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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Samuel
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Jul 25, 2015 08:29AM
Just finished God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater by Kurt Vonnegut. The last Vonnegut on the 1001... is there anything else like him on the list?
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The End of the AffairGraham Greene, Once again so glad that I am working through this list as I have often wondered about Graham Greene and can bow cross him off my to read list.
Finished Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie and I loved it. Gave it 4 stars, but I might have rated it higher if I had had more of India's history under my belt. I think a lot of references went over my head.
Linda wrote: "Finished Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie and I loved it. Gave it 4 stars, but I might have rated it higher if I had had more of India's history under my belt. I t..."I loved it too!
The Country Girls - Interesting but incomplete. I'll have to read the other books in the series.3 stars
I finally finished Julie, or the new Heloise by Rousseau and it could've been a much shorter book. It was so long winded in parts I was falling asleep. Took me a long time to finish.
Diane wrote: "Happy to have finally finished my last book on the list by James Joyce with Finnegans Wake. I just don't love him like I should."
Isn't it funny how we take to some books/writers and not to others? A few minutes ago, just before 8:00, and I was hungry, not being a dinner eater, though, nothing much to easily fix, and I happened to open Ulysses at random, hungry, and there I was, eating a gorgonzola sandwich, with mustard, no less, with Leopold. And there's dinner, in the mind if not in the gut, and filling, in the mind if not in the gut! I'd be a thinner woman if I could serendipitously open the right book to the right page at the right time on a regular basis! Just a coincidence that I came on your comment, my mind, if not my gut, filled with Joyce's gorgonzola! Ha ha!
Isn't it funny how we take to some books/writers and not to others? A few minutes ago, just before 8:00, and I was hungry, not being a dinner eater, though, nothing much to easily fix, and I happened to open Ulysses at random, hungry, and there I was, eating a gorgonzola sandwich, with mustard, no less, with Leopold. And there's dinner, in the mind if not in the gut, and filling, in the mind if not in the gut! I'd be a thinner woman if I could serendipitously open the right book to the right page at the right time on a regular basis! Just a coincidence that I came on your comment, my mind, if not my gut, filled with Joyce's gorgonzola! Ha ha!
Karina wrote: "I finally finished Julie, or the new Heloise by Rousseau and it could've been a much shorter book. It was so long winded in parts I was falling asleep. Took me a long time to finish."You must be relieved to finish it now and move on to the next book!!
Do you feel that the book is long winded due to a bad translation or it just the novel itself?
Ellen wrote: "...and I happened to open Ulysses at random, hungry, and there I was, eating a gorgonzola sandwich, with mustard, no less, with Leopold."I love it! :)
Jennifer W wrote: "Just finished Wise Blood. What was that?? 1 star."
Jennifer, do you think the book could be a trip to the fringes of the normal world for those of us who live safe, quiet, unobsessed lives? A sort of tourist experience into the whirlpool of madness? A picture of the things that people with nothing are able to find momentary and dangerous comfort in?
Jennifer, do you think the book could be a trip to the fringes of the normal world for those of us who live safe, quiet, unobsessed lives? A sort of tourist experience into the whirlpool of madness? A picture of the things that people with nothing are able to find momentary and dangerous comfort in?
Ellen wrote: "Jennifer W wrote: "Just finished Wise Blood. What was that?? 1 star."Jennifer, do you think the book could be a trip to the fringes of the normal world for those of us who live safe,..."
I did say in my review that it made me feel better about my life, but that was about the only redeeming quality I could find. Many people love the book, and some reviews even mentioned finding it funny, but all I got was angry and confused young men.
I should note, that I listened to it on audiobook; I think the narrator really had an impact on how I perceived the story.
Jennifer W wrote: "Ellen wrote: "Jennifer W wrote: "Just finished Wise Blood. What was that?? 1 star."
Jennifer, do you think the book could be a trip to the fringes of the normal world for those of us ..."
Me, too! Angry and confused men (I'll leave out the "young" in my case), at least that was a good recognition for me to make. I sort of like that sort of story, since I grew up with a lot of angry men. I don't want to read a lot of it, but some of it helps me realize I'm not alone.
Audio -- that's an intense book to have coming in your earbuds. Sometimes I think some books are too personal or too disturbing to be taken in that intimately. I go to sleep with an audio book every single night, though, love them, but I couldn't sleep with Wise Blood running through my brain!
Jennifer, do you think the book could be a trip to the fringes of the normal world for those of us ..."
Me, too! Angry and confused men (I'll leave out the "young" in my case), at least that was a good recognition for me to make. I sort of like that sort of story, since I grew up with a lot of angry men. I don't want to read a lot of it, but some of it helps me realize I'm not alone.
Audio -- that's an intense book to have coming in your earbuds. Sometimes I think some books are too personal or too disturbing to be taken in that intimately. I go to sleep with an audio book every single night, though, love them, but I couldn't sleep with Wise Blood running through my brain!
James Ellroy's The Black Dahlia. Rllroy is a master of noir.
El astillero (The Shipyard--I read it in English but my copy is from the 60s and has no ISBN, so I can't search and link it).3 stars--but I really want to read the follow-up, The Body Snatchers, which explains what happened before The Shipyard.
Finished Life and Times of Michael K by J.M. Coetzee. After meeting the title characters from Rabbit Run and Sabbath's Theater earlier this year, I found Michael K to be a lovely and tender creation.
Finished The Home and the World, by Rabindranath Tagore.What a delightful surprise!! Didn't expect it, a lovely book!
I finished, "Their Eyes Were Watching God", by Zora Neale Hurston. A wonderful story.
I recently read Therese Raquin by Emile Zola. I had a basic idea of the plot, but I hadn't heard much about and thoroughly enjoyed it. Dark, but brilliant.
Of Human Bondage - Read for a group read as an 'emotional powerhouse' which it rather was. SM is (was) one hell of a writer. 4 stars
I just finished The Double. Didn't really enjoy it until about 2/3 of the way through when things finally started happening. It was a real struggle to get through it and I'm glad I'm finally finished.
Katie wrote: "I just finished The Double. Didn't really enjoy it until about 2/3 of the way through when things finally started happening. It was a real struggle to get through it and I'm glad I'm f..."I've only read The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis which also dragged along without anything happening. I found it incredibly tedious. It looks like Saramago might just be a writer I dislike.
Mekki wrote: "Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie. Big, Complex, Adventurous and Tragic.I gave it 5 stars"
Me too Mekki :-) An excellent book, I'll rate it 4 1/2 stars.
I gave it 4 stars. I really enjoyed it.
Just finished King Lear of the Steppes. It seemed rather ordinary to be named as a List Book. Also, as a side note, I just got Trivial Pursuit for Booklovers! It was really fun and the Book helped me dominate.
Amanda wrote: "I just got Trivial Pursuit for Booklovers!"Awesome! I had no idea such a thing existed. Now I'm off to go look for it...
Just finished Kim. It was enjoyable, I preferred the action and espionage aspects more than the philosophical.
Just finished The Invisible Man. I like it. I couldn't imagine there are so many advantages and disadvantages when you're invisible.
Knocked a few out this week: The Pit and the Pendulum and The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe all in an anthology of his short stories and poetry. I also just finished The Time Machine by H.G. Wells. For Poe, this was the first time I read anything by him and i thoroughly enjoyed the majority of the work in the anthology i have. He carried suspense well, and his"alluding to" horror style (i.e. "...something so horrible I cannot possibly describe it here..." i found a lot more readable then Lovecraft whom I felt imitated but fell short. I especially liked Pit and Pendulum, he kept up a nice suspense although i was a little disappointed in the ending. I also read Tell tale heart and I wish that was on the list!
The Time Machine is the second work from H.G. Wells i've read now (i already really enjoyed Dr. Moreau) and I thought it was a great quick read. I will say, I was so glad that the book was way better then the movie... I was waiting for the time traveller to go to the not so distance future to talk to a computer and I'm glad that he never did! It was not overly descriptive and keeps you turning pages.
Katie wrote: "I just finished The Double. Didn't really enjoy it until about 2/3 of the way through when things finally started happening. It was a real struggle to get through it and I'm glad I'm f..."Don't give up on Saramago - I read Cain and Blindness and enjoyed both. ~ Becky
I just finished Love in a Cold Climate by Nancy Mitford. It was delightful!https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
#33
I just finished Choke. It was a quick read when I had time to read it but not sure how I feel about it. Interesting to say the least.
Just finished A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift. It was a satirical essay and only 30 pages long. Quite humorous too!
I just finished The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin. It took awhile for me to arrange the story, as it travels in time and place fluidly. Now that I think about it though, that may be a very smart trick that goes with many of the themes of the book.I was interested to learn, halfway through my reading, that the author actually lives in the same city as me. I had no idea that a 1001 Author has been living about 2 miles from me as I work through the list.
Yrinsyde wrote: "I finished last The Grapes of Wrath - (from the 2010 list) very sobering."I love your blog!!!
The History of Love. Was a bit iffy about this book because of the title, but I was pleasantly surprised. Will probably look into reading more of Nicole Krauss.
Just finished Great Expectations. Totally different read in my mid 40's than it was in my teens. Favorite quote..."Pause you who read this, and think for a moment of the long chain of iron or gold, of thorns or flowers, that would never have bound you, but for the formation of the first link on one memorable day"
I just finished The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells. I kind of have a love/strong dislike for this one. So far i have really enjoyed all of Wells books i've read and I was really looking forward to getting into this one; but the first half of this novel was so tedious. I was pushing my way through descriptions of all these little towns and hamlets around London, I have no idea why he focused so much on them. Maybe it would have put in a little extra fear to those readers from that area who are familiar but i honestly just zoned out through the first half of this book. Thankfully the second half i really got into. I still gave this one a 4-star despite the boring geography lesson.
Just finished Les Liaisons Dangereuses. Is it just me, or does one not typically think "tense, tightly-plotted psychological drama" when discussing 18th century epistolary novels? And where can I get myself more of these?!
Winter wrote: I love your blog!!!"Thanks Winter! :)
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