Boxall's 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die discussion
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Which LIST book did you just finish?
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Tara
(last edited Jan 03, 2012 12:09PM)
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Jan 03, 2012 12:06PM
Just finished Cryptonomicon, one of the 'tomes' on the list. Greatly enjoyed it and was extremely irritated by it, alternately. Didn't feel like 1100+ pages, but I'm glad it's over. Very mixed feelings about it, as you can probably tell.
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Chel wrote: "My reviews are brief and there are no spoilers. I just left Italy. The author is Italian writing about a Frenchman in the 1800's who travels to Japan repeatedly to buy silkworms as part of the si..."This refers to Silk by Alessandro Baricco?
Just finished The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie and despite the warm accolades given to it by GoodRead members I didn't really get involved. References to small piggy eyes always make me feel a bit ill. http://bookbebeautiful.blogspot.com/2...
Finished City Primeval on New Year's Day. Tore through it. I'm a big fan of Leonard's and it is one of his best.
The Bell by Iris MurdochI liked this tale of a small group of people trying to "be good"....which proves an impossible task even in a closed religiously oriented community!
Marialyce wrote: "Finished Brideshead Revisited? Lots of fodder there for conversations...."I loved this.
Dead Souls -GogolSuch a different work than what I have been reading! Political, funny, and very Russian (even though Gogol was Ukrainian).
I just finished 100 Hundered Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. What a fantastic read! I nearly gave up on it during the civil war period, but I am so glad I stuck with it. In turns horrifying, funny, sad, tragic and annoying, it was a breathtakingly wonderful read. A great start to 2012!
I just finished The Hobbit. I found it a relatively easy read which I am happy to have read in this new year.
I finished my re-read of Wuthering Heights and discovered that crazed passion and revenge really isn't my cup of tea any more, if it ever was.
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's NestI just finished One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest and absolutely loved it. A real modern classic in every sense.
I have been away from this thread for a while (bad lazy me) but recently finished The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay (2008 list) which was brilliant and i highly recommend it, also read Dr Jeckyl and Mr Hyde and Complicity which were pretty good too.
4evagreen wrote: "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's NestI just finished One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest and absolutely loved it. A real modern classic in every sense."
Got your message and i will try and read this book this month - thanks
Just finished Their Eyes Were Watching God which I loved, The Nose, an entertaining farce, The 39 Steps and Tender is the Night.
The Riddle of the Sands: A Record of Secret Service by Erskine Childers, an unsuspenseful mystery that depended far too much on esoteric uninteresting nautical knowledge. In short, it didn't float my boat.
Liz M wrote: "The Riddle of the Sands: A Record of Secret Service by Erskine Childers, an unsuspenseful mystery that depended far too much on esoteric uninteresting nautical knowledge. In short, ..."I didn't check out the 1001 books list blurb to see what this was about before I bought it and started reading it assuming it was some kind of subsaharan mystery possibly with an archaeological basis.... imagine my surprise when it was set on a boat. That'll teach me!
Liz M wrote: "The Riddle of the Sands: A Record of Secret Service by Erskine Childers, an unsuspenseful mystery that depended far too much on esoteric uninteresting nautical knowledge. In short, ..."I'm looking forward to this, exactly because it has a nautical theme. Perhaps that comes from living in a maritime community. We'll see.
I finished The Strange Case of Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde this morning. Like most people, I knew the basics of the tale, but was surprised by how haunted I was by the actual story.
I just finished Moby Dick. I feel so accomplished. Melville definitely needed an editor. Did any of you guys actually like that book?
For me, Moby Dick was easy to put down and hard to pick up. However, while I was actually reading, the language was like music to my ears. I haven't been tempted to do a re-read but I ended up thinking the novel was a work of art, even if getting through it was a slog.
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. It was interesting, and an easy read, but I'm not sure I had to read it before I died.
Trainspotting. Gruesome and violent, with almost-impossible-to-like characters, but engaging and pretty unputdownable in spite of that. I loved it.
The Shining. Having seen the film I knew what I was in for, but reading at home alone still made me extremely jumping. Especially when it came to pulling the shower curtain back in the mornings! No corpse sighting yet you'll be glad to know.
I loved Moby Dick - I found it fascinating and easy to become totally immersed in. :) Amanda wrote: "I just finished Moby Dick. I feel so accomplished. Melville definitely needed an editor. Did any of you guys actually like that book?"
Timbuktu by Paul Auster. Incredibly, incredibly disappointing but blissfully short. To be fair, I enjoyed the second half a lot more but that wasn't difficult to do. Even with strong writing, it never raised above the level of a gimmick and in a book with few characters and less plot, most of the characters were neither likable or interesting.
Amanda wrote: "I just finished Moby Dick. I feel so accomplished. Melville definitely needed an editor. Did any of you guys actually like that book?"I did like it, but it was one you had to finish
then think on. The scenes were described really well
it was like you were there!
Bea wrote: "For me, Moby Dick was easy to put down and hard to pick up. However, while I was actually reading, the language was like music to my ears. I haven't been tempted to do a re-read but I ended up th..."True it really is a work of art more than a story!
Liz M wrote: "Chel wrote: "My reviews are brief and there are no spoilers. I just left Italy. The author is Italian writing about a Frenchman in the 1800's who travels to Japan repeatedly to buy silkworms as p..."Yes.
Tara wrote: "How the Dead Live by Will Self. Weird....very weird. It felt like a bit of a rollercoaster to me - like several books in one. At times, it was quite readable, at other times it felt like I was r..."I had the same reaction to it. It was one of those book where I was kind of lost when reading it and really wanted to have someone to sit right next to me and discuss it with.
I finished Donna Tartt The Secret History yesterday and loved it. Loving the discussion here as well.
Just finished Portnoy's Complaint. A good companion to Myra Breckinridge which I read at the end of the year. I just love politically incorrect books! This is sort of Woody Allen in the raw
Finished In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower by Proust, the second book in In Search of Lost Time. I've got the next two but I'm reading other things in between, however really like the translations I'm reading. Have to order the others from the library.
Just finished Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe last night. It was okay, it dragged out in some bits especially with Moll's thieving. It was comical and I enjoyed reading it when I was into it but not my favorite book. This is my first Defoe book.
Karina wrote: "Just finished Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe last night. It was okay, it dragged out in some bits especially with Moll's thieving. It was comical and I enjoyed reading it when I was int..."I loved spunky Moll.
Finished King Solomon's Mines. It was a 19th century 'oomph' to it that I enjoyed a lot. I have a good deal of affection for lost world adventures.
Finished Lord of the Flies, I read it in half an afternoon. It wasn't exactly the "light reading" I'd been looking for, and the book's kind-of haunted me for the last couple days...I guess that's a sign of the author really getting through to the readers.
Dana wrote: "Finished Lord of the Flies, I read it in half an afternoon. It wasn't exactly the "light reading" I'd been looking for, and the book's kind-of haunted me for the last couple days...I..."I've read Lord of the Flies several times in school and loved it. I'm looking forward to re-reading it at some point. But definitely not a light read!
The Time Machine by HG Wells. I've seen so many adaptations of it and thought I actually knew the story. It was really much better than I expected and it's truly almost miraculous to think of how this, and a lot of his stuff, is the template for so much of what is still written today. The fact that this was made when there really weren't precursors for it is a true feat of invention.
After reading The Butcher Boy I was looking for a light hearted book so read The Diary of a Nobody. It was certainly light but have determined that it might be wise to actually read the book 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die to see why it and several others were chosen for this list. It was an okay read.
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