Boxall's 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die discussion
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Which LIST book did you just finish?
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Bob
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May 24, 2024 02:34PM
Half of Man Is Woman by Zhang Xianliang
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The Black Dahlia by James EllroyWhilst undoubtedly a powerful piece of writing that started really well in the end I simply got fed up with all the gore and sleaze, whilst the final chapters was a rather bizarre kitsch noir.
Crime & Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky.
#123 - (forgot to post this one a few months ago) 
The Death of Ivan Ilych by Leo Tolstoy
Rating: 3 stars
Review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
The Driver's Seat by Muriel Spark'A deeply disturbing and thankfully short read. Not a bad read but definitely not a classic.
Recently finished these two:The Reader by Bernhard Schlink - 4* - My Review
Pnin by Vladimir Nabokov - 4* - My Review
Jahrestage by Uwe JohnsonI started this book January 1, 2024 and finished last week. It's written in diary form and I only read 10 pages a day, keeping with that theme.
Two more:Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy
I think I'm a Hardy fan.
Memento Mori by Muriel Spark
Not totally sure yet, but don't think I'm a Spark fan.
Casanova's Chinese Restaurant by Anthony Powell. 5th book in A Dance to the Music of Time series. The best one so far.
Growth of the Soil by Knut Hamsun. There were some phenomenal insights about social mores and relationships for a novel of the early 1900s.
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I happen to have started Growth of the Soil a few days ago. It begins in a journalistic style but has become much more interesting about 15% in.
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George P. wrote: "Bob wrote: "Growth of the Soil by Knut Hamsun. There were some phenomenal insights about social mores and relationships for a novel of the early 1900s."I happen to ha..."
If you're curious about how a lot of young people- and even plenty of older ones- in Norway view Hamsun these days and his role as a mandatory author to read in school, I recommend Girls Against God.
While he's viewed as just a canonical author, for the most part, abroad...in Norway, Hamsun is something of an embarrassment to many.
Bleak House by Charles Dickens.Fans of Dickens shouldn't miss Bleak House, but it also shouldn’t be your first try at his writings.
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen. Jane only improves with re-reads, and this one was so much better than I remembered.
I have no idea what this book is doing on the list. There is no point as far as I can tell:The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks - 1* - My Review
Boxall's 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die
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