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

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message 4251: by Shovelmonkey1 (new)

Shovelmonkey1 | 190 comments Becky wrote: "A Passage to India by Forster. A challenging read."

I totally agree, and even though I was really looking forward to reading it I didn't find it challenging in a good way. I was not a big fan of this book and was glad to turn the final page and say "yup read that, not going back there again!"


message 4252: by Becky (new)

Becky (munchkinland_farm) | 248 comments Shovelmonkey1 wrote: "Becky wrote: "A Passage to India by Forster. A challenging read."

I totally agree, and even though I was really looking forward to reading it I didn't find it challenging in a good way. I was not ..."


Yes, I really lost interest in the 3rd section and somewhat skimmed it. I listened to most of the 1st section, and then read it - this method, although slower, was preferable, because the audio version provided the accents and the method of speaking that distinguished the different characters and the social tensions.


message 4253: by Ginny (new)

Ginny | 165 comments Finished What Maisie Knew last week- interesting.


message 4255: by Evelyn (last edited Mar 22, 2011 07:43AM) (new)

Evelyn M | 2 comments I read People of the Book which was great. I got an advanced copy of Caleb's Crossing also by Geraldine Brooks. This book was wonderful and touching. I think it's a must read.


message 4256: by Drew (new)

Drew Billingsley | 58 comments Finally finished War and Peace. It was my third try, and I was proud to make it to the end. My attention waxed and waned multiple times as I was reading, so I wasn't surprised that I had abandoned this one when I was younger.


Tanya (aka ListObsessedReader) (listobsessed) | 108 comments Just finished The Trial by Franz Kafka and The Third Man by Graham Greene

This was definitely the best Graham Greene book from the list I have read so far, even if it was removed after the first list!


message 4258: by Asa (new)

Asa | 65 comments I'm finished reading Orwell's Burmese Days.


message 4259: by Katrina (new)

Katrina (katrinasreads) I had no computer for a week, and managed to get loads read.
I finished the last 400 pages of War and Peace - a great read, I'd definitely give it 4 stars
Balthasar and Blimunda, to carry on my journey of 1001 books - I loved this, thats two great Portugese reads in a matter of days.
Nip the Buds, Shoot the Kids - not so keen on this one.
The Reluctant Fundamentalist - fantastic, can't believe I haven't read it sooner!


message 4260: by Shay (new)

Shay | 71 comments Katrina wrote: "I had no computer for a week, and managed to get loads read.
I finished the last 400 pages of War and Peace - a great read, I'd definitely give it 4 stars
Balthasar and Blimunda, to carry on my j..."


I just finished Nip the Buds and I found myself unable to rate it. It read like it had lost something in translation.


message 4261: by Laura (new)

Laura | 56 comments Just finished Life of Pi by Yann Martel. Overall, a pretty good book. Can't say it changed my life, and there were parts of it that dragged, but it picked up as it moved toward the end and provided some interesting things to think about. What is true? What isn't? Can allegory ease our acceptance of truths too terrible to face?


message 4262: by Liz (new)

Liz   (lizvegas) | 25 comments I just finished The Brothers Karamazov. It took me a long time to finish, I guess because I was just savoring and digesting each chapter. Amazing novel!


message 4263: by Jennifer W (new)

Jennifer W | 251 comments Just finished The Return of the Soldier. Wonderful prose, but I'm not sure what I thought of the story. It didn't do what I had thought it might, and I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing. It will take me a day or so to digest it.


message 4264: by Katrina (new)

Katrina (katrinasreads) Shay wrote: "Katrina wrote: "I had no computer for a week, and managed to get loads read.
I finished the last 400 pages of War and Peace - a great read, I'd definitely give it 4 stars
Balthasar and Blimunda, to..."


It certainly had that feel, some of the language just didn't fit


message 4265: by Alicia (new)

Alicia (nekidasajaybird) | 9 comments Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote


message 4266: by Ellen (new)

Ellen | 1 comments I finished The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler yesterday. It was pretty awesome.


message 4267: by Judith (new)

Judith (jloucks) | 1202 comments Atwood's "The Robber Bride" - ****

Really great read for women!


message 4268: by Shay (new)

Shay | 71 comments Katrina wrote: "Shay wrote: "Katrina wrote: "I had no computer for a week, and managed to get loads read.
I finished the last 400 pages of War and Peace - a great read, I'd definitely give it 4 stars
Balthasar a..."


I don't know which version you read, but Oe, the author, said that he didn't think the book was meant to be read by non-Japanese people. (I think specifically people who are citizens of Japan.) I got the impression he meant that there was something beyond the language.


message 4269: by Deanne (new)

Deanne | 681 comments Finished Callirhoe by Chariton, ancient Greek story of romance.


message 4270: by Shovelmonkey1 (new)

Shovelmonkey1 | 190 comments Just finished In a Glass Darkly by Sheridan Le Fanu. This is a really great read and much better than manyt modern horror/ghost stories. I've seen Twilight (should i really admit this??) and Carmilla kicks it in the hind quarters.


message 4271: by Maria (new)

Maria | 10 comments Howard's End, I liked the story but it was a little slow for me.


message 4272: by Katherine (new)

Katherine (katats) | 150 comments I just finished A Prayer for Owen Meany. I know many people love it, but the first third really dragged for me and I abandoned it for awhile. However, when I picked it up again I found it a really enjoyable read.


message 4273: by Genia (new)

Genia Lukin | 205 comments Just finished Fielding's Tom Jones - it was required reading for class. I enjoyed it very well, though found myself sometimes skimming.


message 4274: by Karina (new)

Karina | 401 comments Just finished Brave New World. No utopian society for me thanks! send me off to an island with the other "dangerous thinkers". enjoyed the book immensely


message 4275: by Shovelmonkey1 (new)

Shovelmonkey1 | 190 comments Brent wrote: "Hi! I wrote the 2012 asteroid-impact novel Regolith (sign up for the giveaway!). I just finished Michael Crichton's Pirate Latitudes, which I thought was good, but not thought-provoking like his ..."
Umm this is a site to discuss books from the 1001 books list and Michael Crichtons Pirate Latitudes doesn't fall under that category, sorry!


message 4276: by Craig (new)

Craig | 241 comments Finally! Finished Clarissa by Samuel Richardson. Already posted my review. Very well written.


message 4277: by Deanne (new)

Deanne | 681 comments Finished American Pastoral this morning, quite enjoyed it though I think it could have been longer and left me with questions.


message 4278: by Regine (new)

Regine I just finished The Master and Margarita. It's now one of my new favourites.


Kat (A Journey In Reading) (ajourneyinreading) | 17 comments Regine wrote: "I just finished The Master and Margarita. It's now one of my new favourites."

I just got that a couple of weeks ago... haven't started it, but glad to know its one of your favorites. Hope to start it this week.


message 4280: by Shovelmonkey1 (new)

Shovelmonkey1 | 190 comments Kat (LvnEvryMin) wrote: "Regine wrote: "I just finished The Master and Margarita. It's now one of my new favourites."

I just got that a couple of weeks ago... haven't started it, but glad to know its one o..."


I loved this book. I read it while I was working in Turkey and i'm so glad that it made it into my suitcase for that trip


message 4281: by Genia (new)

Genia Lukin | 205 comments I love The Master and Margarita. I've grown up on that book, and it's been one of my favourites since a shamefully young age. I always eagerly haded it to friends, but, alas, sometimes, to my immense surprise and chagrin, even the ones not averse to the weird and supernatural failed to like it. I never could figure out what it was; perhaps Bulgakov's humour eluded them, perhaps it was the lack of knowledge of what Russia had been like.. I don't know.

This is why it always thrills me all the more when the book becomes the favourite of another non native-Russian speaker. Glad you liked it.


message 4282: by Shovelmonkey1 (new)

Shovelmonkey1 | 190 comments I've just finished The Turn of the Screw by Henry James and i didn't love it as much as i thought i would. Too much talk and not enough action Mr James! Or maybe i'm just not into cerebral horror and need to have the gore and nefarious evilness spelled out for me!


message 4283: by K.D. (new)

K.D. Absolutely (oldkd) | 248 comments I just finished:
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
THE HANDMAID'S TALE
by
Margaret Atwood.

It's okay.


message 4284: by El (new)

El I finished Ellison's Invisible Man. It disappointingly did not rock my world; but I am glad to have read it.


message 4285: by Althesia (new)

Althesia | 2 comments Just Finished The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett - Amazing Friendship Story


message 4286: by Casey (new)

Casey | 6 comments In cold blood, truman capote. It was a really great book, I enjoyed it.


message 4287: by Elisabeth (new)

Elisabeth (theelisabethal) Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams... I didn't go in with high expectations and I still felt let down... just didn't think it was as funny and amazing as everyone said it was... not intelligently so anyways.


message 4289: by Amir (new)

Amir Sheikh (amirsheikh) The Alchemist by Paolp Coehlo


message 4290: by Judith (new)

Judith (jloucks) | 1202 comments "The Sea" - Banville

The emotions, pace and the vocabulary were, at times, challenging for me; but I liked the book and thought it well
worth the time spent.


message 4291: by Asa (new)

Asa | 65 comments William Gibson's Neuromancer - interesting.


message 4292: by Gini (new)

Gini | 138 comments I just finished A Passage to India, which I was hesitant to read because I disliked the movie. The book is much better, and the central incident makes considerably more sense. I enjoyed it.


message 4293: by Dylan (new)

Dylan (dylthepickle) The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells.


message 4294: by Laura (new)


message 4295: by Tracey (new)

Tracey (traceyjoa) the Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett


message 4296: by Sandi (new)

Sandi | 227 comments Tracey wrote: "the Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett"


The Pillars of the Earth is not on the list, thankfully. I disliked it immensely.


message 4297: by Genia (new)

Genia Lukin | 205 comments Finished The Elegance of the Hedgehog - I was so irritated by that book I actually shouted while ranting about it; an almost unprecedented occurrence.


message 4298: by Asa (new)

Asa | 65 comments Finished Buchan's The 39 Steps yesterday - easy and fun.


message 4299: by Shovelmonkey1 (new)

Shovelmonkey1 | 190 comments I've just finished Fear of Flying by Erica Jong which was an enjoyable read but I didn't exactly greet it with the same level of shock and awe it must have met with in the 1970's. I've only ever read women's reviews of this book so it would be interesting to know what the men think of this one?


message 4300: by Judith (new)

Judith (jloucks) | 1202 comments The Waves - Woolf

So unique and poetic!


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