Boxall's 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die discussion
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Which LIST book did you just finish?
Bucket wrote: "Just finished Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. I love the fable-like quality of the writing and the personalization of the characters. From what I'd heard about the book ahead of time, I was afr..." I absolutely loved this story. His writing kept me captivated through out. I read this for a non-western History class last summer and this was my favorite from all the other novels we read. His other novel,
No Longer at Ease was also very good.
Finished The Parable of the Blind by Hofmann, based on the painting of the same name. Reminds me of Perfume, though not as good. Where Suskind concentrates on the main characters sense of smell by describing this in detail, Hofmann describes things whilst missing out how they look. Wouldn't call it great but interesting take.
Hi all... just joining the group, though I've been working on the list for a couple years. I just finished The Children's Book by A.S. Byatt. This is my 141 book from the combined list.
Just finished The Name of the Rose. I have seen the movie at least two times so I thought maybe I will find it boring. I was intimidated by Umberto Ecco so I thought maybe it would be too challenging.But Wow! A thousand stars.
Karina wrote: "Bucket wrote: "Just finished Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. I love the fable-like quality of the writing and the personalization of the characters. From what I'd heard about the book ahead of ..."I heard he has a memoir coming out soon too - in the fall I believe.
I've just finished Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe.I borrowed this book off my Uncle, and was a bit nervous about starting it because it had stories centred around slavery.
Well this amazing and powerful book I now recommend to everyone!!!
Had me laughing and crying (REALLY!) not many books can generate true emotion like this one. Some give the feelings of happiness of sadness, but this book takes you through the pages, till your there with the characters living their lives.
Finished On the Road by Jack Kerouac, and I loved it. There seem to be a lot of mixed opinions as far as the book is concerned, but I think teenagers generally really like it, which I guess is why I enjoyed it so much. It was the first book in a long while that got my heart racing!
I finished reading Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five a few days ago. I'm glad I read it, it was interesting though it also left me with some mixed feelings as to what I felt towards the novel as a whole, lol.
Just finished The Hours by Michael Cunningham; I liked it better than Mrs. Dalloway - don't shoot me! Thoughts here.
Jennifer W wrote: "Last night I finished Mr Norris Changes Trains (AKA The Last of Mr. Norris). I really enjoyed it."I really liked it too. Another good book by Christopher Isherwood is Goodbye to Berlin.
Just finished The Man of Feelingwhich brought me down to 1001 books left on the combined list. My goal to reach before joining the group, so here I am.
The Remains of the Day by Ishiguro. Loved it, and that surprised me a little as I wasn't expecting to.
Finished The 39 Steps. If you write a book that includes a foreign villain, and you use that foreign language in your novel, PLEASE get a native speaker to check it. Or use a dictionary. Seriously!
Steven wrote: "Just finished The Man of Feelingwhich brought me down to 1001 books left on the combined list. My goal to reach before joining the group, so here I am."You're kidding of course, Steven! I looked at your shelves and you have quite a few from Boxall's list that you can mark off!
Judith wrote: "You're kidding of course, Steven! I looked at your shelves and you have quite a few from Boxall's list that you can mark off! ..."Yes, he's probably marked off, what 293 books?, if he's using all three lists combined.
Last evening I finished I'm Not Scared.My comments begin: I have no idea why this is on the 1001 books list.
my comments
Pauses for a breath...War and Peace -Tolstoy
No other way to explain the epic beauty of this amazing work than to exhort others to read it and experience it for themselves.
Masanobu wrote: "Jennifer W wrote: "Last night I finished Mr Norris Changes Trains (AKA The Last of Mr. Norris). I really enjoyed it."I really liked it too. Another good book by Christopher Isherwood is Goodbye t..."
That one is in my book, too. I intend to get to it soon.
Liz M is correct, I have marked off 293 books on the combined list which leaves me with 1001. Jacques the Fatalist will take me down to 1000 either tonight or tomorrow before I go to the library.
Sunny in Wonderland wrote: "Just finished The Little Prince, which sadly I'd never read as a child. Wonderful!"Last night I read The Wonderful O with my 10 year old. I've only just started working my way through THE LIST. But, I'm so glad that I'm doing this, because I've had some amazing reads so far. (Sadly, this wasn't one of them, but the last few have been awesome!)
Craig wrote: "Pauses for a breath...War and Peace -Tolstoy
No other way to explain the epic beauty of this amazing work than to exhort others to read it and experience it for themselves."
Well done! I finished last November I think - I'm going to tackle Anna Karenina this winter! I love it also. Poor Andrei :(
I just finished Girl With Green Eyes by Edna O'Brien. I know I shouldn't judge a book by its cover but when this turned up as one of my readitswapits I thought 'something my mother would have read as a lovestruck teenager.' (My mother likes Mills and Boons - enough said).BUT I'm happy to report that I actually fell in love with this. Yes, the female characters are too submissive or lacking in self confidence and yes a lot of the men are complete pigs - but it feels real.
My heart goes out to Caithleen - I can just see her now with her Auburn hair piled on her head and eyes welling up. Can't wait to finish the trilogy.
http://bookbebeautiful.blogspot.co.uk/
Dbolden wrote: "Craig wrote: "Pauses for a breath...War and Peace -Tolstoy
No other way to explain the epic beauty of this amazing work than to exhort others to read it and experience it for themselves."
Well ..."
Anna Karenina is wonderfully written as well, but a different work than War & Peace. Enjoy!
Tori,I so agree with you about Owen Meany. He is also one of my favourite characters and the book outstanding.
Just finished Chocky - so sweet and well written, I really enjoyed it.
Jeanette Winterson's "Written on the Body". Beautifully written, to be savoured by anyone who has ever been in love.
I'm with you, Tori and Mikela. I've been chomping at the bit to re-read A Prayer for Owen Meany since I re-read The World According to Garp last year. Maybe soon!
A Prayer for Owen Meany was my first John Irving book and still one of my favorite books of all time. I have liked other Irving novels, but none as much as that one. And the movie adaptation was awful, imo. Ian- Jeanette Winterson is genius, and I love everything of hers that I've read so far. Written on the Body was the first of hers that I've read, followed by Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit. Fantastic.
Sunny in Wonderland wrote: "Just finished The Little Prince, which sadly I'd never read as a child. Wonderful!"Wow! I'm so jealous that you've read it for the first time! I LOVED this book so much as a child and I ensure that I read it at least once a year now. Pure magic. I collect ornaments and keepsakes related to it, too! x
Finished Infinite Jest, it grew on me.
Deanne wrote: "Finished Infinite Jest, it grew on me."Truth or Dare: How long did it take you to read? LOL!
Mikela wrote: "Just finished The Return of the Soldier and loved it."I read it about a year ago and loved it, too. Definitely a book I would not have found were it not for the list!
Whoa! I just finished I, Robot by Isaac Asimov. That was fantastic! Now I want to read MORE of the Robot series!
Sunny in wonderlandStarted Infinite Jest may 9th, finished may 25th.
Also finished Independent People by Laxness, which was a hidden gem on the list, loved it.
Just finished Rabbit, Run By Updike. It was very interesting it did make me want to read the other 3 rabbit books to see what happens to the (not very likeable) character
Deanne, I agree with you about Independent People. It was a great book. Someday I plan to explore more titles by Laxness. He won a Nobel Prize for Literature. Steven
Is it necessary to know something about Icelandic history or culture to enjoy Independent People?
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Boxall's 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die
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Slowly working my way through Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe, if Rachel Halliday was a real person I would love to meet her!