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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Casey
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Dec 31, 2010 05:04AM
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, I liked it but I did wish it was longer, the story seemed so short.
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Cancer Ward by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn - another book I had to force myself to keep reading. It was interesting enough but I never felt drawn in to the story or the characters.
Tess of the D'Urbervilles -Thomas HardyJulie, or the New Heloise -Jean-Jacques Rousseau
and
Tale of Genji -Murasaki Shikibu
Burned right through Tess and was blown away by Hardy's prose, Julie is by far the best epistolary novel I have read to date, and Genji held its own in a dreamy ethereal way.
Just finished 'wind up bird chronicles' by Murakami. I think it's on the list!
I finished re-reading The Great Gatsby. I thought I was going to be disappointed because it seems like it's one of those "time of life" books like Catcher in the Rye. And, one best read when you're young. So, I was really surprised that I like it even better this time.
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day - completely charming. An unexpected and welcome surprise - Frances McDermott (sp?) provided a captivating narration.
Surfacing by Margaret Atwood, I'm glad this wasn't my first Atwood as I don't think I'd be compelled to read any of the others. It was Ok but certainly not a Must Read for me personally
Becky wrote: "Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day - completely charming. An unexpected and welcome surprise - Frances McDermott (sp?) provided a captivating narration."I'm not 100% sure, but if I'm right in assuming that you are talking about the actress Frances McDormand, who played Miss Pettigrew in the film adaptation, what are you talking about when you say she "provided a captivating narration"?
Just finished Harper Lee's To Kill A Mockingbird today. It was a powerful narrative from a specific time period, liked it very much.
Becky wrote: "Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day - completely charming. An unexpected and welcome surprise - Frances McDermott (sp?) provided a captivating narration."I couldn't agree more!!!
Alexander wrote: I'm not 100% sure, but if I'm rig..."Hi Alexander: I listened to the audio version of Miss Pettigrew that I downloaded from Audible.com - thanks for the correction (I was too lazy to check!)- I wasn't interested in the film but after "reading" the book, I'd like to see it.
Madame Bovary - mostly on audio, or it probably would've taken me much longer to read.
Done with J. R. R. Tolkien's "THE HOBBIT"
The Ghost Road - Pat Barker ***I enjoyed the other two books in the trilogy more although this is the one that received the highest critical acclaim.
Finished The Princess Of Clèves by Marie-Madeleine de LaFayette yesterday. Three stars, not my usual genre.
Just finished Phineas Finn, and after I got past about the first 70 pages or so I really started to like it. It was really worth dragging myself thru that first part.
The Vicar of Wakefield -Oliver Goldsmith,Castle of Otranto -Horace Walpole,
&
Tale of the Bamboo Cutter -Taketori Monogatari
Vicar and Bamboo came across very well in their simplicity. I think I rushed through Castle of Otranto. I understood its primacy in the Gothic realm and the story itself. The characters just couldn't hold in the gloom.
I've just finished What a Carve Up! by Jonathan Coe. Really enjoyed it!Now, what to read next... *saunters over to bookshelf...
The Book about Blanche and Marie by Per Olov Enquist. I'm wondering at its inclusion on this list. Not bad, not great, not revolutionary.
Just finished rereading Brave New World by Aldous Huxley.I seem to be reading a lot of dystopian science-fiction at the moment. Not sure why, it just seems to be what I'm picking up of my shelves! Next from the 1001 list I'm planning to read Lord of the Flies which, well, isn't science-fiction... Not sure what this says about the state of my mind! Note to self: read something cheery!
Last book I finished from the list was The Princesse de Cleves which I thought was pretty intriguing =)
I just finished I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, I gave it 3 stars. I just started Old Man and the Sea a few minutes ago.
Jason wrote: "I just finished The Giver by Lois Lowry
... 2 out of 5 stars from me..."Not a list book.
Eliza wrote: "Choke by Chuck Palahniuk. Why is this on the list??"This was a group read a while back. If you're curious what other members thought about it, feel free to pop over to the Choke discussion and even revive the dead thread, if you're so inclined. :)
Li wrote: "Last book I finished from the list was The Princesse de Cleves which I thought was pretty intriguing =)"I also read this about a week ago and thought it was intriguing though it wasn't really my genre. Well, historical fiction is but the romance part isn't.
Just finished Old Man and The Sea, it was a nicely written quick read. It was a little to simple of a story for me but other than that it was alright.
Shay wrote: "The Book about Blanche and Marie by Per Olov Enquist. I'm wondering at its inclusion on this list. Not bad, not great, not revolutionary."Same thing happened to me with the one I recently finished: Spring Torrents. I haven't read any other by Turgenev, but this one was just meh. And I don't see how it contributed to the development of novel either. At least it was short!
Just finished 'Chaereas and Callirhoe' from the 2006 list. I studied literature years ago but had no idea the Greeks wrote narrative prose fiction. All we studied was epic poetry and plays. This was a revelation. The translation is very fluent and enjoyable, and the plot elements come up again and again in later literature. I may read more from the book that I have, which is Collected Ancient Greek Novels.
Just finished Wuthering Heights. Liked it more than I had anticipated, but it's not one of my favorites. Went fairly quickly though, and definitely kept me interested from the start,
Finished Sinclair's
The Jungle
. Before I started it, I didn't really expect much. When I started, I thought it might turn out to be a 5-star book for me. When I finished, I was disappointed, gave it 3. I'm sad to say the last 100 pages ruined it for me.
Finished The Nine Tailors by Dorothy L. Sayers. Really fun, well-written mystery. I had heard good things about Sayers, but don't typically read a lot of mysteries. I have already picked up Murder Must Advertise, her other list book.
Michael Ondaatje's The English Patient. (My 60th book. Yes!!!)
Just finished The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid. Very good, not sure why the removed it from the 2010 edition, becuase I've read a number on the 2010 edition that I would have ranked way below this one.
Islands by Sleighs, did enjoy this and I learned quite a bit about the Dutch colonies of the Cape and Mauritius.
Finished Nervous Conditions. Was quick read, engaging, would like to get my hands on the sequel (which came out in 2006 in the UK). Still working my way through One Hundred Years of Solitude at work, but liking that one too. Work has been hectic, and my daughter's been sick at home, so the reading time has been a little scarce...
Just finished The Children's Book by A.S. Byatt. Loved it. Finally overcome my fear of reading Byatt!
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Boxall's 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die
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