Boxall's 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die discussion
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Which LIST book did you just start?
Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami
Gayle wrote: "I’m starting The House of Mirth, Edith Wharton"Loved that one. Hope you enjoy it!
I just started A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf.
Fun fact, in Kafka on the Shore a character reads The Arabian Nights. Andi wrote: "Gayle wrote: "I’m starting The House of Mirth, Edith Wharton"
Loved that one. Hope you enjoy it!
I just started A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf."
A Room of One's Own is not on the list.
I just started Rebecca and found out du Maurier seems to have plagiarized it.
Nocturnalux wrote: "Fun fact, in Kafka on the Shore a character reads The Arabian Nights. Andi wrote: "Gayle wrote: "I’m starting The House of Mirth, Edith Wharton"
Loved that one. Hope you enjoy it!
I just starte..."
Du Maurier plagiarized "Rebecca"?! Any more info on that?
Sid_rw wrote: "Du Maurier plagiarized "Rebecca"?! Any more info on that?"This seems to have been fairly widely known but I had never heard of it until very recently: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carolin...
I started The Sorrows of Young Werther by Goethe
To double down on the plagiarism story, according to Wikipedia, Victoria Holt was thought to have borrowed so heavily from the themes in Rebecca when she wrote Mistress of Mellyn (which kicked off the Gothic Romance boom), it was thought it might be a pseudonym for du Maurier. It is a pseudonym, but for Eleanor Hibbert
Nocturnalux wrote: "Sid_rw wrote: "Du Maurier plagiarized "Rebecca"?! Any more info on that?"This seems to have been fairly widely known but I had never heard of it until very recently: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki..."
I had no idea of this and "Rebecca" has long been one of my favourite books. I wonder if this controversy's mentioned in Boxall's book at all. I'd love to read a translation of the book it's alleged to have been plagiarised from.
The Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad. I'm listening this one. I tried to read this once but it's definitely easier to listen Conrad than to read him.
Sid_rw wrote: "Nocturnalux wrote: "Sid_rw wrote: "Du Maurier plagiarized "Rebecca"?! Any more info on that?"This seems to have been fairly widely known but I had never heard of it until very recently: https://e..."
I'll be reading Nabuco's book in the original once I manage to get my hands on it, there was a copy in the library but got 'disappeared' and the others seem somewhat hard to come by.
Nocturnalux wrote: "Sid_rw wrote: "Nocturnalux wrote: "Sid_rw wrote: "Du Maurier plagiarized "Rebecca"?! Any more info on that?"This seems to have been fairly widely known but I had never heard of it until very rece..."
I wonder if the internet archive might have a copy if it's currently out of print?
You'd have to look it up. I can't imagine it'll have the original text and I'm not about to read a translation, given Portuguese is my native language. There is an English translation floating about done by the author, the one that apparently got du Maurier acquainted with the story in the first place, but I have no idea how accurate it is and I suspect it will not be easily available either.
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This seems to have been fairly widely known but I had never heard of it until very recently: https://e..."
The Boxall review only mentions the similarities of Rebecca to Jane Eyre. It also comments on how often the book has been adapted, serialized, filmed, staged, and copied.
I wonder if Du Maurier ever commented on it
Blood and Guts in Highschool. The beginning is disturbing...
Karen wrote: "Sid_rw wrote: "Nocturnalux wrote: "Sid_rw wrote: "Du Maurier plagiarized "Rebecca"?! Any more info on that?"This seems to have been fairly widely known but I had never heard of it until very rece..."
If Boxall and his contributors don't mention it, I wonder if it was not regarded as a strong claim by academics who have looked into it? I'm pretty sure they make a link between "1984" and "We". I did try reading "We" but found it so weak I couldn't finish it.
Diane wrote: "Started The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe."I'm in the middle of that. Going to continue today.
Nocturnalux wrote: "A Room of One's Own is not on the list."Shoot! Of all of Woolf's books, I pick the one that's not on the list... Thanks for pointing it out.
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Shoot! Of all of Woolf's books, I pick the one that's not on the list... Thanks for pointing it out."
I did the same thing. It's my favorite Woolf book, by the way.
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I read it last year and thought it was pretty good.
George P. wrote: "Mia wrote: "The Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad. I'm listening this one. I tried to read this once but it's definitely easier to listen Conrad than to read him."I read it..."
It was ok, didn't like it as much as Heart of darkness but it was better than Lord Jim.
I started Sons and Lovers by D.H. Lawrence today. My first book from him.
Looks like I forgot to add this one last week, so I have started TIRANT LO BLANC. LAS AVENTURAS DE TIRANTE EL BLANCO TRADUCIDAS AL ESPAÑOL: Probablemente el mejor libro del mundo by Joanot Martorell and Marti Joan de Galba (English translation)
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LOL! I was going to commend you on such a fast reading of Tirant. It took me a couple of months. A week is impressive!
Karen wrote: "Carol wrote: "Looks like I forgot to add this one last week, so I have started [book:TIRANT LO BLANC. LAS AVENTURAS DE TIRANTE EL BLANCO TRADUCIDAS AL ESPAÑOL: Probablemente el mejor libro del mund..."If I like a book, I can read it pretty quickly. And this was a fairly modern translation. But I'm having to force myself to read Don Quixote one chapter a day. I don't think I'll EVER finish it! LOL
Sid_rw wrote: "Karen wrote: "Sid_rw wrote: "Nocturnalux wrote: "Sid_rw wrote: "Du Maurier plagiarized "Rebecca"?! Any more info on that?"This seems to have been fairly widely known but I had never heard of it u..."
Given that it seems the case nearly went to court, there is might very well be something to it.
As far as I know, Boxall and co. only read in English so they would be limited to the fairly hard to get translation. That may very well play a role in all this, they may not even have ready access to the translation. Brazilians who have read both texts- the Portuguese one along with Rebecca- seem convinced that du Maurier even lifted entire dialogue exchanges (so it's not a case of mere influence , if this is true).
Also, it might be worth mentioning that du Maurier has been accused of plagiarizing by at least another author, namely Frank Baker: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daphne_...
Meanwhile, I just started Like Life by Lorrie Moore.
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I used the new translation by Edith Grossman and found it very readable. I also enjoyed the introduction by Harold Bloom. It was very informative.
I tend to do all the really long books slowly -- about 30 minutes or a chapter a day (depending on the length of the chapter).
Boxall's 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die
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I'm also (slowly) working on the 1001 Nights! I'm reading the 16 volume edition on Project Gutenberg, though. I'm enjoying the stories, but might be at it for a while!