CLASSIC BOOKS I REFUSE TO READ AND A HIGHLY PRAISED AUTHOR I'M EXTREMELY SKEPTICAL TO PICK UP AGAIN!

Folks mentioned:
Sandy @MsReadsAlot
Fraser @SpringboardThought

Drop by on Instagram - Shellyish

[CriminOllyBlog]

This was a really good video. I love the idea of readers taking control of their reading and not being dictated to. It's great that you're able to do that.
I absolutely loved Blood Meridian, Naked Lunch, 1Q84 and American Psycho. This has probably further convinced you that you're right to not want to read them!🤣

[MIDDLEoftheBookMARCH]

Because I’ve now discovered my favorite author and most beloved book (Middlemarch of course…) I no longer
listen to recommendations from people telling me to read a book that’s “the best they’ve ever read”.

[pensivelyreading]

I’ve always struggled against the idea of books I “have to read.” The idea of a traditional literary canon is so overrated, but I have more often than not caved into buying books that I felt I needed to read to be well-read. It’s that old fear of missing out. I have read a few things by some of the authors you list and, honestly, I agree with you. You’re better off at the moment you’re at now where you have a better sense of your own reading tastes. Don’t buy into the social pressure :) Great video!

[lindysmagpiereads]

Shelly, I’m with you 100 percent. Read what you want! I don’t plan to read any of the classics that you mentioned, with the exception that I am a fan of Murakami. Readers who have issued warnings about the torture scene in The Wind-Up Bird (it’s in the context of war, not sex) have good reason. I read this book 10 years ago and haven’t been able to erase that scene from my brain.

[reginalemoine]

I’ve recently admitted to myself that I don’t care for Russian classic novels. I’ll also never struggle through Cormac McCarthy again. I’ve had Infinite Jest on my shelf for over ten years and I recently decided I am never going to read that book. I’m also just not interested in any “manly” literature, so no Hemingway, Updike, Roth, or the like. I don’t want gratuitous, graphic sex or violence in my reading, either. I do a lot of comfort reading these days, probably in reaction to the dumpster fire the world is right now.

[katiemcneece]

Why do we seem to think that if it is a difficult read it is intelligent? 😅 I agree with you to read what you want. If you don't want to read it don't feel guilty for not trying it. I read novels for pleasure not for academic purposes and that is ok.😃

[marcellainthemargins]

Great video! I have spend a lot of time reading books just because they were "must reads" including a few on this list and I wish I would have just stayed closer to my taste in those moments, because honestly that's reading time I will never get back. Books like Atlas Shrugged and Gravity's Rainbow and American Psycho have stayed with me for all the wrong reasons, I still get the shudders when I think of them.

[dqan]

There aren't any classics (or purported classics) that I've written off yet, though nine chapters into "Pride and Prejudice" I was beginning to despair of Austen. Despite a near future move and looming book unhaul of doom, I will probably hold onto "Finnegans Wake". That one will probably defeat 90% of devoted Joyce fans, including me, but I refuse to give up the dream just yet. Life is short, though, and I realize I won't make it through a tenth of the books I would like to read. Heck, life is probably too short to get through half the the books I already own. For now I'll just work on my time management. Too many days slip by without reading anything.

[nancyegee]

I just made the decision a couple of months ago to not read any more Faulkner. It’s been many years since I read As I Lay Dying in the 1980s and still remember how gross I felt.
I was thinking about reading Absolom, Absolom but did research and decided he covered topics that I just refuse to read about. His short story A Rose for Emily was good with a good dose of creepiness without going off the rails.

BTW, I live in North Alabama about 2-1/2 hours from Oxford where Faulkner lived, so I really self-imposed a lot of pressure to read him. I feel better by releasing myself from that knowing that reading him would not enhance my life, just disturb it.

[BookishTexan]

Not sure there are any authors I refuse to read, but Ayn Rand comes close as does Lovecraft (probably).
I am so sorry that Sanctuary put you off of Faulkner. It was a bad book to start Faulkner with.

[MarilynMayaMendoza]

Hi Shelly, Wonderful video. I have many books like this and I should do a version We all have books and authors that are in for us. Ugh atlas shrugged. Aloha

[mediumjohnsilver]

The classics I will not read pretty much covers your list for the same reasons. The exception is 1Q84, which I read a couple years ago and quite enjoyed. Every time I hear Janáček’s _Sinfonietta_ I think of the first chapter.

[KetevanReads]

Blech, what a succint description for murakami! haha Totally agree with you on Rand and Faulkner too.

[branwynnemay]

The classics I doubt I’ll ever read are: The Jungle (I read a chapter, it was soul-destroying), Lord of the Flies (it’s referenced so often I feel like I know what generally happens and I don’t need the gory details), and Heart of Darkness, which I’ve heard is overwrought and Chinua Achebe decried as racist. I also can’t bring myself to read books about being in concentration camps or fighting in a war really anymore… like you, I’ve learned what my heart can take and what it just can’t. Thanks for sharing your list!

[jeremyfee]

It's great to hear your opinions on these authors and books. When I was reading 1Q84, I decided to stop at the end of Book 1 of 3 in the English version. I just went online and found a summary of what happened to the characters so I would know, but I was not interested in actually reading the rest of it.

[nathanfoung]

This video is so refreshing Shelly. I think as readers we all aim to be well read? So I think that old adage of "too many books too little ti should apply. I love Shawn the book maniacs "119" tip. If you havent heard of it before he recommended reading page 119 to gauge if the author's writing vibes with you or not, I do this for books of 300+ pages to see if I would like to spend that time with an author or not. So mammoths for me need to pass that test for me. I did this for Ulysses and Finnegan's wake and yeah not for me, gravity's rainbow same. I think "experimental" doesn't really gell with me. Life's just too short. Go well.

[jobuckley]

Lolita. No matter how you want to justify it that book for me is just wrong. So wrong. Just the idea is disgusting and creepy. On a lighter note, I would rather have my toenails pulled out than read any more Faulker. Mrs. Dalloway is insufferable too. Thanks everyone. I feel better now.

[bouquinsbooks]

This video reminds me of the Anti-TBR tag that was going around on Booktube a couple of years ago. I am still not ready to say "I will never read this book", because I like to keep an open mind. Two years ago, I would have said that of The Iliad, and look where I am now… 😂

However, I am ready to say "it is extremely unlikely that I will ever read this book". Pretty much all the books you mentioned would fit that category. I would add a few more:

Jonathan Littell, The Kindly Ones: a thousand pages in the mind of a fictional detail-obsessed SS officer. 🤢 Life is too short for such a tedious book.

Anything by Norman Mailer: I have read The Executioner’s Song, it’s more than plenty enough Mailer for a lifetime.

Battlefield Earth or anything by L. Ron Hubbard: I don’t care for science fiction anyway, but this author, as founder of scientology, comes with an extra layer of 🤢.

Knausgard’s My Struggle: life is too short for 3500 pages of navel-gazing.

The list could go on, but that’s what I can think of for the moment.

[siljeblomst]

Ayn Rand is definitely on my «never ever»- list. Her books are always mentioned as inspirational books by politicians that I strongly disagree with. American Psycho is also one that I will never read - I have tried a couple of times, and it’s just too brutal.

Have a lovely evening, Shelly ❤

[theyingyang]

Love the concept of this video Shelly! I tried to read Murakami and just could Not! Still think I’ll try a James Joyce, but I have my doubts! I read The Catcher in the Rye in junior year of hs and Franny and Zooey a couple years ago at 23 and boy…. not like Salinger has a lot more books at all but those are my least favorite books ever lol!!