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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Ellinor
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Jun 15, 2015 06:05AM
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In the Forest by Edna O'Brien -common plot in a remote and provincial community. Based on real events.
Just finished The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano: Written by Himself by Olaudah Equiano.
Finished David Copperfield last night. Sometimes quite the chire to get through. If only Dickens hadn't been a serial writer; both this and O. Twist are missing a major plot and are instead filled with a thousand subplots. Makes it hard for me to hold my interest. It wasn't all bad though, so....3 stars
Finished Dr Faust by T. Mann. Interesting look at German society before both world wars. The discussion of music composition was so hard for me, but overall enjoyed it.
God's Bits of Wood - this was a random I picked up at the library because I haven't read nearly enough work from African writers but everything that I have read has been brilliant. This continues that fine tradition.4 stars
Spring Torrents - I liked the main story, and the second one was okay, but then you think you finished the book, there's still a short story to go. It lost a star just on the third story being too much.
Just finished Elizabeth Bowen, The Death of the Heart. Sorry to say it felt like a slog; it had its moments, but they were too few and far between. The use of language is great though, but couldn't get a grip on the story, nor really on the themes or purpose to it. Maybe more a girly book?
Bob wrote: "I just finished Pat Barker's The Ghost Road...."Looks like it is number 3 in a series. Can it be read independently?
I just finished David Copperfield by Charles Dickens. I loved it, except there was too much of the Micawber's story for my taste, so that knocked off a star. 4 stars.
Just finished Amadis of Gaul. Bit of a slog to get through but I'd highly suggest reading it before Don Quixote.
I just finished The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. I had finished reading The Feast of the Goat before that and the two books ironically coincided with each other in regards to the history of the Dominican Republic and certain political figures in the past.
Just finished Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee. Interesting book. I'm still thinking about what I want to say about it. Read Slow Man earlier this year. Both books were very good and rated four stars from me.
Finished The Autobiography of Alice B Toklas this morning. Talk about name dropping! I spent half my time reading looking up bios and art of the people she refers to in her book. Fun to think of what get together's would be like at Alice and Gertrude's.
Don Quixote by Cervantes. Very long (took me three months, oops!), but definitely worth it! A lot of very funny parts...
After finding a great Librivox recording of Jane Eyre by Elizabeth Klett I looked though her Librivox catalogue for other 1001-list book and found Oroonoko. The audiobook was good quality, maybe a little bit fast reading. The book: This is a strange story. To me it only makes sense to read it in the historical perspective. Many fine details, I particularly liked the part about how the Indians should show they where worthy and sufficiently wanting of becoming leader of warfare..... BUT the over all story of Oroonoko is hard to handle. My brain so much want to wrap a moral or at least a point around it. Is it against slavery? No, Oroonoko offers to pay for his own freedom with other slaves, and he never regrets taking slaves himself. Is it pro-black? Not really. Oroonoko is characterised like a white African prince - white in all aspects but his skin coulor. (“His nose was rising and Roman, instead of African and flat...“) That makes it a puzzling read.
I finished Gone with the Wind a couple days ago. I would give it 6 stars if Goodreads would let me. I can't believe it took me this long to read it, now I'm excited to watch the movie.
I finished Rabbit, Run last night. Harry Angstrom is one of those literary characters you really hope only exists on the page, but know in reality you meet everyday. Even knowing a bit of the plot didn't prepare me for this one. Ultimately, I think Updike was incredibly skilled at writing beautiful books about the ugliness in people.
Moby-Dick; or, The Whale - This was a re-read and it took me ages to get through. I started reading it before Christmas last year.The first time I tried this monster many years ago I read it too fast (I was suffering under time constraints) and I got bogged down under all that rope and whale blubber. This time I (eventually) let myself drown in the lyrical prose and dozed through the tedious sections listening to Anthony Heald's masterly reading.
4 stars
I finished Cancer Ward by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. Very enjoyable with interesting characters set in a post-Stalin Russian cancer ward.
I just finished reading The Count of Monte Cristo
by Alexandre Dumas. My 30th book of the challenge and my 6th this year.https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Tonight I finished The Once and Future King. Easy enough read, but definitely not one of my favorites.
The Thin Man and To The Lighthouse. The Thin Man was very funny. I always expect to like Virginia Woolf more than I do.
If you liked the book, Amanda, you should watch the movies. They actually used some of the actual dialogue from the book. And William Powell and Myrna Loy are just divine together.
Kirsten *Dogs Welcome - People Tolerated" wrote: "If you liked the book, Amanda, you should watch the movies. They actually used some of the actual dialogue from the book. And William Powell and Myrna Loy are just divine together."I did watch the first and second movie! You're right; they have the best chemistry.
Portnoy's Complaint - That... was quite a book... Basically one long whine from an oversexed, perverted jewish man who blames his mother and American society for everything. It's certainly very funny in parts but it's still a bit of a one trick pony and did get tiresome.
3 stars
Nathan wrote: "I finished Cancer Ward by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. Very enjoyable with interesting characters set in a post-Stalin Russian cancer ward."I'll look forward to reading this, given how much I liked In the First Circle.
I just finished Dangling Man, my first Saul Bellow. While I'm looking forward to reading more by him, I know that this won't be my favorite of his books.
Diane wrote: "Finished The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman."I thought it was really good!
I love The Yellow Wallpaper - wrote a paper on it for honors credit in college. Are you aware that Gilman was prescribed the rest cure and wrote the novella instead. She gave it to her doctor (can't remember his name, but he founded the rest cure). She stated that if she followed the rest cure, she would have had the same fate as her protagonist. The doctor stopped giving out the rest cure to women after reading her novella.
Emily wrote: "I love The Yellow Wallpaper - wrote a paper on it for honors credit in college. Are you aware that Gilman was prescribed the rest cure and wrote the novella instead. She gave it to her doctor (ca..."Fascinating!
I just finished Candide. I would have and should have finished it sooner, but darn work got in the way of my reading time. Anyway, it was an enjoyable satire that lampooned everything from science to philosophy to religion.
Emily wrote: "I love The Yellow Wallpaper - wrote a paper on it for honors credit in college. Are you aware that Gilman was prescribed the rest cure and wrote the novella instead. She gave it to her doctor (ca..."
Interesting trivia. Great story, too.
Interesting trivia. Great story, too.
Nathan wrote: "I just finished Candide. I would have and should have finished it sooner, but darn work got in the way of my reading time. Anyway, it was an enjoyable satire that lampooned everything ..."
I love Candide!
I love Candide!
I just finished Exercises in Style by Raymond Queneau. It's a quick read, but a great reminder that, as the 1001 Books anthology states, " language itself shapes and defines the underlying reality that we perceive." It's easy to forget that there are countless ways to tell a story.
Just finished Vile Bodies by Evelyn Waugh. I didn't care for it too much at first, but it really grew on me.
Just finished Atonement. What an extraordinary portrayal of the conditions at Dunkirk and in London during the war in addition to it being a great read. McEwen's ability to weave the story through time without giving away the outcome is quite impressive.
Just finished reading Like Water for Chocolate
by Laura Esquivelhttps://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Book #31 out of 1001, and my 7th this year.
The Story of Blanche and Marie - No real story or plot and written in a dreamy cyclic sort of a way. After hearing the same thing repeated over and over I got sick of it. 1 1/2 stars
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