Boxall's 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die discussion
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Which LIST book did you just finish?
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Bob
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May 24, 2024 02:34PM

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Whilst undoubtedly a powerful piece of writing that started really well in the end I simply got fed up with all the gore and sleaze, whilst the final chapters was a rather bizarre kitsch noir.


The Death of Ivan Ilych by Leo Tolstoy
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

A deeply disturbing and thankfully short read. Not a bad read but definitely not a classic.

The Reader by Bernhard Schlink - 4* - My Review
Pnin by Vladimir Nabokov - 4* - My Review

I started this book January 1, 2024 and finished last week. It's written in diary form and I only read 10 pages a day, keeping with that theme.

Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy
I think I'm a Hardy fan.
Memento Mori by Muriel Spark
Not totally sure yet, but don't think I'm a Spark fan.


Bob wrote: "Growth of the Soil by Knut Hamsun. There were some phenomenal insights about social mores and relationships for a novel of the early 1900s."
I happen to have started Growth of the Soil a few days ago. It begins in a journalistic style but has become much more interesting about 15% in.
I happen to have started Growth of the Soil a few days ago. It begins in a journalistic style but has become much more interesting about 15% in.
So far this month I've finished Cancer Ward by Solzhenitsyn, Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice and Diary of a Good Neighbor by Doris Lessing (the first half of the Diaries of Jane Somers dyad). I really liked Cancer Ward.

I happen to ha..."
If you're curious about how a lot of young people- and even plenty of older ones- in Norway view Hamsun these days and his role as a mandatory author to read in school, I recommend Girls Against God.
While he's viewed as just a canonical author, for the most part, abroad...in Norway, Hamsun is something of an embarrassment to many.

Fans of Dickens shouldn't miss Bleak House, but it also shouldn’t be your first try at his writings.


The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks - 1* - My Review
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