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

Nicola wrote: "my download of Black Water was apparently an opera?"

Apparently there are two operas based on the book. The first is a chamber opera for Soprano and piano by Jeremy Beck, who also wrote the libretto: http://www.beckmusic.org/compositions... There is a video of a performance of the piece on that page, which is well worth listening to if you enjoy contemporary classical music.

The second opera, with a libretto by Oates herself, was composed by John Duffy, and premiered in 1997: http://www.johnduffy.com/blackwater.html Unfortunately the links for the samples don't work, so I've not been able to listen to it.

Started Home by Marilynne Robinson yesterday. I loved Gilead, the first novel in the series, so hope this will be as good.

I've just restarted The Sea, The Sea by Iris Murdoch. Electronic copy from library; expired before I could complete it. Fun book which I definitely want to finish!
The Sea, the Sea

I just started reading Birdsong by Sebastian Faulks as part of the Guardian 1000 group.

Just started Foe by J.M. Coetzee.

Grimus - My first Rushdie and I think it may be his first novel.

I just started Martin Eden by Jack London

Kirsten *Dogs Welcome - People Tolerated" wrote: "I just started Martin Eden by Jack London"

Looking forward to see what you think:)

Started The Bonfire of the Vanities last night. Not taken by it so far, but will see how it pans out.

Luís wrote: "The Castle Very dark..."

Well, Kafka wasn't known for his romantic comedies...

Kirsten *Dogs Welcome - People Tolerated" wrote: "Luís wrote: "The Castle Very dark..."

Well, Kafka wasn't known for his romantic comedies..."

Hah! :-)

Oroonoko - This one shouldn't take me too long.

I agree with you Michelle.. "The Things They Carried" is a great read....

I agree with you Michelle.. "The Things They Carried" is a great read....

Molloy and I'm scared!

I'm starting Notes from Underground

I'm reading and side by side.

I started The Power and the Glory.

The 39 Steps by John Buchan Looks like a fast read. Hope it's good.

Reading The Two Towers.

Agnes Grey. Pretty 'meh' so far - more than a tad boring to be honest. At least it's a short book.

I started Crossfire by Miyuki Miyabe. I'm not sure what I think of it yet. It's a bit strange.

Casino Royale. But put it down again after the first chapter or so. Don't think I'll ever finish it, the writing is horrid.

Just started Annie John by Jamaica Kincaid.

Luís wrote: "Walden - very good!!"
Good choice, my all time favorite. :)

Started Gustave Flaubert's Sentimental Education. I am participating in lots of challenges and one of my own personal challenges was to read 5 randomised books this year. I used random.org and drew this:

Personal Randomiser 1001 List Challenge

Goal: Read 5 unread books randomised from the 1001 books list. Randomised 03.23.15.

172. Sentimental Education, Gustave Flaubert
700. A Clockwork Orange, Anthony Burgess
1106. Waiting for the Dark, Waiting for the Light, Ivan Klima
236. New Grub Street, George Gissing
1236. London Orbital, Iain Sinclair

1/5

I'm love randomising! It will keep me from just reading the easy ones, and make it more even.

Randomizing is great, I have been doing that with my TBR shelf (read it or delete it!). Never thought to do it with the 1001 book list. What do you do if you get a number you have already read? Just curious.

Well I have the app which makes it easy, but I suppose all here have a numbered list? You plot in the numbers. You might get one you have read and double might happen too. No problem, just write down the numbers, check them up against your list and randomise the numbers you had already read. If it's just one for example, you just randomise 1. I love it!

random.org

Started my first Rushdie book, The Ground Beneath Her Feet.

Most recently it was Regeneration by Pat Barker.

I just started listening to The Bonfire of the Vanities. Very unappealing characters but lovely writing.

Starting Cain by Jose Saramago. Should be a quick read.

Started Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham today.

Started Le Roi des aulnes (The Erl-King or The Ogre) last night. Anthony Doerr references it as one of his influences in All the Light We Cannot See, which I loved, so I'm interested to see how this turns out. Very dark to begin with, and the main character is not pleasant, but the book is full of symbolism, and I think I'll enjoy it.

Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote.

Last night I started listening to Beloved read by the author. I think I'm really going to like listening to her.

Starting another one that I'll be able to breeze through. The Call of the Wild.

Started A Modest Proposal and Other Satirical Works. I am going to read all of the selections because the book is so short!

Started David Copperfield by Charles Dickens.

Starting Cancer Ward by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn.

Jean wrote: "The 39 Steps by John Buchan Looks like a fast read. Hope it's good."
I liked it :)

Just started Vile Bodies as it's short, supposed to be funny and isn't too old (the last novel I read was Crime and Punishment) so hopefully it'll be good

I just started Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe.

I'm just about to start Of Human Bondage. I've been waiting for the audio from the library and now I'm downloading it to my Sanza clip and then I'm taking the dog out for a long walk.

I love SSM's short stories and Cakes and Ale was great too so I have highish expectations of this one.

Jennifer W wrote: "Last night I started listening to Beloved read by the author. I think I'm really going to like listening to her."

She's got an expressive voice but I found her difficult to listen to on the two audio's I've done because she was often drowned out my any sort of noise. Even walking in the woods or on the beach it was sometimes hard to pick up what she was saying.

The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis - This could be a difficult one. It comes highly recommended but I suspect I will need to be in the proper frame of mind to enjoy it properly.

Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie. My first Rushdie, so we'll see how it goes. 35 pages in and so far I am enjoying the writing style.

Nicola wrote: "Jennifer W wrote: "Last night I started listening to Beloved read by the author. I think I'm really going to like listening to her."

She's got an expressive voice but I found her diffi..."

Yes, the audio does get quite soft at times. I think it will be a before bed book when I can lie there in silence and just listen.

Started in the beginning of the week: L'Assommoir (The Dram Shop) by Émile Zola

=)

God's Bits of Wood - I have other books I should be reading but I casually flicked through this one and was instantly hooked. So the others can wait, I'm reading this one first!