Boxall's 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die discussion
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Which LIST book did you just finish?
Amsterdam - McEwan. Can see why it was dropped. Quick read, and although its not horrible (just very simplistic and obvious) it really doesn't belong among the rest on the list.
Liz wrote: "Bethany wrote: "Finished The Dud Avocado. Loved it! So glad I learned about it from this group."
what list is this book on...?"
My bad, somehow I thought it was on the list, but it's not. I could've sworn someone posted about it on this group. In any event, I highly recommend it.
what list is this book on...?"
My bad, somehow I thought it was on the list, but it's not. I could've sworn someone posted about it on this group. In any event, I highly recommend it.
I finished Wuthering Heights last month. I have a few other non-1001 books in line right now but I hope to get a few more in by the end of the year.
I've just finished Atonement. Enjoyed it much more than Enduring Love, which is the only other one of his I've read.
I just finished Veronika Decides to Die. It was a quick read, and definitely interesting. From reading the critique from the 1001 book, I expected something pretty different. It was actually quite uplifting!
Just finished Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne. I give it 4 stars. Fascinating to read a book written at a time of great discoveries, inventions and expansion of knowledge. A great adventure story. Fun and lighthearted.
Madame Bovary... it took me like, just over a month! But it was worth it.
Just finished Cloud Atlas..it was very different than I expected and I'm on the fence. I feel like I missed something key in the book--I think it's worth a reread in the near future.
I've just finished The Nine Tailors.... excellent mystery .... I'm running out of mysteries to read on the list ... I wish there were a few more
Christine wrote: "Today I finished - at long last - Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. It's the first Dickens I've read as an adult. I gave it 2 starts. I never liked him as a kind, but I thought I'd give him an..."A few people have been complaining in this forum about how Dickens is repetitious, "keeps on hammering" at things, etc. As a Dickens fan, I think it's important to point out that these books were originally printed in serialized form, so he did have to drop in reminders for people who had read the last chapter a full month previously, or even missed it. Kind of like how on soap operas, you'll always hear dialogue like, "But Lance, even though we made sweet love during the earthquake last week, we can't have a love affair, because you just found out that Jackson Farthingham is actually your long-lost sister, who had a sex change after coming out of the coma..."
Anyway, on topic, I just finished Justine. Kind of hated it, to be honest. I'm not big on aimless descriptions and philosophizing; I'm more of a meat and potatoes, character and pilot kind of gal.
Christine wrote: "Today I finished - at long last - Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. It's the first Dickens I've read as an adult. I gave it 2 starts. I never liked him as a kind, but I thought I'd give him an..."You aren't alone in your Dickens loathing. I dislike him too, but I have yet to read Great Expectations.
The Pit and the Pendulum by Edgar Allan Poe. Goes for just 10 pages in my edition so its definitely a quick one to knock off, as are his other two short stories on the list. Don't know why I left it so long to get around to after reading the other two, especially given its size!
I recently finished "Crome Yellow" by Aldous Huxley. Not nearly as good as "Brave New World," but still pretty interesting.
Tanya wrote: "The Pit and the Pendulum by Edgar Allan Poe. Goes for just 10 pages in my edition so its definitely a quick one to knock off, as are his other two short stories on the list. Don't kno..."I've been wondering why short stories made the list? Not that I'm not glad that there are some short easy ones on here, but since prose like the Iliad and the Odyssey were excluded I was surprised short stories were included.
I just finished The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien. It wasn't my type of novel but I feel like the ending was well written.
I finished Posessing the Secret of Joy by Alice Walker. This is a story of Tashi, an African woman who tries to follow the traditions of her people but is emotionally and physically traumatized.
I recently finished Woman At Point Zero by Nawal El Saadawi. It was an interesting perspective of what an impoverished upbringing in a Muslim society (Egypt) leads a young girl to, but it was written a bit simplistically for me. I would have liked to 'experience' the story a little more but it was told at arms length. But, given the subject matter, this may well have been a way of conveying the psychological state of the main character.
I finished Black Dahlia. It was alright but not as good as I thought it would have been.
Finished The Optimist's Daughter by Welty. It is a quick read set in the South sometime after WWII. Laurel is home to care for her dad who dies. She goes through the funeral. The stepmother is awful. I guess it's a book of grief and dealing with family and friends.
Shardae wrote: "I finished Black Dahlia. It was alright but not as good as I thought it would have been."That was exactly what I thought about the movie.
Finished Jane Eyre and Veronika Decides to Die this weekend. Jane Eyre was excellent - can't understand why I waited so long to read it. About Dickens - I quite liked Great Expectations. But I think it has something to do with the style of book you enjoy as to whether you will enjoy Dickens. I feel like if you generally enjoy Jane Austen/Bronte, even to a small extent Hugo/Tolstoy (although they combine less "morality" as it where within their narrative) - ie - the very obvious, drawn out, sprawling, old fashioned novel, then you usually generally like Dickens. Whereas if you find those type of novels tedious and old fashioned, then I think Dickens generally is hard to bite. Whereas at least Austen has that trace of romance/society - to lure you in - or Tolstoy/Hugo have war - Dickens is pretty much a society/class only type tale, and I don't think everyone can associate with the repetition of one theme over and over.
I just finished reading Animal Farm. Completely in love with it. Now I'm about to start Catch-22.
I just finished The Hounds of the Baskervilles and I really liked it. Looking forward to more Sherlock Holmes in the future.
After weeks of reading Sons and Lovers by D.H. Lawrence, I finally finished it. It might be a while before I attempt another D.H. Laurence.
Veronika Decides to Die by Paulo Coelho. It was really nice.
The Quiet American by Graham Greene (audio) - after reading so many positive reviews, I feel embarrassed that I didn't like it. I don't know if I would have liked it more if I read it, but I think not. I couldn't connect with any of the characters and I don't know anything about the French-Vietnihm (sp?) conflict.
Just finished FELICIA'S JOURNEY by William Trevor. Great read!
Flora wrote: "Shardae wrote: "I finished Black Dahlia. It was alright but not as good as I thought it would have been."
That was exactly what I thought about the movie."
Yeah you were definitely right.
That was exactly what I thought about the movie."
Yeah you were definitely right.
K.D. wrote: "Just finished FELICIA'S JOURNEY by William Trevor. Great read!"Glad to hear it. I picked that one up on impulse at a used bookstore.
Just finished Never Let Me Go. Excellent. If only the rest of the 1001 books were this great, and powerful.
Anita Desai's Clear Light of Day and Ali Smith's The Accidental.
The Pit and The Pendulum by Edgar Allen Poe. What a nice dark short story. I liked it.
Christine wrote: "I enjoy Austen, Bronte, and Hugo... It's not the length of the story I found difficult, nor did I find it tedious. Obviously I can't know this for a fact, but what it felt like to me was that Dickens thought his readers were largely unintelligent. Basically I found his writing style insulting. "I wonder if it relates to his target audience, in comparison to Tolstoy/Bronte/Hugo/Austen. The serialized aspect means he was probably publishing for a lot wider (and perhaps less educated) population - in comparison to Bronte/Hugo/Austen - who were publishing for "sophisticated"/mature readers? And I think most people today, as a result of that quality, would direct a lot of Dicken's works to children (A Christmas Tale, David Copperfield, even Tale of Two Cities is usually a high school required read) while Tolstoy/Hugo are definitely something that wouldn't be be picked up till college (for the average person). Even Austen/Bronte wouldn't be touched on until at least late high school - and then only their seminal works would be hit.
I just finished The Quiet American and I must say that I loved it. It was one I couldn't hardly put down. It was nothing like I expected. With it being a book that concerned a war I was expecting something closer to Birdsong: A Novel of Love and War but I was pleasantly surprised that it was nothing like it.
I just finished The Purloined Letter by Edgar Allen Poe. Another short story. Reading these short stories is "So grievous a plan, if not worthy of Atree, is dignified by Thyeste."
In the last week I finished listening to In Cold Blood(amazing writing), and reading One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest(wonderful). Now trying to get through listening to The House of The Seven Gables(help!).
Finished 'The Castle of Otranto' and am going to read the other 2 stories in the collection ' Valtek' and 'The Vampyre' - then it is time to choose another.... yay!
Linda wrote: "Just finished The Picture of Dorian Gray" What did you think of it? I thought it was pompous rubbish! Apologies in advance if you liked it. :)
Elise wrote: "Christine wrote: "Today I finished - at long last - Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. It's the first Dickens I've read as an adult. I gave it 2 starts. I never liked him as a kind, but I thoug..."
Lol I love your soap opera example.
Lol I love your soap opera example.
The Time Machine- H.G. Wells.This was my first Wells book, and I loved it. It totally appealed to my n3rdcore and geekiness. A great fast read, highly recommended.
Just finished Fantomas by Allain and Souvestre, had to force myself to put it down at midnight in order to get some sleep. Helen if you like mysteries this is one to read.Flora
The BBC have just shown a version of Sherlock Holmes set in present day London, the first series of three is due to show in the US from the 24th of October.
Great programme which I enjoyed.
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Boxall's 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die
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what list is this book on...?