Laura's comments
(member since Oct 06, 2008)
Laura's comments from the 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die group.
(showing 1-20 of 44)
Congratulations, Gaston.
Stephanie, is that the book the movie is based on? I just saw the film last night and really enjoyed it.
I've been on a SciFi kick lately and read Ender's Game, Neuromancer, and Oryx and Crake by Atwood. All them worth their salt, although in different ways. I'm currently reading one of the most impressively written SciFi works I've seen: Perdido Street Station by Mieville. It's very bleak and very dismal, but his writing is superb and I'm very much drawn in at the moment.
That would be my estimation, jzhunagev. Never been able to take him seriously.
No 2666 for me yet, but I know some folks who have and I did read Savage Detectives not long ago. From what I've heard, it's far less dry than Detectives and positively stunning throughout. I really need to get my hands on a copy. Let us know how it works out.
198. Feel like I've got a pretty good momentum going.
There's a special place in my heart for Vonnegut. I got all choked up in a pub bathroom right after he died because someone had graffitied "So it goes" with his birth and death dates underneath it. I read pretty much all of his books between the ages of fifteen and eighteen and have read several of them twice. I don't know if I agree that the voice is similar to Haddon's overall simple because Vonnegut is always sparse in his language, but far more tongue and cheek than Haddon. Plus, I think it may be more that the narrator is autistic that necessitates the economy of language. Heather, I think that if you're looking for Vonnegut that stylistically sets itself apart from the others, try Jailbird. It is a lot more serious than most of his works and I think he works hard at beautifying the language more than he does in other books. It just feels different.
Happy reading, Kara. Don Quixote is one of my favorite books. In spite of its silliness, it still manages to move me every time I pick it up.
I stumbled across Epitaph for a Small Winner about a year ago and was impressed. I haven't read any of his other works. Anybody read that one? How does it stack up to his other works?
Jan 08, 2009 10:16AM
I couldn't agree more about Coelho. I loathed The Alchemist. I mean, really, really hated it. He has no business being on the list. However, I think Shakespeare didn't make the list because his works are plays and poems and the list is more focused on novels. Just a thought.I don't know if there's anything on the list I won't read (though The Devil and Miss Prym is certainly in the running) but I'm not looking forward to Name of the Rose because I've watched so many people take four months to read the damn thing.
Thinker, get a companion book or guide. The language isn't really meant to be intelligible to those not native to Dublin. I've read it, but in order to get any sense out of it, I was constantly referring to the companion. I can't remember which one I used, otherwise I'd recommend it. Good luck!
Margaret, what did you think of The Body Artist? I just finished DeLillo's The Names and I still don't really know what to think of it. I've been told I started with the wrong one but it still had its qualities.
Contrary to common opinion, I found it a lot more approachable thanV. It still took me about four months to get through it. I always enjoyed it while I was actually reading it, but it's just so hard to pick back up once you put it down. Damned daunting book. I think you've done well to pick it up in the dreary winter months.
Good Luck to you Gaston. That book is quite the beautiful beast.
Phew. I'm so glad. It makes sense that Autumn is heady because of its form, but I really think there's a Marquez for everyone and I was prepared to badger you until you found yours. His writing is just so evocative and beautiful that I hate to see someone miss out. :)
I would argue that while Harry Potter had an influence, it wasn't a literary one. As far as the form goes, it contributes very little. One of the reasons it has had such power in popular culture because it employs classic archetypes - not because it's inventing a new structure, concept, style, etc. It does what it does quite well, but it's nothing new. I think it could be left out of the list and a reader wouldn't be missing some important aspect of the evolution of the novel. I think the key phrase here is 'seminal work key to understanding and appreciating the written word'.
It certainly was a lot more rewarding the second time around. Give it a couple years and maybe give it another go. It really is worth it. Or go for a different Marquez work. He has a novella called Chronicle of a Death Foretold that is short and very straightforward and a wealth of short stories, my favorites of which are The Incredibly Old Man with Enormous Wings and The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World.
I love Autumn of the Patriarch and was daunted at first by the structure, but once I grew accustomed to it, it no longer bothered me. Of course, I have spent a lot of time reading and analyzing Marquez, so I probably don't count. It certainly helps to create your own sense of rhythm so that you don't end up getting lost in those enormous sentences.
Wow. This was stupid hard. You get eleven. Best I could do...1. Nightwood
2. Journey to the End of the Night
3. Crime and Punishment
4. Thousand and One Nights
5. Don Quixote
6. The Master & Margarita
7. Invisible Cities
8. Love Medicine
9. The Watchmen
10. Blood Meridian
11. One Hundred Years of Solitude
Had to leave off ten others. You get those, too, because it just wouldn't be right not to mention them. Rules were made to be broken.
12.Sexing the Cherry
13. Hitchhiker's Guide
14. Labyrinths
15. Catch 22
16. Titus Groan
17. The Sun Also Rises
18. Sherlock Holmes
19. Picture of Dorian Gray
20. Great Expectations
21. Count of Monte Cristo
Fascinating, Carl. But what book did you just finish? That's what we're talking about here.I just finished Cormac McCarthy's The Orchard Keeper and Delillo's The Names. Both great. The ideas about language in The Names were very thought provoking and I've yet to construct a complete picture of how parts of the book fit with other parts of the book. A very challenging read.
1001 Books You Must Read B...
