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

This is a useful topic. I've noticed that there are 1001 Books which, if read together, or one after the other, give the reader better understanding and enjoyment. Let me give you my finds so far to start the ball rolling:


1. the mad wife of Mr Rochester in Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre is the principal protagonist in Jean Rhys's Wide Sargasso Sea, the latter being sort of a prequel to the former. I read Bronte first before Rhys, but I think it would be better to read Rhys first;

2. Mario Vargas Llosa's The Feast of the Goat is a novel about the Trujillo dictatorship (1930-1961) in the Dominican Republic, while Junot Diaz's The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao sort of have modern day characters who are descendants of those victimized under the dictatorship and still suffer the ill luck of their forebears; and

3. The Book of Disquiet (Fernando Pessoa) will introduce you to Ricardo Reis who (if I recall correctly) is a ghostly character in Jose Saramago's The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis.

This is very good to know. Thank you.

You're welcome. I've read somewhere also that one should read Heinrich Von Kleist's "Michael Kohlhaas" first before Franz Kafka's "The Castle" but I don't feel competent to say why because although I have read M.K., I haven't read The Castle yet. I remember, however, that there's a castle attacked in M.K.

I recommend reading Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway before reading Michael Cunningham's The Hours. In The Hours, Virginia Woolf is one of the characters at the time that she is beginning to write Mrs. Dalloway. There are a number of subtle references and inside jokes from Woolf's book that Cunningham uses, and if you haven't already read Mrs. Dalloway you'll completely miss them.

Definitely read Malcolm Lowry's Under the Volcano before reading Dark As The Grave Wherein My Friend Is Laid. The latter has lots of references to Under the Grave and Lowry's life as he was writing it. I read Dark first and all those interesting references I kept reading about in other reviews were over my head.

This thread is similar to this thread.

Great idea, many books on the list I haven't read. I have to reread Jane Eyre and Wide Sargasso Sea later in the month for university, I haven't read either for over 10 years. I would never have thought to read Rhys first, I'll have to give it a go.

Both books here must be list books. I do not know if Dark is the Grave...is one. (dont know its author so checking is difficult for me).

I think Dark is the Grave... is on the list, but I haven't read it, so not a hundred percent sure.

Like I posted on the other thread that Elizabeth linked to, The Hound of the Baskervilles should be read before The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, because the whole plot including the ending of the Holmes mystery is given away in Curious Incident.

other interestingly linked books:

Crusoe & Foe by Coetzee. Written from the female castaway perspective.
Coetzee also did a unique spin on Russian author in "The Man from St Petersburg" including drawing parellels from their lifes.

Oh, the books Jane Eyre and Rhys ...sea where fun insofar as they are 2 authors perspectives, the 2nd taking liberty to give a classic new breath, or stand it totally on its ' head. i might be mistaken, but wasn't Gilman's "Yellow Wallpaper" another look at Rochester & wife? Maybe I just thought it could be.

great topic!! What else?