Which LIST book did you just finish? Showing 5,851-5,900 of 7,922

[Yrinsyde]

I finished The Piano Teacher by Elfriede Jelinek - powerful writing but disturbing and rather lonely in the end.

[Judith]

The Autumn of the Patriarch - Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Mesmerizing writing style!

[Judith]

Oroonoko - Aphra Behn

Tragic tale of the 17th century told by one who says she witnessed some of the events....but probably never did.

[Deanne]

Finished The Busconductor Hines by Kelman, felt a bit like a kitchen sink drama, working class family in Glasgow. Also felt a bit dated as busconductors have vanished from the buses, remember them as a child.

[Jenn]

Just finished Villette. Not as good as Jane Eyre, in my opinion. Also, all the French to translate was a nuisance. I did like the book though.

[Nicholas]

Yrinsyde wrote: "I finished The Piano Teacher by Elfriede Jelinek - powerful writing but disturbing and rather lonely in the end."

She's an outstanding writer,really unflinchingly brutally honest in her portayal of society and personal interactions.

[Susan]

The Picture of Dorian Gray was an interesting read.

[Dana]

Finished Sputnik Sweetheart yesterday...I liked it, but it definitely wasn't what I was expecting.

[Craig]

Through the Looking Glass -Carrol
A bit more complicated than Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, but still very fun. The annotated version I read was great with added bits of information, anecdotes, etc. The logic and math games played with the dialogue and other elements was interesting and a another way to 'read' Carrol.

[Craig]

Through the Looking Glass -Carrol
A bit more complicated than Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, but still very fun. The annotated version I read was great with added bits of information, anecdotes, etc. The logic and math games played with the dialogue and other elements was interesting and a another way to 'read' Carrol.

[Craig]

Lost Illusions -Balzac
Feels like I just ended an elaborately dramatic affair/relationship. This is by far the best I have read of Balzac.

[Melissa]

Finished The Awakening by Kate Chopin last week.

[Lauli]

Rabbit Redux. I must say I liked the first one much better. There were parts in this one that really disgusted me. But I guess it captures the spirit of the time well. Rabbit was a bit disappointing in this one.

[Charity]

Recently finished Anna Karenina and I am smitten. Definitely an all-time favorite!

[Tara]

Whew! Done with The Satanic Verses - definitely a tough slog with a lot of things over my head, but a lot to enjoy as well. Took me just under two weeks, but it felt like I had been reading it for much longer. 2 Rushdies down, 5 more to go.

[Genia]

Finished The Crime of Father Amaro yesterday. I rather enjoyed it, though didn't find it to be extraordinary or particularly entrancing.

[Judith]

Crome Yellow - Aldous Huxley

Very nice social satire. I smiled throughout.

[Judith]

Craig wrote: "Lost Illusions -Balzac
Feels like I just ended an elaborately dramatic affair/relationship. This is by far the best I have read of Balzac."

Looking forward to this one!

[Judith]

Lauli wrote: "Rabbit Redux. I must say I liked the first one much better. There were parts in this one that really disgusted me. But I guess it captures the spirit of the time well. Rabbit was a bit..."

Isn't Rabbit disappointing in the entire series? As Updike's "Everyman" of the period he seems predestined to make at least the most common of "wrong turns" as he stumbles through his middle class American life! I've only read two of the novels so far though, so can't say what he's up to in "Rabbit is Rich"....

[Lauli]

Judith wrote: "Lauli wrote: "Rabbit Redux. I must say I liked the first one much better. There were parts in this one that really disgusted me. But I guess it captures the spirit of the time well. Ra..."

I guess I kind of liked him in the first one, even though he does everything wrong. I could relate to his need of escape from an oppressive family situation. But in this one, he just loses it! And the damage he inflicts on his son, exposing him to the whole Jill-Skeeter scenario... I just couldn't stomach it.

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

No spoilers, please.

[Lauli]

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "No spoilers, please."

I promise I'm not giving much away!

[Mikela]

Finished The Bell a few days ago and enjoyed it very much. Have learned to appreciate the characters she creates as well as the story line that she tells.

[Genia]

Finally finished Joseph Andrews. I found it a fantastical slog; much worse than Tom Jones.

[Katie]

I just finishedDouble Indemnity. It was so-so. I much preferred Mildred Pierce and The Postman Always Rings Twice. All 3 of the aforementioned books are on the list.

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

Katie wrote: "I just finishedDouble Indemnity. It was so-so. I much preferred Mildred Pierce and The Postman Always Rings Twice. All 3 of the aforementioned books are on t..."

I find only The Postman on the list. Are you saying the other two are included in that one entry?

[Katie]

Lauli wrote: "Judith wrote: "Lauli wrote: "Rabbit Redux. I must say I liked the first one much better. There were parts in this one that really disgusted me. But I guess it captures the spirit of th..."

I enjoyed the second half of Rabbit, Run,in a jaw dropping, horrified kind of way, and that was more than enough Rabbit for me. He's such an ass. I like anti-heroes, but I don't think Harry Angstrom is any kind of hero. I couldn't root for him. What do those of you who have continued with the series think of the character?

[Katie]

Yrinsyde wrote: "I finished The Piano Teacher by Elfriede Jelinek - powerful writing but disturbing and rather lonely in the end."

Is that the book that inspired the movie starring Isabelle Huppert? I adore her, but it's a Michael Haneke film, and he scares the crap out of me.

[Danyellemastro]

Hima wrote: "I *finally* finished "On the Road" by Jack Kerouac. There were times when I just wanted to stop reading it altogether, but I did finish the actual story part. I didn't want to read the essays, espe..." painful. Burroughs is much better.

[Hima]

Dbolden wrote: "Hima wrote: "I *finally* finished "On the Road" by Jack Kerouac. There were times when I just wanted to stop reading it altogether, but I did finish the actual story part. I didn't want to read the..."

I have "Naked Lunch", just haven't read it yet. I'm a little burned out on the whole druggie, hippie, "let's do whatever we want with no consequences" thing. I will read it eventually, was a little apprehensive about Naked Lunch, since Burroughs and Kerouac were in the same/similar circles.

[Katie]

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Katie wrote: "I just finishedDouble Indemnity. It was so-so. I much preferred Mildred Pierce and The Postman Always Rings Twice. All 3 of the aforementioned ..."

Elizabeth - you are 100% correct. I don't know where I was when I thought I found that information. Thank-you for pointing it out. Now, if only I could figure out what list I was looking at... :)

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

I have read none of them, but I remember seeing some black and white movies on TV, and my mother telling me they were very good movies. Joan Crawford was Mildred Pierce, as I recall, and was Charles Laughton in Double Indemnity?

ETA: No, I think that was Witness for the Prosecution. I see the Double Indemnity had Edward G. Robinson in it as well as Fred MacMurray.

[Katie]

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "I have read none of them, but I remember seeing some black and white movies on TV, and my mother telling me they were very good movies. Joan Crawford was Mildred Pierce, as I recall, and was Charle..."

Oddly enough, the day I finished Double Indemnity
was the last day the film was streaming on Netflix, so I was able to watch it. I love film noir, but this one was a bit silly, and they changed so much of the original, haunting story. Interestingly, the screenplay was co-written by another famous noir-ist: Raymond Chandler!

Postman and Mildred are great films. There are newer versions as well. Postman, with Jessica Lange and Jack Nicholson, and an HBO miniseries of Mildred Pierce starring Kate Winslet.

I don't know much about his other work, but Mildred Pierce (the novel) has stayed with me over the years. It's tragic, and a fascinating portrait of the lengths a mother will go to keep her horrible daughter happy. It's quite different than the typical male centered noir I've read.

[Yrinsyde]

I finished The Magician of Lublin by Issac Singer and - what a page turner! Singer made what could have been an ugly character into a very likeable one. I'm now reading The Nose by Gogol and it is hilarious!!!

[Yrinsyde]

Yrinsyde wrote: "I finished The Magician of Lublin by Issac Singer and - what a page turner! Singer made what could have been an ugly character into a very likeable one. I'm now reading The Nose by Gogol and it is ..." .. and I've just finished The Nose! Absurdist humour - lots of fun!

[Katherine]

I finished Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov last night. Whew. My professor gave our class the perfect advice in reading this book: resist the instinct to gloss over the messy parts. It's easy to try to protect yourself from the dark parts, but if you sit in certain scenes and mull over the use of, say, the word "had" instead of the word "let," you truly see the wonder of this book. This experience has probably changed, for a very long time, the way I read any novel.

[Linda]

Just finished Atonement By McEwan. Didn't end as I expected and I'm a bit confused. Didn't the real criminal ever get exposed and punished - What??

[Beth]

Just got off the train in Valga, Estonia. Had a fascinating trip with the esteemed Professor Martens (a real historical figure, a diplomat at the turn of the 20th century for the Russian court). He mistook me for his wife and was involved in some serious soul searching on the trip about his past behavior, both personal and professional. My review is at http://bethslistlove.wordpress.com/2012/... . Not fluffy, light reading, but really interesting. I definitely recommend it, particularly if you are into the history of international relations in that period! Professor Martens' Departure by Jaan Kross

[Yrinsyde]

Is that the book that inspired the movie starring Isabelle Hupper...

Hi Katie - you are right. I don't want to watch the film ... the novel was enough for me!

[Judith]

The Mill on the Floss - George Eliot
Mother - Maxim Gorky

I enjoyed both very much!

[LauraLou]

Democracy . Just reading Didion's book re the close of the conflict in Vietnam took me back in time to my college days. Superior writing style--IMHO. But Didion is not for everyone's taste.

[Karina]

Just finished reading The Awakening by Kate Chopin. Now I can't sleep. For some reason, this story just cut me to the core and spoke to me and I wasn't even enjoying the story in the beginning. Just like her short story, The Hour, I disliked the ending!

[Chelsea]

Just finished Oscar and Lucinda by Peter Carey. While it was a bit drawn out at times, the ending is great and makes finishing the book worthwhile.

[Mikela]

Just completed The Bluest Eye. While I liked it I'm afraid I didn't love it nor will it linger long on my mind.

[Deanne]

Finished Dark as the Grave Wherein My Friend is Laid by Lowry, short read feels a bit like a sequel to Under the Volcano.
Also Sister Carrie by Dreiser, suprised because Drieser seems to write a story without the usual judgemental attitude towards the characters as seen in some late Victorian/Edwardian novels.

[Lisa]

I just finished Go Down Moses by Faulkner. I was very appreciative of his writing style, although every so often he'd go off on a wordy tangent that really had nothing to do with the story, LOL. The other thing that threw me a bit was that the individual stories that make up this book travel back & forth in time. I would MUCH rather that this book have been released with the stories in chronological order, as I think I would have enjoyed it more if it had made more sense.

[Judith]

Yrinsyde wrote: "I finished The Magician of Lublin by Issac Singer and - what a page turner! Singer made what could have been an ugly character into a very likeable one. I'm now reading The Nose by Gogol and it is ..."

Thanks for this and other quick insights you share about these less than popular (or should I say less known?)titles from the lists. I keep adding them to my ever-growing WL!

[Judith]

Katie wrote: "Lauli wrote: "Judith wrote: "Lauli wrote: "Rabbit Redux. I must say I liked the first one much better. There were parts in this one that really disgusted me. But I guess it captures th..."

I think my previous comment pretty much gives away my feeling about Rabbit, but I'll add that he is immature to extreme in the fist novel and overly conservative in the second. So what life lessons will he learn from here on? (He learns everything the hard way!) Guess we will have to read to find out! I have a feeling that I will never either like or admire him though. I think Updike meant for him to represent the common human foibles of his place and time more than he meant for us to like his character....

[Beth]

Finished Schindler's List last night. It was a powerful read, but made me afraid to fall asleep with my mind so full of concentration camp horror. My review is at http://bethslistlove.wordpress.com/2012/...
Then today, just when I thought I was safely listening to a book on Kashmir, it switched to the experience of a Jew in France in 1940. Uh oh. Apparently even Rushdie (Shalimar the Clown, non-list book) is no guarantee of a Holocaust-free read this month.

[Sandi]

I finally finished Anton Reiser: A Psychological Novel. It is the story of an extremely sensitive child/young adult growing up in poverty in Germany in the 1700s, pretty much unloved by anyone, but with a passion for higher learning. He manages to get a scholarship to go to school and later university, but he is never truely happy because poverty and sensitivity make him an outsider. The interesting fact about this novel is that it is at least partly autobiographical.