Boxall's 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die discussion
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1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die
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Any LIST book you don't want to read?
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I'd like to say something in defense of Thomas Hardy as well. I really became quite turned off by "Jude the Obscure" because the characters were frustrating for me; but I've found much merit in all the titles I've read. "Tess" and "The Woodlanders", of course, are very tragic; and most all his writing has that tragic ingredient....Still, "Return of the Native" and "Far From the Madding Crowd" do not dwell on tragedies of innocent people at all, and "Under the Greenwood Tree" (not a list title)is quite optimistic. I think this shows Hardy to be a realist portraying the experiences of common people during his times, not a depressive who only saw the tragic side of life. I love authors who portray real life!The Russians (as referred to above) tend to be similar in their realistic portrayal of common people's lives in hard times; and, oh, such characters and plots they devise to tell their stories! Wonderful!
Maryann... to get into Russian lit I recommend trying these first:A Day in the life of Ivan Denisovich - Solzhenitsyn
The Death of Ivan Ilyich - Tolstoy
The Nose - Gogol
and then
Notes from the Underground - Dostoevsky
these are short introductions to four bastions of Russian literature on the list. That should give you a taste of what you're in for and you can then plot your path from there.
Arukiyomi wrote: "...but surely not Fathers and Sons Elizabeth? I couldn't get into that at all."Oh, I loved that book. And the prose is so absolutely beautiful.
Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Arukiyomi wrote: "...but surely not Fathers and Sons Elizabeth? I couldn't get into that at all."Oh, I loved that book. And the prose is so absolutely beautiful."
I agree. I really enjoyed it as well. We read it in high school and I hated it. recently found it on my bookshelves and reread it. Funny how tastes change over the years.
Arukiyomi, if you were talking about Ulysses I would offer no disagreement.
Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Arukiyomi wrote: "...but surely not Fathers and Sons Elizabeth? I couldn't get into that at all."Oh, I loved that book. And the prose is so absolutely beautiful."
I was gonna recommend Turgenev, too. I really liked Father and Sons, and I enjoyed A Lear of the Steppes. I also enjoyed The Kreutzer Sonata by Tolstoy. But that is about the extent of my Russian reading.
My favorite Russian so far is Oblomov, but I'm not certain I would recommend it to someone who is reluctant to read Russian. The prose is quite readable - quite beautiful in fact - but if you want plot you won't find it here.
Arukiyomi wrote: "Maryann... to get into Russian lit I recommend trying these first:A Day in the life of Ivan Denisovich - Solzhenitsyn
The Death of Ivan Ilyich - Tolstoy
The Nose - Gogol
and then
Notes from the Un..."
I think "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich" or "The Kreutzer Sonata" or "The Brothers Karamazov" would be a great starting place for the new Russian reader.
The only book that I know I don't want to read is Blood and Guts in High School. This will definitely be one of the last I read on the list unless someone can convince me that it really does have merit.
oh to be a newbie at Russian lit again! the jot of discovering those masters is almost unparalleled. so rewarding! i'm currently in Anna Karenina and I love it.
If you're really dreading Moby Dick and in the New England area, you can always bring a sleeping bag to the New Bedford whaling museum on Jan 5-6 for the marathon reading of Melville's classic. They even head across the street to the actual church in the book to read the chapter that takes place there. You can listen while sitting above a replica of a whaling ship and listen to Barney Frank mumble his way through his half a chapter. It's pretty terrific.
Jonpaul wrote: "If you're really dreading Moby Dick and in the New England area, you can always bring a sleeping bag to the New Bedford whaling museum on Jan 5-6 for the marathon reading of Melville's classic. The..."Jonpaul: I would love to send that to a friend - that is all of his interests rolled up in one! The New Bedford Whaling Museum's link appears to be down, though. DO you know of anywhere else to find the information?
Anyone who might prefer to listen to Moby Dick there is itunes podcast of it for free.
Charity wrote: "Finnegans Wake by James Joyce. I really disliked A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and Ulysses, so I think I'm done with this author."Wow - you read all three of those beasts? I've read Portrait and it wasn't too bad. But I've heard terrible things about those other two and will probably never read them. I think the best best with Joyce is The Dubliners, which is a collection of short stories, but unfortunately it's not on the List.
@ Laura - I don't know about all those you mentioned, but I am definitely with you on Lolita and American Psycho - the subject matter of both of those turns me off completely.Also have no intention of reading Choke or Story of O, The 120 Days of Sodom or Henry Miller's Tropic books. I'm willing to slog my way through something that is boring, but not interested in reading pornographic stuff.
Erin wrote: "I think ones like Don Quixote or a few of the Dickens books for length alone... Those 900+ pages can be intimidating!"If you are intimidated by long books, consider reading A Tale of Two Cities by Dickens. It's not as long as some of his others, and I've read almost all of his novels and TTC is my favorite.
Linda wrote: "@ Laura - I don't know about all those you mentioned, but I am definitely with you on Lolita and American Psycho - the subject matter of both of those turns me off completely.Yes, I almost feel bad because my boyfriend bought me American Psycho and as with Lolita they're both supposed to be good books, but I really don't know if I want to put my brain through it! I didn't realise there were pornographic books on the list, seems strange as from a snobbish point of view they don't really seem to add much value!
Lolita is an amazing book, once you get over the subject matter. I actually read it in high school and was floored by the story and the writing. Give it a try!
Linda wrote: "@ Laura - I don't know about all those you mentioned, but I am definitely with you on Lolita and American Psycho - the subject matter of both of those turns me off completely.Also have no intenti..."
I love Chuck Palahniuk and Choke is no more pornographic than his other books, IMO. It's actually a really interesting story about one man's personal journey to find good in himself. Snuff (not on the list) is where Palahniuk ventures into the world of pornography.
Books I dont look forward to:
1Q84 Books 1 and 2 by Haruki Murakami
- I read 4 books by him and liked one, the other ones, blergh. Thankfully one of those was "after the quake" so i wont have to read that one again.
American Psycho – Bret Easton Ellis
- Ew. I read Less Than Zero and thought it was so incredibly bad and bland and unbelievable. I just felt like smacking the author.
1Q84 Books 1 and 2 by Haruki Murakami
- I read 4 books by him and liked one, the other ones, blergh. Thankfully one of those was "after the quake" so i wont have to read that one again.
American Psycho – Bret Easton Ellis
- Ew. I read Less Than Zero and thought it was so incredibly bad and bland and unbelievable. I just felt like smacking the author.
I loved Lolita, by the way. I was abused as a child and am easily triggered, but this didn't trigger me at all (?). Of course I cant speak for anyone else but at least to me it helped that it didn't have a very threatening atmosphere. It was fucked up, yes, but not dangerous/threatening.
Just read in the favorites thread that Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas will "have you laughing your pants off." I can anticipate that will be one I won't appreciate at all. Striking it off my list.
I liked Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. And I didn't think it was funny at all, nor that it was meant to be.
American Psycho was better than Less Than Zero, though they both portray the materialism and jaded attitude of the time. Psycho is well done in its insanity.
I just have to add here that most of you have indeed picked out the difficult titles on the list in my opinion also. Though I've read and thought them worthwhile, some of the titles mentioned here were a bit of a struggle! Others I'm not looking forward to, but hope I can get into them anyway...just to see what they have to offer....
@Anne: The New Bedford Whaling Museum is www.whalingmuseum.orgThe week of the Moby Dick Marathon reading there are always write ups in both the Providence and Boston Phoenix.
The 120 Days of Sodom. I tried to read that once while reading a list of "the most disturbing novels."That book was like being in the mind of the biggest sexual pervert in history. It made me physical turned off for a month.
Oh there are so many books in the 1001 books that are too dense or miserable for me to even consider putting them on my TBR list. However, i'm finding Boxall's Book very very interesting. It's like window shopping, seeing a broad range of product, that is seeing what is available. I've got about 20 on my TBR list and of those, I will read five. I know so much more about English literature as a result of all the buzz around the 1001.
Camilla wrote: "Finnigans wake."Just don't think I can do this one, either...
It's hard to say you won't read anything else by an author just because of one bad book. I really hated Saturday by Ian McEwan, but still battled on. Generally I don't like his stuff, but a couple are ok.
On the other hand, I absolutely adore Birdsong by Sebastian Faulkes, but have yet to find another I like...
I've tackled a few biggies: Les Mis, Don Quioxte, Gargantua and Pantagruel. I'm now treating myself to a 'Books I want to read' year!!
Boxall's 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die
Books mentioned in this topic
Choke (other topics)Snuff (other topics)
The 120 Days of Sodom (other topics)
Choke (other topics)
Lolita (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Ivan Turgenev (other topics)Marianne Fredriksson (other topics)
Henry James (other topics)
Joseph Conrad (other topics)
D.H. Lawrence (other topics)
I'm not looking forward to the Russians- Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky. I've heard the whole range of love to hate, and while I'm curious to see what I'll think, they're just huge chunks of literature.