Boxall's 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die discussion
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Which LIST book did you just finish?
JuliaEnjoyed A Dry White Season, but I'm left wondering if I was in that situation how would I react, would I be brave enough to stand up for what I believe in.
Deanne wrote: "JuliaEnjoyed A Dry White Season, but I'm left wondering if I was in that situation how would I react, would I be brave enough to stand up for what I believe in."
We have many really wonderful authors in South Africa - and the books on this topic make us all think - or it should ... :)
Just finished The Driver's Seat
. Did not connect with this one, but fortunately, was just a novella. Maybe Spark is not my cup of tea but have a feeling this may not be indicative of her other works. Next!
Welcome Diane! You can start however you like. Personally, I counted every list book I've ever read (which wasn't many, so I've still got a very long way to go). Some people only count the books in which they remember the plot and characters and reread books they don't really remember. Some people start at 0.
As for "buddy reads" I would love to have a thread for those, perhaps our moderators will create such a thing. In the meantime, we do have group reads, so feel free to join in on those discussions.
Enjoy!
I finished The Tenant of Wildfell Hall this morning. I really liked it, but I wish the first third of the story could have continued through the whole book.
I agree with that, Cindy. I finished it last night and felt the same way.
El wrote: "I agree with that, Cindy. I finished it last night and felt the same way."Yeah, the mystery in the first third was almost gothic and foreboding. Then it shifted into society nonsense for a while. But the end redeemed it. Mostly. It was quite repetitive and dragging in parts.
I just finished The Great Gatsby. While I can appreciate Fitzgerald's cleverly crafted prose, I found myself very distracted from the plot; I can put the book down without great motivation for picking it up again soon.
I finished Vanity Fair by Thackeray a couple days ago. It was great dramatic fun, although Thackeray is a bit long-winded. I absolutely recommend it though. Becky Sharp is the sort of woman rarely focused on in literature.
Katherine wrote: "I finished Vanity Fair by Thackeray a couple days ago. It was great dramatic fun, although Thackeray is a bit long-winded. I absolutely recommend it though. Becky Sharp is the sort of w..."
I agree that he is a long-winded. I loved it though. Becky Sharp reminded me of Scarlett O'Hara.
I agree that he is a long-winded. I loved it though. Becky Sharp reminded me of Scarlett O'Hara.
I just finished The Jungle by Upton Sinclair. I didn't think it was as gross as I thought it would be. It is a shame that everyone fixates on the disgusting parts when Sinclair was trying to send us a completely different message.
The Water-Babies by Charles KingsleySweet. I loved the way Kingsley tried to reconcile what he knew of science and religion for children.
Marvelous illustrations.
Just finished The Secret History by History by Tartt. Really liked it. I hight accessible read.
The Time Machine - H.G. WellsWhat praise has not already been given this classic that I can add??? Nothing, I feel sure. But when I think of what was known of science at the time of its writing, I can only judge it brilliant. What a standard for sci-fi writers to live up to!
I picked up The Breast by Phillip Roth and finished it super fast. It was only 78 pages! I definitely recommend it to those who wish to bump up their count. Of course, it is about a man turning into a 155-lb breast, so everyone is warned that there are a few graphic passages. I'm still not sure what my long-term feelings about it are just yet, but I gave it 3/5 stars.
Judith wrote: "The Time Machine - H.G. WellsWhat praise has not already been given this classic that I can add??? Nothing, I feel sure. But when I think of what was known of science at the time of its writing,..."
I'm currently reading it and was thinking myself how ahead of his time he was. Good read so far.
Lauli wrote: "Lord of the Flies. I'm awestruck. Horrifyingly beautiful."If you haven't already read it, I recommend reading Nip the Buds, Shoot the Kids sometime soon. Roughly the same premise, written around the same time, but depicting different cultures. Fascinating comparison
I just finished "The Gathering" by Enright. It's a nice quick read, nothing earth shattering.
Just finished The Tin Drum by Gunter Grass. Not sure what to think of it. It is a quirky, odd book, with a dark side to it. Has anyone else read this? What did you think?
The Catcher In The Rye. It wasn't tough to keep reading but I didn't like Holden that much. The only sympathy he got from me was because of Allie.
Finished Rabbit, Run by John Updike at long last! This was a total slog - the writing is great but the characters and the plot were just mind bendingly dumb and for the most part totally unloveable.
LDB wrote: "Just finished The Tin Drum by Gunter Grass. Not sure what to think of it. It is a quirky, odd book, with a dark side to it. Has anyone else read this? What did you think?"I loved The Tin Drum. Since there are many Holocaust survivors in my family, it was riveting to see what the ordinary German was living through during the same period. The book is a miracle of literary beauty, full of rage and wit. One sentence is hilarious, and the next one makes you weep. The symbolism of the boy who wouldn't grow, the two fathers, one Polish and one German, the horse's head full of eels, the father who turned his feelings into soup, the mother who couldn't stand fish and then couldn't get enough of it...It had the weight of another book of the Bible, and I was sorry when it ended.
Incidentally, I went on to read the other two books of the Danzig Trilogy, Cat and Mouse and Dog Years. Strikingly powerful, in the same way.
Helen wrote: "LDB wrote: "Just finished The Tin Drum by Gunter Grass. Not sure what to think of it. It is a quirky, odd book, with a dark side to it. Has anyone else read this? What did you think?"..."
Do you have to read them in order or does it not matter? I have Dog Years and Cat and Mouse but not the Tin Drum sitting on my TBR shelf.
Hm. There are characters from The Tin Drum who appear in Cat and Mouse and Dog Years. I guess it doesn't matter that much, except that you get a bit of a thrill when you recognize them. Tin Drum is the masterpiece. Cat and Mouse is a quick read. Dog Years is incredibly poetic and dense.
Shovelmonkey1--reading Dog Years is closer to The Tin Drum experience than Cat and Mouse.
I just finished Julie, or the New Heloise: Letters of Two Lovers Who Live in a Small Town at the Foot of the Alps. Glad that I can mark it off the list now, it's taken me quite a while to finish it.
About a week ago I finished Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. I enjoyed The Adventures of Tom Sawyer a bit better though.
Liz M wrote: "The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe. Fun, lots of scenery, strange doings, and fainting."I really want to read this one, though getting a copy of it (plus the time) is proving harder than I was expecting.
Sophia wrote: "I just finished The Great Gatsby. While I can appreciate Fitzgerald's cleverly crafted prose, I found myself very distracted from the plot; I can put the book down without great motivat..."Very well put. I felt exactly the same. Although "Revolutionary Road" is often compared to "The Great Gatsby", I found Yates' novel to be much more compelling.
Jennifer W wrote: "Orlando by Virginia Woolf. It was good, but I liked Mrs. Dalloway better."I have to agree with you.
Rachel wrote: "Liz M wrote: "The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Radcliffe. Fun, lots of scenery, strange doings, and fainting."I really want to read this one, though getting a copy of it (plus the..."
It's available free at the Guttenberg Project.
Shovelmonkey1 wrote: "Finished Rabbit, Run by John Updike at long last! This was a total slog - the writing is great but the characters and the plot were just mind bendingly dumb and for the most part totally unloveable."You pretty much expressed my opinion of the Rabbit series! I've only read the first, but I'm not really anxious to read the others because I found the characters just as you did. Why is this series so lauded? I'm a bit mystified....
Just finished The Kindly Ones by Jonathan Littell (2008 list). Although both the protagonist's professional and personal lives were disturbing, it was a compelling read.
As to the Rabbit series, I don't see why the characters have to be ones you like to make it a worthwhile read, or relevant to its times. I'm thinking Perfume, for instance, which I hated for other reasons than that the main character was so unlikable. Anyway, I hope eventually to get to the rest of the Rabbit series, the first of which I liked and rated 4 stars.
Sophia wrote: "Just finished The Kindly Ones by Jonathan Littell (2008 list). Although both the protagonist's professional and personal lives were disturbing, it was a compelling read."I have it waiting for me at the library so thanks for the nod.
Finished The Turn of the Screw. Although the end was unexpected, overall I did not enjoy it that much. Maybe Henry James isn't for me. On the plus side it's less than a hundred pages, so it makes for a quick read.
I just finished Atwood's "The Blind Assassin" and I think that shall happily be my last Atwood. I am now going off list to read a new book that may be on the 2012 list. Any guesses as to which book???
I've just finished A Prayer for Owen Meany and The Handmaid's Tale. I was slightly disappointed with both of them, though neither of them were terrible.
I just finished Daughter of Fortune by Isabel Allende. Off to the library a little later this morning to turn this batch in & pick up some new ones. I LOVED this book, so I'm going to pick up House of Spirits while I'm there. I KNOW my branch has that one :) Not sure what else on the list I'll find while I'm there, so I really can't plan, LOL.
Amanda wrote: "RE: Rabbit series- unlikeable characters do not necessarily make a book unworthy or not relevant to its times, but it can make slogging through the work less enjoyable, which is a valid point when ..."Well, like I said, I liked Rabbit, Run. Two of the books in the series won the Pulitzer, so I'm thinking those are books that I'll will find more worthwhile. I wanted to read those books, and felt I would appreciate them better if I read the first one(s).
Just finished How the Dead Live. It was a fun read, but I sure hope that's not the kind of afterlife we have look forward to (or rather dread)!
George Eliot's Middlemarch - loved it!
Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "As to the Rabbit series, I don't see why the characters have to be ones you like to make it a worthwhile read, or relevant to its times. I'm thinking Perfume, for instance, which I hated for other ..."Hi Elizabeth - you are correct, you don't necessarily have to like the characters in a book for it to be well written and worth reading. I guess it does help you to engage with the characters though if you either like them or empathise with them. I enjoyed Updike's style of writing but my lack of ability to empathise with Rabbit made me not really care about his story, which I suppose made me rather lazy in my inclinations to carry on reading. Overall though that is probably more a reflection on my own mental acumen rather than any of Updike's literary achievements!
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Boxall's 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die
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