Boxall's 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die discussion
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Which LIST book did you just finish?
Idea: Start a thread for member's reads that are NOT on any of the 1001 Lists? People seem to want to post everything they read, not just List books; and I, for one, would like to keep them separate. (I know this has been discussed before.)
Kristel wrote: "I just finished Black Water by Joyce Carol Oates. This novella was a quick but painful read as you experience the last moments of a young single professional females death by drowning after she tak..."i thought this book was just okay, one of the weaker ones from oates. i think she has many books that are far stronger than Black Water and that better deserve inclusion in 1001 Books.....Bellefleur, them, Foxfire, Because It Is Bitter, A Bloodsmoor Romance....
I finished reading The Life and Opinions of the Tomcat Murr last week. A very strange novel - surreal, satirical and magical-realist. And gothic horror and laugh-out-loud moments! Glad I read this. The second Hoffman novel I've read, the first being The Tales of Hoffman. Am now reading the Remains of the Day. After that I'm taking a break from the list and am reading up on Greek mythology in preparation for a holiday in Greece.
Erik wrote: "I just finished The Devil and Miss Prym by Paulo Coelho.Short, simple, and very insightful"
Do you think its worth buying? As a rule, i love Coelho books, but this is one that I haven't seen in the bookstore, so I don't know if its even worth ordering online.
Brave New World by Aldous HuxleyI did not enjoy it. The writing wasn't bad, but his notion of the future is very grim(IMO) and I found the characters wholly unlikeable.
I just finished Rashomon and other stories. It was superb. I really like the cutting realism yet mystique of many of the Asian authors I have read.
Anna wrote: "Koniec świata szwoleżerów. Czcigodni weterani by Marian Brandys"Why do you keep posting Polish books not in the 1001 books list? Shouldn't you post somewhere else?
If I get all the books from lists I'm not able to get in Poland (for logistic or financial reasons), I will start posting titles of books from the list I just finished. Besides the title of topic doesn't say
Which one from the list did you just finish?
.Apart from that there is button Edit, so use it to not post two or more posts one after another and just make one.
Ph wrote: "Farewell to Arms...For Whom The Bell Tolls it wasn't, but it was ok."I loved Farewell to Arms so much more then For Whom the Bell Tolls... Reading Across the River and Into the Tres
I just finished Final Justice by James Miller. Makes you think about what would happen if the assassins of JFK returned to terrorize a new administration.
i just finished the kite runner by Khaled Hosseini. Wat a great work of fiction. hated Amir in the beginning but then had a change of heart at the end; he was truly sorry and sought to make it right the best he could. What more can you ask of any human being. Asef scared the crap outta me
Ines wrote: "Katrina wrote: "The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas by Gertrude Stein, a tough read, where Stein is actually writing a biography of herself.It will make picking up her other two books from the li..."
ermmm... it wasn't to my reading tastes, but I'm sure others have enjoyed it
Just finished The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, I surprised myself and enjoyed it.
Go Down, Moses by William Faulkner. I think Faulkner is one of those writers you really have to be in the mood for. I struggled through most of this, put it down for awhile, then was completely engaged when I picked it up again. I liked it, but wasn't crazy about it.
Anna wrote: "If I get all the books from lists I'm not able to get in Poland (for logistic or financial reasons), I will start posting titles of books from the list I just finished. Besides the title of topic d..."Anna, you make a valid point about the discussion topic wording. It is not intuitive to newcomers, especially, that the original intent was to post only books from one of the 1001 Books To Read Before You Die lists. I'm with Chel in that I think that is still the purpose. Maybe administrators will clear this up for all of us as it has come up repeatedly within our membership in recent months.
Just finished Ethan Frome by Edith Warton... liked it more than I expected. Really dark, lots of longing. I really love "Kite Runner"-- such a well constructed novel! I like "Splendid Suns" as well, though I wasn't as impressed and I felt parts of it were really hard to get through.
I sortofkindof finished Dead Babies... Well, I guess I'll put it this way: I'm done with Dead Babies.
Maybe administrators will clear this up for all of us as it has come up repeatedly within our membership in recent months.Fixed. :)
Since there are many, many, many groups to discuss off-list books, I think the purpose of this group (given its name) should be discussing books from the 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die list. The occasional mention of off-list books (especially when you are reading them alongside books from the list) is fine, but repeated listing of off-list books in the threads will just confuse people who are working on the lists (2006/2008/2010), so it is discouraged.
Hope this clears things up! Happy reading to all! :)
Thank you, Charity! I use these threads to help me find the next best/intriguing book from the list. The increasing number of off-list posts here are indeed confusing.
May I suggest we read first the books of authors who had committed suicide like Hemingway, Kawabata, Gary, Mishima, Zweig, etc.?
Finished Morvern Callar last night, what a fantastic read! It was very strange, reminded me of some of the Japanese fiction I have read; Murakami, Ryu Murakami, Mishma, Banana Yoshimoto etc in its presentation and dealing with violence and human reations.A great one to read if you want a break from the classics.
Regeneration by Pat Barker. It's astonishing to know that some of those characters were real. Ms. Barker successfully blended fiction and non-fiction in this magnificent book about World War I. Very clever.
Silvia wrote: "Book #245 White Noise, Don Delillo"loved White Noise although read it, like, 15 years ago. Big Delillo fan
Deanne wrote: "Just finished The Vicar of Wakefield. Never Let Me Go was one I enjoyed, found Slow Man a bit harder going. "
I just finished the Penguin Classics Unabridged translation of The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas and gave it 5 stars. What a great book. All 1276 pages of it! A great story.
Joselito wrote: "May I know why you hated it?"It's not my kind of book. To0 experimental maybe? It's basically a collection of stream of conscious thoughts of the narrator.
Joselito wrote: "I have a world war 1 style trench coat. Wanna buy it?"No, thank you. Because of El Nino, it is hot here in the Philippines.
Steve-O wrote: "Hmm, either Never Let Me Go, or Stranger in a Strange Land."Never let me go is good, i liked it, but i think Remains of the day was alot more subtle. The writing is so dead pan and clear, in my opinion.
www.keremmermutlu.tumblr.com
Yelena wrote: "Was nearly finished with Cloud Atlas, and then forgot to pack it. I'm away for a week and realized I had left my next three list selection on my desk. The airport was no help, though I did get Midd..."Yeah! Cloud atlas is great, i really love mitchell's books, he's got a new one coming out later this year.
www.keremmermutlu.tumblr.com
Barbara wrote: "Ishiguro's When We Were Orphans. It's not on the list, but love the author. I highly recommend this to anyone wanting to read more my Ishiguro.I've just started Slow Man."
hi, i read remains of the day and loved it, so slow and seductive and sad. And also never let me go, but i didn't find it as great. I think i'll check out When we were orphans. thanks!
www.keremmermutlu.tumblr.com
Anne wrote: "This month: The Music of Chance - Paul Auster (really enjoyed this one); Blind Assassin - Margaret Atwood (wonderful, but not quite as good as The Handmaid's Tale); Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaz..."hi there, i know exactly how you feel about On The Road. I read it when i was a teenager and it completly changed my life. If i read it now, then i think it would destroy the spell. I really like Paul Auster too, although his later stuff seems less interesting. NYT is my favourite.
www.keremmermutlu.tumblr.com
Alright, I just finished Crime and Punishment! I knew it would be a great book, but I had no idea it would be so entertaining.
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Books mentioned in this topic
Troubles (other topics)This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen (other topics)
Sister Carrie (other topics)
Life of a Good-for-nothing (other topics)
The Singapore Grip (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Jorge Luis Borges (other topics)Juan Carlos Onetti (other topics)
Flann O'Brien (other topics)
Clarice Lispector (other topics)
Vladimir Nabokov (other topics)
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Do you think you would have liked if there had been a better narrator or you read the book instead of listened to it? Just wondering....