Boxall's 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die discussion
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Hardest Book to Read?
Amanda wrote: "Cider with Rosie, The Princesse de Cleves, and The History of Rasselas: Prince of Abissinia were all ridiculously boring and took weeks to get through, eve..."Oh no- Cider with Rosie is all about context I suspect- you need to be in the right frame of mind as well to go with the sense of the time. My father was brought up in a similar environment and he really brought it to life for me (he was an English teacher). I also enjoyed "As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning" about his travels in Spain just before the civil war.
My Dad also adored Hardy and moved us to Dorset partly because of that but I've never really enjoyed H's prose although some of the Radio 4 adaptions really bring it to life.
Madame Bovary is also one of mine- I know I'm not supposed to like Madame but just one hint of humanity would have helped- also despite enjoying most of the Russian classics unfortunately the Brothers Karamazov I didn't finish- again I've heard a wonderful Radio 4 adaption of this one. I have to have another go at Stendhal to get over this block I have with some of the French authors!
i couldn't even finish my book it was ..... not interesting like it was an old book it took place in like the 1700s it's called ALONE YET NOT ALONE.
In general when I find a book (I mean here literature book, nothing to do with medicine) difficult to read I abandon reading it. I don't see the point in continuing if I find it dull and uninteresting. The author's job is to engage the reader, to present his thoughts and emotions in a lucid and entertaining style. There have been many books I have abandoned reading but so far they are not on the list.
I've probably abandoned more than a few works, especially those I just couldn't get into from various lit. courses. Super Duper Cooper (aka The Last of the Mohicans) still makes me want to change my major! I just couldn't get into to it; the author uses too many dense descriptions and the character name-changing is too confusing.
Regine wrote: "I mean let's face the facts: her books are early forms of chick-lit. But the way she writes her characters, the rom..."So true! And I do love some Jane Austen. Except Emma. Funny because I throughly detest modern chick-lit.
Hardest for me - Unbearable Lightness, Austerlitz, Wuthering Heights, anything by Daniel Defoe. Its not necessarily that they're hard reads - they're just bad reads which makes them hard to get through.
I slogged through about 45 pages of Naked Lunch before I got too disgusted to continue. I marked it as "read" on my spreadsheet, though--I got as much out of it as I would have if I finished it!
Elise wrote: "I slogged through about 45 pages of Naked Lunch before I got too disgusted to continue. I marked it as "read" on my spreadsheet, though--I got as much out of it as I would have if I ..."I love it, Elise! There are just some books you can't get through, no matter how much you push and push. :D I would mark it "read" as well!
Happy Reading!
Regine wrote: "I'm with all the ladies here. Jane Austen is probably one of my favorite authors. I mean let's face the facts: her books are early forms of chick-lit. But the way she writes her characters, the rom..."Have you tried "A Christmas Carol" by Dickens? I found it nice undemanding read.
For me degree of difficulty equals whether or not I'm in the mood to read it! When I know it will be a reading slog, I use the book as my "morning read." Just a chapter or 2 at a time (right now I'm reading The Washington Post "America's New Health-Care Law and What it Means for Us all") It's actually very good reading and something that will affect us all! So although I do not have a specific 1001 reads before you die to add to the list, I do pick them up and read them chapter at a time.
For all you Austen lovers- be sure to read Fowler's The Jane Austen Book Club. Good read with Austen thrown in :)
Stuart wrote:Have you tried "A Christmas Carol" by Dickens? I found it nice undemanding read. I have given it a try. It's not that I find his work difficult, or demanding to understand. I just really dislike the way he writes.
I enjoyed the book A Christmas Carol, but it is the only Dickens book I have read.
Regine wrote: "I have given it a try. It's not that I find his work difficult, or demanding to understand. I just really dislike the way he writes."I find his books to be filled with sly humor and wry description, but I also listen to them as audiobooks, which you might wish to try, just to see if that takes the edge off your objections to the writing style.
Jean wrote: "For all you Austen lovers- be sure to read Fowler's The Jane Austen Book Club. Good read with Austen thrown in :)"Very little Austen actually thrown in, but it is a fun, fluffy read.
I would more highly recommend Jasper Fforde's series of Thursday Next mysteries, starting with The Eyre Affair for fun reads that reference great works of literature. The trope is that books can be changed by those who revise copies (Heathcliff is in continual danger of being either turned into less of a cad or killed outright), and the main character actually ends up traveling within the world of the books, where she becomes an assistant to Miss Havisham and helps characters such as Jane Eyre and Elizabeth Bennett. The more classical literature you've read, the more amusing the books. They aren't great literature, but they are great fun. (Be warned that you must have a high tolerance for puns.)
Regine wrote: "Stuart wrote:Have you tried "A Christmas Carol" by Dickens? I found it nice undemanding read. I have given it a try. It's not that I find his work difficult, or demanding to understand. I just r..."
That is fair enough. I think how ever technically good a writer is, if the style annoys you then that is almost impossible to overcome; in the same way some music can irritate.
I find his books to be filled with sly humor and wry description, but I also listen to them as audiobooks, which you might wish to try, just to see if that takes the edge off your objections to the writing style.I don't mind audio books, but I always prefer reading the text. I'm not fully giving up on Dickens-- Great Expectations is on my to-read list. But so far, the books that I've read just weren't my cup of tea.
Great Expectations is quite good. If you enjoy Austen than I would imagine you would enjoy it - it read as very "Austen-like" to me.
Jean wrote: "For all you Austen lovers- be sure to read Fowler's The Jane Austen Book Club. Good read with Austen thrown in :)"Sorry, I read Fowler's book and didn't really enjoy it much. Thought all the characters had pathetic lives.
Gina, thanks for recommending the Jasper Fforde series. Never heard of her and those books sound right up my alley, since I have read a lot of classic English lit.
To Regine - I found it funny that people got upset for your Curiosity Shop spoiler, because I think of that aspect of the story as almost common knowledge. When that happened in the book at the time of publication it was big news! But I realize not everyone knows about that.And to Michelle regarding "Dickens hate" thanks for that promo. I love Dickens too - not always easy, but always worth the effort! Tale of Two Cities is awesome - one of my favorites as well!
Elise wrote: "I slogged through about 45 pages of Naked Lunch before I got too disgusted to continue. I marked it as "read" on my spreadsheet, though--I got as much out of it as I would have if I ..."it took me three tries to get through it. a very challenging read. the writing was interesting, of course, but the constant phantasmagoria grew wearying at times. a real chore but rewarding in the end.
Gravity's rainbow was super hard for me to stick with. I started it twice, and couldn't keep going past the first chapter.
I had a hard time getting through Gravity's Rainbow, Great book but I had to keep looking things up cause I didn't want to miss any of the allusions, so that really slowed me down.
Absalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner was only finishable because I had a teacher and sparknotes. Wihtout that I would have given up. First, the chronology is crazy. Faulkner jumps from time period to time period without hardly telling the reader he's doing so. Then there's the narrators. You can't believe any of them because they're all just remembering a really old story, colored with their own biases. Then there's just the whole style of the book. This book has a sentence with 1,300 words. Ungh. Worth it, but by far the most challenging book I've ever read in my life.
I had a hard time with Hunchback of Notre dame. Only because Hugo goes on and on about the architecture and city of Paris. I love descriptive works but I feel he went a bit overboard.
Yeah I agee that Jane Austen is a chore to wade through. For one thing I respect her for making the most of what must have been a fairly limited source. But she makes it interesting for certain it's just that those who like to read about the inanities of social pretence will love it, her characters are featureless mostly but complex and not to be dismissed.Additionally part of my dislike of her stems from the fact that I had to read Pride and Prejudice for University and Emma for College. I found that reading them all the way to the end didn't really have much of a reward, and the experience left me disillusioned as to what the fuss was about.
That said I would like to reaproach them but he ghosts of old bad experiences have so far proven hard to banish.
Lord Woolfie wrote: "Yeah I agee that Jane Austen is a chore to wade through. For one thing I respect her for making the most of what must have been a fairly limited source. ...Additionally part of my dislike of her stems from the fact that I had to read Pride and Prejudice for University and Emma for College..."This is why I'm glad I did not read Austen until I was in my 30s. I enjoyed her immensely, but I know I would not have done so at college.
I read my first Austen book, P&P, after watching the BBC BC version of it (that is, Before Colin). I loved it and have read each one of her books repeatedly (except for Northanger Abbey - can't get into it). It was not chick lit when she wrote it. Austen was a sharp - if gentle - critic of laws of her times and of social issues. The big problem I have with Austen is that one never sees in her books the hoards of people that work to provide the characters (yes, including men) with the leisure to read poetry, learn complicated dances, paint and sing. Women gave birth in the fields and continued working in order to allow her protagonists to spend their time in such refined ways.
And yet I know that I will read her again and enjoy people who are so alien and yet so much like us.
The Alexandrian Quartet is a minor masterpiece. He is pushing the novel form in very unexpected ways. Unfortunately, he wrote the book at the beginning of his literary career. Had he waited a decade, his mastery of writing would have made a better written book.Regardless, AQ is on my top five list. The sheer luxuriousness of the novels, their complexity, psychology of the principal characters, philosophical musings, etc. put them in the small league of most serious literary endeavors. Unfortunately, as I have already said, Durrell`s efforts and ambitions at the time exceeded his talents.
I found Don Quixote so difficult to read I only made it half way through. I hope at some point I'll finish it.
Finnegan's wake, the dialogue made no sense, got to the end and think I must have slept read through the whole thing as none of the book stayed with me.
Deanne wrote: "Finnegan's wake, the dialogue made no sense, got to the end and think I must have slept read through the whole thing as none of the book stayed with me."I've heard many horror stories of Finnegan's Wake, as well as Ulysses, both by James Joyce. I've read A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and Dubliners by Joyce, and may just leave it at that!
I really enjoyed The Sun Also Rises ;)
For me it's Hunger by Knut Hamson. Really didn't like this and abandoned it after about 100 pages. The main character failed to gain my sympathy and after 30 pages I'd branded him an idiot.
When I finished Finnegans Wake, I wanted to ask Joyce to give me back a month of my life. I even read it along with a companion book, and I couldn't even understand that. I really enjoyed Ulysses, even though it was very challenging. But Finnegans Wake was the most nonsensical waste of time I've ever experienced.
I have a hard time with Cormac McCarthy. I really enjoy his novels, but for some reason, it takes me forever to read his novels. It's the opposite of what I experience with Ian McEwan: I can't stand his books plot wise, but find that the way he rights makes his novels hard to put down.
Jaleh wrote: "...what I experience with Ian McEwan: I can't stand his books plot wise, but find that the way he rights [sic] makes his novels hard to put down. ..."I find this funny - you don't like his plots, yet can't put his books down!?
P.S. I feel compelled to say something positive about Foucault's Pendulum since it's one of my favorite novels. I think it helps if you have a good understanding of Western philosophy, medieval European history, or Judaism. When I read it, I had just finished my degree in philosophy. I was giggling all through this book. ('Course, I have a bizarre sense of humor.) I have since developed a passion for medieval history, and I'm now starting to dabble in Judaism. I really can't wait to re-read this one of these days now that my knowledge of its subject matter is broader.
So far, hardest has been To the Lighthouse, Virginia Woolf. I just didn't get it, and ended up putting down early.
Tej wrote: "P.S. I feel compelled to say something positive about Foucault's Pendulum since it's one of my favorite novels. I think it helps if you have a good understanding of Western philosophy, medieval Eu..."With all due respect, I was a philosophy major, was taking a course on Gnositicism at the time that I read the book, and was raised an Orthodox Jew with extensive education in Biblical and Rabbinic texts, and I thought Foucault's Pendulum was a piece of pseudo-intellectual garbage. It had little in the way of plot, no characters, and was just a hodgepodge of religious referrences that didn't add up to anything.
A note or two about Cormac McCarthy. Perhaps the most difficult part is the dialogue. It can be said that many of his works are entirely dialogue! Some of it is in a transcribed vernacular that can be difficult at first to even comprehend. Try reading it aloud. Might or might not help. You'll know within a few pages at most!Secondly a lot of the rest of his work is in an internal dialogue. The Road is often an internal musing, again transcribed to the written word on the page. Blood Meridian: Or the Evening Redness in the West is another nightmare narrated (i.e. a special form of dialogue) in a nontraditional way to the reader.
Zee wrote: "I think I'll leave that one till last then lol!
Seriously... so far for me it's The Unbearable Lightness of Being. It was unbearably boring... I had to force myself because it was fo..."
What class? I'm sorry, as in college or school class class? Are you kidding me? Why? Why in the world are they teaching that book? It i snot a bad read but not for school. Sheesh.
Seriously... so far for me it's The Unbearable Lightness of Being. It was unbearably boring... I had to force myself because it was fo..."
What class? I'm sorry, as in college or school class class? Are you kidding me? Why? Why in the world are they teaching that book? It i snot a bad read but not for school. Sheesh.
I was wanting to start 100 years of solitude because of the reviews, but then was told that it is a very hard book. I was hoping to get some ideas from other people on if it is as hard as they say. And also not sure exactly what the person meant by it being a hard read so if anyone has an idea about why they would say this.Thank you
Jessica,I personally found One Hundred Years Of Solitude surprisingly easy to get into. I think what could be meant by it being a hard book is that it could be hard to keep track of the characters. I've heard that some editions have a family tree which makes it easier. I would personally recommend it. :)
Megan,I read an edition that did not have a family tree so I don't know, all I've got is hearsay :)
Jessica wrote: "I was wanting to start 100 years of solitude because of the reviews, but then was told that it is a very hard book. I was hoping to get some ideas from other people on if it is as hard as they say..."I enjoy Latin American lit, and Garcia Marquez is one of my favorites. The people in my book clubs tend to have a problem with Latin American lit because there are a lot of mystical things going on. It requires that you either believe in that sort of thing or that you suspend your disbelief. Garcia Marquez in particular can be difficult, I think, because even though he's a contemporary writer his style is very 19th century. He seems to have a great love of language. For anyone who likes his work, I highly recommend his autobiography.
Megan wrote: "Susanna wrote: "Jessica,I personally found One Hundred Years Of Solitude surprisingly easy to get into. I think what could be meant by it being a hard book is that it could be hard to keep track ..."
I just finished reading it last week and thankfully my copy had a family tree in the front. I know I was referring to it constantly. It's hard to keep track of characters when all the men have 1 of 2 names.
However, the family tree was a bit of a spoiler. I knew who was going to marry/ have sex with who ahead of time.
Boxall's 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die
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Leslie
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