Which LIST book did you just finish? Showing 4,601-4,650 of 10,248

[Dina]

Finished Crash by J.G. Ballard. It's SF book but I am not sure why.

[Benjamin]

Just completed The Counterfeiters by André Gide. By far, one of the most fascinating reads of the year for me. Though I may not have wholly enjoyed it per se, I will definitely be thinking about it for weeks. I simply must return someday.

[Emy]

White Teeth by Zadie Smith. I didn’t like it.

[Diane]

Finished Written on the Body by Jeanette Winterson.

[Karen]

A Sentimental Journey by Laurence Sterne

[Kirsten]

Finished Eva Trout by Elizabeth Bowen a few days ago.

[Diane]

Finished Three Trapped Tigers by Guillermo Cabrera Infante.

[George P.]

Just finished Tess of the D'Urbervilles, a group read this month. This was my 2nd Thomas Hardy and I really liked both of them.

[Karen]

The Pigeon by Patrick Suskind

[Diane]

George wrote: "Just finished Tess of the D'Urbervilles, a group read this month. This was my 2nd Thomas Hardy and I really liked both of them."

I love Tess.

[Benjamin]

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath. I admire lots of Plath's poetry, but I really didn't get much out of this book. Am I the only one who finds it a tad overrated? There were many interesting and important themes presented but I felt like she didn't delve deep enough into them.

[Jaide]

Finished Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë and The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy.

[Tyler]

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz

[Rowizyx]

The Shipyard by Juan Carlos Onetti
The Colour by Rose Tremain

[Tim]

Finished The Last of Mr. Norris by Christopher Isherwood

[Karen]

by Luo Guanzhong

Finally finished Three Kingdoms: A Historical Novel, Part 1 and 2 (aka Romance of the Three Kingdoms) by Luo Guanzhong and translated by Moss Roberts. I started on January 1, 2018 and did about a chapter a day (120 chapters). The translation was beautiful and the books contain a wealth of helpful materials – an afterword, maps, a list of characters, titles, terms, and offices and over 100 pages of footnotes from commentaries and scholarly sources.

[Benjamin]

Finished Story of the Eye by Georges Bataille...
...no words.

[Bryan--The Bee’s Knees]

Mercedes wrote: "The Crying of Lot 49
Never before did I want a book to end as much as this one, because I disliked it so. And then, when I finished it I realized how much I enjoyed it. It reminded me o..."

I felt exactly the same way...right up until the part where you say you realized you enjoyed it. :) I do like Penderecki though--that's a good analogy of not liking something but then realizing you did after all.

[Diane]

Ben wrote: "Finished Story of the Eye by Georges Bataille...
...no words."

The word "cringy" comes to mind...

[Diane]

Finished Doctor Faustus by Thomas Mann.

[George P.]

Just finished The Burning Plain and Other Stories (orig Spanish title: El Llano en LLamas). by Juan Rulfo of Mexico. A collection of short stories, some very short. His style has short sentences with fairly simple language, rather Hemingway-ish, and I liked it though they are all dark stories.
Also read The 13 Clocks by James Thurber, ostensibly for children but fun for adults also.

[Benjamin]

Diane wrote: "Ben wrote: "Finished Story of the Eye by Georges Bataille...
...no words."

The word "cringy" comes to mind..."

I did cringe and squirm quite a bit, that is true. It was pretty much 'artistic' porn.

[Mia]

I finished 1984 by George Orwell. I loved it. I did listen it in English but I'm definitely gonna re-read it in Finnish at some point.

[Bryan--The Bee’s Knees]

Luís wrote: "Did you read Gravity's Rainbow? It was so weird..."

I haven't read it either. I read Lot 49 and V., started Vineland but never got interested, and DNF'd Bleeding Edge. My track record with Pynchon is not good--he irritates me. But I do have Gravity's Rainbow and Against the Day on my shelves. I'm just not eager to pull them down. But I keep hoping there is a Pynchon out there that transcends his other stuff, the same way DeLillo's White Noise trumped all of his other stuff that I've read.

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls]

Bryan wrote: "But I keep hoping there is a Pynchon out there that transcends his other stuff..."

Try Inherent Vice

[Kirsten]

Randy wrote: "Bryan wrote: "But I keep hoping there is a Pynchon out there that transcends his other stuff..."

Try Inherent Vice"

Excellent read! I loved that book.

[Bryan--The Bee’s Knees]

Thanks, Randy. I'll give it a try. It's certainly less of a commitment than Gravity's Rainbow or Against the Day

[Karen]

Reasons to Live by Amy Hempel
Easy reading -- short, short stories from 80s California

[Ellinor]

Finished Eva Trout

[George P.]

Bryan wrote: "DeLillo's White Noise trumped all of his other stuff that I've read.." and
Mercedes wrote: " I agree with you, White Noise was my first DeLillo, and I've been unable to complete any else I've started by him.."

You've piqued my interest in it- I've had White Noise in my to-read list but years out- I've moved it up about 6 months in the schedule.

[Ella]

George wrote: "Bryan wrote: "DeLillo's White Noise trumped all of his other stuff that I've read.." and
Mercedes wrote: " I agree with you, White Noise was my first DeLillo, and I've been unable to complete any e..."

I loved White Noise, but someone from the group who[m] I follow recently hated it. He's usually a DeLillo lover, so we talked and wondered if perhaps reading it "too late" (after other novels with similar settings, pomo novels, etc) caused him to love it less. It did make me think I should stop reading the newer novels and go back to try and read them in order (but then I may never get to my century.)

And my own contribution to this thread: A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving

[Karen]

The Parable Of The Blind by Gert Hofmann

[Benjamin]

The Third Policeman by Flann O'Brien. A tremendously joyful experience.

[Bryan--The Bee’s Knees]

Ella wrote: "I loved White Noise, but someone from the group who[m] I follow recently hated it. He's usually a DeLillo lover, so we talked and wondered if perhaps reading it "too late" (after other novels with similar settings, pomo novels, etc) caused him to love it less...."

It would make sense that if a person has read a lot of newer novels that push the envelope, or ones that keep pushing at the boundaries that DeLillo and Pynchon helped extend in the 60s-80s, that going back and reading some of the pioneers might be disappointing. I've had that experience myself. On the other hand, much of my mis-spent youth took place in the time that DeLillo covers in White Noise, so when I read it (finally, just within the last year) there was also a particular feeling of familiarity about it that probably helped me enjoy it even more. Still, I do think it is a funny and horrible book, each at the same time. I thought the ending was lame though.

[Tim]

Giovanni's Room by James Baldwin

[Bob]

A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls]

Bryan wrote: "Thanks, Randy. I'll give it a try. It's certainly less of a commitment than Gravity's Rainbow or Against the Day"

You're welcome. I enjoyed the heck out of it. It's like if the love child of Philip K. Dick and Hunter S. Thompson decided to write a Raymond Chandler detective story.

Karen wrote: "Reasons to Live by Amy Hempel
Easy reading -- short, short stories from 80s California"

How was that? I have The Collected Stories but haven't read any yet.

[Ella]

Bryan wrote: "On the other hand, much of my mis-spent youth took place in the time that DeLillo covers in White Noise"

Ah - we must be of the same vintage ;) I feel exactly the same way, though I read it a while ago. I've been wanting to revisit it, but I'm a bit afraid.

[Ella]

Mercedes wrote: "I'd like to revisit him as you do Ella, but there's just so much more out there now for me. My horizons keep expanding and, well, you can't ever go home again. ;-) "

Very true. I have a test for rereading: if I can't outline the plot w/o help, I'm due for a reread. I'm currently rereading most of the books I read in high school b/c it was ages ago & I didn't grasp most of most books. I feel like I can't, in good conscience, mark a book "read' if I can't do a quick and dirty sketch of it in my head. I can still do that w/ White Noise, though, so if I reread, it'll just be for a "head-clearing" read - when in a book slump sometimes rereading an old favorite helps me.

I know many of the stories in these books from a youth spent in classical music/opera. I know Werther really well, and Faust, Candide, Eugene Onegin...but I've never read some of the books, so I can't do my test for those. I love reading the books and seeing the difference, but that's not a good head-clearing experience. I recently heard the term "recovery book" - that's what a reread of White Noise would be.

[Jess]

Middlesex

In short. 5 stars. Perfect. Flawless, Top book of the year. Up there with top in my life!

In slightly longer (but not much longer because words cannot express)

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

[Karen]

Karen wrote: "Reasons to Live by Amy Hempel
Easy reading -- short, short stories from 80s California"

Bryan wrote: How was that? I have The Collected Stories but haven't read any yet.

Hempel's stories are excellent. Short stories about people dealing with loss and grief but facing it with a sense of humor. It was hard to put down, but easily read in one sitting.

[Tim]

An Artist of the Floating World by Kuzuo Ishiguro

[Mia]

I finished The House on the Borderland by William Hope Hodgson. I really liked it.

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls]

Jess wrote: "Middlesex

In short. 5 stars. Perfect. Flawless, Top book of the year. Up there with top in my life!

In slightly longer (but not much longer because words..."

I just finished that one too. It was almost like the characters in the book were real people that I met and got to know and spent time with on a daily basis. Outstanding book, very happy I read it.

[Diane]

Finished The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins.

[Benjamin]

I finished Mr. Vertigo by Paul Auster. A satisfying read, I suppose, but very short of high quality.

[Ella]

Funny. I too recently read Middlesex. I borrowed it from the library, but I'll be treating myself to a copy b/c it was that good to me.

Mr. Vertigo is one of those books that just doesn't sound good to me even before I've read a page of it. It seems most of the Auster I do like is not on the list. (I think I may have a penchant for unimportant books, since this is true of more than one author.)

I've been treating myself to the super-famous classics on the list lately, so I just finished Catch-22 (which reminded me of the best moments of my favorite show MASH an awful lot of the time.)

[Karen]

Zorba the Greek by Nikos Kazantzakis
Loved this book!

[Diane]

Karen wrote: "Zorba the Greek by Nikos Kazantzakis
Loved this book!"

One of my favorites!

[Diane]

Finished Faces and Masks, the second book in Memory of Fire by Eduardo Galeano.