History Main / GeniusBookClub

* While most of the books Klaus has read in ''ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents'' are made-up nonfiction with titles like ''What Happens to Wet Metal'', he's also a fan of Herman Melville and Leo Tolstoy. The villains invert this trope (and massively subvert DumbIsGood) by being cultural philistines.

* In ''{{Bone}}'', Fone Bone is a great fan of ''MobyDick'' - the author's own favorite book. It's a running gag that every other character finds it extremely boring and dry.

* Bella of ''{{Twilight}}'' rereads ''WutheringHeights'' "for fun", [[ShootTheShaggyDog something not many people do]].

* Lorelei, villain Ross Webster's assistant and girlfriend in ''{{Superman}} III'', appears to be a standard DumbBlonde. However, while alone she reads Immanuel Kant's ''Critique of Pure Reason'' and disputes one of its arguments, thus showing [[ObfuscatingStupidity her stupidity is a facade]] she puts on to manipulate others.

* In Ruth Rendell's novel ''{{Gallowglass}}'' ([[AdaptationDecay not in the TV adaptation]]), Sandor reads Solzhenitsyn's ''Cancer Ward,'' which shows how educated and smart he is, unlike the uneducated and below-average-intelligence Joe. (Maybe it's also to give him complexity, since Sandor seems to be borderline [[HeroicSociopath sociopathic]].)

* Subverted in ''FatherTed'': Ted leaves several novels - ''WarAndPeace, Literature/CrimeAndPunishment'', etc. - on the table to impress a writer who has come to stay. Dougal says to him, "Ah, you're throwing out the ones you couldn't get through?"

* The Beast of ''Comicbook/{{X-Men}}'' is often seen going through these, though its a case of DependingOnTheWriter how deep [[SmallReferencePools the reference pool goes]]. Usually Claremont was good at showing him reading obscure, if appropriately deep, works.

* In a humorous story by WoodyAllen, the narrator shows off how smart he is by bragging that he read ''FinnegansWake'' on a roller coaster at Coney Island.

* In a humorous story by Woody Allen, the narrator shows off how smart he is by bragging that he read ''FinnegansWake'' on a roller coaster at Coney Island.

A case of TruthInTelevision - people do, in fact, read books like this for the sole purpose of trying to appear intelligent[[hottip:* : On the other hand, some of [[GentlemanAndAScholar us]] just like to read large and extremely old books which just happen to be associated with intelligence due to stereotype. [[EccentricAndProudOfIt But I don't mind that.]] ]].

* The live action ''DeathNote'' film has a scene with [[NietzscheWannabe Light]] [[IncrediblyLamePun reading]] ''Thus Sprake Zarathustra''.

* Shakespeare, Poe, Washington Irving et al. frequently have guest spots in the QuipToBlack. Clearly, [[{{CSI}} Grissom]] is a fan of the more popular, accessible classics, which he presumably read when he was 12 and actually had spare time.
* Tony Stonem in ''{{Skins}}'' is somewhat a bit of a literature and philosophy fan, being seen reading Nietzsche and Rand on separate occasions, the latter being when he's still recovering from a brain injury.

* In a recent {{Numb3rs}} Charlie Eppes is show packing a copy of [[LawrenceOfArabia ''Seven Pillars Of Wisdom'']] to read while teaching at Cambridge.

* Averted by Spencer Gilman in ''{{lonelygirl15}}'', who is a fan of Henry Kuttner.

-->"Moby ''what?!''"

** Later on, Tosaka, of all people, [[http://www.mangafox.com/manga/mahou_sensei_negima/c245/5.html is seen reading]] the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Baudelaire Walter Benjamin translation of Charles Baudelaire.]]

For bonus points, an Omniglot can read it in the original language. The more obscure the original, the more points; Sanskrit is ideal.

->''she saw in him the "'Agape'–so rare to find –of which she had read and admired the meaning in her Greek Testament; having, from her great facility in learning languages, read the Scriptures in their original tongues." Of course! Greek and Hebrew are mere play to a heroine; Sanscrit is no more than abc to her; and she can talk with perfect correctness in any language except English.''

A case of TruthInTelevision - people do, in fact, read books like this for the sole purpose of trying to appear intelligent.

* In the first episode of ''YuGiOh'', Kaiba is seen reading Nietzsche's ''Also Sprach Zarathustra'' ([[{{Macekre}} at least in the original japanese]]).

* At first Onslow in ''KeepingUpAppearances'' appears to be an typical out of work slob, implying he's unintelligent. However he reads complicated Physics books in bed, so he's is an intelligent out of work slob.

* Given an impressive DoubleSubversion in ''{{Doug}}''. In "Doug's Brainy Buddy", it is revealed that Skeeter managed to get a perfect score on an intelligence test. Doug, skeptical that his ditzy friend could really be a genius, goes to Skeeter's house and says that geniuses, among other things, "read lots of books!" Skeeter objects, pointing out his library. Doug counters that these aren't real books (they're elementary and middle school humor pieces), until running into Immanuel Kant's ''A Critique of Pure Reason''. Skeeter proceeds to make Doug dizzy and ''fall down'' with his complex (if accurate) explanation of why Kant is so interesting.