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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Friederike
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Nov 11, 2012 09:05AM
Just finished Madame Bovary by Flaubert. I enjoyed the first half of it, but after that, it began to drag. Kind of prefer Effi Briest, though not by much.
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I finished The Cider House Rules and gave it 4 stars (probably deserves 5 but I went on a bit of a rant after reading it, and it wasn't pretty).
The Lambs of London - Peter AckroydThe Lambs of London
Now I have to research how much of this historical novel was based on facts...certainly not all of it!
Hard Times -Dickensand
The House on the Borderland -Hodgson
Hard Times is classic Dickens, well written with likeable and memorable characters.
House on the Borderland started off great, then the pace and tone changed to a more surreal feeling. Still, it was okay.
I just finished The Satanic VersesI gave it 2 stars. I did liked the books construction, the story and the work the author put into it.
I felt it had just too many cultural, religious and literary references for me. Allot of the references had no explanation. I actually used Wikipedia on some of the references to better understand what some the conversations meant or implied.
Definitely a book you may have to read more than once
Judith There's a picture of Charles Lamb on the goodreads website, sadly Mary's picture is missing.
One Hundred Years of Solitude. My first Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Gave it five stars! Love!
Graham Greene's The Heart of the Matter- it was rubbish and I'm over the moon that I've finished it! :)
Judith wrote: "The Lambs of London - Peter AckroydThe Lambs of London
Now I have to research how much of this historical novel was based on facts...certainly not all of it!"
Actually, quite factual. I loved this book.
Anna Karenina - just as good as my first reading when I was 18!
Lolita. I started to appreciate the writing once I set aside my disgust of the subject matter and just went with it.
Farewell, My Lovely This started of well, but I got bored at the moddle section and then picked up interest in the final few chapters.
Recently finished Silk by Alessandro Baricco. This was a book that I did not expect to like but in the end really enjoyed.
Just finished Life of Pi. I was surprised by how much I liked it. The end left me still wondering about it.
Finished "Love In The Time Of Cholera" a few days ago. It was my first read by GGM and was expecting a lot more. Nonetheless, kept me interested and gave it 3 stars.
Finished Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le Carré this morning. I did not love it, and it left me confused due to the writing style and I had to re-read pages to understand what the heck was going on. Not my favorite spy novel.
Karina wrote: "Finished Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy by John le Carré this morning. I did not love it, and it left me confused due to the writing style and I had to re-read pages to understand what the heck was ..."You'll think this a strange question, but does it take place almost entirely in London?
The Iron Heel -Londonand
The Immoralist -Gide
Both were great, for vastly different reasons. London's work is plot driven with invigorating characters and story. Whereas Gide's work is medidative and appears to focus more on the experience than any hard plot.
I just finished The Maltese Falcon and then watched the movie. I also just read Cloud Atlas--loved it!
The house of dr dee...I think I will have to read this again as I wonder if I missed something? I like it bt it didnt wow me enough o think it was a justified 1001 book.
The Man Who Loved Children. Haven't seen many others in the group review this one. It seemed at first to have no focus or rhythm much like the Pollit family, but the more I read the more engrossed I became. Woeful and full of uncomfortable home truths, I wouldn't recommend this to a friend down in the dumps! I did love it though!
Lolita.Frighteningly well-written and just plain frightening too.
Rituals - Cees NooteboomRituals
Though I had difficulty finding merit in this novel well into its pages, I found it redeemed itself when I finally got into the flow of the lovely writing and exploration of it's primary theme.
In the last five weeks, have finished:The 39 Steps - John Buchan - on Kindle - 3 stars, quick, light read
Fanny Hill - John Cleland - on Kindle - 2 stars, ugh, too repetitive
Tipping the Velvet - Sarah Waters - Paperbk - 4 stars - really enjoyable....
Just finished I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou. I think it is included on the list because of its different style of autobiography. It was easy to read and I think that the author did an excellent job of putting into words what it was like to be a young black girl in Arkansas.
YEsterday, I finally finished The House of the Seven Gables. i had been reading it since August. It was...okay. I much prefer his other work that I have read!
Cakes and Ale. Really liked this book but suspect I would have enjoyed this even more if I was more familiar with the intricacies of the social classes of the time.
Finished Anna Karenina. Really loved it! It's amazing how much insight Tolstoy has in the human mind!
Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson. Pretty fun.
Mod
The Disaffection by Kelman, ok but I preferred his others.
Invisible
Quite a quick read... liked it.
Denise wrote: "The Sense of an Ending. Completed in one sitting. 4 stars"Loved The Sense of an Ending! Definitely want to read more by Barnes
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote - why haven't I read this before? So good, and so sad!captured here: http://bookbebeautiful.blogspot.com.au/
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Boxall's 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die
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