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

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message 5201: by Danyellemastro (new)

Danyellemastro | 170 comments Christyb wrote: "I'm reading Atonement by Ian McEwan. I'm only about 70 pages in, and its slow going. Has anyone read this? Does it pick up speed?"


I loved the Cement Garden but a lot of his other work dragged for me...McEwan is the king of plot but for me the prose doesn't always ring true.


message 5202: by Judith (last edited Feb 01, 2012 11:36AM) (new)

Judith (jloucks) | 1202 comments I'm starting "Rabbit Redux" by Updike

I didn't enjoy "Rabbit, Run" that much, but I think this series becomes more engaging as Rabbit's story unfolds....We'll see!


message 5203: by Bea (new)

Bea | 110 comments I am about to start a re-read of Moby-Dick by Herman Melville. I last read it about 30 years ago, and I think it will almost qualify as a first reading. I'm actually quite excited to be tackling it again.


message 5204: by Craig (new)

Craig | 241 comments I am sure it will be great. I just finished it for the first time and loved every piece of this glorious whale-pie of a novel. Reminded me somewhat of DFW's Inifinte Jest, sans the multiple footnotes.


message 5205: by Eve (new)

Eve B. (partyp) | 4 comments Their Eyes Were Watching God - Zora Neale Hurston


message 5206: by Chel (new)

Chel | 380 comments I started Quartet.


message 5207: by Danyellemastro (new)

Danyellemastro | 170 comments Nana by Emile Zola - loving a bit of filthy scandal!


message 5208: by Jonpaul (new)

Jonpaul Judith wrote: "I'm starting "Rabbit Redux" by Updike

I didn't enjoy "Rabbit, Run" that much, but I think this series becomes more engaging as Rabbit's story unfolds....We'll see!"


The Rabbit series gets better as it goes along. I still haven't read the final one but I read the first three. They can be a bit tiresome. Rabbit Angstrom's head isn't the most fun to be in for long periods of time and Updike catalogs it fastidiously. However, the same things which make the next two books tiresome or slow at times are also what make them pretty great. I read Rabbit Is Rich over ten years ago and I still remember clearly some passages because of the way that they were written.

In a way, I look at those books as the evil twin to Richard Ford's Frank Bascombe trilogy.


message 5209: by Jonpaul (new)

Jonpaul I started 2666, which is broken into five novellas. It's really not possible to tear through it at all but it's easy to get absorbed in it and I've already finished the first and most of the second novella.


message 5210: by Ann (new)

Ann (bookwoman247) | 6 comments I've just started The Optimist's Daughter. It seems okay, so far, but not great.


message 5211: by Bucket (new)

Bucket | 248 comments Just started The Guermantes Way - number 3 in Proust's In Search of Lost Time.


message 5212: by Craig (new)

Craig | 241 comments Jane Eyre -Bronte
and
Northanger Abbey -Austen


message 5213: by Beth (new)

Beth (eparks4232) | 162 comments Voss is not doing much for me, even 120 pages in. I'm joining a The Poisonwood Bible group read and will work on Voss at the same time. I hate getting stalled like this. UGH.


message 5214: by Rachel (Sfogs) (new)

Rachel (Sfogs) | 226 comments Craig wrote: "Jane Eyre -Bronte
and
Northanger Abbey -Austen"


I enjoyied them both.


message 5215: by Sophie (new)

Sophie (imsophiedavies) As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner


message 5216: by Dana (new)

Dana Arbelaez (danas_reads) | 25 comments Concurrently reading The Long Goodbye and A Boy's Own Story, although neither are catching my interest as I'd hoped.


message 5217: by ~Calyre~ (new)

~Calyre~ | 103 comments Just starting The Kreutzer Sonata by Leo Tolstoy


message 5218: by Deanne (new)

Deanne | 681 comments Started Stone Junction by Dodge and really enjoying it so far.


message 5219: by Janet (last edited Feb 05, 2012 06:05AM) (new)

Janet | 25 comments Just starting The Diary of a Nobody by George and Weedon Grossmith.


message 5220: by Mekki (new)

Mekki | 171 comments I just started To Kill a Mockingbird


message 5221: by Donna (new)

Donna (donnareadstheworld) | 0 comments Just got my first ever kindle, so to break it in I'm reading 'In Cold Blood' by Truman Capote. Still working on 'Burmese Days' by George Orwell in old-fashioned paperback at the same time! :)


message 5222: by Yrinsyde (new)

Yrinsyde | 295 comments Janet wrote: "Just starting The Diary of a Nobody by George and Weedon Grossmith."Enjoy! I thought this was funny. Let me know what you think!


message 5223: by Yrinsyde (new)

Yrinsyde | 295 comments Megan wrote: "10 pages into A Bend in the River. I think I'll enjoy this one."I really loved this novel and it began my my love of novels by VS Naipaul. I was thanking my lucky stars that I started this challenge, otherwise I would never have picked up a Naipaul novel.


message 5224: by Monica (new)

Monica (ritabook) | 10 comments I am 40 pages into The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien.


message 5225: by Craig (new)

Craig | 241 comments On the Eve -Turgenev


message 5226: by Chel (new)

Chel | 380 comments I just started So Long a Letter by the Senagalese author Mariama Ba.


message 5227: by ~Calyre~ (new)

~Calyre~ | 103 comments I just started The 39 Steps


message 5228: by Genia (new)

Genia Lukin | 205 comments Working on Camilla which, while it could use some serious trimming, is enjoyable enough.


message 5229: by Rebeca (new)

Rebeca | 14 comments just stared Ignorance by Milan Kundera..love this writer


message 5230: by Peter (new)

Peter | 443 comments To mark the great man's birthday have just started Oliver Twist. A story that I have seen portrayed many times on the silver screen but have never actually read. Am really looking forward to it.


message 5231: by Corina (new)

Corina Romonti (paleview) | 21 comments I just started Chocky by Wyndham. It`s a really nice book. I like it.


message 5232: by Rachel (Sfogs) (new)

Rachel (Sfogs) | 226 comments I've just started The Blind Owl by صادق هدایت(Sadegh Hedayat).
I'm liking this book so far, as strange as it is.


message 5233: by Eli (new)

Eli Adelholm (eliadelholm) I've recently begun reading The 120 Days of Sodom.


message 5234: by ~Calyre~ (new)


message 5235: by Craig (new)

Craig | 241 comments Hypervorean wrote: "I've recently begun reading The 120 Days of Sodom."

Have fun!!
Despite its age, that work stays with you and not in always the best way. I am not one to be shocked, but this one is interestingly degrading.


message 5236: by Eli (new)

Eli Adelholm (eliadelholm) Craig wrote: "Hypervorean wrote: "I've recently begun reading The 120 Days of Sodom."

Have fun!!
Despite its age, that work stays with you and not in always the best way. I am not one to be s..."


Yes so I have perceived. I'm only just getting by the introduction, but I must say that it has laid the style (don't know if this makes sense in English) already. I find it curiously appealing.


message 5237: by Donna (new)

Donna (donnareadstheworld) | 0 comments 4evagreen wrote: "To mark the great man's birthday have just started Oliver Twist. A story that I have seen portrayed many times on the silver screen but have never actually read. Am really looking forward to it."

I'm also embarking on a birthday read of Dickens - my first time reading 'David Copperfield'. Could take me a while... Will probably read it bit by bit with other books on the go at the same time.


message 5238: by Beth (new)

Beth (eparks4232) | 162 comments The Poisonwood Bible and I love it already.


message 5239: by Beth (new)

Beth (eparks4232) | 162 comments Cathy wrote: "I started The Ground Beneath Her Feet yesterday. I found Moor's Last Sigh and Satanic Verses unfinishable, but I'm really enjoying this so far! I finished Maximum City, a nonfiction account of mode..."

I struggled through The Satanic Verses (but eventually did finish it), but also found this one and Fury (which isn't on the list) much more readable. Glad you are having fun with it!


message 5240: by ~Calyre~ (new)

~Calyre~ | 103 comments I just started Red Harvest by Dashiell Hammett


message 5241: by Deanne (new)

Deanne | 681 comments Started The Red Room by Strindberg on my kindle.


message 5242: by Elizabeth (Alaska) (new)

Elizabeth (Alaska) Kyle wrote: "I just started The 13th Hourby Richard Doetsch. Unique thriller that is told in reverse."

This is not a list book, I think.


message 5243: by Sophie (new)

Sophie (imsophiedavies) Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

I recently finished As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner thinking it was a list book only to discover it is not. Although I think it deserves to be.


message 5244: by Amanda (new)

Amanda | 191 comments I just started The Elegance of the Hedgehog. I kept hearing people rave about it in this group and it is amazing. I really feel like it is a book for readers, which is probably why we all enjoy it so much!:)


message 5245: by Denise (new)

Denise Bleak House to be followed by Vanity Fair.


message 5246: by Kate S (new)

Kate S | 39 comments I am just starting Gulliver's Travels


message 5247: by Chel (new)

Chel | 380 comments I started Leaden Wings.


Tanya (aka ListObsessedReader) (listobsessed) | 108 comments I have finally gotten around to starting Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China. Almost two hours into an audio version. Loving it so far!!


message 5249: by Donna (new)

Donna (donnareadstheworld) | 0 comments Having a short break from 'David Copperfield' by reading The Little Prince.


message 5250: by Judith (new)

Judith (jloucks) | 1202 comments The Absentee - Maria Edgeworth

I think I am going to like it but it was a surprise to see how different it is from Castle Rackrent. I thought all her novels were gothic tales, and they are not!


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