Boxall's 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die discussion
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Which LIST book did you just finish?
George P. wrote: "It has a quite high avg rating of 4.13. I suspect that's partly because a lot of readers, after about 50 pages say, "what the hell?..." and quit and don't rate it :)""I have to admit I had a couple of moments like that with 2666!
I've been reading
The Fall of the House of Usher and Other Tales by Edgar Allan Poe
which contains three list "books" (short stories, really, in this case):
The Purloined Letter
The Pit and the Pendulum
The Fall of the House of Usher
"Purloined" was probably my favorite of the three.
海辺のカフカ〈上〉 by Haruki Murakami.This is the first volume of Kafka on the Shore, it covers the first 23 chapters; there is still an entire volume to go but I wanted to commemorate this achievement.
I'm unsure whether to move to the second volume right away or give it a break.
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That one is my favorite, too. I also loved 1Q84. I didn't care for Kafka on the Shore as much.
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I am let down to a certain extent by both of these, as these authors have written other books that I loved.
Diane, pronounced "djən" wrote: "Ellinor wrote: "The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami. It‘s outstanding, even better than 1Q84 which used to be my favorite until now. It‘s also m..."I'm the exact opposite, I am loving Kafka and found 1Q84 very tedious.
Part of this may be that I read them in Japanese and the language in 1Q84, particularly the dialogue, is immensely clunky. I also disliked how a dyslexic character is described as basically robotic and that an actual connection is made between her condition and the weird way she presents as. As a dyslexic person myself, who has had to deal with plenty of crap on this account, I found it insufferable.
I finished The Golden Bowl by Henry James. This is my fifth book from him and I'm still not big fan of him.
I've yet to be converted to the Henry James fan club myself. One of the groups I'm in will be reading Portrait of a Lady in January--that will be my fifth of his...maybe that will be one that I can get excited about.
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Portrait fo a Lady was my favorite by Henry James.
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Excellent Women by Barbara Pym
In the Forest by Edna O'Brien
Just finished King Solomon’s Mines by H. Rider Haggard. I mean besides the blatant racism, it could’ve been enjoyable!
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I only read his The Turn of the Screw, and decided I didn't want to read any more of his novels. I just don't like his writing style.
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That's one of the more obscure ones. Did you like it?
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Thomas Bernhard's books are not the easiest reading, but I prefer him to Samuel Beckett.
George P. wrote: "Nocturnalux wrote: "Holder of the World by Bharati Mukherjee."That's one of the more obscure ones. Did you like it?"
I liked it a lot. It is a very vivid book with descriptions that burst with life. An interesting take on historical fiction, too, and it feels much more recent- difficult to believe it was written in the early 90's.
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That's one of the more obscure ones. Did you like it?"
I liked it a lot. It is a ve..."
Sounds good. I can get the Ebook through my son's library account in Portland, so I put it on my list. I see Diane rated it three stars.
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Thomas Bernhard's books are not the easiest reading, but I prefer him to Samuel Beckett."
I have to agree.
Some Prefer Nettles by Jun'ichirō Tanizaki.Very scaled down, domestic drama that cannot help but be overshadowed by the upcoming war.
Nice enough but I cannot but think The Makioka Sisters should have been included instead.
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This makes 95 books on the 1001 List I've read by women authors- want to make it to 100 in 2021 (I'm half through another now).
Finished: The Club Dumas by Arturo Pérez-Reverte - My Review
If GR allowed half stars, I'd give it 3.5.
Note: On the list, it is called The Dumas Club, but the author is the same as above.
That was the inspiration for that really weird Johnny Depp film, The Ninth Gate. I didn't know that when I started reading it--I'd seen the movie years and years ago--but I started thinking, 'wow, this sounds familiar.'
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Wow, I didn't know that.
I just finished Lord Jim by Conrad and Infinite Jest by Wallace.
Bryan--Pumpkin Connoisseur wrote: "That was the inspiration for that really weird Johnny Depp film, The Ninth Gate. I didn't know that when I started reading it--I'd seen the movie years and years ago--but I started thinking, 'wow, ..."I have not seen the movie but enjoyed the book. The ending is a bit strange. I'll have to search out the movie to see how they handled it.
The movie annoyed me to no end, they bothered to shoot in one of my country's coolest places in terms of unsurpassed creepiness and all they got o film were a bunch of trees and a road. It was disappointing, to say the least.
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Boxall's 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die
Books mentioned in this topic
The Sword in the Stone (other topics)Cider With Rosie (other topics)
After the Quake (other topics)
Auto-da-Fé (other topics)
Walden or, Life in the Woods (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
T.H. White (other topics)Laurie Lee (other topics)
Haruki Murakami (other topics)
Elias Canetti (other topics)
Henry David Thoreau (other topics)
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I'm reading Bolano's The Savage Detectives now, it's strange also."
I'm still looking out for that one, what an incredible mind Bolano must have had."
It has a quite high avg rating of 4.13. I suspect that's partly because a lot of readers, after about 50 pages say, "what the hell?..." and quit and don't rate it :)