Boxall's 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die discussion

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message 2951: by George P. (new)

George P. | 1402 comments Mod
Ed wrote: "Just finished #160- The Garden Where the Brass Band Played by Simon Vestdijk. Liked it...seemed Proustian to me. If you know more about classical music than me...you m..."
That's a very seldom-read one- less than 300 ratings. And it's in the 2006 edition, not a later added one.


message 2952: by Ed (last edited Sep 12, 2016 10:12PM) (new)

Ed Lehman | 122 comments George wrote: "Ed wrote: "Just finished #160- The Garden Where the Brass Band Played by Simon Vestdijk. Liked it...seemed Proustian to me. If you know more about classical music than..."

I thought it was very good...and someone who knows about classical music would enjoy it more..... lol...I just noticed that I essentially said the same thing above.


message 2953: by Ed (last edited Sep 13, 2016 09:47AM) (new)

Ed Lehman | 122 comments Just finished #161 for me- Vanishing Point by David Markson
I know this book, full of factoids, is not for everyone...but it's right up my alley. Glad I had access to the internet while I read it.... constantly looking things up on Wikipedia.


message 2955: by Dree (new)

Dree | 160 comments Finished my #161 The Sorrows of Young Werther yesterday and #162 The Midwich Cuckoos today.


message 2956: by Anne-Kari (new)

Anne-Kari | 9 comments Just finished The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde


message 2957: by Heather (new)

Heather Quance (ukheatherq) | 9 comments Just finished Blonde by Joyce Carol Oates - my 263rd book - now at 20.2% of the combined lists. I believe my completion of the book (of more than 900 pages) says more about my bloody-mindedness than about the book itself. It has wonderful bits of writing but, as a whole, it is overblown and a bit self-important. If you are a fan of Golden Age Hollywood or Marilyn Monroe, it will provide a very thoughtful perspective.


message 2958: by Nicola (new)

Nicola | 770 comments Ed wrote: "Just finished #160- The Garden Where the Brass Band Played by Simon Vestdijk. Liked it...seemed Proustian to me. If you know more about classical music than me...you m..."

Yes i thought the same thing when I read it. I like music but im no classical aficionado.


message 2959: by Nicola (new)

Nicola | 770 comments Brideshead Revisited - I liked it but i was never quite sure what was going on with the characters. They were terribly British about not revealing anything as vulgar as feelings.

3 1/2 stars


message 2960: by Diane (last edited Sep 14, 2016 05:49PM) (new)

Diane  | 2336 comments Mod
Finished Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens. Took me a while, but definitely worth it.


message 2961: by George P. (new)

George P. | 1402 comments Mod
Diane wrote: "Finished Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens. Took me a while, but definitely worth it."
Yes that's a long one. I want to read it sometime. I read Great Expectations this yr, Bleak House last yr.


message 2962: by Lasse (new)

Lasse | 14 comments I have read Choke and The Call of the Wild


message 2963: by Mia (new)

Mia | 1196 comments Growth of the Soil by Knut Hamsun. I gave it 5 stars, I think that says it all.


message 2964: by Carol (new)

Carol | 104 comments Iain Banks "Crow Road" very good book some suspense but without the creepiness of "The Wasp Factory'


message 2965: by Mia (new)

Mia | 1196 comments And I finished The Underdogs by Mariano Azuela.


message 2966: by George P. (new)

George P. | 1402 comments Mod
Mia wrote: "And I finished The Underdogs by Mariano Azuela."

to find the real Goodreads listing for this novel go to https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7... or if you read Spanish, to Los de abajo.


message 2967: by Diane (new)

Diane  | 2336 comments Mod
Mia wrote: "Growth of the Soil by Knut Hamsun. I gave it 5 stars, I think that says it all."

I agree. Great book.


message 2968: by Tyler (new)

Tyler | 207 comments I finished The Nose by Nikolai Gogol today. Such an odd little story. I enjoyed it, though I couldn't really decide on its meaning. There are so many different ways to interpret Gogol which is what makes him a great writer.


message 2970: by Sarah (new)

Sarah (sarahbethie) | 438 comments Weekly reads:

A Sentimental Journey by Laurence Sterne
Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Professor by Charlotte Brontë (side read)


message 2971: by Mia (new)


message 2972: by Ed (new)

Ed Lehman | 122 comments Just finisjed #162- Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov- had to give it five stars despite it being so disturbing.


message 2973: by Diane (new)

Diane  | 2336 comments Mod
Ed wrote: "Just finisjed #162- Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov- had to give it five stars despite it being so disturbing."

I felt the same way.


message 2974: by Diane (new)

Diane  | 2336 comments Mod
Mia wrote: "Summer by Edith Wharton."

I love that book..


message 2975: by Lasse (new)

Lasse | 14 comments I finished The Wasp Factory and Lolita


message 2976: by Mia (new)

Mia | 1196 comments Diane wrote: "Mia wrote: "Summer by Edith Wharton."

I love that book.."


I liked it a lot, even I wasn't that fond of the ending... Today I finished So Long a Letter by Mariama Bâ.


message 2977: by Kirsten (new)

Kirsten  (kmcripn) I just finished Casino Royale by Ian Fleming


message 2978: by Carol (new)

Carol | 104 comments Read Notes from the Underground The longest 115 pg book I have ever read.Thought provoking and depressing.,


message 2979: by Mia (new)

Mia | 1196 comments I finished The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler. It was my second Chandler from the list and I liked it more than The Long Goodbye.


message 2980: by Diane (new)

Diane  | 2336 comments Mod
Finished Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson, which was a re-read for me. I read it for the first time when I was a kid.


message 2981: by Rowizyx (new)

Rowizyx | 38 comments I finished Midaq Alley... good!


message 2982: by Diane (new)

Diane  | 2336 comments Mod
Rowizyx wrote: "I finished Midaq Alley... good!"

It is good. I look forward to reading Miramar, too.


message 2983: by Anne-Kari (new)

Anne-Kari | 9 comments Just finished Notes from the Underground


message 2984: by Viv (new)

Viv JM I just finished The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. I enjoyed aspects of it but thought the temperance message was kind of heavy handed!


message 2985: by Diane (new)

Diane  | 2336 comments Mod
Finished Contact by Carl Sagan. Great book. Reminds me that I really need to read sci-fi more often.


message 2986: by Kirsten (new)

Kirsten  (kmcripn) Diane -- it was very good, wasn't it? If you liked it, may I recommend Calculating God by Robert J Sawyer?


message 2987: by Diane (new)

Diane  | 2336 comments Mod
Kirsten *Dogs Welcome - People Tolerated" wrote: "Diane -- it was very good, wasn't it? If you liked it, may I recommend Calculating God by Robert J Sawyer?"

It was very good. Thanks for the recommendation! I will definitely look into this one.


message 2988: by Nicola (last edited Sep 23, 2016 03:32AM) (new)

Nicola | 770 comments Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy - a 'realistic' spy novel which means there is a lot more thinking than action.

3 1/2 stars

Things Fall Apart - rather grim but I love reading about places and ways of life so alien to mine. 3 stars for the book and an extra 1/2 for the setting.


message 2989: by Anne-Kari (new)

Anne-Kari | 9 comments I just finished "Gulliver's Travels".


message 2990: by Laura (new)

Laura | 149 comments Finished Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier last night, really liked it, beautifully written, intelligent & spooky.


message 2991: by Kirsten (new)

Kirsten  (kmcripn) Nicola wrote: "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy - a 'realistic' spy novel which means there is a lot more thinking than action.

3 1/2 stars

Things Fall Apart - rather grim but I love read..."


I loved "Things" mainly because of that reason. It opens up your world to read about new cultures.


message 2992: by George P. (last edited Sep 28, 2016 08:59AM) (new)

George P. | 1402 comments Mod
Laura wrote: "Finished Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier last night, really liked it, beautifully written, intelligent & spooky."

Yeah, du Maurier was great, great moody tension. I've read Rebecca and recently My Cousin Rachel which is excellent, and probably deserves to be on the list as well. Her Jamiaca Inn is considered one of her 3 best also- I plan to read it as well.


message 2994: by Tasha (new)

Tasha | 83 comments George wrote: "Laura wrote: "Finished Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier last night, really liked it, beautifully written, intelligent & spooky."

Yeah, du Maurier was great, great moody tension. I've read Rebecca and ..."


I loved Rebecca so much that I also plan to read Her Jamaica Inn.


message 2995: by George P. (last edited Sep 27, 2016 08:00PM) (new)

George P. | 1402 comments Mod
Hunger by Knut Hamsun of Norway. Amazing that it's 125 years old and still gripping. Dostoevsky -> Hamsun -> Kafka. If you've read the 1st and last you should read the middle one as well. Pull up the Goodreads entry and read the 2nd review by Stephen which I totally agree with but can't put as eloquently.

Also finished earlier this month: One, No One, and One Hundred Thousand by Luigi Pirandello. An existentialism precursor, It fit nicely into 2 reading challenges for me, and I enjoyed it though it did make my head spin a bit sometimes. [That's 27 new List books for me so far this year, plus 1 re-read]


message 2996: by Aileen (new)

Aileen | 154 comments I read Candide by Voltaire, a quick little read which reminded me a lot of Sterne's Sentimental Journey.


message 2997: by Diane (new)

Diane  | 2336 comments Mod
Finished The Charterhouse of Parma by Stendhal. Good story, but could benefit from some good editing. If it was written today instead of 200 years ago, it would probably be half the size.


message 2998: by Ed (new)

Ed Lehman | 122 comments Finsihed Nip the Buds, Shoot the Kids by Kenzaburō Ōe which is #163 for me.
Disturbing attack on war-time Japanese society.... akin to Golding's Lord of the Flies. Four stars.


message 2999: by Nicola (new)

Nicola | 770 comments Crome Yellow - For a debut novel it's marvelous. And for those who have read Brave New World you'll recognise a few themes.

3 1/2 stars


also Cat's Cradle - rather grim but entertaining.

3 stars


message 3000: by Mia (new)

Mia | 1196 comments I finally finished The Return of the King by J.R.R. Tolkien. It took me quite a while to read the whole trilogy but I liked it. And I kinda miss reading it now :D


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