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

The Way of All Flesh by Samuel Butler, 3.5 stars.

Veronika Decides to Die by Paulo Coelho and The Butcher Boy by Patrick McCabe

After the Death of Don Juan by Sylvia Townsend Warner

Emile, or On Education by Jean-Jacques Rousseau.

Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy

The Threepenny Opera by Bertolt Brecht

The Discovery of Heaven by Harry Mulisch

JenniferAustin wrote: "Nervous Conditions by Tsitsi Dangarembga
What a great read!"

Yes, it is. Probably my favorite novel by an author from Africa.

Home by Marilynne Robinson. I think I liked her Gilead (not a list book) a little better.
Coincidentally, I'm reading a book by another woman named Robinson: Michelle Robinson (maiden name) Obama.

Journey to the End of the Night - Louis-Ferdinand Celine. Was a previous group book so thought I would catch up. Long, dark and cynical. Fortunately, long, dark and cynical is right up my alley! A bit casually racist, but Celine was apparently an anti-semite and Nazi sympathizer, so...

Also, Absolute Beginners - Colin McInnes. A book very much of its time. It feels quite dated. But breezy and entertaining.

Currently 2/3 of the way through Ulysses... it's a slog.

The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia by Ursula K. Le Guin

Hell by Henri Barbusse.

Just finished The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler. Very fun!

The Third Man by Graham Greene - 4* - My Review

#107 - I finished this one a few months ago but forgot it was on the list...(thanks Joy for the reminder :))


The Third Man by Graham Greene
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Bouvard and Pecuchet by Gustave Flaubert

Nostromo by Joseph Conrad

Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters
Yes, it's very sexual and I must admit that there were a few occasions when I would have liked to have seen it toned down a little, but Nancy is a likeable character and the story, as it explores what it means to be a woman, especially a gay woman, during the Victorian age, is very well written. As a first novel it's quite a feat.

Bunner Sisters by Edith Wharton

Just finished H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald

It is beautifully written and has some very interesting considerations but the whole premise of training a bird of prey rubbed me the wrong way.

I have just finished The African Trilogy. It includes Things Fall Apart, No Longer at Ease and Arrow of God. The first and last are list books. Brilliant.

At Swim-Two-Birds by Flann O'Brien - 4* - My Review

The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu - 3* - My Review

Uncle Petros and Goldbach's Conjecture by Apostolos Doxiadis

Amok by Stefan Zweig

The Nine Tailors by Dorothy L. Sayers

The Moor's Last Sigh by Salman Rushdie - 4* - My Review

Haven't been reading list books lately. Finished The End of the Affair, it was OK, thankfully it was short!

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

Life and Times of Michael K by J.M. Coetzee - 4* - My Review

Oscar and Lucinda by Peter Carey

Re-read The Hobbit, or There and Back Again -- one of my all-time favorites!

Native Son by Richard Wright

They Shoot Horses, Don't They? by Horace McCoy

The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James

One of the most beautiful novels I've ever read. Surprised me!

Carol wrote: "The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James

One of the most beautiful novels I've ever read. Surprised me!"

John Banville wrote a sequel, Mrs Osmond. It's not a list book but if you enjoyed Portrait, you might find this one interesting. I have had it on my shelf for ages now but have yet to pick up, which I really should do!

Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit by Jeanette Winterson - 4* - My Review

I *loved* Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit! Nice to see that someone else did, too!

My recent book finished:
Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut Jr., which was a 3-star read for me. A good book, but not his best, for this reader.

#108 - I finished the novella


Summer by Edith Wharton
Rating: 4 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh.

Seize the Day by Saul Bellow - 3* - My Review

The Hours by Michael Cunningham

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson - 3* - My Review

Under the Skin by Michel Faber - 4* - My Review

Like Water for Chocolate by Laura Esquivel

Stephanie "Jedigal" wrote: "Robinson Crusoe. Ugh. Defoe takes all the excitement out of adventure."

It's a VERY old novel so he had very little literary tradition to influence his work. It was groundbreaking for its' time

Astradeni by Eugenia Fakinou of Greece. Charming coming of age tale for the most part. 4 stars.

George P. wrote: "Stephanie "Jedigal" wrote: "Robinson Crusoe. Ugh. Defoe takes all the excitement out of adventure."

It's a VERY old novel so he had very little literary tradition to influence his work. It was gro..."

Yeah but it is deeply racist, a template for colonial rule and at one point, Crusoe strips in order to swim to the wreck...and then brings back supplies by shoving them in his pockets.

Not wonder post-colonial lit has deconstructed it over and over again.

David Copperfield by Charles Dickens - a 5-star read for this reader!

All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque

Carry Me Down by M.J. Hyland - 1* - My Review - I am mystified as to why this book is on the list.