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

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message 3901: by Bob (new)

Bob Kaufman (bobkaufman) | 689 comments A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute. Excellent characters and interesting story, I rated it four.


message 3902: by Diane (new)

Diane  | 2336 comments Mod
Finished The Floating Opera by John Barth. Quite enjoyable.


message 3903: by Ed (new)

Ed Lehman | 122 comments Finished Kokoro by Sōseki Natsume Five stars.


message 3904: by Tyler (new)

Tyler | 207 comments I finished listening to an audiobook of Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier. It was great!


message 3905: by Dee (new)

Dee (deinonychus) | 243 comments Finished The Summer Book a few days ago, while in bed with the flu. A wonderful novel, written as a series of vignettes, such that it almost feels like a short story collection. Lovely prose, (at least in the French translation I read), full of evocative descriptions of nature.


message 3906: by Diane (new)


message 3907: by Karen (new)

Karen Hoehne | 1717 comments Mod
Orlando: A Biography by Virginia Woolf


message 3908: by Christina Stind (new)

Christina Stind | 180 comments Orlando is amazing. So much food for thought in such a slim book.


message 3909: by Jenny (new)

Jenny (kalokagathia) | 3 comments Finished Thank You, Jeeves by P.G. Wodehouse. I had read other Jeeves books before, so I knew what I was getting into. I love the style of the narration.


message 3910: by Karen (new)

Karen Hoehne | 1717 comments Mod
Christina wrote: "Orlando is amazing. So much food for thought in such a slim book."

It was definitely a wild romp through British Literature and fashion! I usually jump right into a book, but this is one I wish I had started by reading the introduction. My favorite quote -- "For once the disease of reading has laid hold upon the system it weakens it so that it falls an easy prey to that other scourge which dwells in the ink pot and festers in the quill. The wretch takes to writing."


message 3911: by Karen (new)

Karen Hoehne | 1717 comments Mod
Just finished Miramar by Naguib Mahfouz.


message 3912: by Tim (new)

Tim | 331 comments Just finished The Overcoat and Other Short Stories (including The Nose, The Overcoat, Old-Fashioned Farmers, and The Tale of How Ivan Ivanovich Quarrelled with Ivan Nikiforovich


message 3913: by Sarah (new)

Sarah (sarahbethie) | 438 comments Wishing I was finished with The Brothers Karamazov. This is quite the slog. Crime and Punishment was better!


message 3914: by Tim (new)

Tim | 331 comments Just finished Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll. Enjoyed this one much more than Alice in Wonderland. I gave Through the Looking Glass a five star rating.


message 3915: by George P. (new)

George P. | 1402 comments Mod
Sarah wrote: "Wishing I was finished with The Brothers Karamazov. This is quite the slog. Crime and Punishment was better!"

Some parts are a slog but other parts I really liked.


message 3916: by George P. (new)

George P. | 1402 comments Mod
CC wrote: "Just finished Siddartha by Hesse. A short, wonderful book. This is the 12th book for the year for me, which means my reading challenge is now completed... and way too early."

You can increase your challenge number whenever you want (or decrease, but that seems to defeat the idea).


message 3917: by George P. (new)

George P. | 1402 comments Mod
Epitaph of a Small Winner aka Posthumous Memories of Bras Cubas, which was added to the list in 2008, by Machado de Assis of Brazil (1885). Very amusing and thought-provoking.


message 3918: by Bob (new)

Bob Kaufman (bobkaufman) | 689 comments Diane wrote: "Finished Willard and His Bowling Trophies by Richard Brautigan. Odd book."

I agree.


message 3919: by Bob (last edited Sep 24, 2017 09:54AM) (new)

Bob Kaufman (bobkaufman) | 689 comments Sarah wrote: "Wishing I was finished with The Brothers Karamazov. This is quite the slog. Crime and Punishment was better!"
If you're into psychology, think of the three brothers as Freuds Id, ego, and superego. It adds a new layer to the story.


message 3920: by Bob (new)

Bob Kaufman (bobkaufman) | 689 comments Her Privates We by Frederic Manning. A very good discussion of what the men went through before going into the trenches in WW I.


message 3921: by Bob (new)

Bob Kaufman (bobkaufman) | 689 comments Karen wrote: "For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway.
Love Hemingway's sparse prose (especially after a few of the classics from the 1700s)!"


I just finished Her Privates We by Frederic Manning, another good book describing what the men faced in WWI.


message 3922: by Karina (new)

Karina | 401 comments Just finished Cancer Ward by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. I really enjoyed it.


message 3923: by Karen (new)

Karen Hoehne | 1717 comments Mod
Bob wrote: "Karen wrote: "For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway.
Love Hemingway's sparse prose (especially after a few of the classics from the 1700s)!"

I just finished Her Privates W..."</i>

Testament of Youth
by Vera Brittain is also an excellent book on the experiences of the nurses during WWI and her involvement in the peace movement following the war.



Bryan--The Bee’s Knees (theindefatigablebertmcguinn) | 629 comments Finished Northanger Abbey by J. Austen. Solid, mid-level Austen.


Bryan--The Bee’s Knees (theindefatigablebertmcguinn) | 629 comments Finished Buddenbrooks: The Decline of a Family, by Thomas Mann. Much more realistic than I had expected--more in the tradition of the late 19th Century than the early 20th.


message 3926: by Diane (new)

Diane  | 2336 comments Mod
Finished The Roots of Heaven by Romain Gary. Great book.


message 3927: by George P. (new)

George P. | 1402 comments Mod
Bryan wrote: "Finished Northanger Abbey by J. Austen. Solid, mid-level Austen."

I thought it funnier and less maudlin than Pride and Prejudice, her only other novel I've read.


message 3928: by Diane (new)

Diane  | 2336 comments Mod
Finished Mr. Vertigo by Paul Auster. My favorite by Auster so far.


message 3929: by Karen (new)

Karen Hoehne | 1717 comments Mod
Broken April by Ismail Kadare.


message 3930: by Bryan--The Bee’s Knees (last edited Sep 30, 2017 05:11PM) (new)

Bryan--The Bee’s Knees (theindefatigablebertmcguinn) | 629 comments George wrote: "Bryan wrote: "Finished Northanger Abbey by J. Austen. Solid, mid-level Austen."

I thought it funnier and less maudlin than Pride and Prejudice, her only other novel I've read."


Hello, George--I've been part of a small group who are reading the six major novels of Austen this year. I'm not especially an Austen fan, but I haven't minded the experience--I probably never would have read them otherwise. (I might be getting closed to being 'Austen-ed' out though. Or Austentistic, take your pick). Anyway, we saved her biggie for last, so I haven't read P&P yet, and it'll be interesting to compare. Emma had a dislikable main character, and Persuasion seemed like thin material, but S&S and Mansfield Park were both pretty good--so that puts NA firmly in the middle for me.


message 3931: by Sarah (new)

Sarah (sarahbethie) | 438 comments Finished The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky. The end was much better than the middle.


message 3932: by Sarah (new)

Sarah (sarahbethie) | 438 comments Bob wrote: If you're into psychology, think of the three brothers as...”

I am a big fan of the subject but this isn’t the best treatment of the topic. It lacked a cohesive flow throughout.


message 3933: by Sarah (new)

Sarah (sarahbethie) | 438 comments Bryan wrote: "I thought it funnier and less maudlin than Pride and Prejudice, her only other novel I've read."

Many have lumped Pride and Prejudice solidly into the romance category thanks to screen and movie adaptations. But it’s really a satirical treatise against the social customs of her day. However, Colin Firth is hard to resist.


message 3934: by Diane (new)

Diane  | 2336 comments Mod
Finished How it Is by Samuel Beckett.


message 3935: by Kirsten (new)

Kirsten  (kmcripn) George wrote: "Bryan wrote: "Finished Northanger Abbey by J. Austen. Solid, mid-level Austen."

I thought it funnier and less maudlin than Pride and Prejudice, her only other novel I've read."


I like it as it's a great satire of the gothic novel that were all the rage at the time.


message 3936: by Sarah (new)

Sarah (sarahbethie) | 438 comments Finished The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan. It was unexpectedly pleasant.


message 3937: by George P. (new)

George P. | 1402 comments Mod
Karen wrote: "Broken April by Ismail Kadare."

I read this recently and my 3 Goodreads friends who have read it and I all really liked it, all rated it 4 or 5 stars.


message 3938: by Christopher (new)

Christopher (Donut) | 28 comments Bryan wrote: "George wrote: "Bryan wrote: "Finished Northanger Abbey by J. Austen. Solid, mid-level Austen."

I thought it funnier and less maudlin than Pride and Prejudice, her only other novel I'v..."


Whoa, Bryan.. you disliked Emma, and you liked Fanny Price.

I'm just going to do the Spock raised eyebrow... "Fascinating."

I went into MP this time thinking Jane Austen had meant for Fanny to be a little slow witted, but that wasn't it at all.

And EMMA seems to be the story of Jane Fairfax told from the back of the tapestry, so to speak.


Bryan--The Bee’s Knees (theindefatigablebertmcguinn) | 629 comments Christopher wrote: "And EMMA seems to be the story of Jane Fairfax told from the back of the tapestry, so to speak.
..."


I'm not sure what you mean--did you mean Mary Crawford instead of Jane Fairfax? I think I've read too much Austen--it's all starting to run together.


message 3940: by Christopher (new)

Christopher (Donut) | 28 comments Bryan wrote: "Christopher wrote: "And EMMA seems to be the story of Jane Fairfax told from the back of the tapestry, so to speak.
..."

I'm not sure what you mean--did you mean Mary Crawford instead of Jane Fai..."


For the record, I love Mary Crawford; but I'm talking about Mrs. Bates's niece who is destined to be a governess unless..


message 3941: by Aileen (new)

Aileen | 154 comments George wrote: "Karen wrote: "Broken April by Ismail Kadare."

I read this recently and my 3 Goodreads friends who have read it and I all really liked it, all rated it 4 or 5 stars."


I've read it too and was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it.


message 3942: by Diane (new)

Diane  | 2336 comments Mod
Finished Garden, Ashes by Danilo Kiš.


message 3943: by Aileen (new)

Aileen | 154 comments Finished a short one today. So Long a Letter by Mariama Ba. My first Senegalese book too, so was a bit of an education as well as a 3/5 read.


message 3944: by Karen (new)

Karen Hoehne | 1717 comments Mod
George wrote: "Karen wrote: "Broken April by Ismail Kadare."

I read this recently and my 3 Goodreads friends who have read it and I all really liked it, all rated it 4 or 5 stars."


I gave it 4 stars -- the writing was excellent and the depiction of the bureaucracy surrounding the blood feud was intriguing. It's hard though to describe my feelings about the book as "liking it" because the lack of hope in escaping the endless cycle of the blood feud is so dark and depressing.


message 3945: by Karen (new)

Karen Hoehne | 1717 comments Mod
A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway.


message 3946: by Ellinor (new)

Ellinor (1001andmore) | 915 comments Mod
Aileen wrote: "Finished a short one today. So Long a Letter by Mariama Ba. My first Senegalese book too, so was a bit of an education as well as a 3/5 read."

I also finished this one last night. A very interesting book and my first Senegalese book too.


message 3947: by Sarah (last edited Oct 04, 2017 05:21PM) (new)

Sarah (sarahbethie) | 438 comments Kim wrote: "I did just buy a used copy of Crime and Punishment and am hoping to start that next year!”

You’ll enjoy this much more. If you can squeeze it in this year do so. In light of the unrest taking place in many areas the message is pretty evident.


message 3948: by Aileen (new)

Aileen | 154 comments Another short one ticked off. The Nose by Nikolai Gogol. I thought it was a little too short to get stuck into, but it kept me amused on a bus journey. 3/5


message 3949: by lawless (new)

lawless | 6 comments Finished The Black Dahlia by James Ellroy. Thoroughly enjoyed it and highly recommend it for all the mystery/noir fans out there!


message 3950: by Peter (new)

Peter | 443 comments How the Dead Live by Will Self. I found it intriguing and at times compelling but it failed to really grab me.


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