James Joyce and Cystitis

So, apparently, two out of three Britons have lied about reading books they have not.

Top of the lie list is 1984 by George Orwell. In second place, War and Peace by Leo Toystory. In third, James Joyce's Ulysses.

I am sure I have pretended to have read books that I've never even touched. I remember once chatting up a girl by telling her I'd read Understanding Cystitis from cover-to-cover. I believe I once caught my fellow amnesiac doing exactly the same thing.

However, in my defence, I am also quick to admit to having failed in my efforts to read certain books. I have no shame confessing that I have tried on four separate occassions to read Ulysses, and have never made it further than half way through the damn thing. I honestly think the book is unreadable. My old man claims that it's his favourite book of all time, and I just know he is lying.

Then again, he always did pretty well with the chicks. So maybe pretending to understand James Joyce is sexier than pretending to have understood cystitis.

Just a thought.