#bookadayuk June 12th I pretend to have read it.

I thought about this one (these topics are tricky) and thought, I don't lie about having read a book, if I've not read it I admit to it ....... then it dawned on me.... there is 1 book I have pretended to read .... Captain Corelli's Mandolin by Louis de Bernières.   Apologies now to Nora my old A-Level English Lit tutor and I hate to burst your bubble but I don't think 1 person in my class actually read this set text.

It was a sunny summer if I recall - it was bad enough being sat in an English lesson discussing the book without spending time reading it outside.

I did pick it up, I did kinda skim read it for important words and sentences.... but more often then not .... I read the York Notes.




You see I am one of those people who if I can't pronounce names in a text it puts me off completely and I spend more time trying to pronounce the name then actually paying attention to what the book says.

I don't CARE if Pelagia is pronounced "pel-a-GEE-ah"  or "pel-large-e-a" or flipping "pel-eg-e-a" .... I am pretty sure she became "Penny".

Same goes for Dr Iannis - "I-an-i-s", "Yan-is" ...

I just didn't care at 16 about war and soldiers, I had never visited a Greek Island so trying to picture it was really difficult.

I couldn't tell you any more about the book than that.  Years after leaving college I saw it in a book shop and bought it, swearing to myself I WOULD read it, this text that SOO many people enjoy and is probably a great literary classic ... except it sat in my bookcase gathering dust until one day when my mum came round....   "oh Captain Corelli's Mandolin .... I've heard good reports of that, is it good?"  "yes mum it's brilliant.... here have it"..... and it was gone ....... never to be seen again.

I bought the tapes (yes tapes!) of the audio book - but I'm not sure I ever listened to them.

I did sit down to watch the film so at least I could lie honestly about having 'read' the book - but sadly I was as enthralled by that as I was the text and I think I fell asleep.

In fact now I've thought of that book it reminds me of another one we lied our way through in English Literature A-Level ......... "Paradise Lost" .....


.......... thinking about it perhaps this is why I got an E in my English Lit A-Level.......