Which LIST book did you just finish? Showing 3,251-3,300 of 10,246

[George P.]

Just completed Murder Must Advertise by Dorothy Sayers, a fun well-plotted mystery that drew on her experience as an advertising copywriter. She has another in the list that I'd like to read sometime also (The Nine Tailors).

[Diane]

The Wild Boys by William S. Burroughs. So not my thing...

Karina's quote describing her feelings for Glamorama perfectly describe my feelings for The Wild Boys:

"I absolutely hated this book and I do not like to use the term hate lightly. It was AWFUL."

[Dree]

Storm of Steel by Ernst Jünger, a 1920 German memoir of WWI.

Interesting and the logistics are mind boggling. Also bloody and repetitive, just like the trenches Jünger fought in.

[Nicola]

Diane wrote: "The Wild Boys by William S. Burroughs. So not my thing...

Karina's quote describing her feelings for Glamorama perfectly describe my feelings for The Wild Boys:

"I a..."

It's the last Burroughs I have left to read from list books and I'm a little apprehensive. I've greatly enjoyed all his other books but I think that one might be too far off the wall for my tastes.

[Sandi]

Nicola wrote: "It's the last Burroughs I have left to read from list books and I'm a little apprehensive. I've greatly enjoyed all his other books but I think that one might be too far off the wall for my tastes."

Could it really be worse than Naked Lunch?

[George P.]

Life is too short to read books you hate.

[Nicola]

Sandi wrote: "Nicola wrote: "It's the last Burroughs I have left to read from list books and I'm a little apprehensive. I've greatly enjoyed all his other books but I think that one might be too far off the wall..."

I really liked Naked Lunch even though it wasn't exactly an easy read, but I think Wild Boys might be on another level.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Ellinor]

I just finished Quicksand. I liked her other work Passing better.

[Diane]

Sandi wrote: "Could it really be worse than Naked Lunch? "

I haven't read that one yet, and I am not looking forward to it after this one. I still have to read Junky, too. Queer was actually okay, though, so maybe there's hope.

[Bob]

Ragtime by E.L. Doctorow. Good writing, good characters and a really interesting story.

[Nicola]

Diane wrote: "Sandi wrote: "Could it really be worse than Naked Lunch? "

I haven't read that one yet, and I am not looking forward to it after this one. I still have to read Junky, too. Queer was actually okay,..."


Junky is pretty much non fiction despite the fiction tag. It's a very interesting look at the drug underbelly at that time. It's written in straight prose so it's easy to follow.

[Diane]

Nicola wrote: "Diane wrote: "Sandi wrote: "Could it really be worse than Naked Lunch? "

I haven't read that one yet, and I am not looking forward to it after this one. I still have to read Junky, too. Queer was ..."

Good to know. Sounds as if it is more similar to Queer than The Wild Boys, which is a good thing.

[Diane]

Finished Things and A Man Asleep by Georges Perec.

[Monica]

I just finished Les Misérables. It's an amazing book. If you haven't read it yet, go fetch your copy and read it.
Obviously 5 stars

[Diane]

Finished Amerika by Franz Kafka

[Sarah]

Finished After the Quake by Haruki Murakami. I really enjoyed it!

[Maggie]

I've just read July's People. It's an incredible book. Gordimer shows such a profound understanding of the subtleties of human interactions and relationships. There's tension in every word, in every stillness, and all sorts of emotional complexities and depth.

[Linda]

I finished The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov. I enjoyed the first half of the book, but then the fantastical elements started to wear thin with me and I lost interest. I gave it 2.5 stars.

[George P.]

A short one (novella) by Austrian Stefan Zweig: Chess Story. A nice tight story which I liked a lot. He has another in the list called "Amok"; both are in the 2012 edition.

[Diane]

Finished Miramar by Naguib Mahfouz. Great book.

[Nicola]

The lastest lot of 1001 books were:

Our Mutual Friend - a second read, not quite so good this time because I knew the plot twists but still very entertaining as all his books are. - 4 Stars

Kiss of the Spider Woman - Quite a peculiar story. Apparently there is a bit of a cult around the film which was adapted from the novel but I knew nothing about it and also nothing about the book. It was a bit disorientating at first but I ended up enjoying it. - 3 Stars

The Bridal Wreath - The first in a series of 3. - 3 Stars

Joseph Andrews - A sort of satirical spoof on Pamela; or, Virtue Rewarded. Entertaining but not nearly as good as The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling - 3 Stars

The Long Goodbye - I'm not a big fan of this genre. Too many 'tough guys' and insanely complicated plots. This was more enjoyable than The Big Sleep but probably only because it was slightly less abusive towards women. Slightly less. This just scrapes in with 3 Stars. I nearly gave it 2 1/2.

Where Angels Fear to Tread - Well written but light fare compared to his 3 other masterworks on the List. 3 Stars

[Bob]

Choke by Chuck Palahniuk. Funny but somehow poignant.

[Sarah]

Finished The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo. I'm at a loss why she loved that soldier. Good grief!

[S.L.]

Persuasion by Jane Austen - It was well written for the age and toward the end got interesting. 3 stars

[Sarah]

Finished Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy. I really enjoyed the story and love his writing.

[Aileen]

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen. The storyline was interesting, the characters well-drawn, but, oh so long...

[Sarah]

Finished The Island of Dr. Moreau by H.G. Wells. Although it's fiction the sad thing about the story is the probability that some diabolic person has contemplated the feasibility of what he did.

[George P.]

Just finished Runaway Horses by Yukon Mishima - it's the 2nd book oh his "Sea of Fertility " series. I did'nt find the story as compelling a read as the 1st book "Spring Snow" but I enjoy his precise style.

[George P.]

That last post of mine should have referenced "Yukio Mishima" not "Yukon" ! :)

[Diane]

Finished The Torrents of Spring by Ivan Turgenev

[Bob]

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë.

[J_BlueFlower]

Finished The Count of Monte Cristo, my 1001-book number 131. 3½ star. My main objection is that the book is looooooooooooooooooong. The plot is fine, it is just overly wordy. Some of monologues could easily be cut half without missing anything.

Luigi Vampa is not one of the main characters. But when he is introduced the book spends many pages (2 chapters?) telling a story from his past.

It must have been quite a thing to read this as the original serial not knowing if it was just about to end.

[Maggie]

I just finished In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. Capote has a gift for story telling and he takes investigative journalism to a different level. It's clearly not 100% true, there are things that Capote must have made up because even if he interviewed the people involved, I can't imagine that they would have remembered so many little details. And from what I've read online, it seems that many of the characters in real life disdain the book because of the falsehoods in it. But it's still an entertaining read and I like how he gave the killers such human personalities.

[Tyler]

I finished Life of Pi by Yann Martel this morning.

[Sarah]

Finished Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson.

[Diane]

Finished On the Eve by Ivan Turgenev.

[Monica]

J_BlueFlower wrote: "Finished The Count of Monte Cristo, my 1001-book number 131. 3½ star. My main objection is that the book is looooooooooooooooooong. The plot is fine, it is just overly wordy. Some of mo..."

At the time when Dumas wrote the book the writers were paid by the pages they delivered to the editors, and the books were edited a few pages per week on the local magazine, that is why some of the books were often repeating the same concept and are so loooong indeed.

[Laurie]

Finished The Death of Ivan Ilych by Leo Tolstoy. Excellent short story.

[Sarah]

Finished Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy. Amazing story. Somber but poignant.

[George P.]

Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights, one of my rare excursions to the mid 1800s. Liked it, but think I liked sister Charlotte's Jane Eyre more. It was something of a family saga, a book style which isn't to my taste.

[Peter]

The Shipping News by E.Annie Proulx. I really enjoyed it.

[Karina]

The Book of Lost Illusions by Paul Auster

Pretty meh about this one

[Maggie]

Barabbas by Pär Lagerkvist.

This won Lagerkvist the Nobel Prize, but I would probably never have heard of it if not for 1001 Books. It explores faith and doubt in Jesus as Christ, with Barabbas never believing yet never disbelieving.

[Sarah]

Just finished Pamela: Or, Virtue Rewarded by Samuel Richardson and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I'm a huge fan of epistolary novels and the social customs of the period.

[Nicola]

Sarah wrote: "Just finished Pamela: Or, Virtue Rewarded by Samuel Richardson and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I'm a huge fan of epistolary novels and the social customs of the period."

You're in the minority with that one Sarah - I think that's the lowest Goodreads rating I've ever seen!

[Tasha]

Nicola wrote: "Sarah wrote: "Just finished Pamela: Or, Virtue Rewarded by Samuel Richardson and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I'm a huge fan of epistolary novels and the social customs of the period."
..."

Yikes! My friends who have read it either gave it one star or shelved it did-not-finish.

[Jennifer]

I finished Pride and Prejudice as the group read and loved it!

[Diane]

The Return of Philip Latinowicz by Miroslav Krleža.

[Sarah]

Nicola wrote: "Yikes! My friends who have read it either gave it one star or shelved it did-not-finish."

I can't say it's an acquired taste but you have to appreciate the time period, subject, and style of writing. Most of my Boxall books have been read in groups. Either by author or time period. This allows me to get a real sense of the literature at a given age and I find that I enjoy the selections much more.

[Sarah]

Tasha wrote: "You're in the minority with that one Sarah - I think that's the lowest Goodreads rating I've ever seen!"

I enjoyed Evelina as well. But I've read a lot of books in that style and have a great affinity for period literature as a whole. I enjoy it far more than the modern stuff.