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

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message 3601: by Diane (new)

Diane  | 2336 comments Mod
Bob wrote: "Diane wrote: "Finished Waiting for the Barbarians by J.M. Coetzee."
How was it? I'll be reading it soon for a book club."


I thought it was one of his better books and was quite meaningful.


Bryan--The Bee’s Knees (theindefatigablebertmcguinn) | 629 comments George wrote: "So you're right, The Long Dark Tea-Time was in the earlier edition, dropped from the later one..."

I think that's fair. I wouldn't want to discourage anyone from reading Tea-Time, but I just think there are a lot of other books that deserve that spot more than it does.


message 3603: by Karen (new)

Karen | 6 comments Mia wrote: "Finished The Lusiads by Luís de Camões."

I really want to read this. What did you think of it?


Bryan--The Bee’s Knees (theindefatigablebertmcguinn) | 629 comments Finished Mao II by Don DeLillo. Let's just say this wasn't a good match for me at this time. May not ever have been a good match.


message 3605: by Mia (new)

Mia | 1198 comments Karen wrote: "Mia wrote: "Finished The Lusiads by Luís de Camões."

I really want to read this. What did you think of it?"


I liked the story, and I see you like history so I'm sure you will like it too. But the language was little too hard for me to understand everything, so I didn't enjoy it that much.

Part of it has been translated into Finnish so I might read it some point to see if I'll enjoy it more.


message 3606: by Mia (new)

Mia | 1198 comments I finished The Devil's Pool by George Sand.


message 3607: by Bob (new)

Bob Kaufman (bobkaufman) | 689 comments Ivanhoe by Walter Scott. It was much more interesting than I expected it would be.


Bryan--The Bee’s Knees (theindefatigablebertmcguinn) | 629 comments Finished Les Enfants terribles by Jean Cocteau. Kind of a creepy little tale, though more atmospheric than anything. I knew that this was made into a film, but I'd never seen it, though that didn't stop me from imagining it as part of the French New Wave Cinema of the 50s--films that seems so inexplicable to me, even though I enjoy many of them. Maybe it's their inexplicable-ness that draws me to them, and this novel reminded me a lot of that. Superficially, it does not seem shocking or outré, but I think it operates on a deeper level, one that makes me think I'll remember it for a while


Bryan--The Bee’s Knees (theindefatigablebertmcguinn) | 629 comments Diane wrote: "Finished Nip the Buds, Shoot the Kids by Kenzaburō Ōe."

What did you think of it? I had a really hard time with it, but it may have been that my expectations were too high. Or more that I didn't know what to expect, and got something different even still.

So far that's been my first and only Oe.


message 3611: by Diane (new)

Diane  | 2336 comments Mod
Bryan wrote: "Diane wrote: "Finished Nip the Buds, Shoot the Kids by Kenzaburō Ōe."

What did you think of it? I had a really hard time with it, but it may have been that my expect..."


My first Oe, as well. I really liked the story, it reminded me of a Japanese version of Lord of the Flies. There were aspects of the book and the writing that I could do without. I am sure it is much better in Japanese.


message 3612: by George P. (last edited May 14, 2017 09:14PM) (new)

George P. | 1402 comments Mod
Along with some others in the "Catching Up With Classics" group, Dead Souls by Nickolai Gogol (1842). A really interesting old novel to read for the style, which was very "modern" and innovative at the time. The portrayal of characters and commentary on them is the other main draw- has a minimal plot. I did not read the incomplete "Part 2" chapters which were not published at the time of the "Part 1".
Making good progress on Moby-Dick or, The Whale.


message 3613: by Tyler (new)

Tyler | 207 comments I finished Wide Sargasso Sea today. It was okay. I liked Good Morning, Midnight better.


message 3615: by Diane (new)

Diane  | 2336 comments Mod
Just finished Black Box by Amos Oz.


message 3616: by Nicola (last edited May 19, 2017 07:49AM) (new)

Nicola | 770 comments The Good Soldier Švejk - Humerous but overly long. It would have benefited greatly from an editor but that might have been against his moral principals or something. By the time I'd finished I was just really glad to be done with it!

2 stars

The House of the Spirits - Good but not as engaging as I'd hoped. I'm not a big fan magical realism and even though there wasn't all that much it still felt a little silly at times. There was a lot of resemblance between this and One Hundred Years of Solitude so people who liked that would probably like this as well.

3 stars


message 3618: by Tyler (new)

Tyler | 207 comments I finished Don Quixote yesterday. I listened to the audiobook read by David Gase. It was at times boring and as a whole too long. However, I gave it 4 stars based on the fact that it created the novel genre and because Sancho Panza is one of the greatest characters in literature.


message 3619: by Diane (new)

Diane  | 2336 comments Mod
Finished Mao II by Don DeLillo.


message 3620: by Karen (new)

Karen | 6 comments Honestly, this is one of my favourite books. A good fun read. Glad you enjoyed it.

Bob wrote: "Ivanhoe by Walter Scott. It was much more interesting than I expected it would be."


message 3621: by Peter (last edited May 22, 2017 11:44AM) (new)

Peter | 443 comments The Buddha of Suburbia by Hanif Kureishi. Enjoyed it and it deserves to be on the list IMHO.


message 3622: by Bob (new)

Bob Kaufman (bobkaufman) | 689 comments The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler. This completes my reading of the Chandler books on the list. They were fun reads but I've read better mysteries. Philip Marlowe is an odd protagonist.


message 3623: by J_BlueFlower (new)

J_BlueFlower (j_from_denmark) | 387 comments Middlemarch Not overjoyed. Took me a bit of struggle to get into. The first 100 pages had like 20 pages of plot, but the story speeds up. Maybe I had my expectation too high. The dialogue is great. Each character have there own style of speaking. Mr Brooke may seem like an exaggeration – but I know a person who almost speaks that way (English as a second language, though). But the amount of plot compared to 900 pages? 3 stars.


message 3624: by Tim (new)

Tim | 331 comments A Sentimental Education, by Gustave Flaubert


message 3626: by Diane (new)

Diane  | 2336 comments Mod
Finished Dirty Havana Trilogy by Pedro Juan Gutiérrez. Not my sort of thing.


message 3627: by Josh (new)

Josh (neverforever) | 10 comments Black Water - Joyce Carol Oates


message 3629: by Diane (new)


message 3630: by Josh (new)

Josh (neverforever) | 10 comments The Names by Don Delillo


Bryan--The Bee’s Knees (theindefatigablebertmcguinn) | 629 comments Just finished Emma by Austen.


message 3632: by Diane (new)

Diane  | 2336 comments Mod
Finished Faces in the Water by Janet Frame.


message 3633: by Jess (new)

Jess | 6 comments I just finished "The Graduate"


message 3635: by Bam cooks the books (new)

Bam cooks the books (bamcooks) Just finished Look Homeward, Angel by Thomas Wolfe. Excellent!


message 3636: by Tyler (new)

Tyler | 207 comments I finished Notes From Underground by Fyodor Dostoyevsky today.


message 3637: by J_BlueFlower (new)

J_BlueFlower (j_from_denmark) | 387 comments Finished The Dispossessed Liked it a lot. Most though provoking book about society and freedom I have read for a long time.


message 3638: by Bob (new)

Bob Kaufman (bobkaufman) | 689 comments Foe by J.M. Coetzee. Interesting look, from another perspective, at Daniel Defoe and Robinson Crusoe (3 stars).


message 3639: by Tim (last edited Jun 01, 2017 06:53PM) (new)

Tim | 331 comments Bam wrote: "Just finished Look Homeward, Angel by Thomas Wolfe. Excellent!"

Hoping to read this one or, You Can't Go Home Again, later this year.


message 3640: by Josh (new)

Josh (neverforever) | 10 comments The Collector by John Fowles


message 3641: by Bam cooks the books (new)

Bam cooks the books (bamcooks) Tim wrote: "Bam wrote: "Just finished Look Homeward, Angel by Thomas Wolfe. Excellent!"

Hoping to read this one or, You Can't Go Home Again, later this year."


I'm sorry now that I didn't read it at a younger age. So many writers claim it as their inspiration. Part two is Of Time and the River: A Legend of Man's Hunger in His Youth which begins right where this one leaves off, as he leaves for Harvard. I might save that one for winter as it almost a thousand pages.


message 3642: by Karina (new)

Karina | 401 comments If Not Now, When? By Primo Levi

Excellent book


message 3643: by George P. (new)

George P. | 1402 comments Mod
Diane wrote: "Finished One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez."

For those who liked "Solitude", consider reading Mexican writer Elena Garro's Recollections of Things to Come. She has a similar style and I'm enjoying it. Might be hard to find though.


message 3644: by Diane (new)

Diane  | 2336 comments Mod
George wrote: "Diane wrote: "Finished One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez."

For those who liked "Solitude", consider reading Mexican writer Elena Garro..."


Thanks for the recommendation. I did love Solitude.


message 3645: by Diane (new)

Diane  | 2336 comments Mod
Finished Platform and Fatelessness.


message 3646: by Maggie (new)

Maggie | 106 comments Just finished the version of Aesop's Fables compiled by Laura Gibbs. It was rather eye-opening seeing the variety of fables. There are many that I wouldn't show a kid!


message 3647: by Karina (new)

Karina | 401 comments Just finished The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett

While I don't think this is the best detective book I've ever read (as the back cover claims) I find his writing to be much better than Raymond Chandler's since his plots are a hot mess


message 3648: by Linda (new)

Linda | 275 comments I finished Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino. I did not enjoy this book at all and I gave it just one star. At least it was short. I'm going to try his Cosmicomics next, although it is not on the 1001 list.


message 3649: by Bonita (new)

Bonita Martin | 3 comments Hello all! I'm new to this group. This is the best challenge I've found. I just finished Frankenstein as well as Agnes Grey. A book is almost always better than a movie. I was shocked to discover that the novel Frankenstein doesn't remotely resemble the movie. It's about as realistic as Robinson Crusoe, but I found it interesting. It's more of a suspense novel than horror.
Agnes Grey brought to mind an author I used to read: Grace Livingston Hill. She wrote Christian romances dealing with overcoming adversity. I didn't like Agnes Grey as well as Jane Eyre, But I'd give it four stars.


Bryan--The Bee’s Knees (theindefatigablebertmcguinn) | 629 comments Hello Bonita--It's been so long since I read Frankenstein, I don't remember much about it's style, though I did remember it was quite a bit different than the movie. The ending (no spoilers!) I thought was especially bleak and nihilistic.

I just finished Brighton Rock by Graham Greene. Pretty gripping up to the end. I'd give it four stars.


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