Which LIST book did you just finish? Showing 4,851-4,900 of 7,922

[Tatiana]

The Kreutzer Sonata. Tolstoy has some rather disturbing opinions about sex, marriage and women for sure.

[Laura]

Recently finished The Island of Dr. Moreau by H.G. Wells. A quick read that elicits lots of interesting questions/discussion about science, morality, nature/nurture, whether we should do things just because we can, etc.

[Logophile]

Maggie wrote: "I just finished Kafka on the Shore. I understood a lot of it and I have questions about a lot of it."

I just finished this one too (and from Maggie's post I just realized it was on the 1001 list). I have to second that I have questions about a lot of it, but I'm not sure how much of it I really understood. I might re-read it someday, but it left me in such a sad and strange state of mind that I don't think it will be soon.

[Sandi]

You could start a topic on Kafka on the Shore and discuss it there. It's been on my to-read shelf for about a year, might start it soon. I've already read The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle so I expect weirdness.

[Genia]

Finished Interview With the Vampire. I had an extremely hard time getting through this book; the purple prose got practically intolerable, and the gratuitous, pointless violence basically had me shrugging and rolling my eyes. The only thing I could think of was "these people have the most inept police forces ever if they couldn't track down a serial killer that mutilated people every, single, night without fail in the same ways, without caring."

I mean, you'd think, after a certain point, people would begin noticing that people who went into a room with these guys had a completely regular habit of never coming out? But nooooo...

*throws book at wall*

[Bea]

I just finished Everything Is Illuminated. I enjoyed it but was somewhat shocked by the abrupt ending. I don't know if it's a problem with the e-book or indeed the novel ends with a reference back to a cryptic entry in "The Book of Antecedents".

I have a really hard time with Holocaust books and this was more distessing than some at the end. Nevertheless, it was moving, witty,and clever and I'm looking forward to more from this author.

[Bucket]

Logophile wrote: "Maggie wrote: "I just finished Kafka on the Shore. I understood a lot of it and I have questions about a lot of it."

I just finished this one too (and from Maggie's post I just realiz..."

I haven't read Kafka on the shore yet, but a blog that I really enjoy recently featured a very in-depth review that may help shed some light for those of you who just finished the book. Check it out: http://thereadingape.blogspot.com/201...

[Craig]

Finally finished Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship by Goethe. I may have had too much going one when I started this, as the first part seemed to drag. After about a third of the way through, it picked up and was relatively enjoyable.

[Anne]

Just finished The Summer Book by Tove Jansson. Really excellent in many ways.

[Lisa]

Just finished both Satanic Verses-hated it, was confused by it, thought it was a total waste of time, & that it should never have made the list. Just reinforces the fact that I don't like Rushdie. NOT looking forward to having to hack through the rest of his that are on the list. Also just finished Lady Chatterley's Lover-GREAT book, quite racy for it's time :) Good read, the people are real, & I found myself by turns smiling & then being disgusted by the main characters. Getting ready to start Cat's Eye.

[Agustin]

Just finished The Godfather by Mario Puzo. It was a great read and reinforced the idea for me that the Mafia were some cool folks :)

[Rachel (Sfogs)]

Agustin wrote: "Just finished The Godfather by Mario Puzo. It was a great read and reinforced the idea for me that the Mafia were some cool folks :)"

I loved that book too! and I really wasn't expecting to!
I've just finished One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey.

[Amanda]

I just finished Pamela, Or Virtue Reward. Really twisted.

[Melissa]

Cue the ticker tape parade; I just finished Infinite Jest. Wow. That's all I can say.

[El]

Congratulations, Melissa! I read it last year and that's pretty much my reaction too. It's quite an accomplishment!

[Craig]

I love Infinite Jest!! Have made it twice through and the second time was even better. DFW was (RIP) one of the best authors of our time, in my opinion, ever. Infinite Jest is and will be a major literary document to be studied in the years to come. Hope you enjoyed it.

[Melissa]

I did enjoy it. It took me four months to read and I definitely want to read it again, just not right now!

[Amanda]

Just finished The Memoirs of Martinus Scriberlus. Really short if anyone is looking for a quick read.

[Cindy]

Hey, congratulations, Melissa! I'll make you a Don Gately tater-tot casserole to celebrate. ;)

[Deanne]

The Man Who Loved Children by Stead.

[Sandi]

Just finished The Great Gatsby.

[M]

I finished Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf just yesterday. I can see it isn't a book for everyone, but I loved it!

This year, the list is being a treat :)

[Inder]

Just finished The Scarlet Letter and The Emigrants (which was on the 2006 list).

I enjoyed The Scarlet Letter, but it's a bit heavy handed (even for 19th century lit). It was more mysterious and enigmatic than I expected, and the message is actually pretty subversive.

W.G. Sebald can do no wrong, as far as I'm concerned. Both Austerlitz and The Emigrants are masterpieces, absolutely stunning, and unlike anything else I've ever read. Highly recommended.

[Asa]

Finally made my way through Broch's Death of Virgil. This one really wasn't for me.

[Judith]

The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle by Tobias Smollett

I rather enjoyed this fun romp through the ideal young English lord's adventures and misadventures to his graduation from the school of hard knocks.

[Judith]

Inder wrote: "Just finished The Scarlet Letter and The Emigrants (which was on the 2006 list).

I enjoyed The Scarlet Letter, but it's a bit heavy handed (even for 19th century lit). I..."

So glad to read all these good things about "The Emigrants", I must get a copy!!!

[Robin]

I just finished "The Red Queen". I'm not sure how/why it made it to the list. The more I think about it the more I think it's trash.

[Robin]

I just found out Margaret Drabble's sister is A.S. Byatt. Maybe this is why she's on the list????

[Lisa]

Just finished & reviewed Cat's Eye-Atwood. I thought this was better than some of her post apocalyptic stuff. Gave it 3 stars. In the bookbag now are Island of Dr. Moreau, (probably the next one since it came from the YA section & seems to be short), Rabbit, Run, The House of the Spirits, & A Confederacy of Dunces.

Anyone read any of these yet?

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

Lisa wrote: "Just finished & reviewed Cat's Eye-Atwood. I thought this was better than some of her post apocalyptic stuff. Gave it 3 stars. In the bookbag now are Island of Dr. Moreau, (probably the next one..."

I liked Rabbit, Run, while I did not particularly care for The House of the Spirits, but you may have an entirely different reaction.

ETA: That's probably not enough information to be helpful. I prefer novels that are believable. While the characters in Updike are not likeable, I could believe every stream of conscious word of it. On the other hand, while Allende writes beautifully, and much more readably, this book of magical realism unacceptably stretched my imagination.

[Anthony]

I finished "To Kill a Mockingbird". Great book.

[Robin]

Amanda wrote: "Lisa wrote: "Just finished & reviewed Cat's Eye-Atwood. I thought this was better than some of her post apocalyptic stuff. Gave it 3 stars. In the bookbag now are Island of Dr. Moreau, (probably..."

I loved "Cat's Eye" but I'm not a big fan of much of her other work. I usually like magical realism but I'm not a big fan of Allende for some reason, but I've read her a while ago.

[Logophile]

Lisa wrote: "Just finished & reviewed Cat's Eye-Atwood. I thought this was better than some of her post apocalyptic stuff. Gave it 3 stars. In the bookbag now are Island of Dr. Moreau, (probably the next one..."

I've read A Confederacy of Dunces (listened to the audio book, actually), and I thought it was hilarious.

[Chel]

Lisa wrote: "Just finished & reviewed Cat's Eye-Atwood. I thought this was better than some of her post apocalyptic stuff. Gave it 3 stars. In the bookbag now are Island of Dr. Moreau, (probably the next one..."

I've read The Island of Dr. Moreau and thought it was a wonderful combination of sci fi and gothic horror and terrific. The Confederacy of Dunces is an American classic and one of my favorite books of all. It is very funny. Think of Don Quixote in New Orleans but without the chivalry. I just loved Allende's House of the Spirits. It is a very warm and cozy type read (the book may not be that way but you may feel that way as you read it, enjoying such a good book) that is very highly enjoyable and incredibly well written.

[Chel]

I just finished The Day of the Triffids and loved it. I love dystopic literature and this one had a survivalist bent to it that also questioned the purpose of man and society. It was very good, not 1984 good, but very good nonetheless.

[Sandi]

Just finished The Castle of Otranto. It was ok.

[Ellen]

Masanobu wrote: "I finished Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf just yesterday. I can see it isn't a book for everyone, but I loved it!

This year, the list is being a treat :)"

I'm so glad to hear you enjoyed "Mrs. Dalloway". Woolf is among my all-time favorite writers, and "Dalloway" is one of the first books of hers that I read. If you enjoyed this one, you might really like "To the Lighthouse" as well. It's one of her most popular books. Enjoy!

[Lisa]

Just finished Island of Dr. Moreau. Fascinating if you think of how long ago it was written & how nearly prophetic is is in terms of the scientific advances we have today, like cloning, etc. I'm not sure that some of Moreau's creations were believable in the way the species were combined, but hey, who am I to say what's believable or not? Look at the platypus, LOL.

[Deanne]

Finished A Dance To The Music Of Time by Powell, loved it and surprised that at 12 books and nearly 3000 pages the writing is consistently of a high standard.
Powell interweaves a vast cast of some 300 characters who get married, have children, have affairs, get divorced and die. Yet he keeps you up to date with their lives with mention of them in coversations at parties and other social gatherings to which Nick Jenkins is a member.
Glad I read the 12 separate books as it seemed less intimidating that way.

[Elizabeth (Alaska)]

Deanne, I do hope I get to that before too much time passes!

I just finished The Forsyte Saga, although I'm continuing the series to it's end.

[Logophile]

Bucket wrote: "I haven't read Kafka on the shore yet, but a blog that I really enjoy recently featured..."

Thanks, Bucket, for the link to the review of Kafka on the Shore. It gave me a better framework to organize my thoughts about this book!

I'd read A Wild Sheep Chase, and I still plan to read The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. Maybe after my third Murakami, I'll have whatever key I need to be able to read the rest of the Murakamis on the list.

[Pinar]

Just finished reading Catch-22 by Joseph Heller

Now I am trying to figure out if I liked the book or not.

[Liz M]

It's been a lovely weekend for reading -- one beach day and one rainy day, so at long last I have FINALLY finished two huge books that I have been working on for months:

The Tale of Genji and Middlemarch

The former was delightful, read in small pieces over the past 6 weeks. The latter has brilliant moments and riveting clarity in it's depiction of relationships.

[Enis]

I finished reading Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut, great book think of it as "entertaining roller coaster".

[Melissa]

I just finished Brave New World. Call me crazy, but the dystopia didn't seen that bad to me.

[Cindy]

Chel wrote: "I just finished The Day of the Triffids and loved it. I love dystopic literature and this one had a survivalist bent to it that also questioned the purpose of man and society. It was very good, n..."

I agree completely! It was one of my favorite books I read last year. Although, when I try to describe the plot to non-bookish people, they inevitably give me a sideways look.

[J_BlueFlower]

I just finish We. One of the great three dystopian novels … someone wrote somewhere. If you haven’t read 1984, read that one instead.

I am sure it is a historically important book and has a lot of prophetical value. Even mentions “gas chambers”, although their use is something else. But really for the reader today there is little news.

[Asa]

Finished Kipling's Kim yesterday. Very funny and engaging.

[Bucket]

Logophile wrote: "Bucket wrote: "I haven't read Kafka on the shore yet, but a blog that I really enjoy recently featured..."

Thanks, Bucket, for the link to the review of Kafka on the Shore. It gave me a better fra..."

You're welcome! :) Glad you found it interesting!

[Genia]

Just finished The Good Soldier. It was a good book, but not a rewarding read: I found the narrator almost intolerable in his rambliness, and while I understand this was done on purpose, it just didn't make the book enjoyable to me.