Boxall's 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die discussion
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LIST books you abandoned?
That's funny, Nicola! Yes, I do recommend you read them, since our tastes seem to be so completely opposite :-)
Hi Rowi, nice to see you here :-)I haven't read The Piano Teacher but I once saw a play inspired by it and it was real good. I don't think I would stand the novel, though. Although I have to say I'm quite curious.
Hiiiii ;)Gosh, it was really too morbid and obsessive... I made a mistake taking it on holiday, that's for sure.
I started reading Gravity's Rainbow 2 times before successfully reading it a 3 time. Well worth the read IMO.
Don DeLillo's Underworld. I've wanted to abandon a good percentage of the books written in the 1900's and 2000's because most of them won't be considered classic literature in a few years.
So sad to read about all the people giving up on Catch-22. I loved in in high school. But I know that I've given up on books that others love.
Emily wrote: "So sad to read about all the people giving up on Catch-22. I loved in in high school. But I know that I've given up on books that others love."A couple of my friends recently read it and absolutely loved it, so I'm looking forward to it.
Some other books listed here have been my favorites of the past year, such as Infinite Jest and Cloud Atlas. Those both got five stars from me.
I can see why a guy might like Underworld because it is about guy things. It's kind of like when I go to a garage sale and all there are at the sale are tools and fishing lures...BORING! lol
Annina wrote: "Oscar and Lucinda the start was so dull, that I just gave up. Maybe I'll try it again some day, but now I just took it back to library."
Uh no, don't give up! It's a strange book with weird characters, but I loved it.
Rowizyx wrote: "The Piano TeacherFirst I was EEEEEEEEEW, then NOPE NOPE NOPE, and then I gave up."
Aww...I really liked that one. But I have a bit of a dark, twisted side, and is one twisted book.
I'm afraid to watch the film version, though.
I just realized that I never actually finished Kristin Lavransdatter, and I'm not sure I'm going to. My library had it separated out into its three volumes, and I read the first two. I figure I got the gist. The first two volumes only got a three and two star rating from me, and I was feeling too "meh" to check out the last one. Maybe someday if I'm feeling super completionist, I'll track down that last volume again, but I'm certainly not in a hurry to do so.
I am not counting books until I finish them but I have been attempting Moby Dick for at least two decades.I had to skim the 120 Days of Sodom. The content was too horrific and graphic for me to read and absorb every word. I understand the importance of its political context but having a child just made it so much worse. I am now struggling through Justine, as I would like to put them aside and never think of them again.
And I am not a prude by any means!
I am not counting books until I finish them but I have been attempting Moby Dick for at least two decades.I had to skim the 120 Days of Sodom. The content was too horrific and graphic for me to read and absorb every word. I understand the importance of its political context but having a child just made it so much worse. I am now struggling through Justine, as I would like to put them aside and never think of them again.
And I am not a prude by any means!
Erin wrote: "I had to skim the 120 Days of Sodom...."
I might never be able to bring myself to read that.
I read Justine years ago and I think I've read enough Sade for a lifetime. I certainly won't be reading The 120 Days of Sodom, I don't care if it's in the list or not.
The Lost Sisterhood, i really wanted to get into this book, but as it kept going, the characters just seemed flat and it almost seemed to be like A female's version of the DA VINCI CODE. Maybe I'll try again in the future.
Yes - Justine is tame compared to 120 Days ...but I am nearly done now.
I read all of Pynchons novels accept for Mason and Dixon. I enjoyed it but got distracted with life someday I will read it fully.
Funny thing is Against the Day and Gravity's rainbow are harder then Mason and Dixon yet I read those and not M and D.
I think I'm going to give up on Everything is Illuminated. Everything about it is bugging me, especially the cutesy thesaurus use with the translator character. Is it worth it to go on?
Starburn wrote: "I think I'm going to give up on Everything is Illuminated. Everything about it is bugging me, especially the cutesy thesaurus use with the translator character. Is it worth it to go on?"I finished it, and I'd say no, it's not worth it.
Amy I read the 1st book of the 50 shades to see what the fuss was about. It really was horrible as I thought it was going to be.
Aninina that's why I buy books like clouds atlas instead of borrowing them.
Mod
I am sorry, Ellinor, I didn't realize at the time they were specifically from the list and recognize my mistake now. My apologies. Obviously it could never make that list.
How do you decide what book makes the list? Books(especially fiction)can be subjective. I'm not defending 50 shades but how do you decide and who decides?
Mod
Having read 100+ you get a idea about what makes a book a list book. It has to offer something – a feeling, an emotion, something that goes deeper then “just a good story” - that you do not find anywhere else. Or it has to have a significant historical importance. Like for instance Tarzan of the Apes is on the list for historical reasons. Some book seems to be on the list for national reasons – they seem to want at least one book from each country.Well, that is just my feeling - it could be interesting to hear what you think makes a book a list book. What are the Boxall-people looking for?
By that premise suggested above 50 shades should make the list because while it's not a good book(my subjective opinion). It definitely made a splash and is a reflection of today's culture.
I suppose in the end book list are useless because they are too subjective.
I got reprimanded by a member(not even a moderator) in a different thread for talking about a good book IMO that was not on the list. It's 1000 books how am I suppose to know what's on the list or not on the list am I suppose to check every time I talk about a book?
Abram wrote: "I got reprimanded by a member(not even a moderator) in a different thread for talking about a good book IMO that was not on the list. It's 1000 books how am I suppose to know what's on the list or not on the list am I suppose to check every time I talk about a book? .."
Yes, you are. This group was set up for readers of the 1001 books (which is actually more like 1300 books because there have been multiple editions released and there was a large change between the earliest and later editions) and only those books on the combined list are talked about. Most of the members here are fairly familiar with the list and are making a conscious effort to read those particular works, although probably only a very small percentage are fully intending to read every single one of the 1300+... Quite a few are just using the list to find new authors or highly recommended works that they've missed.
The Boxall 1001 book list has been compiled by a collection of people to reflect what they consider the best and most influential novels from around the world. There is a heavy slant towards 'western' novels and not everyone is happy with all of the choices or omissions but I don't think any serious follower of the list would consider 50 Shades a worthy contender. I've read plenty of books on the list that I consider fairly rubbish but even if I haven't liked them I can see their historical importance. If 50 Shades is by some miracle still a talked about book in 100 years and is deemed to have influenced a particular genre then maybe it will be included on some other such collection in the future. I haven't read it so I can't judge. I gather from comments that it's not that well written though and I suspect that with time it will fade into obscurity.
Mod
I couldn't agree more with you, Nicola. Especially if you look at what some writers, mainly French ones, wrote centuries ago. 50 Shades is absolutely not scandalous compared to some of these works. The only thing scandalous about it is how badly written it is.
I agree with the both of you 100% which is why I abandoned it. Had I realized when I was making a quick offering to what I thought might have been one of the "sillier" threads here, I would have reconsidered my comment and obviously not mentioned it at all. LIST only. I also didn't expect anyone to defend my mistake but see that it gathered more attention then was needed by a few. Maybe in the future I will get to make a more conscious contribution. Hope everyone is well and can get back to actual list at hand.
Amy wrote: "I agree with the both of you 100% which is why I abandoned it. Had I realized when I was making a quick offering to what I thought might have been one of the "sillier" threads here, I would have re..."No problem Amy, it's an easy mistake. I hope you'll join in any time you want to discuss a 1001 book.
I have noticed that many of the more recent books have not been what I would consider "literature" that makes a difference. I guess it is subjective and I do like to try to read a little bit of the newer stuff even though I almost always prefer the classics.Fifty Shades of Grey might be like the Donald Trump of literature...
For the record I hated 50 shades. I'm just saying popularity wise it seems to be influencing what is literature in a negative way, but sorry I brought it up.
Dianna wrote: "I have noticed that many of the more recent books have not been what I would consider "literature" that makes a difference. I guess it is subjective and I do like to try to read a little bit of the..."I've made a strong effort this year to focus on the more "modern reads." The vast majority have not impacted me as much as earlier entries on the list. However, if I had never found the list I would veer toward pre 1960s lit anyway. The point for me has always been to broaden the scope of my reading, and having a semi-helpful guide through the modern fluff has been nice.
Without Boxall I wouldn't have read Hallucinating Foucault, Regeneration, or The Elegance of the Hedgehog, and that was just this year. Sure, others left me shrugging, but I plan on working up the courage to finally complete Foucault's Pendulum soon. So I haven't technically abandoned it...just taken a long break.
Katherine wrote: "Dianna wrote: "I have noticed that many of the more recent books have not been what I would consider "literature" that makes a difference. I guess it is subjective and I do like to try to read a li..." I have listened to the whole Regeneration trilogy. I enjoyed it :)
Foucault's Pendulum has been recommended to me by a literary friend.
Katherine wrote: "Dianna wrote: "I have noticed that many of the more recent books have not been what I would consider "literature" that makes a difference. I guess it is subjective and I do like to try to read a li..."Luís wrote: "Dianna wrote: "I have noticed that many of the more recent books have not been what I would consider "literature" that makes a difference. I guess it is subjective and I do like to try to read a li..."
Luis, did you forget to finish your sentence or is English not your first language? I have no idea what you are talking about.
Luís wrote: "Dianna wrote: "Katherine wrote: "Dianna wrote: "I have noticed that many of the more recent books have not been what I would consider "literature" that makes a difference. I guess it is subjective ..."Oh, I must have missed something somewhere. Thanks for the clarification. If you are talking about The Donald, then I agree :)
I hope to God people don't actually vote for him in your country. What a ridiculous thing that a man like him could end up running the United States! Nuts. I apologize if it offends anyone's political views. It just seems crazy to me, personally.
Boxall's 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die
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Authors mentioned in this topic
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Catch-22 - just couldn't get it
Infinite Jest - probably one of the most overrated books in literary history
Naked Lunch - ouch!
[book..."
:-) Nearly every single one of your books are my extremely highly rated (Including Infinite Jest which I consider the best book I've read since I read Catch-22 20 or so years ago...)
For the others I haven't read them yet, but going on our different tastes I'll make sure to read them soon!