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

What Maisie Knew. With four of his List titles down, and two to go, its clear to me that I'm not much of a Henry James fan.

Manny wrote: "If I tried for a week, I could not come up with a better argument against this kind of list."

*snort* Good one.

Manny wrote: "If I tried for a week, I could not come up with a better argument against this kind of list."

Aw, c'mon. Give it a year. Bet you still couldn't. (Roth is another author I won't read, having read Portnoy's Complaint years and years ago.)

The Beggar Maid: Stories of Flo and Rose by
Alice Munro

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen.

This was my 4th J.A. novel, and my least favorite story-wise. What can I say, I'm more of a Persuasion fan. Review is here.

Stephanie "Jedigal" wrote: "What Maisie Knew. With four of his List titles down, and two to go, its clear to me that I'm not much of a Henry James fan."

Are you in intending on reading the other 2 Henry James books despite not enjoying 4 of them?

Re: Henry James......finally suffering through the final 100 pages of The Ambassadors

I just finished Go Tell It On the Mountain by James Baldwin. He's an amazing writer, but I did not enjoy this book, maybe, simply, because it mostly revolved around church, sin, and God. Based in large part on Baldwin's own life. I could see how people could really enjoy this novel, but it just didn't do it for me.

Laura wrote: "Stephanie "Jedigal" wrote: "What Maisie Knew. With four of his List titles down, and two to go, its clear to me that I'm not much of a Henry James fan."

Are you in intending on reading the other 2 Henry James books despite not enjoying 4 of them?"

Well, weirdly enough, yes. I will just make sure they are framed on either side by other works I expect to enjoy more. I can get extremely stubborn about things. Even if I never really like James, at least I'll end up with a more informed opinion.

An example of my determination is Moby Dick. My sis, a lit major, advised me strongly to skip reading Moby Dick. Her take was I wouldn't enjoy the book, and I could just study commentary and summaries to understand its place in literary history. But I just wanted to see for myself. Turns out she was right, I did NOT enjoy it at all, but I'm still glad I read it.

It's not that I don't read for PLEASURE, I do, but there are different kinds of reading pleasure for me. The purely in-the-moment pleasure of a story that carries-you-along or carries-you-away, but also the pleasure of learning, persevering, thinking a little harder.

I'll definitely be glad for the exposure to James, and I did find something to like in all the books, even though I also found annoyances. I DO recommend Turn of the Screw, though! I did enjoy that one.

Hmmmm..... As I write this, now I'm thinking that maybe I take some books like people - the good along with the bad. And even if I don't 'judge' them negatively, later on I'll just avoid them. I'll avoid James AFTER I finish the list titles.

Stephanie "Jedigal" wrote: "Laura wrote: "Stephanie "Jedigal" wrote: "What Maisie Knew. With four of his List titles down, and two to go, its clear to me that I'm not much of a Henry James fan."

Are you in intending on read..."

Well said!!!! A lot of what you say is the same reason I wont stop a book once I decide to read it.

I have read only one James title: Daisy Miller, which I gave 3 stars. I just looked at my review, in which I say that I look forward to reading more James. What is it that you find so annoying about him?

Stephanie "Jedigal" wrote: "Laura wrote: "Stephanie "Jedigal" wrote: "What Maisie Knew. With four of his List titles down, and two to go, its clear to me that I'm not much of a Henry James fan."

Are you in intending on read..."

I admire your dedication! Sometimes it used to take me forever to finish a book or I'd have to keep restarting it so I know the satisfaction of finishing a book no matter how tedious it is, I've made sure I keep reading a book how ever much I dislike it because it's part of my whole attempts of "finishing what I start".

Although if there's a book I don't enjoy I won't read anything else by that author as I don't want to put myself through the discomfort again!

I really enjoyed turn of the screw, this was my first Henry James so I want to read something else by him- probably Wings of a dove but the length is a little off putting if it isn't very good!

Are you planning on reading every single one of the list books?

Steve wrote: "Well said!!!! A lot of what you say is the same reason I wont stop a book once I decide to read it."

I myself WILL stop, but often to pick the book up later - a year, five years, sometime. I had to start Wuthering Heights 3 times. I don't really remember why it wasn't grabbing me, but the third time it totally did, and I loved it. However, if I'm going to put a book down for a time, I usually do it fairly quickly. Once I've gotten very far, I just keep going.

Just finished Candide by Voltaire. I absolutely loved how over the top and ridiculous it was. I couldn't put it down.

Laura wrote: "Stephanie "Jedigal" wrote: "Laura wrote: "Stephanie "Jedigal" wrote: "What Maisie Knew. With four of his List titles down, and two to go, its clear to me that I'm not much of a Henry James fan. ..."

... Are you planning on reading every single one of the list books?"

Well, that's hard to say. :o) I don't know if its a firm PLAN, or it if its one of those goals to work towards that is more about the journey. I guess at this point its a definite maybe.

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "I have read only one James title: Daisy Miller, which I gave 3 stars. I just looked at my review, in which I say that I look forward to reading more James. What is it that you find so ..."

I hope it's not too annoying to anyone, but I'll move my answer to that to the Henry James thread under Specific List Authors. :o)

I finished reading Michel Houellebecq's 'The Elementary Particles' in today's lunch break, and despite dreading it before I started I ended up really liking it!

Finished Cost by Roxana Robinson.

Just finished Middlemarch by George Eliot. I really enjoyed getting into the lives of these provincial families and people and rather miss riding along with them.

Finished The Color Purple by Alice Walker; review here.

Read Dictionary of the Khazars by Milorad Pavić. Not sure why this book is on the list.

Also read The Killer Inside Me which was very good.

Just finished Enduring Love by Ian McEwan. My third novel by the author and for the third time felt under-whelmed by the end of it.

Peter wrote: "Just finished Enduring Love by Ian McEwan. My third novel by the author and for the third time felt under-whelmed by the end of it."

I really don't like Ian McEwan, and I was disappointed by the number of his books on the list. I'm just skipping them!

I just finished Isabel Allende's House of Spirits. I was sorta "meh " in the beginning, but by the end I was really into it and liked it a lot.

Finally finished The Ambassadors by Henry James. I struggled with James writing style. I didn't particularly like any if the characters. I guess it is safe to say I didn't like this book

1001 Nights - a wonderful collection of stories!

Finished The Holy Terrors by Jean Cocteau.

Finished Mansfield Park. Not my favorite of Austen's. Pride and Prejudice hands down is my favorite of all the Austen books and I have finally finished all of Austen on the list!

I just finished March's read...a little early, Casino Royale. I really enjoyed this book, despite the platitudes about women, but I looked at that more as a sign of the times than anything else. Fun read!

Lauren wrote: "I just finished March's read...a little early, Casino Royale. I really enjoyed this book, despite the platitudes about women, but I looked at that more as a sign of the times than anything else. ..."
I thought it was really good! Are you tempted to try Fleming's other Bond books?

Laura wrote: I thought it was really good! Are you tempted to try Fleming's other Bond books?

Yes...I put Bond #2 on my list. I think I'll read them in order. I'm funny about series though. I usually end up getting sick of them.

The Day of the Triffids, I liked it.

Tasha wrote: "The Day of the Triffids, I liked it."

I really enjoyed that one too. I'm a big SF fan from childhood (so was my dad, so when I ran out of my own books and was poking around for something, SF is often what I ended up with), so I've read quite a lot, and was surprised to find on the list this book that I'd never heard of, and found quite original and captivating.

Stephanie "Jedigal" wrote: "Tasha wrote: "The Day of the Triffids, I liked it."

I really enjoyed that one too. I'm a big SF fan from childhood (so was my dad, so when I ran out of my own books and was poking a..."

Yes. I savor the SF reads on the list, but I'm running out of them. :(

finished The Floating Opera by Barth, very good short novel.

I just finished Chess Story, also known as The Royal Game, by Stefan Zweig.

Wow, for such a short book, this story carries a powerful punch.

Chess Story was a great book. I'm looking forward to reading more Zweig.

The Left-Handed Woman. At least it was short (86 pages)

The Count of Monte Cristo. Great book but I would definitely suggest making it a long term read.

Angelique wrote: "The Count of Monte Cristo. Great book but I would definitely suggest making it a long term read."
I started it a couple of years ago and was really enjoying it, but I got distracted by other things and put it down. I could just kick myself, because I was halfway through and I know I'm going to have to start over if I want to keep everyone straight. At least I know it'll be a good read. :)

Just finished The Plague by Albert Camus...and hit my 150 book milestone!

Congratulations, Wendy!

I finished They Shoot Horses, Don't They?. It was entirely not what I expected but still very good.
The dance marathon reminded me a bit of Gilmore Girls. I'm just glad that one didn't end in such a way!

Gilmore girls????

I thought that was an excellent short story though :)

Just finished Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

By Phil K Dick

Great scifi story!

Steve wrote: "Just finished Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

By Phil K Dick

Great scifi story!"

I love that one! Great, quick read.

Nicole wrote: "Congratulations, Wendy!"

Thanks, Nicole!

And now I just finished Love in the Time of Cholera.

Steve wrote: "Gilmore girls????

I thought that was an excellent short story though :)"

In one episode of Gilmore Girls there's a dance marathon. It's only 24h and also not such a serious business as in this story. But the book reminded me of it anyway.

Wendy wrote: "Just finished The Plague by Albert Camus...and hit my 150 book milestone!"

Nice one, Wendy!

Just finished reading The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. I liked it. Poor Hester. What a life she led after adultery. And, her daughter, Pearl, is quite an interesting character who was so affected by her mother's sinning.