Lord of the Rings? I read it because I adored it. I read the Silmarillion for the sheer beauty of it. Tolkien created a masterpiece and gave us all a world of fantasy that endures through the generations.

Other than that. Well, I didn't MIND the Illiad.

There are certainly a lot WORSE books.

PCReese, Elyria, USA

or a list of opinions with dry British sarcasm and humour?

rachel, Cambridge, United Kingdom

I was about to agree with you seeing as I had similar views on the few books on this list that I had read... until I got to Jane Austen. That's when I knew I was going to read all the others you dissed because now I'm almost certain they're really good.

Annie, Seattle,

I read LOTR/the Hobbit in middle school of my own volition. I also have ADD (I wasn't even medicated then). I was required to read The Iliad and The Odyssey in middle school, and thought they were great (I do prefer The Odyssey) How can you possibly not be able to read them?

Gabe, San Antonio, United States

This list isn't censorship. Censorship is when an authority revokes your right to read material of your choice, or somehow prevents you from reading material of your choice, like banning the writing or publishing or sale of material. This is simply a list of opinions.

Regina Zeyzus, Columbus, PA, USA

War and Peace kept me hooked for 1400 pages. I gave up on this shallow, onanistic, faux-populist article after about 150 words. Quod Erat Demonstrandum, as Homer probably said somewhere.

Gordon, Glasgow, Scotland

Just because you don';t like something because you don't like it, doesn't meant you should tell others not to. It's censorship and nobody has the right to tell people the right thing to read, its a personal choice.

Ashleigh M, Gosford,

I've actually read Ulysses, War and Peace, the Iliad and Pride and Prejudice, and thought they were good!

ashleigh, gosford,

The Dice Man is U.N.R.E.A.D.A.B.L.E. Concept be damned; it's the writing that's hard to stomach. I know of no one who's been able to finish reading it.

Jodie, Melbourne, Australia

The Iliad is a great tradegy of the human

condition. Achilles, Hector, Patroclus, Priam all

testify to the veracity of the first sentence. Have

a serious re-read and take a look at Jasper

Griffin's Homer on Life and Death.

TJFallon, Charlotte, NC, USA

Dice Man and Austen are great, Lord of the Rings fine and others OK. But Ulysses does belong on the not-to-read list. So also do Dr Zhivago by Boris Pasternak (unless I had a bad translation), Middlemarch by George Eliot, Red & Black by Stendhal and Glastonbury by Powys, especially the latter.

Andrew, Beckenham, UK

I agree with Mr. Wilson about the boring nature of these books, especially "Lord of the Rings": so boring it would be a most effective cure for insomnia. Some Wiccans actually think one must read this pointless trash in order to be taken seriously as a practitioner of witchcraft; that is nonsense.

Marie, Los Angeles, USA

I agree with Lord of the Rings - I couldn't even finish The Hobbit, I was so bored. Catch 22 is another I don't see the fuss about but maybe it was of it's time and had more impact in a more conservative era.

Faith, London,

I do not think Richard Wilson is a very discerning reader.

Ian, Kent, England, U.K.

This is I suppose a spoof of a kind. But it's quite a stupid one.
A number of the books on this list have helped enrich our sense of what it means to be human. They are among the greatest works of the human spirit. 'War and Peace' 'Remembrance of Things Past' ' 'Ulysses' ' The Iliad'.

Shalom Freedman, Jerusalem , Israel

I couldn't agree more about Ulysses--absolute gibberish masquerading as literature. Joyce is to writing what Jackson Pollock is to painting. I would have added something by William Faulkner.

Carl, Chicago, USA

I heartily agree with your choice of unreadable books. However Finnegan´s wake is even worse tha Ulisses. I like to add The Divine Comedy, The Bible. However, browsing throgh these books is ok.

hernan hernandez, Caracas, Venezuela

This would be funny if it were, you know, funny.

Ken, Charleston, USA

This is absolutely outrageous, all books should be read by all that care to read them.
It is narrowmindedness like yours that turns people from books to television, and undermines the education system in this country.

Kaine Brimble, Nottingham, UK

I don't agree with Dice Man, although it can be problematic, even cold, the overall concept has stuck in my mind for years, and its worth a try

Peter, warrington, england

I'm with you UNTIL "The Lord of the Rings". I've read it at least 8 times, beginning when I was 24, divorced with 4 kids to support, working at the State Hospital for the elderly and insane. Escape was crucial and I went to the Shire every chance I got. Now I'm 73 and still love that world.

Shirley Johnson, Santa Clara, USA

books are always worth to read, no matter what it's subject is.
if you dont like a book that is your personal problem, like all the people ypu know dont like you obviously. including hommer and hemingway in the list shows your mindset.but one is totaly free and at his own, for not to read anything

jitu rajgor, ahmedabad, india

Just because you're not smart enough to read a book yourself, doesn't mean you should turn other people off of them. Many of these books are cornerstones of our society. Literature is the best way to understand a society and its beliefs.

Timo, Nashville, U.S.A.

A book that tells you 101 things to not do before you die.
Think i'll decide for myself. But thanks for the effort Mr Wilson. A powerful artistic achievement.

Graham, Wicklow, Eire

LOTR is a "monstrous tome"? It's just barely 1500 pages -- and no, I've never gone to see Peter Gabriel or read Dune.

If you have trouble getting through 1500 pages, you really shouldn't be making lists on which books not to read.

Sam, NJ, USA

i'm not bad - eight out of ten. but i love ulysses, and adore proust :)

jane, paris,

How can you not like Jane Austen. The Language is intelligent and funny and who thinks of more unbulky plots which still have hooked. Tolstoy does go on a bit but the actual personal story is very good.

Imogen, Cambridge, England

He should try reading Georgette Heyer. Funnier than Jane Austen but same Genre.

Linda, abbots langley, hertfordshire

Anything by Dickens bores the pants off me. Salinger is also right up there, to anyone chained to a desk as a boy and forced to read the Catcher. Contemporary American drivel and pseudo-intellectual HUA stuff.

Shocker, Cambridge, UK

What a great idea, I have read a few on this list (or tried to) and agree whole heartedly. Also with the comments about Midnight's Children. Another for the list is John Berger's 'G' probably the most introspective, boring, nothing book I have ever read!!

Lisa, London, England

Midnights Children is ambitious but self consciously so - harder going that Proust and without anywhere near the same rewards. In the middle brow sector I have to say anything by John Irving is drivel, particularly the grossly overrated 'Prayer for Owen Meaney' .

Peter Totman, London, UK

Listen! I don't mean to be ethnocentric, but perhaps you cannot experience Hemingway in the most suitable way because you are not American. If your prototypical man isn't John Wayne and you don't feel a sense of detachment because of it, you just will never "get it."

JayBrosius, Kansas City, US

'atlas shrugged' by ayn rand. i've heard its awful.
fraser, manchester,

You've heard it's awful? Yet with no rational basis at all except from heresay, you would urge others not to read it.

I urge *everyone* to read it. And that includes you Fraser.

And you Darling/Brown.

Laura Roberts, London, UK

Anything by JG Ballard; with the possible exception of High Rise and his recent memoir, they'e all profoundly silly.

Martin Young, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK

How about anything by Sienkiewicz - Quo Vadis, By Fire and Sword, The Deluge etc. If you're Polish, the veiled allusions to their tragic history have real meaning, if you aren't, they're hundreds of pages of verbose twaddle.

Jon, Warsaw,

Or maybe the list should include The Queen's Tiara by Carl Jonas Love Almqvist., the early C 19 Swedish novel. Has anyone ever finished it? Even the dustjacket warns that it's barely readable.

Jon, Warsaw,

War and peace may be long, and the battle scenes a little dragged out but in terms of characterisation it's one of the best! And the Iliad is epic poetry, its meant to have repeated phrases (epithets etc) so it may be "repetitive" but it's also brilliant!

Maria Fallon, Tewkesbury,

Anyone who dismisses Proust's great work out of hand must be insensitive. The passage of memories coming alive through tasting a madeleine are a tiny part of a great work.
This writer seems to think that if HE doesn't like a particular book, it must be rubbish. This doesn't necessarily follow.

Harold Carlton, London,

Roger, Milan, Italy,

I absolutely agree! JK Rowling obviously has a great imagination, therefore writes fantastic plots, but in the most appalling, hard to wade through style imaginable. a rare thing imo - films that are 100 times better than the original books!

jay, london,

Magski from London, UK, to answer your questions: Yes. I got through both. Both were fantastic. Rushdie is an amazing writer.

To everyone else taking this too seriously: lighten up.

Vince(nt), Chicago,

Any chance this guy was pulling a few legs?
Are these his favourite novels and he's just stirring things?
I don't know, but doesn't satire make it difficult to discern truth from non-truth? In any case, he has people talking.

FrankCanadian, Montreal, Canada

How pompus to declare that certain books shouldn't be read when you, yourself, haven't read them. If you read a book and find it to be a waste of time, by all means spread the word. But if you haven't given it your time then your credibility is right out the window.

Debbie, Los Angeles, CA,

If you want a good book to read before you pass on, read the Dice Man, it's possibly the best book ever written and you will be die'ing for the rest of your life after that.

William Him, Deya, Majorca

American Pastoral by Philip Roth deserves a place on the list. Totally self-indulgent nonsense.

Ben, London, UK

I've read "the beauty myth", and reread it, then reread it again...
I loved that book, and to me the synopsis you gave of its contents is nothing at all like the real message it contains.
I've read most of the list and agree with many (marcel proust still gives me hives), but not this one!

Bo Miller, St Die, France

I believe pride and prejudcie was put in merely for a reaction. Might I say, you are just wrong...End of!

Jane, London,

Shouldn't all Jeffrey Archer books be on the list?

Neil, Gloucestershire, England

I'd certainly place Titus Groan on the list. Read it when I was too young to know better and when, once started, not finishing a book was a heinous crime. Come the final reckoning they will be the hours I want back.

Rod, London, UK

They talkt about this book on swedish television the other day, they concluded that one thing not to do befor you die, was to read this book. Fllv is good fun to read, this guy(and his book) obviusly isn't..

Björn Cullin, Helsingborg, Sweden

And no mention of the typist Dan Brown and especially the lamentable Da Vinci Code. To include Tolkien and Austen in your list and ignore talentless oafs like Brown, then you are seriously wrong!

Keith, France,

Very funny, very true list. Would remove P&P and add Georges Perec's LIFE: A USERS MANUAL. Great title, but ye gods it's awful. The worst kind of pretentious, meandering French cobblers with no story whatsoever. I struggled on for days, thinking I must just be thick....

Techo, Croydon, Surrey

This made me laugh. I have read several of these books and I found myself nodding in agreement at certain points. This means that I had to have read serveral of these books in order to nod in agreement. Funny.

Tommy, New York City,

It took me a couple of goes in my early teens to get Pride and Prejudice, but it was third time lucky. I've now read it a dozen or so times. It's tempting to write a version in slightly modernised English, because the now antiquated language is perhaps a barrier for some readers, though not for me

Hilary Towers, bristol, Uk

How ridiculous that this list criticises The Iliad for being repetitive. This is the nature of oral epic poetry. And a madeleine is more like a small cake than a biscuit. Has the writer of this list ever read any of the books he complains about???

Christina woodger, Cambridge,

Dude, the Illiad is freakin' great! I can't believe you're actually knocking it! Have you actually read it? Maybe you got a bad translation or something, try Robert Fagles.

kevin, Chicago,

I thought LOTR was a page turner but it did get hijacked by Led Zep et al in the 70s.
For Whom The Bell Tolls and Pride and Prejudice I have never finished. The worst book ever written though has to be Silas Marner by George Eliot - utterly boring and pointless, no wonder she went under a pseudonym

Rachel Bochenski, Chester, UK

Completely agree on the p&p front. The fact people rave about it makes you feel guilty for thinking its utter rubbish. I would also add madame bovary to the list. You just want flaubert to shut up rambling about the colour of the gate in an obscure french hamlet. Pfft.

Jenny, Sheffield, UK

hey! Will Self is a genius ( and an amusing genius at that - we don't want to be reading anything penned by a dull one.... )

can't agree with you that we can flush Pride and Prejudice down the toilet without a care.

Will Self, Jane Austen - two Literary 'Brit' peas in a pod. :)

gilly, pangbourne, UK

"Without a shadow of a doubt, in a few years, these people would be going to Peter Gabriel gigs and reading Dune. "

That is so true. I remember these people from school in the late 1970's. I think you could have added Genesis and 2001 Space Odyssey. It made me laugh.

Pieter Bruinsma, Budakalász, Hungary

Someone once wrote the following review, "Once you put this book down you'll never pick it up again!"

Ulyssess is best read piecemeal and randomly: best start at the back and work to the front. You'll get the drift.

Margo Fargo, Osaka, Japan

I tried, I really did, to read Ullysses and IIliad. I agree with those two and most of the others.

I thought Dice man & Fear and Loathing were brilliant though.

Tony, Bristol, England

Mr Wilson laddishly assumes that it is cool to be a philistine (although I do agree on at least one of his choices)

Michael Gill, London, England

This is Richard Wilson who's a chief writer on 'Have I Got News For You'.


that explains everything.

BTW - Pride & Prejudice is magnificent - second only to Persuasion - but men just don't understand Jane Austen.

Liz, London,

I would add the Dance to the Music of Time series (Anthony Powell) - a tedious ramble about inconsequential people from a fine writer who was capable of using his time rather better

RN London

Richard Nemeth, London, UK

I agree with Austen - an early Eastenders - but Homer? Get past the Catalogue of Ships in the Iliad and the rest is fantasy brilliance. As is the Odyssey.

Mike, Bristol, UK,

Dorothy Parker once wrote in a book review that "this is not a book to be tossed aside lightly. It should be thrown with great force". Unfortunately for the fantasy genre, nobody has ever managed to discard Lord of the Rings without incurring a hernia.

Lily, Glasgow, Scotland

Anything written by Will Self is an incomprehensible as Ulysses

keith wallis, hong kong,

Please Note, The Modern Library recognised Ulysses as the greatest novel of the Twentieth Century

Niall Orr, Sydney, Australia

I feel vindicated by this article. I have certainly found classics that are difficult or impossible to slog through. Lit devidces in modern lit also confound.

How can the average joe be expected to understand the machinations of the literary (or other artistic) genius that is 0.05% of the pop?

Jane Wilkinson, Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada

lord of the rings is brilliant!!

'atlas shrugged' by ayn rand. i've heard its awful.

fraser, manchester,

There are a lot of good books out there and bad ones - but how will you know the good ones if you haven't tried the bad?
A very easy to read books is: anything written before 1920 read it aloud - the sound the words make help create the images and make it much easier to follow and appreciate.

fnc, Rooty Hill, Australia

Well obviously if you only read the Iliad in the translated version you can't expect to be spellbound

Nicolas du Périer, Paris, France

Well obviously if you read only the translated version of the Iliad you're not exactly going to be spellbound

Nicolas du Périer, Paris, France

Cold Mountain should never be read. It should be burned.
I had to study it for my English Lit AS last year and everybody hated the sight of it.

Laurah, Birmingham, UK

All Charles Dickens books and Gabriel García Márquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude.

Tom bolo, Eochaill., Hibernia

I recommend that Patrick Whites "VOSS" be added to the list and the gulag archipelego( cant spell the authors name): practically unreadable expect for Noble Prize choosers who chose these books to show how intellectually superior they are to us hoi polloi.

hortense vaughan, sydney, australia

Top of the list: Jude the Obscure. No question, absolutely dire.

martyn, Calvia, spain

The world is divided into 2 groups... Ones who adore JRR.Tolkien and those who don't. It's unfortunate that you belong to the wrong group.

Subash, London, UK

This is an extract from a book that most definitely should be added to the list.

Montaigne, Shanghai,

Dear Russell from London. You must be reading the wrong Bible. Pick up a copy of any King James and witness one of the most beautiful renditions of the English language. If you do not, then take a music appreciation course and get back to it.

Eugene, heidelberg, germany

yeap..spare us the jane austen books.
just dreadful to read.

kat, Melbourne, Australia

Year ago I visited one of biggest book stores in Glasgow. All Russian literature was represented 10 or 11 editions of War and Peace by Tolstoy. There are no other russian books and authors! I suggest to read stories of Sorokin. It`s more strong!

Konstantin, Kolomna, Russia

The Koran should definitely be on the list -- at the very top. Any book with a chapter called ¨The Cow¨ should be filed under Bovine Science, not Religion.

I would also include all the silly French intellectuals, starting with Voltaire (Candide, yuck) , Sartre and Derrida.

Allen , David, Panama

The author is right: Nothing that takes effort is worth doing! Great literature my ass! This is the 21st century! We have reality T.V and video games!
So come on people: entertain us! I'm just stupid....and contagious!

napier, sanfernando,

How about Mein Kampf?

no...no... Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is much worse... as are several of the greatest novels ever written...

James Irwin, Eastbourne,

Not sure I agree with all the choices, but his reasons given are simply hilarious .!!

Duncan McGregor, St Mawes, UK

NO WAY!! Harry potter is the best!!!And the Jane Auisten books are timeless classics!

Jonas Bate, Stafford,

This is what's wrong with society, the attention span of a grass hopper. shouldn't we encourage people to read not the opposite? & as for the comments about the Koran & the Bible have a little respect people.

Reem, Jeddah,

how about kafka's "the castle"? very dificult to go through. great remedy for insomnia. but once you have gone through, the fictional terror becomes real. it can remain with you for a long time. then you realise with astonishment that much of our real life terror is eqally "unreal" !!

surajit som, new delhi, india

I agree with Russel on the Bible, I'm still wondering why this book is still addressed as a holy scriptures.
By the way, I thinh that the Iliad ,the Odyssey, and the Eneide are still worthed to be read at least in prose.

Luciano Martorana, Palermo, Italy

How about the Koran the most boring nonsensical, incondite, misogynistic, anti semitic hate filled book on the planet.

Peter Barry, Bangkok, Thailand

HEHEHE GREAT DESCRIPTIONS !!! :-)

I must say I really enjoyed some of the books described above, but some of these description are absolutely funny!!! I'm still laughing... anyway at least 3 of them are great so read them if you can !

Alessandro, Sassari, Sardinia

Surely as one of the oldest works of fiction, The Bible should be on the list. The longest most preachy condescending and boring book i was ever forced to read.

Russell, London,

seems to me that you have a short attention span & prefer sprouting against the gain of imagination.

greg, philly,

Reading and knowing are life processes; one can only make the decision about a book being worthless reading material upon reading it him/herself; Mr. Wilson is, rightfully, making a buck on all those who want a fast answer about any book without reading it.

Sue, Kearny, NJ, USA

Some books are not meant to be read on a pull, but to be enjoyed in small bouts, like a good wine. It all depends on how you define your search, the results you obtain.

Eugene, heidelberg, germany

Just as a point of order to a couple of comments, this isn't the 'Victor Meldrew' Richard Wilson. This is Richard Wilson who's a chief writer on 'Have I Got News For You'.

Paul, Belfast,

You're right about everything except Jane Austen.

She's very funny.

Robert Chandler, Beverly Hills, USA

What about Mill on the Floss? - turgidly ghastly. And pretty much most stuff by DH Lawrence - the only writer who could make rampant sex with the gardener seem boring.

Angela, Epping, Australia

LOTR is brilliant storytelling, read it three times now and still love it. If you don't like fantasy, quest and good over evil, don't bother. The others, haven't read them but would not knock them, either. Literature, like beauty, is very much in the eye of the beholder.

Antonia Woodville, Ryde, UK

10 The Da Vinci Code; and anything else by Dan Brown. Life is just too short to be so bored...
9. The Story of O: not sexy and not even funny.
8. Men Are from Mars Women are from Venus. The title should be enough.
7. Derrida, Bataille, Foucault and all the other empty old parisian narcissists.

Judet , Melbourne,

Personally The Catcher in the Rye surprised me in how tedious it was since it is almost universally praised

Ally, NSW, Australia

Anyone can say they have read all of these books, but few read from beginning to end, pretentious people like to put pretentious books on their shelves. Why not just enjoy a book rather than the title.

wendy t, yorkshire,

Encouraged to read the first Harry Potter, I found it the most puerile book I've read since primary school. Why anyone, even a child, would read another, I've absolutely no idea.

Roger, Milan, Italy

I disagree with these - they are fairly easy to read as long as you have a grasp of the English language. I'd substitute them for some Kafka, The Metamorphosis and The Trial - pointless books about a man who wakes up as a bug, and another about a trial for which the crime is never specified...

Debby, London,

I missed the point of the "Useless, glad to see you're reading the classics boy" until one late night, when on the telly, there was a '40-s or '50-s american 'film noir' the name of which escapes me with the same scenario, but with US draftees, and the kid with the copy of 'Ulysees' gets tortured

David Chorley, Wednesbury, England

Wow, so much to say about books you failed to read.

Brilliant.

/not
//didn't work in school either, did it?

Steve, Dallas, US

Agree that Ulysses and Moby Dick should be on the top. Why would you even consider reading "The Beauty Myth?" But sorry to say I have read ALL the Austen novels, War and Peace AND Lord of the Rings MULTIPLE times with great enjoyment. Austen's language is absolutely clear and delightful.

Paula Blanchette, Portland, OR, USA

What about "The Old Man and the Sea?" God, what a bore !!! However, I disagree that Hemingway himself was a bore - like somebody else said, he was a man of his time and, sorry- but today's men are wimps compared to the men of his time. As for good writers - you simply cannot beat Somerset Maugham

eileen sullivan, Atlanta, GA, USA

'The Magus' by John Fowles - the only novel I have read that made me angry. Not for what it says, but the sheer arrogance and pretention with which it is written. I only persevered in the vain hope that there would be some point to it all.

Simon, Dubai, UAE

Completely agree although the Odyssey is much better than the Iliad. I know there are too many books to put in the Top 10 but I would have definitely included "Ivanhoe", "The Betrothed", "The Leopard". Life is too short to even contemplate thinking about reading any of Jane Austen's books.

Rob Cantarero, Catania, Italy

All are eclipsed by The Labour Party Manifesto, that soporific epic of lies, deceit and falsities to which Mr Wilson periodically urged us to subscribe during the last decade. Enough to turn anyone into a grumpy old man!

Mike L, Chippenham,

I totally agree. I've read all 10 of these books because they were recommended to me. I loath all 10 of them - for all the reasons given and more!

Laura, Derbyshire, UK

great article, I was surprised & relieved to see Lord of the Rings, I thought it was me, hard hard going but fought the fight & read it, Tolkien was a great author, but the movies do the trick - thank goodness they made the films, War & Peace, although long, one of the most beautiful books I read ..

Daniela, Vienna, Austria

The "Harry Potter" series should be in this list too. Got so bored after trying each after a few pages. What a waste of time. Luckily I only borrowed them.

William, Los Angeles, CA, USA

Are you serious? Jane Austen has an incredible mastery of the English language. And the story is truly timeless

Mark, Gem City,

Mark from London, what's wrong with Raymond Chandler?


Personally, I was more wowed by Franny and Zooey than Catcher in the Rye.

Mark, Gem City,

The Sun also Rises is one of the greatest books I've ever read. Hemingway wasn't Macho unless your a metrosexual wimp. Hemingway was NORMAL. His interests were normal in a man for his period in history. Hunter Thompson was also a great writer. Maybe British and American cultures don't mix?

Huelo Littlecreek, Los Angeles, USA

to fail to enjoy James Joyce is to fail the myths and then, what's that? the works of his apprentice Samuel Beckett?

only a dimwit would be dimwitted to approach thinking ULYSSES could be a wise choice to include in this pointless list. You're wind (and I don't mean a crisp autumn breeze).

GinaB, Michigan, USA

I'm not really sure it is justified calling Jane Austen a book not to read when the author of the list admits to not having read it in the first place... Surely hearsay isn't sufficient to make such a judgement.

Charlotte, Isle of Wight, UK

I think it's important to note that articles like these are based solely on personal taste. The author here doesn't like this literature. Some of the people who posted here do. I don't like the colour green. Doesn't mean I can't write an article about why green sucks.

Arlene, Vancouver, Canada

It sounds like Wilson dislikes the books simply because he had to put effort into reading them. There's a Nietzsche quote that goes something like, "Great books are like mirrors: if an ape looks in, no angle will look out."

David Robinson, Los Angeles, USA

Please add Dostoevsky's The Brothers Karamozov to your list. This endless, twisted saga of a dysfunctional family ,can put the most serious insomniac to sleep. It is one of the few books I finally put down.

Kim Righetti, Upland, Calif. USA

funny, rarely have i felt the sensation of time having been miserably stolen away from me more than i did upon finishing this article.

oh well, at least i got that pleasant little tingle that can only be provided by almost painfully perfect irony.

Carl, Hungus,

Not as interesting, intellectual or as worth my while as I thought it would be. Seems Mr Wilson has just picked ten well-known, challenging books and listed them in no particular order for the sake of being controversial. I disagree with including Tolkien, Austen and Joyce for a start!

Tracey Smith, Dunstable, UK

It would be better had the writer actually read the books.

Please, Ulysses? Easy target, and wrong, Stephen Fry says so. It's also excellent. But please, don't read a book because you think you should. If you go in treating it like a mountain that needs overcome of course you won't enjoy it.

Steven Edmondson, Yateley, Hampshire

You're free to have your own opinions, but I have to fundamentally disagree with all of this! Most people would.

Jack White, New York,

This is a really well written list, mainly because it amuses two separate groups of people: people who love to revel in their ignorance of classic literature and people who love classic literature who see this list as being tongue-in-cheek.

I am neither.

Shalmanezzer, Salt Lake City, USA

Maybe I'll write a book called "Lots of Stuff Some Random Guy Likes and Other Stuff He Doesn't." And then everyone will think I am witty.

Spencer, Salt Lake City, USA

The fact that you put "Lord of the Rings" on your list shows your opinion is worthless.

Grok, Windsor, Canada

Well said! Cut, dry and to the point. Why is it that James Joyce, a revered literary figure who lived well into the 20th Century, always seems to appear in the same couple of smudgy, grainy, dark photos? And why does he look as though he's just been assaulted by a mascara stick? Hmmm....

Caleb, Archdale, North Carolina

Have to say I haven't read a single one. Dang, I must be doing something right!

Laurie Boris, Ulster Park, United States

any book written by a z list celeb.

dob, aldershot,

Reading Hemingway now, and after three books, I would tend to agree that his stories are vivid but not the best books I have read.

I ll not be reading Tolkien, though I might try War and Peace and one Austen novel.

Where is Dickens in this. I haven't enjoyed any of his stuff and revered it enough

Talese Amer, Londontown,

>can we please add "moby dick"?
Heeey, I'm reading that right now!!

Eszter, Budapest, Hungary

Didn't you forget Madame Bovary? The House Of Seven Gables? Dry as dust! Also Tess . . .

Tom Puckett, McLean, VA, USA

You should read the old testament, Billy. Lots of interesting stuff going on. Then in the New Testament all the turn the other cheek stuff and forgiving creeps in and then it all goes downhill, really ...

M. R., Stockport, UK

How about 'Don Quixote' in its original translation? How about the Bible translated into the Latin by Saint Jerome? How about the works of Hilaire Belloc? How about 'The Dark Night of the Soul' by St. John the Divine, again, in Castilian? Learn your Classical Latin and Spanish as well people!

Caervlevs, New York, U.S.A.

Excellently funny article; agree with all except the last. What you need for Austen is to imagine Colin Firth in every scene that has Darcy. Also, Irving in PRC: really, include Trollope in the list? The Warden and Barchester Towers are the funniest books I've ever read.

Stacy, Detroit, USA

can we please add "moby dick"? by the way, definition of a classic: a book that every one knows the plot of but hasn't actually read.

dennis kearney, lille, france

I offer 'The Vicar of Wakefield' by Oliver Goldsmith. I believe this book was responsible for the first reported case of narcolepsy.

Steve, Torrington,

I totally agree. I've read all 10 of these books because they were recommended to me. I loath all 10 of them - for all the reasons given and more!

Laura, Derbyshire, UK

People, people, do lighten up! Does no one do tongur-in-cheek any more? I know irony is against the law in the US, but really!

Archie, Thrapston, England

After seeing fear and loathing in las vegas make the list
I now under stand why the office weirdo would recommend it!

Michael Djan, Lagos,

This list gets more ridiculous the more you read on. #1 is a joke. P&P is well written with a very witty style- Austen is great at making fun of human character in every character-heroines included- Moreover, it is one of the easiest reads I can think of- I have read it at least ten times.

Shannon, Phoenix, USA

I revere Tolkien, and I hate Peter Gabriel, Dune and probably whatever else fits your silly stereotype. I dress well, attend the opera and ballet, love Dostoevsky and watch very little TV. Whatever shall you make of me?

The people to avoid are the ones with a Tom Clancy hardcover under their arm.

Elsie, Florida, USA

Well, I have read none of them.
Sorry billy, I disagree. The Bible shoud be no. 1 in the list of the books people should read.

Philip Papratilov, Sofia, Bulgaria

the LOTR series is a masterpiece. Your comment about choosing your friends based on their taste of literature is extremely shallow and I have absolutely no respect for your opinion after reading that.

Gram, Novi, MI, USA

I would add 'One Hundred Years of Solitude', where Marquez managed to be dull in a new way, and that made many people think him GREAT.

Frank Upton, Solihull,

We were never meant to read the ILIAD, we were meant to listen to it. If you read it, it's dull as dirt. If you listen to it, it's exciting, violent, funny and heartbreaking. It's my favorite book and I have never read it, I put on the CDs.

ELLEN LAKORA, HOUSTON, USA

War and Peace, The Iliad, Ulysses, Proust and The Lord of the Rings are all not worth reading? What's left?

You should be pitied for being illiterate, not paid for advertising the fact.

lexo, Dublin, Ireland

Id rather read most of these than watch Big Brother or any of its relatives, Too long? Ive read Atlas Shrugged and Dhalgren a couple of times both long and hard going even read Dice Man & The Homer books once. Lets face it when you use public transport you have a lot of spare time to kill.

am, letchworth,

Unlike many, I loved this article - Ulysses and War and Peace haunted me for years until I finally decided I was allowed not to bother! However I do love Jane Austin - but I can understand she isn't the most accessible author for men...

Valerie, Geneva , Switzerland

You left out "The Bible"

The most tedious work of fiction ever created

billy, Cardiff, Wales

Agree on all but Lord of the Rings and the Iliad - found Joyce's Ulysses and War and Peace and almost anything by Charles Dickens as well - basically unreadable.
However, if I'd read The Hobbit before reading LOTR, I would never have read the trilogy. The Hobbit is INCREDIBLY over-rated!!!

Molly Cowan, Louisville, USA

How could anyone claim that Pride and Prejudice is the greatest novel of the last century. That phase could only have applied pre-1913. Sorry to be pedantic, but really, c'mon fellow commentators, check your facts!

Tiglet, Glasgow,

I have read two on the list and have to agree with you on one of them. The one obvious missing book is Catch 22 - what in gods name is that all about. Utter rubbish.

tim murray, London,

Funny how many readers fail to realize this is a tongue-in-cheek list...

Patrick, Paris, France

What is the matter with you all!!! The Catcher in The Rye is not supposed to be exciting - being a bored and limited young person isn't exciting - J D Sallinger was just doing his job - and Hunter S Thompson was a genius! Mr Wilson - do more & carp less - take some drugs and read some books!

Jane Joyce, Bristol,

I agree with the list. I've avoided fiction completely since taking English Lit in 1995.

I'd add Annie Ernaux's "La Place" to the list: a neurotic woman yammering about class and identity and me thinking “girl, get over yourself, open a beer for your dad and tell him thanks bringing me up right".

Steve, Melbourne, Australia

Could we add Midnights Chidren to the list?

SImon, Guernsey, UK

Erm isn't LOTR a kids book? Also the Dice man was awesome!

Sharpe, Wick, Caithness

i tried to read lord of the rings once as a kid, only got maybe 200 pages into the fellowship as it got a bit boring, but the writing was the best ive ever read. when the film came out i was so shocked that the images tolkien created in my head where almost exactly the same as those in the film.

will, grimsby, uk

so which books are worth Reading? Some thrillers?

ian, scotland, uk

no fiction is worth reading, however beautifully written. if you have time on your hands, there's a lot of stuff that needs fixing. use your imagination.

jem, london, uk

Sad to see War and Peace included here for being "too long", as it's utterly wonderful. It's like saying the Bible should be shorter, or Schindlers List remade in a 30 minute cartoon. Each page of W&P is a illuminated window into a beautifully crafted detailed world, one of the finest works ever.

Roarke, Wembley, UK

v funny and mostly spot on. Dangerously wrong about The Iliad though.

Jane, London,

Spot on with LOTR, I also found it a useful benchmark for deciding who not to be friends with and you're right the Dice Man makes no sense.

sedgwick, London, UK

It's interesting that so many modern readers dismiss so easily some of the towering classics of western civilisation (Homer, Tolstoy), books which have, unquestionably, stood the test of time with countless generations of discerning readers. I have to say, too, Dickens for me is endlessly brilliant.

Richard Burdon, Nottingham,

I have to agree with Pride and Prejudice. Absolutely dire. And yes for me it was Lord of the Rings at 14 and then onto Dune. In fact 4 of the series until I came to my senses. Hemingway, for all his macho stance, killed the dreadful style of death by modifiers. And none too soon.

Derek Smith, Brighton, UK

I enjoyed The Dice Man - an excellently paced thriller! take it off the list immediately and put any Mills & Boon romance on it.

Yvonne, Doncaster, UK

I would certainly recommend both Lord of the Rings and War and Peace. Long books they may be, but they are far from boring. For my money, the world's worst-ever author is Sir Walter Scott. Avoid his works like the plague.

Peter Sykes, Pirot, Serbia

I totally agree about The Dice Man - having had it recommended by someone I considered to be of similar taste to me I was looking forward to it however, I found it awful and repetitive. The 2nd half was particularly dreadful - pure rubbish.

CN, London,

It's always hard to enjoy reading a book you've been told to read at school. You approach it differently.

Anyone who agrees with the comment about The Dice Man totally missed the point of the book. Which leads me to believe it's a reading comprehension issue the author of this article has.

Jen, York, UK

I'm worried about how few people can get through Ulysses. They really are missing out. Also, as an English degree student myself, I find it really annoying when students can't be bothered to read the books. If you can't finish anything pick a subject you enjoy or are at least capable of doing.

Ben, Leicester,

I've been trying to read the Iliad for a year now, its hard going, normally puts me to sleep on a night.

John, London,

Oh gods, Ulysses being slated again. Right at the beginning of the book one of the characters lists a number of books. If you haven't read those, you won't be able to hack it, if you have, you will be able to see Ulysses for what it is: an incredible masterpiece. It's as simple as that.

Mr Quick, Nottingham,

Pleeeease can we add Wordsworth 'The Prelude'. Abysmal. If that's the prelude I would HATE to see the main event. ARGH. I would happily have thrown myself out of the window at school to avoid it.

Nicola, Somerset,

Sorry Pride & prejudice is incredibly witty & clever with lovely sketches of the fobiles of human nature. More obvious in the book than in any of its televison or film adapations

Sam, London, England

and anything by Dickens, whose unfunny, obvious caricaturing, relentlessly tedious plots and repellent mawkish sentimentality has ruined English lessons for millions of schoolchildren for decades... I mean, just 'cos Leavis reckons he's great ..and, er, Eliot ...what do they know about literature?..

Tim, London,

No. Don't agree with any of these choices. However, I'm willing to entertain the idea that this might be one of the 10 silliest articles I've ever read.

Randy , Ormond Beach,

Now i wonder what the writer considers the books actually worth his time.

Dean, Barnet,

I don't like Hemingway but I was touched by his Old Man and the Sea. I like the Russians - hard reading but an interesting picture of thought and life. Have read W& P three times, Brothers Kara... several. Couldn't get into Lord of the Ring, etc. Disappointed. Greeks learning experience in myths.

Pat from Texas, Arlington, TX, USA

Passage to India by Em Forster should have been on there. My eyeballs bled at school

Trevor, Cambridge, UK

Of course he's just being provocative,although the pseudo-translated Spanish dialogue in For Whom the Bell Tolls drove me crazy. He could have put in any long old book, eg Don Quixote. But tell me, why would anyone be reading the Iliad in Latin instead of Greek (or English)?

John, Péault, France

Charlie - Catcher is a classic, especially if you read it as a 14 year old boy, it started my love affair with books.

Benji, Glasgow,

I normally enjoy Clive Barker but Sacrament took me a week to read 60 pages and give up, but surely the last three Harry Potter books have to take the prize - sure, they're lightweight enough to knock off quickly but what utter drivel!

edward green, Upminster,

Jenna, are you sure you and your classmates were on the right course if you found so many of the classics unreadable? What exactly would you say constitutes great literature?

J Davis, Sydney , Australia

I can't believe Salman Rushdie didn't make it onto the list. Seriously has anyone managed to get through Midnight's Children - let alone Satanic verses. And while we're on the subject how did Dickens escape?

Magski, London, UK

Started to read this article and got bored after the first five words and couldn't be bothered to finish it - life's too short. No idea what it's about and it's certainly not up to Richard Wilson's usual standard - I don't believe it!

Chris Quirke, Aylesbury,

I read two of those through choice - Lord of the Rings and For Whom The Bell Tolls, and Pride and Prejudice for English Literature 'O' Level many years ago.
I still hate Jane Austen. The literary equivalent of eating sawdust.

Richard Martin, Sheffield,

Is it me or is the Times dumbing down? Next: 10 celebs with the worst cellulite!

Tony, Islington, London, UK

You are very wrong with Iliad and with Proust, also Tolstoi. Homer is very interesting, once you accept the rules of the game. Emotions and decisions there are not modern, but very powerful. Books that are excercise in style do not age well.

Fermina, Brussels,

Don't know about The Dice Man as it is rather a good story, but where are the Harry Potter books?

Nobby Clark, Perth, the Scottish one,

You are wrong on the Illiad. Putting aside the fact that the test of time proves you wrong, this book documents the horror of war better than any book since, and is still relevant. All world leaders should be forced to read it.

Declan, London,

I still plan to have a crack at Ulysses, but you're absolutely right about the others which I have read (7 of the 10).

Gatz, Chelmsford, UK

Let's change the emphasis a bit: what books would be worth reading? Anything by Evelyn Waugh or Raymond Chandler perhaps. For arguments sake shouldn't Shakespeare be seen or performed (well) rather than read?

Mark, London, UK

It would be interesting to find out which books Richard Wilson does like. Maybe a bit of Where's Wally?

Andrew, London,

I am 72 and many of the titles listed were my reading when young. And they were not boredom. Iwould agree that a young of today cannot enjoy them. But one have to do a separation between what's the base of human intelectual development and capability of reading them in 2008

Theodor, Haifa,

Definitely Catcher in the Rye should have been on there! Utter old fashioned rubbish. Think the rest of the list is spot on. The elite push these books to make themselves look knowledgeable and intelligent. LOTR is great for bout the first third, then its boring for much of the rest.......

Charlie, Cheltenham, UK

While we all have our own opinions, I completely disagree with your fifth choice. Hunter S. Thompson was one of the greatest writers of our time. I'm more troubled by the fact that Catcher in the Rye wasn't on this list. Probably one of the most overhyped books in the history of literature.

Kurt, Laurel, Maryland

LOL. Spot on!
I had an ex-boyfriend who loved Tolkien and Hemingway and he was the most tedious man I have ever had the misfortune to be hitched to. I've always thought that Lord of the Rings fans were charmless. Hemingway is a drag. War and Peace aka "Neighbours".

Lucy, London,

The six semi-autobiographical novels of A La Recherche du Temps Perdu by Proust are absolutely worth reading... an honest, insightful portrait...revealing how WWI changed society forever, a profound expose of life's petty cruelties, snubs, social affectations, romantic trials and redemptions.

Michele G. Forman, Piedmont, California, USA

War and Peace is long....... but HILARIOUS! How could you just say 'no' to a book that picks up within the first five pages??? ;_;

Lynn, Savannah, GA, USA

Anything your literature teacher loves should be on this list. Love Shakespear when done as a theatrical production, especially the naughty bits. I went to a small town American highschool. Hated the Bard until I actually acted some out and learned what was being said

Dave, LincolnNE, USA

Haha I have to agree. I did an English degree and no one I know actually managed to get through the Hemingway, Joyce and Austen reading lists. Shocking bores. Thumbs up!

Jenna, London, UK

If I concur with anything on this list, it's that Hemmingway was a bit of a drunk and a mysoginist (and consequently a bore). However, most of these books are fairly easy to get through - it's articles like this that make sure people spend their days with their heads down the TV tube.... ~_~

Jessica, Middlebury, USA

Good to acknowledge classic works can be boring. It irritates me that great authors are deemed beyond criticism by snobs and that to express distaste is to be viewed as uncultured. I laughed a lot. Lighten up people, they're novels. PS for bonus wind-up points you should have listed The Bible.

anita, cambridge, uk

What about anything by Faulkner?

Not only was he dull and incomprehensible, but when you finally unravelled his unnecessarily lengthy prose it turned out it's just a bunch of racist tripe anyway.

Tom, Dallas, USA

So Uylsses is NOT on your list?

Claude Winborn, Dallas , Use

Phew, I haven't wasted any of my time, except I can remember bits of the Iliad in Latin from 45 years ago!!

David, Dubai, UAE

Did everyone commenting here have a sense of humour bypass? Remind me to avoid that surgeon.

Richard Wilson is like that naughty kid with a stick, poking it into the ants nest. Obviously you don't need to write a doorstopper tome like 'War & Peace' to provoke thought, emotion and action.

Carolyn, Sydney, Australia

I totally agree about Hemmingway! I tried to read For Whom the Bell Tolls and was bored silly within the first few chapters. He WAS a macho bore, but there are four books in your list that I love! Hunter S Thompson is my hero he got me interested in many other great American writers.

charlie, osaka, japan

Tolstoy utterly rocks in his short stories. I read Anna Karenina and liked it, gave up on W&P, but his shorter works are true treasures!

Juli, Chicago, USA

Disagree on Pride and Prejudice. It's one of those books I started because I thought I should read it before I died - it's actually very funny and easy to read. Agree on "Bell Tolls", try "Sun also Rises", much better. Agree on Iliad, very monotonous.

Bob, Paducah, usa

I fully agree with most of the article, books should be entertainment rather than a chore and some of the "classics" listed are just hard work - I've read about half of them, and many many other books, but War & Peace, I started, and it seemed after 50 pages they were still on the first tea party!

Ed, Livingston, Scotland

You missed Vanity Fair - now there are some hours of my life i'd like back.

Victoria, Singapore,

A book is more than just the sum of its parts. It's who you are, where you at and what you are doing in your life when you read it. However, have to agree with much of what is on this list and have to confess to having virtually every one on my book shelf.

Kathleen, Melbourne, Australia

Pride and Prejudice was clearly the soap opera of its time. Perhaps one day people will be just as misguided about Neighbours or Eastenders but a bit of fake gossip expressed in quaint outdated language is not literature. (H.S. Thompson's short obituary of Nixon was better than any of his books).

len , oxford,

Well fair enough. We wouldn't want you to be even momentarily bored in this age of continuous stimulation but give thanks that so many writers have bothered with Proust and Joyce for without them it is hard to imagine that the best literature of the 20th Century would have been written

Laurie, Sydney, Australia

Ian of Manchester -- you said it best, mate.

Many other comments here give me hope that people do still read and that they aren't intimidated by ideas and the study of literary forms, rhetorical grammar and the many other facets that shine through an erudite mind. Thank you, fellow readers!

Lina, Auckland, New Zealand

Well considering I have read and enjoyed three (Pride and Prejudice, The Iliad, and Lord of the Rings) of your ten, I would say at least from my limited perspective (having read only three), which is probably larger than yours, you are completely off-base.

Laine gebhardt, osseo, mn, United States

Swap The Illiad for Beowulf and you've got a list. Totally agree on Portrait of the Artist and practically every French and Russian novel ever written, especially Dostoevsky; all Trollope - in fact most Victorian stuff, and all those Beat Generation druggies. I find Reader's Digest helps a lot.

Irving, Hanghzhou, PRC

Please Note, The Modern Library recognised Ulysses as the greatest novel of the Twentieth Century

Niall Orr, Sydney, Australia

Well said. Ulysses? What a yawner from the pompous pen of Joyce. Hunter Thompson? The best thing that ever happened to him was when he decided to end it all. No lost there. Naomi Wolf? This is the woman who was hired to turn Al Gore into an Alpha Male. Nothing more needs to be said.

Julie, USA, USA

I was with you until you got to Pride and Prejudice. It's one of the funniest books I've ever read. I guess you either get Austen's droll humor or you don't.

Christina, Johnstown, PA, USA

Yes yes, BRAVO, it IS so radical to declare some of the greatest contributions to literature null and void. We salute you! Mother must be proud.

Ian, Manchester, UK

Thanks for the reading list! Can you do one for films and another for CD's, please?

G Davidson, Kashiwa, Japan

What? Reading The Dice Man made me reassess my life. I am now homeless.

Christopher, Cardiff, UK

If it was about films I'd agree with putting LOTR in there. The film massacred the book. As do most films of good books. As for the rest, it's horses for courses. I loved LOTR but don't expect everyone else to. If you can get something out of a book, read it, if not put it away.

David, Bathurst NSW, A

A great tongue-in-cheek list, but the questioning of the choice of options for rolling the dice in "The Dice Man" completely misses the point of that excellent book. It's all about chance, baby!

Jake Ecstein, NYC,

Hemingway was my bridge into American Literature and I'm now still on the Steinbeck and Scott F. Fitzgerald a couple of years later. Yes, 'For whom the bell tolls' is at times hard work but I challenge anyone to find the scene at the bridge or indeed the final chapter unexciting.

Geoff Fuller, Faversham, England

As an avid reader, I'd say that, for the most part, this list is right on the money, with one notable exception. I realize that list authors don't like to repeat themselves, but Joyce's Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man deserves a spot here. I have never found a more poorly-written book.

Jeremy, Greensboro, NC, USA

Take the "NOT" out of the title, and you've got yourself an actual article.

Evan, Monterey CA, USA

He sounds like the jock that figured out that most women want more in a man than the ability to bench press 300 lbs. and decided to try "that reading thing." The only insightful comment was toward "The Dice Man." The rest were as dull and stupid as the books he claims the statements represent.

Jessica, San Diego, USA

I agree with many of your selections, but choosing Lord of the Rings is utterly baffling to me. Whether you like the book or not, more people have read it willingly than the total amount of people who have read, willingly or not, the other 9 (excepting, perhaps, the Illiad.)

Jan Van Uytven, Victoria, Canada

Well, I agree with you on Hemmingway and Proust, but it is perfectly possible to read Tolkein and not spend the rest of your life in the basement playing with action figures and games requiring 20-sided dice.

Lisa, Kent, OH

I agree with Joe from Canada. Just because you're too lazy to read War and Peace and enjoy the full scope of the novel doesn't mean it's not worth reading, just that you should have a different job.

Michael, Tokyo, Japan

While I agree with most of the books on the list, I have to disagree with #5. I enjoy hunter's work, especially Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

JK Stuart, Ottawa, Canada

yeah, i agree with most of this list. most of these supposed "great works of literature" kinda suck. they're long, they're boring, and i just can't relate to them.

lord of the rings is pretty much about some people going out and walking, and fear and loathing is about getting entirely too messed up

jerf, butt,

Who said Price and Prejudice was the best novel of the last century? Nobody worth talking to I've ever met/read.

So it seems that difficult/long = not worthwhile on this list... That is a shame, because books are not just called great for no reason. Someone should fire your English teacher.

Clare, Ohio, USA

This is... a joke, right?

Seriously?

Jon, Huntsville, AL, US

Wow, I actually think I'm greatly offended by this list. And if anything it seems like you are being your own snob. I've read most of these books and they are great to have in your repertoire. I suggest you read all of them. And Ulysses isn't that hard to get through People are just scared of it.

Courtney, Toronto, ON, Canada

Really? Hemmingway a bore? Are bullfighting, guns, hunting and war boring to you? This was one man that was actually interesting.

Luke Burton, Cincinnati, USA

Amen!

Erik Brandt, St. Paul, USA

Anyone who avoids a book because it is too long should stick to T.V.

Jeo, Markham, Canada

As a journalist I would think you would be into some of these peoples writings. They can be long and repetitive, however, there is a lot to be learned from all of the books you tore apart. Yes, even Thompson's.

James, Hays, United States

You're wring about numbers 5, 3, and 2. But how #1 ever got to be proclaimed the best novel of the last century shows that critics merely practice snobbery.

Dan, Westboro MA, USA