Which LIST book did you just finish? Showing 3,651-3,700 of 10,324

[Diane]

Finished Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks.

[Diane]

Nostromo by Joseph Conrad.

[Josh]

The Dispossessed By Ursula Le Guin

[George P.]

I also just finished The Dispossessed a few days ago, along with Moby-Dick or, The Whale by Melville today. Liked them both- Moby is long, and tedious at times but definitely remarkable.

[George P.]

Diane wrote: "Nostromo by Joseph Conrad."
I loved his Heart of Darkness and want to read Nostromo also- it'll probably be next year though.

[Mia]

I finally finished Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe.

[Diane]

George wrote: "Diane wrote: "Nostromo by Joseph Conrad."
I loved his Heart of Darkness and want to read Nostromo also- it'll probably be next year though."

I loved Heart of Darkness, too. Nostromo has a lot of slow places, comparatively. I didn't love it as much as I thought I would,

[Diane]

Finished Eugénie Grandet by Honoré de Balzac. This is my second by Balzac, and I immensely enjoyed both. I look forward to reading more of his work.

[Peter]

Finished Complicity by Iain Banks. Not without its faults but enjoyed it.

[Josh]

George wrote: "I also just finished The Dispossessed a few days ago, along with Moby-Dick or, The Whale by Melville today. Liked them both- Moby is long, and tedious at times but defini..."
I also quite liked The Dispossessed. I found it reminded me of Re: Colonised Planet 5, Shikasta by Doris Lessing but was much more relevant in terms of how our society functions and the dichotomy between two ideologies. It was also a much more enjoyable read.
Although its not in the science fiction genre, I would recommend High-Rise by JG Ballard if you want a book that really defines how we function as a society now. The images in there have burnt into my retina and the premise is so relevant to what is going on today. Haven't read Moby-Dick or, The Whale yet but its on my list along with another 500 or so

[Diane]

Finished Nightwood by Djuna Barnes.

[Josh]

Finished Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol

[Diane]

Finished The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham.

[Aileen]

I've just read The Handmaid's Tale, my first Margaret Atwood. Brilliant, scary story, 5/5.

[Josh]

Blue of Noon by George Bataille

[Tyler]

I finished The Death of Ivan Ilych today. A brilliant story about an ordinary man who dies. Tolstoy, through Ivan Ilych, makes the reader confront their on mortality. Heavy, heavy stuff.

[J_BlueFlower]

Tyler wrote: "I finished The Death of Ivan Ilych today. A brilliant story ..."
5 stars from me. So many fine things in that short book. For example how his family talk about increasingly more trivial things to avoid talking about his health. The elephant in the room...

[Diane]

Finished The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton.

[Bryan--The Bee’s Knees]

Finished Franny and Zooey. A lot of it I just hated. About 10% was okay, and another 10% will probably stick with me.

[Kirsten]

I just finished The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin. Great and timely book. My first book by this author.

[Diane]

Finished The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul by Douglas Adams.

[Bryan--The Bee’s Knees]

Mercedes wrote: "I too felt that way when I read it back in high school..."

It makes me wonder how I'll feel if I ever go back and read Catcher in the Rye. I can't deny Salinger is an excellent writer, but I really disliked the portraiture of his characters.

I do have 9 Stories around here somewhere--I might try that sometime--I believe that one has Bananafish in it.

[Tim]

Bryan wrote: "Mercedes wrote: "I too felt that way when I read it back in high school..."

It makes me wonder how I'll feel if I ever go back and read Catcher in the Rye. I can't deny Salinger is an excellent wr..."

That was my feeling about Catcher..., a little bit of Holden Caufield goes a long way - a long way toward disliking his character.

[Bryan--The Bee’s Knees]

Tim wrote: "That was my feeling about Catcher..., a little bit of Holden Caufield goes a long way - a long way toward disliking his character."

I can't remember exactly when I read Catcher--at least 25 years ago--but if I compare my memory of it with that of Franny and Zooey, I would probably guess that F&Z is probably more accomplished than Catcher, though I have mostly positive memories of Catcher, which, I think, points to changes within myself as a reader. That's why I'm more than a little bit afraid to go back to Catcher, because of the potential for destroying any good feeling I have about it. Can't step in that river twice, I don't think.

[Angelique]

Finished The Godfather by Mario Puzo. Good book. I enjoyed it.

[Kirsten]

My mom has a memory from when she was in high school (class of 64) and her teacher saw someone with the book and grabbed it and threw it out the window.

[Diane]

Finished Memento Mori by Muriel Spark.

[Nicola]

Kirsten *Make Margaret Atwood Fiction Again!" wrote: "My mom has a memory from when she was in high school (class of 64) and her teacher saw someone with the book and grabbed it and threw it out the window."

That's madness! I might have wanted to throw it in the trashcan when I was forced to read it at school but for a teacher to do so! Nice set of life lessons they are teaching there - if you don't like something it's ok to steal it and vandalise it! And doing it in a violent manner makes it especially clever.

[Kirsten]

Yeah, I know, but we've always been a conservative area. And, back then? Probably worse.

[Bob]

Life and Times of Michael K by J.M. Coetzee

[Rowizyx]

Finished Love Medicine by Louise Erdrich ❤️

[Diane]

I, Robot by Isaac Asimov (re-read).

[J_BlueFlower]

The Plot Against America. 4 stars

I can understand why people are reading this book just now. It is like Hillary Clinton is president in the real world US and the world goes on as usual. The thing we are in, is a crazy alternative reality - too weird for fiction.

Of the handful of older books that has surfaced in the stores and on bestseller lists, due to the situation in the US, I think this one it the one that is most relevant to read. I can understand why some people say 1984, but Trump is not trying to undo the meaning of words, he it just flat out lying.

[Peter]

Finished The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. Perhaps showing it's age in the digital era but still a very good read.

[Bob]

Waiting for the Barbarians by J.M. Coetzee. The big question of this book is: who are the barbarians? Read it and decide.

[Diane]

Finished The Piano Teacher by Elfriede Jelinek. Yikes.

[Carol]

[book:The Leatherstocking Trilogy: Last of the Mohicans makes a good western and less condesending to natives then some. I thought the book fairly well done just not for me.

[George P.]

The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton. She had a remarkable facility with language, but it just wasn't my kind of book. I liked her Ethan Frome and The Age of Innocence a little better. My next 4 books will be nonlisted, then I'll hit the list ones again.

[Bryan--The Bee’s Knees]

Yes I finished Ulysses yes dammit finally yes

[Karina]

Just finished At Swim Two Birds by Flann O'Brien and I didn't particularly care for it

[readingpenguin14]

Karina wrote: "Just finished At Swim Two Birds by Flann O'Brien and I didn't particularly care for it"

That is a shame, Karina. Why did you not particularty care for the book?

[Kirsten]

I can sympathize. I got the feeling while reading that book that I wasn't Irish or drunk enough to really appreciate it.

[Diane]

Bryan wrote: "Yes I finished Ulysses yes dammit finally yes"

Congrats! It is definitely a big accomplishment.

[Diane]

Mercedes wrote: "The Naked and the Dead: With a New Introduction by the Author

It's on several must-read lists for a reason. Profound and thoroughly moving."

That's one that really should be on the list but got overlooked.

[Karina]

penguinreader14 wrote: "Karina wrote: "Just finished At Swim Two Birds by Flann O'Brien and I didn't particularly care for it"

That is a shame, Karina. Why did you not particularty care for the book?"

It was confusing with the whole meta fiction, especially at the beginning. When there were pages devoted to one story, I enjoyed the writing but the story within a story within a story just I didn't enjoy.

[Kirsten]

I don't mind a story within a story business... but I like it better with a more understandable narrative.

[Nicola]

The Dispossessed - One of our group reads and an extremely interesting look at an anarchic society. my review

4 stars


The Maltese Falcon - Not to my taste even considering that it is a noir and I'm not a huge fan of that genre. Too much sexism, racism etc and the main character was very unpleasant. The story itself wasn't interesting enough or well written enough to compensate. my review

1 star


The Murder of Roger Ackroyd - One of the best plotted of her books - I have to say that the answer is incrediably obvious when you know what to look for, she doesn't stint on the clues that's for sure. I can't remember if I worked it out when I first read this as a child though, probably not :-)

4 stars


Thérèse Raquin - Deliciously dark. A very accessible Zola for those readers who are bit wary of starting with some of his longer books. my review

4 stars


The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao - A wonderful book and perfect reading for when you've read a few too many of the 'serious and weighty literary' books and you're wanting a break. my review

4 1/2 stars


Castle Rackrent - Quite lighthearted and an easy enjoyable read for people who like books from around this time period. Recommended for when you don't want to start another long book but just want to quickly tick off another 1001 book from the list. my review

3 stars

[Amanda]

Finished Une Vie and Death of Ivan Ilyich. Reviews are up on http://1001everything.blogspot.com

[readingpenguin14]

Karina wrote: "penguinreader14 wrote: "Karina wrote: "Just finished At Swim Two Birds by Flann O'Brien and I didn't particularly care for it"

That is a shame, Karina. Why did you not particularty care for the bo..."

Karina, what you just described does sound confusing, no wonder you didn't care for the book!

[J_BlueFlower]

Finished One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich.

Great little book. Hard to evaluate: It is both what is in the book and it's historical importance.

I can recommend reading the first of this article from BBC:
Solzhenitsyn's One Day: The book that shook the USSR

“The Soviet Union was destroyed by information - and this wave started from Solzhenitsyn's One Day”