Top Five Books Everyone wants to have read, but no one wants to read.

Yes my title is a paraphrase of the famous Mark Twain quote:

“A classic is something that everybody wants to have read and nobody wants to read."

Of course there are many classics that are very enjoyable, however the books in this list are unlikely to be considered one of them:

The Bible

Ah, the holy book, the book that so much of classic literature is influenced from as well as billions of people. Aside from the religious context, how many really just want to read the Bible? Either for enjoyment or historical information, very little, a very long and rather boring book to read for todays standards. But if you must, I recommend the King James Version.

Shakespeare plays

Many plays from Shakespeare have continued to shape plays and story telling for centuries, but the bard has more recently is being looked on with disdain and contempt mostly from education and that keeps people from really reading and enjoying the works, as it is usually associated with academia . and the use of early modern English usually keep people away, so most people think that people who read Shakespeare are "scholarly" and "intellectual."

Ulysses - James Joyce

The great James Joyce masterpiece ( or so we hear) popularized the narrative mode of "stream of consciousness" which can be insightful, however, is to most people less than thrilling.


Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand

One of the most important philosophical novels of our time, influenced many people in political as well as philosophical thought. But is also one of the longest books ever created at 1368 pages. For most political science junkies this is required reading; for the average guy: check the cliff notes.


Great Expectations - Charles Dickens

You cannot have a list like this without including Charles Dickens, the amazing author, the one who everyone has heard of, whose works are so beloved by everyone! Well, thats not quite the case, although an excellent writer, he has a distinct and difficult writing style that is hard to read especially in Great Expectations and A Tale of Two Cities.

Conclusion:

There is a very good reason while these books and many others have this type of persona, I have listed plenty. But these are the ones people tend to think of when they think of the "classics." Our change of culture, language and technology have resulted these changes, with so many current books out there that are easier to digest, people tend to forget the books of years past, and read for ease than for the understanding of past literature.