan a better start point to fantasy than LOTR then when you realise you like fantasy you can look into its history and roots

I agree with you on the point of Christopher Tolkein being somewhat unsuccessful in bringing life to his fathers unfinished work. However, JRR's approach to story telling was quite different to those of todays authors, so a comparison would require more context than a simple this vs that. Tolkiens approach was to create a mythology, as he felt that Great Britain lacked the richness of, for example, classical Greek mythology. With such an approach, the Middle Earth works should be read with that in mind. Your point on JRR being a world builder has definite merit, especially considering how many authors have used Middle Earth as a template....Robert Jordan being a prime example with his Wheel of Time saga.

All that said, and given his work being the foundation upon which so much has been built, I'd still recommend LotR as a start point, although, something like The Silmarillion should be left until much later.

[Aphrel]

Aftersome googling, it seems Don Quixote is the most famous novell ever.

And ive not read it. In fact, ive only read 1 book in the top 10 list (great gatsby).

I generally stick to mostly fantasy and some scifi.

[Nutri]

I could name the +/- 15 books I did read, so the list of famous books I didn't read is substantial.

[VinceVega]

The Bible.... don't ask...

edit... i did not read the "never"^^

In that case: The Da Vinci Code

[molliewoof]

I agree with you on the point of Christopher Tolkein being somewhat unsuccessful in bringing life to his fathers unfinished work. However, JRR's approach to story telling was quite different to those of todays authors, so a comparison would require more context than a simple this vs that. Tolkiens approach was to create a mythology, as he felt that Great Britain lacked the richness of, for example, classical Greek mythology. With such an approach, the Middle Earth works should be read with that in mind. Your point on JRR being a world builder has definite merit, especially considering how many authors have used Middle Earth as a template....Robert Jordan being a prime example with his Wheel of Time saga.

All that said, and given his work being the foundation upon which so much has been built, I'd still recommend LotR as a start point, although, something like The Silmarillion should be left until much later.

i agree with pretty much everything you said but still disagree that it should be read first ha

i suppose my final thought will be that if you have a person who is used to reading about people with chiseled crotches (not my words) in erotic novels then more modern fantasy novels will be (generally) easier for them to access than LOTR and i dont want to strawman but i doubt they would look further than the story itself, into the worldbuilding, until they knew they actually liked fantasy and developed an interest in it.

I mean i also wouldnt ask a person new to fantasy to start with Malazan Book of the Fallen which i consider the best set of fantasy books written.

we may just need to agree to disagree on this

[Progenitor Aquarius]

Harry Potter or LOTRs

True, I wish I would read too. I only watched the movies.

[tTow]

I haven't read harry Potter yet too, but I watched movies a few times.

[Jotaux]

I think he is implying that the Holocaust/persecution of the jews is not real, therefore saying that he is not into fiction. That's my understanding at least, I might be wrong

I read it as they read the diary of Anne Frank because they dont like fiction. As in other more famous books are fiction.