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

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message 4851: by Bea (new)

Bea | 110 comments I hope you like them. I came late to OMF which was recommended to me by a friend. It was a revelation.


message 4852: by Lauli (new)

Lauli | 263 comments The Heat of the Day. Interesting so far.


message 4853: by Donna (new)

Donna (donnareadstheworld) | 0 comments I'm just starting Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood


message 4854: by Jess (new)

Jess Lane (catsofdeath) | 47 comments Starting the lonely londoners it is a very small book hope to have it done tomorrow.


message 4855: by Jess (new)

Jess Lane (catsofdeath) | 47 comments I shouldn't have even posted lonely londoners on here finished it and now starting lucky Jim.


message 4856: by Lisa (new)

Lisa James (sthwnd) | 352 comments I am really enjoying Cannery Row. It's been cute so far, & it's one I have never read. The Age of Innocence is fun too so far. Finding Woman In White harder going, the print in this OLD copy the library has is SO small! I can't read much at a time because it makes my eyes hurt. Haven't cracked Invisible Man yet though.


message 4857: by Marialyce (new)

Marialyce Lisa, if you have an ereader, you can get The Woman in White for free either at amazon or Project Guttenberg. You can then increase the font and read perfectly. It is such a great book, I would hate to see you miss it because of small print.


message 4858: by Rachel (Sfogs) (last edited Nov 13, 2011 12:37PM) (new)

Rachel (Sfogs) | 226 comments I've started Madame Bovary.
My friends really like this book, but I just find her annoying, spoit and VERY selfish. She doesn't seem to pay much attention to her little girl either.


message 4859: by Bea (new)

Bea | 110 comments Rachel (Sfogs) wrote: "I've started Madame Bovary.
My friends really like this book, but I just find her annoying, spoit and VERY selfish. She doesn't seem to pay much attention to her little girl either."


Your description of Emma is spot on. I love Madame Bovary for its very beautiful writing. A related List book that I can recommend is Flaubert's Parrot by Julian Barnes. I read it right after Madame Bovary and enjoyed it very much. There are lots of insights into Flaubert's private life but it's not a biography by any means.


message 4860: by Linda (new)

Linda Charity wrote: "Started Blood Meridian tonight. Plenty of bloodshed in the first few chapters...typical McCarthy."

I just finished All the Pretty Horses by McCarthy and enjoyed it, so now I'm wondering if I will like Blood Meridian as well.


message 4861: by Linda (last edited Nov 13, 2011 04:51PM) (new)

Linda Lisa wrote: "... Finding Woman In White harder going, the print in this OLD copy the..."

Lisa - Have you ever tried audio books? Librivox.org has Woman in White for free download, then you could listen to it while walking, cooking, whatever. I've found that to be a good option, especially for long works. This past year I audio-read Tom Jones, Les Miserables and Adam Bede and currently listening to The Pickwick Papers on my ipod.


message 4862: by Linda (new)

Linda I just started Agnes Grey by Anne Bronte. Looking forward to it, as I've read books by the other two Bronte sisters, but not Anne.


message 4863: by Susanna (new)

Susanna (jb_slasher) I started Orwell's Animal Farm last night and had to force myself to put the book down because I had to wake up early this morning. Work will seem very slow today :)


message 4864: by Charity (new)

Charity (charityross) Linda wrote: "I just finished All the Pretty Horses by McCarthy and enjoyed it, so now I'm wondering if I will like Blood Meridian as well."

I haven't read All the Pretty Horses, so I don't know if it is comparable, but I have read No Country for Old Men and The Road by McCarthy, and Blood Meridian is by far much more disturbed and gory than either of those. It seemed like someone is killed in some appalling way every other page and the infanticide was absolutely stomach-churning. Ugh. I can typically handle violence in literature, but the stuff in this book was downright wretched.


message 4865: by Linda (new)

Linda Charity wrote: "...Blood Meridian is by far much more disturbed and gory than either of those. It seemed like someone is killed in some appalling way every other page and the infanticide was absolutely stomach-churning. Ugh. I can typically handle violence in literature, but the stuff in this book was downright wretched. ..."

Thanks for the warning - sounds like one I may prefer to skip! Pretty Horses had some violent scenes, but not what I would call disturbing. BTW, I watched the movie (starring Matt Damon and Henry Thomas) and it was quite close to the book.


message 4866: by Rebecca (new)

Rebecca Johns (b3cs) I started reading The Talented Mr. Ripley today. So far I am enjoying it!


message 4867: by Rachel (Sfogs) (new)

Rachel (Sfogs) | 226 comments I've justed started The War of the Worlds.


message 4868: by Adriana (new)

Adriana Hello! I started The Drowned and the Saved. Just looking at the cover makes me sad. :(


message 4869: by Judith (last edited Nov 15, 2011 11:23AM) (new)

Judith (jloucks) | 1202 comments Linda wrote: "Charity wrote: "...Blood Meridian is by far much more disturbed and gory than either of those. It seemed like someone is killed in some appalling way every other page and the infanticide was absolu..."

Yes, Linda and Charity, I found Blood Meridian to be the darkest and bloodiest (and most graphically so) of any of the titles the two of you have listed by McCarthy. I would have to advise you to try one or two of the others to see if you like them before trying Blood Meridian.


message 4870: by ~Calyre~ (new)

~Calyre~ | 103 comments I started Ignorance by Milan Kundera.


message 4871: by Maggie (new)

Maggie (mmorrell) | 25 comments I startedOscar and Lucinda. Its one of the best books I've ever read.


message 4872: by Rachel (Sfogs) (new)

Rachel (Sfogs) | 226 comments Maggie wrote: "I startedOscar and Lucinda. Its one of the best books I've ever read."

Thats nice to know, because I have a copy waiting to be read!


message 4873: by Erik (new)

Erik The Handmaid's Tale. I've heard only good things.


message 4874: by Jenny (new)

Jenny (jeoblivion) Erik wrote: "The Handmaid's Tale. I've heard only good things."

I read this one years ago and loved it. I am currently trying to find my copy in one of the ridiculously disorganized book piles and shelves of mine, I'd actually really like to find out how I'd feel about it now. Did you read anything else by Atwood?


message 4875: by Lisa (new)

Lisa James (sthwnd) | 352 comments I love Atwood! I have read I think all of her books so far that are on the list except for The Robber Bride, which I checked out of the library yesterday :) Looking forward to reading it.

Also currently reading The Woman In White & The Age of Innocence.

Started Jazz by Toni Morrison, & checked out of the library for a second time A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. I burned out on it half way through, returned it, & took a 2 week break from it. Now that I've rechecked it, I'm fresh again going back into it, marked where I left off, so maybe I can finish it this time...


message 4876: by Charity (new)

Charity (charityross) Started The Virgin Suicides today. Since I loved both Middlesex and The Marriage Plot (not a list book) by Eugenides, I have high hopes for this one. I saw the movie adaptation, but that was years ago and I don't remember a single thing.


message 4877: by Donna (new)

Donna (donnareadstheworld) | 0 comments A book that I should've read before now - The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger.


message 4878: by Deanne (new)

Deanne | 681 comments Started Old Masters by Bernhard, not sure I think of this one.


message 4879: by Chel (new)

Chel | 380 comments Talia wrote: "I just started Cryptonomicon. While I do get a little lost with all the mathematics, I am enjoying the story so far."

I just loved that book! You might too.


message 4880: by Mikela (new)

Mikela | 378 comments Have just begun The Namesake.


message 4881: by Lauli (new)

Lauli | 263 comments The Time Machine, our monthly read


message 4882: by Laura (new)

Laura | 67 comments Mikela wrote: "Have just begun The Namesake."

I loved it, hope you will enjoy it also.


message 4883: by Laura (new)

Laura | 67 comments Just started Regeneration by Pat Barker. So far so good.


message 4884: by Mikela (last edited Nov 19, 2011 01:08PM) (new)

Mikela | 378 comments Laura wrote: "Mikela wrote: "Have just begun The Namesake."

I loved it, hope you will enjoy it also."


Finished it and absolutely loved this book as well. Really looking forward to reading more of her work.


message 4885: by Laura (new)

Laura | 67 comments Mikela wrote: "Laura wrote: "Mikela wrote: "Have just begun The Namesake."

I loved it, hope you will enjoy it also."

Finished it and absolutely loved this book as well. Really looking forward to re..."


great!!


message 4886: by Melissa (ladybug) (last edited Nov 19, 2011 01:33PM) (new)

Melissa (ladybug) | 28 comments The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton

So far is very boring. :(


message 4887: by Debsp (new)

Debsp The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins. Enjoying it so far. I have Bram Stoker's Dracula on my ipod (both the written version and a audiobook) which I read/listen to a bit every night before bed!


message 4888: by Deanne (new)

Deanne | 681 comments Reading Look Homeward, Angel by Thomas Wolfe, enjoying it so far.


message 4889: by Grada (BoekenTrol) (new)

Grada (BoekenTrol) (boekentrol) | 60 comments Just started Hunger by Knut Hamsun. Strange book, so far.


message 4890: by Kate (new)

Kate (lacommunarde) | 14 comments Just started reading Les Liaisons Dangereuses. I've seen various versions of movies, including the Roger Vadim 1960 one, and am intrigued at the epistolary nature of the book, and at seeing changes that were made in the book to screen transition process between book to movie.


message 4891: by Judith (new)

Judith (jloucks) | 1202 comments Vathek* - Wm. Beckford


message 4892: by Cait (new)

Cait (caitertot) | 34 comments I started The Virgin Suicides even though I already have two other books going. I only meant to read the first paragraph to get a feel for it since it was supposed to be an upcoming read. Instead, I ended up completely sucked in.


message 4893: by Christopher (new)

Christopher (skitch41) | 4 comments I am about to start reading For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway by Ernest Hemingway Ernest Hemingway. This is my first book written by Hemingway and I am very excited. Any tips on how I should approach Hemingway in general and this book in particular?


message 4894: by Marialyce (new)

Marialyce Christopher wrote: "I am about to start reading For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway by Ernest HemingwayErnest Hemingway. This is my first book written by Hemingway and I am ve..."

I always think it is good to read up on the author. It tells so much as to the how and the why of the book, not to mention the thinking of the times. I read this book in HS and do need to do a reread of it in the coming year. Hemmingway is fascinating. I often think his life was at times more full of pathos than some of his books. He was a very interesting man, a sort of one who went against the mainstream and I think struggled with his ability to be an accepted, revered American author.


message 4895: by Mikela (new)

Mikela | 378 comments Have just begun The Sea and have a feeling that despite its short length this is not going to be a quick easy read. So far...so good.


message 4896: by Elizabeth (Alaska) (new)

Elizabeth (Alaska) Mikela wrote: "Have just begun The Sea and have a feeling that despite its short length this is not going to be a quick easy read. So far...so good."

Looking forward to hearing what you think about this. I have not read any Banville under his own name, but he has written a few mysteries under the name Benjamin Black. The prose and character development I recall as being quite good, although it's been over 15 months since I read Christine Falls.


message 4897: by Donna (new)

Donna (donnareadstheworld) | 0 comments I've just started The Red Queen by Margaret Drabble. I love her voice - the omnipresent narrator. First time reading Drabble and so far so good!


message 4898: by Judith (new)

Judith (jloucks) | 1202 comments In spite of having two books already in progress (one a nonfiction), I found myself starting "Under Fire" by Barbusse yesterday as well. It's about a WWI squad; and after just finishing "A Fable" by Faulkner (not a list book) with the same setting, I was drawn to read more.

I think this one will take precedence over "Vathek" started this weekend as well.


message 4900: by Craig (new)

Craig | 241 comments Vanity Fair -Thackeray
and
The Charterhouse of Parma -Stendhal


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