Which LIST book did you just finish? Showing 4,251-4,300 of 10,248

[Karen]

After the Quake by Haruki Murakami

[Diane]

The Lonely Londoners by Sam Selvon

[Bryan--The Bee’s Knees]

Finally finished up Germinal by Zola. It was good, and if I know anything about Zola, accurate in its details. Unfortunately, Zola's characters always seem like pawns in the social reconstruction he's trying to fuel, so I sort of know going in there's going to be some tragedy. The closer I get to the end of the book, the more anxious I am for it to just be over with, and to let these poor people quit suffering. Anyway, Germinal was good--not as good as L'Assoimmoir, but still worthwhile.

[James]

I agree re Zola. I felt the same with Les Miserables and it is the problem with all polemical novels.

[Mia]

I finished Intimacy and Midnight All Day: A Novel and Stories by Hanif Kureishi.

[George P.]

Mia wrote: "I finished Intimacy and Midnight All Day: A Novel and Stories by Hanif Kureishi."

I see you rated three stars. Intimacy was dropped from later list editions while his Buddha of Suburbia was retained. My one friend who has read that rated it 4 stars and it has a better average rating than Intimacy. I may try that one eventually.

[[deleted user]]

I finally finished Moby-Dick or, The Whale. This was on my "book bucket list" and I chose to do it as an audiobook instead of print. Wow. What a long book. Worth it. But long.

[Laura]

James wrote: "Les Miserables by Victor Hugo. While it's length will put many off, I loved every page."
I loved this as well. There was so much detail you felt you were really there sat with all the characters. Yet another book that has fallen under the spell of 'I've seen it so I don't need to read it' which is really not the case.

[George P.]

Karen wrote: "The Year of the Hare by Arto Paasilinna
This was a delightful book to read (so many of the Boxall books can be a little depressing). After hitting a hare with his car, a Finnish jour..."

Some of my GR friends have read it and 3 out of 4 liked it. Surprisingly, my local library has it in audiobook and I have it in my to-read list.

[Diane]

Finished The Heretic: A Novel of the Inquisition by Miguel Delibes

[Bob]

Cecilia by Fanny Burney.

[Maggie]

Karina wrote: "The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov

I really, really enjoyed this novel. The imagery and the allegories are just amazing. And it was fun, too. Didn’t think I would enjoy the antics of Wol..."

I agree with you. I didn't think I would like the characters either, but it was such a fantastically fun book.

[Diane]

Blonde by Joyce Carol Oates.

[Bryan--The Bee’s Knees]

Invisible by Paul Auster.

This seems like an easy choice to cut for the next edition.

[Diane]

Finished I'm Not Scared by Niccolò Ammaniti.

[George P.]

Finished If on a Winter's Night a Traveler. A crazyish one- liked it, rounded up to 4 stars.

[Bryan--The Bee’s Knees]

George wrote: "Finished If on a Winter's Night a Traveler. A crazyish one- liked it, rounded up to 4 stars."

I really liked this to begin with, but as the book moved progressively on, it got harder and harder for me to maintain my enthusiasm. I still have very positive memories of it though, and would like to re-read it someday, now that I have an inkling of what's in it.

[George P.]

The novella The Return of the Soldier by Rebecca West. Pretty prose- I'm rating it 3.5 stars in my notes, 4 in the website. Her 4 books in the original Boxall edition were reduced to 2 in later editions: this one and The Thinking Reed (much less popular). She wrote nonfiction and reviewed books as well and was considered a leading intellectual and feminist. Return of the Soldier is free for Kindles.

[George P.]

Bryan wrote: "George wrote: "Finished If on a Winter's Night a Traveler.."
I really liked this to begin with, but as the book moved progressively on it got harder and harder for me to maintain my enthusiasm..."

I agree the 1st half is stronger than the 2nd.

[Genia]

Finished World's End, Can't make up my mind if I should give it one star or five.

[Karen]

The Fan Man by William Kotzwinkle
From the blurb: "drug-fueled befuddlement in NYC circa 1970." Absolutely hilarious!

[George P.]

Luís wrote: "Buddenbrooks: The Decline of a Family"

I'm planning to read it this year. Rather a long one, eh? How long did it take you? Did you read the Woods translation?

[Diane]

Finished:

The Case Worker by George Konrád
Thérèse Raquin by Émile Zola

[Karen]

Blood Meridian: Or the Evening Redness in the West by Cormac McCarthy

[Bryan--The Bee’s Knees]

Karen wrote: "Blood Meridian: Or the Evening Redness in the West by Cormac McCarthy"

Brutal

[Dree]

I have recently finished: All Souls by Javier Marías, Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto, and Casino Royale by Ian Fleming.

[Yrinsyde]

Luís wrote: "George wrote: "Luís wrote: "Buddenbrooks: The Decline of a Family..."

I read Buddenbrooks a few years ago and it is still a favourite. I was thrilled to find out a film had been made in 2008. Not the best adaptation but enjoyable nevertheless.

[Diane]

Bryan wrote: "Karen wrote: "Blood Meridian: Or the Evening Redness in the West by Cormac McCarthy"

Brutal"

I agree.

[Karen]

Diane wrote: "Bryan wrote: "Karen wrote: "Blood Meridian: Or the Evening Redness in the West by Cormac McCarthy"

Brutal"

I agree."

Totally agree! I listened to it as an audiobook and frequently had to just pause and leave it for a while.

[Bryan--The Bee’s Knees]

Karen wrote: " I listened to it as an audiobook and frequently had to just pause and leave it for a while. ..."

Do you know who the narrator was? While it was brutal, I still believe it to be one of the most powerful books I ever read. I don't know that I'll ever read it again, though I might. I'm thinking an audio presentation could either be really good or really bad.

[Karen]

Bryan wrote: "Karen wrote: " I listened to it as an audiobook and frequently had to just pause and leave it for a while. ..."

Do you know who the narrator was? While it was brutal, I still believe it to be one ..."

The narrator was Richard Poe. I thought he did a really good job. The presentation was intense, but riveting. Only difficulty for some might be the parts where McCarthy uses only Spanish (hard to Google a translation when you're listening) -- since I speak Spanish this was not a problem for me.

[Karen]

Cphe wrote: "I've read Blood Meridian twice and found that I was becoming anaesthetised to the violence the second time around. I don't think that is a good thing to occur at all."

Probably not!!

[Karen]

A Pale View of Hills by Kazuo Ishiguro

[Bryan--The Bee’s Knees]

Karen wrote: "The narrator was Richard Poe. I thought he did a really good job"

Thanks!

[Angelique]

Blood and Guts in High School by Kathy Acker.

[Ella]

Bryan wrote: "Karen wrote: "The narrator was Richard Poe. I thought he did a really good job"

Thanks!"

Double thanks. I was just considering that book and thought about an audiobook at least to start. I've found that having an audiobook going while reading a copy gives me a lot more insight to some books. But the narrator can really make or break an audiobook.

[Kirsten]

You are so right, Ella. I find that many classics are enhanced by having them read. But you have to be really careful. A bad narrator can take you out of a book.

[Karen]

The Trial by Franz Kafka

[Diane]

Hard Times by Charles Dickens.

[George P.]

Re: Blood Meridian Karen wrote: "Only difficulty for some might be the parts where McCarthy uses only Spanish (hard to Google a translation when you're listening) -- since I speak Spanish this was not a problem for me."

I speak basic Spanish also, so I got almost all of it, but I thought someone who knows almost no Spanish would miss some. I do get annoyed with some of the English authors who throw a lot of French words and phrases in because I know almost no French. PS: I listened to the audiobook also.

[Karen]

George wrote: "Re: Blood Meridian Karen wrote: "Only difficulty for some might be the parts where McCarthy uses only Spanish (hard to Google a translation when you're listening) -- since I speak Spanish this was ..."

Footnotes for French and Latin are always appreciated!

[Karen]

Red Harvest by Dashiell Hammett

[Tim]

The Water Babies, by: Charles Kingsley

[Diane]

Finished The Manila Rope by Veijo Meri.

[Ellinor]

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

[Laura]

The Talented Mr Ripley. I was really disappointed with this. I felt all of the characters were flat and there was no suspense at all within this plot. I didn't really get a sense of the locations he was travelling to either from the descriptions. All in all a bit 2 dimensional and uninspiring. :-(

[Bryan--The Bee’s Knees]

Laura wrote: "The Talented Mr Ripley. I was really disappointed with this. I felt all of the characters were flat and there was no suspense at all within this plot. I didn't really get a sense of the locations h..."

I read this recently too and was also disappointed. The only thing I can come up with is that when this was originally published, it must have been pretty much outside the mainstream--Ripley as a protagonist was probably very strange for that time. Kind of like The Killer Inside Me. I normally like Jim Thompson, but that particular title didn't do much for me. I think I'm jaded--there's been a lot of authors take Highsmith and Thompson's innovations and run with it, until the originators look kind of commonplace today. At least that's what I'm thinking.

[Laura]

Bryan wrote: "Laura wrote: "The Talented Mr Ripley. I was really disappointed with this. I felt all of the characters were flat and there was no suspense at all within this plot. I didn't really get a sense of t..."

That certainly makes sense. It can be easy to forget that we're not reading these books at the time they were written, and are therefore not the intended audience. It is also very rare these days to find a book that has any real sense of originality, which is very unfortunate, both for the authors whose work was truly original in its time and for us as readers to whom these stories have now been spoiled by over exposure to similar themes.

[Diane]

Finished Kiss of the Spider Woman

[Karina]

I finished Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote which is so different from the movie (which I saw first, as a kid, many times) I really enjoyed it.