What is a popular book that everyone buys but nobody reads?

The Bible

The bible

The dictionary

The Silmarillon - the yellow pages of middle earth

Atlas Shrugged.

It's a massive paperback and looks impressive on a bookshelf but it's a dull narrative. I got about 200 pages in and was like fuck all these people and these stupid trains.

I can't name very many people that have finished the whole dictionary

Anything by Ayn Rand. She’s a terrible author and most people are more interested in showing that they could have read The Fountainhead than actually reading that unfun, meandering garbage.

Literally 1984

The Bible

For Christians, there's one called The Bible.

Not as relevant as it used to be regarding this question, but...

War and Peace

A Brief History of Time - a fair number of people do read it but there's a pretty big chunk of people that just want bookshelf clout.

Definitely the bible for most christians.

Non christians, probably To Kill a Mockingbird.

Infinite Jest

I need to go back and finish Gödel, Escher, Bach

Dictionaries or lexicons. Who reads those from start to finish?

Sometimes I buy physical copies of books I've read digitally.

I came to answer "the Bible", but it seems that was already taken. Multiple times.

It would seem that the people complaining about Christians not studying their scripture, commented without reading the comments ... that's somehow very meta

I suspect not many people go and buy religions texts. Most people seem to get them for free or as a gift, so I'll skip that.

Dictionaries and reference books like encyclopædia don't get read much, but that feels like cheating, because that's not really what they are for.

I'd guess something from classic children's literature? I bet a lot of adults have never read Robinson Crusoe but buy it for kids. Or they pass on the copy that someone bought them as kids, that they never read. As a kid I managed to get through some classic literature, but I'd sometimes encounter one that was actually less interesting than just... doing nothing and waiting for time to pass.

As an aside, I don't think there's anything wrong with having books around that you haven't read! It seems most of the value of a library is in the books you haven't read yet. Or refer to, without fully reading, to inspire you as you need. Or even just have because you think they are interesting or contain ideas of value, and hope to get to someday. The books I've actually read just get shoved in boxes somewhere dark and dusty. On my shelves or on display are all the things I haven't gotten to yet!

Most of friedrich nietzsche's books

I got a really good one that I've seen everywhere but most people read summaries of it at best.

How To Win Friends and Influence People

Why exactly would you buy a book and not read it ?

I don't remember having bought even a single copy but somehow I have 5 copies of Catcher in the Rye, and I've never I've read it.

1984

If you're Gen X, the entire three fucking ton collection of whatever encyclopedia itanica set out there and fifty time life books about random shit with pictures. Maybe sex by Madonna.

My parents, and those before them loved to appear as if they could ready but only really recognized the logos of gas stations and liquor bottles.

1984

Fahrenheit 451

The Wheel of Time: Eye of the World

Not for a lack of trying

I think no one has read Manufacturing Consent beyond the first chapter.

Atlas Shrugged.

Atlas Shrugged

Gravity's rainbow

A lot of hipsters have Bukowski or Hunter Thompson on their shelves that they haven't read. They place them strategically on the corner of their $8,000 coffee table or bookshelf.

Among my friend group it's House of Leaves.

"Wow, it's such an eerie unsettling journey. I really love it." "you started it last year, did you finish it?" "well ..."

I saw another lemmy user claim they had to take a 17 year break from it.

Probably meditations or some popular philosophy book.

For certain sets of people:

Das Capital by Marx

A Critique of Pure Reason by Kant

Ulysses by James Joyce

Faust. It's a pain in the ass to actually read. You're better off watching a play.

harry potter mabye