Sean’s Comments (group member since Jan 30, 2019)

Sean’s comments from the Boxall's 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die group.

Gentlemen Prefer Blondes by Anita Loos

We have a bit of a mystery on our hands. Is this book on the LIST or isn't it?

Karen found it in her 2012 edition.

I did a "look inside" of the (supposedly) 2018 paperback version (Life of Pi on the cover) and found it was listed... but The Goldfinch was not listed... so something is amiss with that "look inside"

Then I did a "look inside" of a 2012 paperback book (Memoirs of a Geisha on the cover) and it was not listed. Definilty the 2012 version since There but for the was listed and it was only on the 2012 list.

This book is not shown on the LIST in very many places but there are a couple online listings that include it.

EDIT: I think the 2018 above is actually a 2012 "look inside" because Mother's Milk is not listed and it was dropped after 2010. Plus, There but for the is listed again. This makes the mystery even deeper. Looks like we have two different 2012 editions one with Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and one without.

So here's the challenge. If you have a physical copy of Boxall's 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die, please open it up and tell us if this book is listed. Please tell us what edition you have also.

Maddy wrote: "A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway. Oh, my aching heart..."

Right? I know!

Dispatches by Michael Herr. I've read books on war. I've read books on the Vietnam War. But this book really gave me perspective on the feelings of the war. It was intense. And the feelings all involved felt like the focus of this work.

It's time to begin The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin

Welcome Marie. The LIST is a great place to find classics from many genres and places. Feel free to join in the group reads, and we are here if you have any questions or ideas

Published in full form when I was 6 years old. Dispatches by Michael Herr.

Started Dispatches by Michael Herr

Still not sure if it's my 4th or 5th read... but I finished To Kill a Mockingbird.

My initial thoughts on the book was that it was very dark. The bones in the corner, the flaming bird, the obeah, the stormy island weather, they mysterious ruins in the forest. I did read Jane Eyre. And in the end when we meet Bertha I felt that Jane Eyre had the same dark feeling.

I hit on a couple of things that Ben said. I agree that it was a plausible origin story for Bertha... but... Bertha? did they ever explain why he started calling her that? It's quite a stretch from Antionette. Also, Ben, I liked the way you recognized your own prejudice. When reading Jane Eyre I also did not even consider things from Bertha's point of view. She was just an obstacle. I never considered why she might have gone crazy.

So my big question throughout the book was: Was there any indication in the actual story that this was Mr. Rochester from Jane Eyre? He was never called by that name. He was never called by any name. Are there more indications besides the (view spoiler)[ dream of setting fire to the (again unnamed) Thornfield Hall? I mean that could have been any mansion in any other part of England set to flames by any other mad woman. (hide spoiler)] was that enough to make the connection or was there more? Or was it just always known that this was the book's intent? Had I gone into it blind, I would not have made that connection unless perhaps I had read Jane Eyre immediately previously... even then... I might have noticed the similarity but not drawn a definite connection.

EDIT: I went back and read the summary of Jane Eyre. I forgot so much of it. Grace Poole was in it. Mr. Mason was in it. I guess it would have been more obvious than I thought, had I remembered the whole story. But still... couldn't she have just NAMED MR. ROCHESTER????

Overall it was an enjoyable book that was also a quick read. Very emotional but very dark.

Jennifer W wrote: "Sean,I wish you all the luck with Magic Mountain, and may you enjoy it more than I did!"

Ha! Thanks. I definitely have seen mixed feelings on this book. But so far it's not so bad. First three chapters anyway.

Armin wrote: "I don't understand the hype about this book.
The storytelling is a bit confusing and out of structure and after every story I feel that I've been robbed of the time that I invested in the story, w..."

I don't think you are missing much. Perhaps the deeper meaning that we all (Boxall crew excluded) missed. But certainly not the hype.

I don't think there was much hype outside the awards circuit. It's hard to find in a library.... wikipedia has no entry for it... it's appeared on less than 25 Listchallenges lists... It wasn't made into a movie/streaming series... all this points to little hype.

After spending 9 days on the beach I managed to finish a few books.

Sometimes a Great Notion by Ken Kesey
Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys
and Reasons to Live by Amy Hempel

I also finished a non-LIST book, The Invisible Life of Addie Lerue

Local book club member picked To Kill a Mockingbird. So I will begin my 4th or 5th reading. I'm not mad at it. Still a great book.

I also started The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann.

Hi Newar.

I see you are moving right along. However, this challenge is meant to be completed with books from Boxall's 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die I don't think any of your books (so far) qualify. Check the discussions for multiple places to find the list if you don't have a copy.

Donzo!

Finished my challenge! Woot!

J - Jamaica - Wide Sargasso Sea - 7/29/21

I normally like short stories. I was getting into the first one when it suddenly ended and left me wondering, "what? why?" As I read along I saw the line of seemingly meaningless stories. But the further I read I did see the theme. A lot about death and disaster. A lot of characters trying to have an effect on life by doing the small things but not really succeeding in a world where earthquakes can make a much larger effect in a much shorter time.

I really enjoyed "When It's Human, Instead of When It's Dog." I see that many people did. It probably had more of what most of us look for in a complete story.

Overall it left me with a bit of, "Meh..."

James wrote: "Sean wrote: "I've been waiting a long time to say this:

Yesterday I finished In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust."

CONGRATULATIONS!! As good a book as it is, it i...Which edition did you read and what did you think of it?..."

It may not be conventional, but since I had to depend on three different libraries to get them all, I read different translations. I started with the C.K. Scott Moncrieff translation, then switched to the James Grieve translation, then over to the Mark Treharne translation, and finished up with the Andreas Mayor translation.

I can't really comment on the translations. I read other books in-between most volumes so I didn't really even think to compare them. It's funny to think about it now. I definitely liked some volumes more than others, and now I wonder if that had anything to do with it. I can see now that my favorites were the ones I read with the James Grieve as translator. Could be coincidence though.

Overall it was good. I enjoyed it. I do remember somebody else leaving a brief comment along these lines when they finished it and this is exactly how I feel about it: I'm going to miss this set of characters I've gotten to know so well and spent so much time with.

Update

V - Venice - In Search of Lost Time - 07/18/21

I had planned to use this for the LGBT book, but one of our upcoming group reads will fill that better. So I used:

In Search of Lost Time for this category.

Since there are 12 of these I wanted to try to get one each month. June didn't really work out, but since I have actually been reading this since November, on and off, and consistently through June, I used it for June even though I finished it in July.