Boxall's 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die discussion
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Which LIST book did you just finish?
Sean wrote: "Vikki wrote: "Sean wrote: "well well, Vikki...Just finished Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le Carré."
Was it a good read? Did you like it?"
I did like it...."
The Spy was the same way. I was really upset though at the end. It didn't turn out the way I thought it would. And I never saw the movie so that was a big surprise.
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Diane, what did you think of this?"
I enjoyed it. I like her style of writing. This is the first book I have read by her and it won't be the last.
Diane wrote: "Maggie wrote: "Diane wrote: "Summer Will Show by Sylvia Townsend Warner."Diane, what did you think of this?"
I enjoyed it. I like her style of writing. This is the f..."
Thanks. I’ll add it to my TBR.
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That's by far my favorite of his. I don't care for a lot of his other works. This one is a lot more semi-autobiographical.
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You're probably ready for something completely different now!
George P. wrote: "Ellinor wrote: "This week I finished Schindler's List by Thomas Keneally and Survival in Auschwitz by Primo Levi."You're probably ready for s..."
I suggest Wodehouse
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You're probably ready for s..."
I suggest The Year of the Hare by Arto Paasilinna!
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Karen wrote: "Finished Remembrance of Things Past (or In Search of Lost Time): Volume 7, Time Regained by Marcel Proust a few days ago. So that concludes Remembrance of Things Past (7 volumes, 4,..."Congratulations on finishing, Karen! Such an accomplishment, and it’ll be nice to have something positive to associate with the pandemic. I’ve always been apprehensive about reading Remembrance of Things Past but perhaps I should tackle it the way you did, a little each day over a long period of time.
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I've had the books for over 10 years and was totally intimidated about reading the series. But don't be afaid of Proust; he is a lot easier than you realize. What helped was reading it on my Nook -- it wasn't quite as overwhelming as the hardback and I averaged between 10 to 15 pages a day.
Karen wrote: "Maggie wrote: "Karen wrote: "Finished Remembrance of Things Past (or In Search of Lost Time): Volume 7, Time Regained by Marcel Proust a few days ago. So that concludes Remembrance ..."I started reading it in high school and by the time I finished I was halfway through college.
I’ve been reading it for 20 years and won’t finish until next year but it has been well worth the long lazy read band i look forward to starting all over again.
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That's super awesome. I plan to start that in the next couple weeks.
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That's amazing! Years ago I read part of Volume 1, Un amour de Swann, which was also published separately. I enjoyed it much more than I expected and am planning to read the rest (and again this book) soon.
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You're probably ready for s..."
I definitely am. I've read both the Wodehouse and the Paasilinna on the list. I just started The Lusiads. It's an epic poem published more than 400 years ago and definitely doesn't have the holocaust in it.
But I'm also in the middle of Suite Française which is set in WWII too but at least not in a concentration camp.
Ellinor wrote: "I just started The Lusiads. It's an epic poem published more than 400 years ago and definitely doesn't have the holocaust in it.."No, but it is intensely racist and very much a perfect form of pro-colonialization propaganda. And I'm a Portuguese citizen myself, I've read it many times and formally studied at three different points across my schooling- much of it is wonderful but the way it is irrevocably a project of national superiority and imperial expansion will forever leave a very bad taste in my mouth. It pains me to say this of what remains a beloved text to myself and so many of my country people but it cannot be denied: take a shot every time it goes off against 'the moors' and will not make it long until alcoholic coma claims you.
And while it does not have the Holocaust, it might be worth mentioning it was produced around the same the author's beloved country was burning Jews at the stake. Camões, as far as I know, never expressed any views on Jewish people but if he had I am quite sure they would be on the genocidal side of it.
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No, but it is intensely racist and very much a pe..."
Yes I noticed it's quite racist and how often it mentions "the enemy" = "the moors".
I clearly must change my focus and read other books!
Ellinor wrote: "Yes I noticed it's quite racist and how often it mentions "the enemy" = "the moors".I clearly must change my focus and read other books!."
It's not just very, very racist, it may very well have kickstarted the tradition of validating Western colonial rule. At least on a global scale.
There is also zero religious tolerance here, you are either Catholic or you'll be killed. That's not just rhetoric either, it was imperial policy for centuries on end.
And I know this is just a poem to foreigners but I cannot overestimate the importance that this one has had in Portuguese culture. It is still the go-to text everyone immediately associates with virtually everything associated to the country's literary production.
Camões may be to Portuguese lit what Shakespeare was to English lit. To this day, the most prestigious award for Portuguese lit is the 'Camões Award' and the 'Camões Institute' is about as renown as it gets. And Camões even has his own day (bundled up with the national holiday which pretty much tells you all you need to know about his identification with the country).
As someone of Indian descent who grew up loving Camões- unlike most kids I actually greatly enjoyed studying him- it is a strange and ambivalent feeling for sure. After all, Camões would think me a mongrel, yet I wouldn't even exist if not for this push for empire that pretty much razed my ancestors' to the ground and shoved Catholicism down their throat.
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I clearly must change my focus and read other books!."
It's not just very, very racist, it may ..."
Thanks for the info! I know that Camoes is an important Portuguese author but I had no idea how important.
Despite all the racisim in this book I still enjoy the writing. I can see why it's such a prominent work of Portuguese literature.
And it's interesting to see how many Portuguese works we've been discussing in this theread lately!
American Rust by Philipp Meyer. Thoroughly enjoyed it.
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A book written without actually having been written. Pages full of paradox while being empty of absolutely everything.
While I was reading it - then once again while not reading it - I considered telling you that you should pick up this text. But how can I? You are not really there to receive my recommendation. I dream that you are. But since I dream it, then it can’t be.
If you were to answer this note, by causing pixels to flow through the chasm of the cyber-cosmos peppering my illuminated display with darkened spots in the form of electronic symbols and verses representing your own abstract ideas; then perhaps you would believe you are proving to me that you are real. But upon such proof, my dreams will have become failure. For how can we imagine that which is identified? We cannot. The imaginary and the real are mutually exclusive. And when my dreams have failed me… I will have failed to exist.
And so, I weep. I weep at my incapacity for weeping.
Sean wrote: "The Book of Disquiet: The Complete Edition by Fernando Pessoa.A book written without actually having been written. Pages full of paradox while being empty of absolut..."
I've said it many times that this should not be an entry title to Pessoa's work (although plenty of first time readers do love it) and it hardly ever is for Portuguese readers. But the list picked it, very likely because it is his only prose work that is somewhat important.
While Pessoa scholars do not all agree- how can they, really- this is not usually even considered a major entry either. Pessoa himself would be the first to say so, in fact.
Then again, this is the pattern with a lot of Portuguese authors on the list: the editor(s) is only superficially aware of them and/or their selection goes against the way these works are perceived by those who do know them deeply.
Which doesn't mean one absolutely has to love The Book, obviously not, but when you pick it to 'represent' an author who virtually only wrote poetry and then go on to pick The Crime of Father Amaro for Queiróz and entirely omit Os Maias...you see a pattern.
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And again we have continued discussing more works in Portuguese. I think it's interesting too.
Under the Skin by Michel Faber. So weird, really enjoyed it.
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Definitely weird. Difficult to forget. He was a hospital nurse so that helps explain it a bit.
The Radetzky March by Joseph Roth. Fascinating book. It was difficult to get through at times, but ultimately poignant and satisfying.
George P. wrote: "Amanda wrote: "Under the Skin by Michel Faber. So weird, really enjoyed it."Definitely weird. Difficult to forget. He was a hospital nurse so that helps explain it a bit."
One of my list favourites. I was so glad I knew nothing about the story before I read it!
Just finished a re-read (40+ years after the first reading) of The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan.
I finished The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy and liked it so much.
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Earlier this year I read The Forbidden Kingdom by J. Slauerhoff which features the author during his exile in Macau.
Thanks for the link to the list of non-fiction books on the list.My latest completion is:
The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields - 4 stars - My Review
I read Measuring the World by Daniel Kehlmann, a fairly successful historical (and only partly factual) novel about the lives of the Prussian scientist and explorer Alexander von Humboldt and the mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss, which played in the period between 1775 and 1830. I liked it, but with a bit more suspense and emotion it could have been better. Many names of interesting cultural, scientific and political figures are dropped so it is a good starting point for studying a rather interesting period of Germany's history. To get a different flavour than the eternal Nazi stories, for example.
Choke by Chuck Palahniuk. Very incel-y.
Boxall's 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die
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Just finished Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le Carré."
Was it a good read? Did you like it?"
I did like it. But it took almost exactly half the book for me to get into it. How was The Spy Who Came In from the Cold?