Boxall's 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die discussion

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message 3651: by Judith (new)

Judith (jloucks) | 1202 comments HUMBOLDT'S GIFT - SAUL BELLOW ****


message 3652: by Flora (new)

Flora Smith (bookwormflo) Deanne wrote: "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 jus..."


Cool, I will have to watch for that. Thanks Deanne!


message 3653: by K.D. (new)

K.D. Absolutely (oldkd) | 248 comments Just finished Javier Cercas's SOLDIERS OF SALAMIS. Great one!


message 3654: by [deleted user] (new)

Finished Wharton's The Age of Innocence. Really liked it, though I prefer House of Mirth.


message 3655: by Mike (new)

Mike | 78 comments The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allen Poe. Another great Poe short story.


message 3656: by Rita (new)

Rita Curtin (ritakc) | 2 comments Courtney wrote: "George Elliot's Middlemarch and about to finish Bel Canto. I LOVED Middlemarch and found it to be a revelation. The jury is still out on Bel Canto. "

It is one of the top books on my list. I will be interested in what you think. I am old enough to remember the embassy hostage situation in Peru that the book is loosely based.


message 3657: by Geoffrey (new)

Geoffrey (geoffrey_lambert) Yrinsyde wrote: "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. :)"


I totally agree. On the other hand for a good laugh Wilde's plays are a must. I re-read them every year. I am told that his children's stories are also very good, but have yet to read any.
Geoff Lambert


message 3658: by Joselito Honestly (new)

Joselito Honestly and Brilliantly (joselitohonestlyandbrilliantly) | 372 comments THE TWILIGHT YEARS (Sawako Ariyoshi), a thought-provoking book about growing old from an author in a country with an aging population.


message 3659: by Kristel (new)

Kristel (kristelh) I just finished The Island of Dr. Moreau by H.G. Wells. Published in 1896.


message 3660: by Becky (new)

Becky (munchkinland_farm) | 248 comments The Kiss of the Spider Woman by Puig. One of my favorite movies of all time. I enjoyed the book - the style in which it is written lends itself well to a screenplay which is probably why the movie was so true to the book. RIP Raul Julia


message 3661: by Helen (new)

Helen | 27 comments Just finished A Passage to Indiaby EM Forster ....


message 3662: by Carsten (new)

Carsten Thomsen Bethany wrote: "Finished Wharton's The Age of Innocence. Really liked it, though I prefer House of Mirth."

Good to hear. Because I'm just about to embark on House of Mirth, and I loved the The Age of Innocence. There is a lot of very fine observations into the human soul, it's aspirations, hopes and fears.

Looking forward to more of Edith Wharton.


message 3663: by [deleted user] (new)

Carsten wrote: "Bethany wrote: "Finished Wharton's The Age of Innocence. Really liked it, though I prefer House of Mirth."

Good to hear. Because I'm just about to embark on House of Mirth, and I love..."


She's one of those authors I avoided like the plague because I had such a skewed impression of her work (much like Austen, et al), but you're completely right, she's such an observant and poetic writer. I'm looking forward to more of her work, though I've now read her most famous books. I guess I'll have to do Ethan Frome next.


message 3664: by Flora (new)

Flora Smith (bookwormflo) Kristel wrote: "I just finished The Island of Dr. Moreau by H.G. Wells. Published in 1896."

I finished this one not too long ago and loved it. One of my favorites so far.


message 3665: by Deanne (new)

Deanne | 681 comments Finished Ulysses by James Joyce, have to admit not impressed by any of his books on the 1001 list.
However am reading East Lynne, not on the 1001 list but mentioned right at the end of Ulysses just strange as I was already reading it.


message 3666: by Eva (new)

Eva | 60 comments I just finished The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain.

A short and really quick read and I liked the "noir"-atmosphere of the book.


message 3667: by Christina Stind (new)

Christina Stind | 180 comments Finished Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. A 3 stars read for me - I liked the concept but the book didn't really work for me.


message 3668: by El (new)

El I read A Room With a View by E.M. Forster yesterday. Solid 4 stars.


message 3669: by Hubert (new)

Hubert | 63 comments The Return of the Native - incredible!


message 3670: by El (new)

El Finished Kim by Rudyard Kipling yesterday. For the most part I liked it.


message 3671: by Jessica (new)

Jessica I just finished Raymond Chandler's "The Big Sleep." I really enjoyed it, can't wait to read his others.


message 3672: by Karina (new)

Karina | 401 comments Dr. Zhivago by Pasternak. Loved it! Can't wait to read more Russian Literature!


message 3673: by Flora (new)

Flora Smith (bookwormflo) I finally finished The Blind Assassin and while I liked it ok, I thought it was entirely too long. And I found it very sad. Its not my favorite Margaret Atwood book


message 3674: by Julie (new)

Julie (juliemoncton) | 54 comments I finished War and Peace. Definitely long, but excellent and definitely 'list worthy'.


message 3675: by M (last edited Sep 28, 2010 09:05AM) (new)

M (masanobu) | 110 comments I finished All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque and The Berlin Stories: The Last of Mr. Norris and Goodbye to Berlin by Christopher Isherwood.

All of them good books and really belong to the list. Oh, and I recommend reading both Isherwood books one after the other, it adds more depth to some of the characters in The Last of Mr. Norris.


message 3676: by Becky (new)

Becky (munchkinland_farm) | 248 comments One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey. Much better than the movie but the movie is still pretty darn great!


message 3677: by Joselito Honestly (new)

Joselito Honestly and Brilliantly (joselitohonestlyandbrilliantly) | 372 comments PARADISE OF THE BLIND by Miss Duong Thu Huong, a Vietnamese. It made me sad, and hungry. At around page 100 I couldn't control myself anymore and splurged on Vietnamese food at the Pho Bac restaurant.


message 3678: by Sissy (new)

Sissy Fugitive Pieces - Anne Michaels. This is a book I don't think I would ordinarily like - but I was in a place this weekend where it really just hit me.


message 3679: by Leslie T. (new)

Leslie T. (lat0403) | 12 comments I just finished The Picture of Dorian Gray. I really liked the beginning but at about the halfway point, I was just wishing the book would end already. Pages and pages of useless information on Mysticism, music, jewels, etc. It really reminded me of American Psycho (or I guess that should be the other way around). Only I think the pages and pages about Genesis, Whitney Houston, etc. actually served a purpose. It's just a bunch of filler in ...Dorian Gray and at only 254 pages, that doesn't leave much of a book.


message 3680: by Inna (last edited Sep 29, 2010 01:14PM) (new)


message 3681: by Susan (new)

Susan | 17 comments Just finished The Diary of a Nobody


message 3682: by Galen (new)

Galen Johnson (galenj) | 33 comments Just finished The Wasp Factory (Iain Banks). It was a dark read--hard to read before bed--and I hated the ending. But it was really well written and thought-provoking.


message 3683: by Linda (new)

Linda Yrinsyde wrote: "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. :)"

Not offended at all; it was a disappointment to me - all the philosophical dialogue was boring. I just wanted to find out exactly it was going to end.


message 3684: by Linda (new)

Linda BTW, I agree with Geoffrey about Wilde's plays - most entertaining and I will stick with those from now on.


message 3685: by Linda (new)

Linda Flora wrote: "I finally finished The Blind Assassin and while I liked it ok, I thought it was entirely too long. And I found it very sad. Its not my favorite Margaret Atwood book"

Have you read The Handmaid's Tale by Atwood? I have a copy of it but haven't read it yet, then again it's not a 1001 list title. Wondering which of these two is better.


message 3686: by Linda (last edited Oct 01, 2010 10:50PM) (new)

Linda Rita wrote: "Courtney wrote: "George Elliot's Middlemarch and about to finish Bel Canto...The jury is still out on Bel Canto."

Bel Canto is not a LIST book, is it? I inadvertently picked it up at a used book store thinking that it was, but I don't see it there.


message 3687: by Linda (last edited Oct 01, 2010 10:53PM) (new)

Linda Just finished Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons. I really enjoyed it and want to see the movie. I was a little disappointed that some of Flora's questions remained unanswered, but I guess the answers weren't really important to the story. I'm sure this is one I will re-read.


message 3688: by Joselito Honestly (new)

Joselito Honestly and Brilliantly (joselitohonestlyandbrilliantly) | 372 comments Bel-Ami by guy de maupassant on this list; bel canto by patchett, not.


message 3689: by Deanne (new)

Deanne | 681 comments Linda
The Handmaiden's tale by Atwood is on the original list of 1001 at 242.
On nights again and so I've read The museum of unconditional surrender by Ugresic, not a story as such but a collection of memories of a refugee, beautifully written and eventually it all comes together.
Also finished Kieron Smith, Boy by Kelman very difficult to put down.


message 3690: by Becky (new)

Becky (munchkinland_farm) | 248 comments Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis - a really enjoyable book. As a college teacher, I particularly savored the critique of the academe.


message 3691: by Cindy (new)

Cindy (newtomato) | 195 comments I finished Infinite Jest on Saturday night, then promptly opened a nice bottle of wine...


message 3692: by Sissy (new)

Sissy Linda wrote: "Have you read The Handmaid's Tale by Atwood? I have a copy of it but haven't read it yet, then again it's not a 1001 list title. Wondering which of these two is better. "

Handmaid's Tale is a list book - Blind Assassin was dropped from the list (but I think it can still be considered a list book). I've read both (just finished Handmaid this weeked) - I enjoyed Blind Assassin better. Its a longer read but the story seemed more evolved than Handmaid. JMO.


message 3693: by Judith (new)

Judith (jloucks) | 1202 comments WHAT MAISIE KNEW - Henry James ****

Very unusual story told from an interesting point of view for James.


message 3694: by Sterlingcindysu (new)

Sterlingcindysu Becky wrote: "Lucky Jim by Kingsley Amis - a really enjoyable book. As a college teacher, I particularly savored the critique of the academe."

I was wondering if someone in the field would find more humor in it--I read it and just didn't find it as humorous as it was advertised. That girlfriend was a piece of work!


message 3695: by Regine (new)

Regine A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry. Excellent book.


message 3696: by Stephanie (new)

Stephanie | 19 comments Regine wrote: "A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry. Excellent book."

In my TBR pile, this has actually made it to my bedside table, which means it is in the running for one of the next 5 or 6 books I read. So glad to hear yo liked it.


message 3697: by Carsten (new)

Carsten Thomsen I have just read Journey to the Centre of the Earth by Jules Verne and The Time Machine by H. G. Wells - and I liked both a lot.


message 3698: by Deanne (new)

Deanne | 681 comments Just finished stranger in a strangeland by Heinlein, was pleasntly surprised to find I enjoyed it.
Trying to decide which book to read next.


message 3699: by Helen (new)

Helen | 27 comments Regine wrote: "A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry. Excellent book."

I've just finished it too .... I'm finding it hard to pick up a new book as I'm still thinking about this one .... very engaging .... haunting and heartbreaking ....


message 3700: by Jennifer W (new)

Jennifer W | 251 comments I finally finished Mansfield Park. It took me all summer to read. It wasn't bad, I enjyoed it, but I struggle with books that have very little plot.


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