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

I just finished the silkworm it was a good book looking for suggestions similar to this genre.

Mark wrote: "I just finished the silkworm it was a good book looking for suggestions similar to this genre."

Is that a list book?

I just finished "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" by Hunter S Thompson. I really thought I was going to enjoy this book but I detested the attorney throughout the whole thing... I'm now feeling very "square" as Hunter S Thompson might say

Samuel wrote: "I just finished "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" by Hunter S Thompson. I really thought I was going to enjoy this book but I detested the attorney throughout the whole thing... I'm now feeling very..."

I might be "square" too. There is nothing about that book that makes me want to pick it up and look inside.

Yes it was a great book I enjoyed the first book even better but this one was right up there I highly recommend it.

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Is that a list book?"

It's not. It's book 2 in the detective novel series that J.K. Rowling wrote under pseudonym.

Oh oops I forgot I was in this list my bad maybe it should be added to the list :)

The House of Mirth - My second Edith Wharton work and I believe her first true novel, The House of Mirth is a true feast for the senses but a more erroneously named novel I have yet to read, it was certainly ironically meant.

I lived and breathed a totally different world while I resided between its pages; a place both appealing and abhorrent by turns. The House of Mirth put me through the emotional wringer and I know the after effects will remain with me for a long time. This is one I’ll never forget.

5 stars

Nicola wrote: "The House of Mirth - My second Edith Wharton work and I believe her first true novel, The House of Mirth is a true feast for the senses but a more erroneously named novel I have yet to..."

If you gave that one 5 stars, I don't know what you'll do with her The Age of Innocence and Ethan Frome. Those were both 5 stars for me and Innocence belongs on my top 10 list, while Mirth was only 3 stars for me.

Just finished Like Water for Chocolate. I thought it was a good read although I found it slightly depressing!

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Nicola wrote: "The House of Mirth - My second Edith Wharton work and I believe her first true novel, The House of Mirth is a true feast for the senses but a more erroneously named nove..."

I haven't read Ethan Frome but I gave Age of Innocence 4 stars. It was achingly beautiful but it lacked the intense emotional punch that House of Mirth gave me.

Queen Margot, or Marguerite de Valois - A crazy explosion of a novel with a very very strained narrative; crazy co-incidences and highly improbably incidents abound. I can see why this is not the novel that Dumas is best known for as it is certainly no Conte of Monte Cristo or even The Three Musketeers, but it is enjoyable enough.

3 stars

Nicola wrote: "I haven't read Ethan Frome but I gave Age of Innocence 4 stars. It was achingly beautiful but it lacked the intense emotional punch that House of Mirth gave me. "

Interesting how one work will affect different people so differently. I found Mirth pretty drab and without emotional appeal, while Innocence pulled (and pulled again).

A Clockwork Orange - A rather grim and ultra-violent view of the world. As far as dystopian literature goes this ranks pretty low. It wasn't a bad story but I have definitely read better. Perhaps it suffers a little from the fact that I had quite high expectations due to its fame.

3 1/2 stars

"London Fields" by Martin Amis was superb, both in prose, and in plot. More of a "why do it" than a whodunnit, I was gripped more or less the whole way through.

After following it up with "Money", widely regarded as one of the top novels of the 80's, I confess that Amis is fast becoming my favorite contemporary novelist.

Side note: as I was reading I kept thinking "this material could make for a brilliant film". When I finished, I looked it up on IMDB and was delighted to find that "London Fields", the movie, is coming out in early 2015. Serendipity, man...

Joel wrote: "Side note: as I was reading I kept thinking "this material could make for a brilliant film". When I finished, I looked it up on IMDB and was delighted to find that "London Fields", the movie, is coming out in early 2015. Serendipity, man... "

That's great! I love it when that happens.

I just finished The Sense of an Ending - it was a quick page-turner and it had me trying to figuring out what the important links were until the last pages. The ending and overall theme gave me much to think about, and I appreciated what the novel was to convey - (view spoiler)[that our memories are not static, but instead can change depending on what we want to remember to keep up a certain appearance. And that we make conclusions based upon very few facts or what we perceive to be facts, and that these conclusions can be so very far from the actual truth. (hide spoiler)]

I gave it 3 stars. I might have given this book 4 stars, but I felt there was a bit too much spelling out of the reasons why the novel might take the turn it did at the end.

Edited to add: I've just revised my rating up a star after reading another reader's conclusion of the ending. It is clear I did not understand the ending fully, but now I'm more impressed. There was a lot that I did not pick up on. So although the theme of the book is the same, it goes much further than I had initially concluded.

Joel wrote: "I looked it up on IMDB and was delighted to find that "London Fields", the movie, is coming out in early 2015."

I love it too when that happens! I often look a book title up, in hope of finding a movie as well.
Happened to me recently with Lord of the Flies!

I just finished The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco and really disliked it!

It was full of way too many LONG passages of minute descriptions, Catholic philosophy from the 1300's, philosophical discussions that relate to nothing in my life today, and a lot of un-translated Latin.

I really don't know what all the fuss is about this book. If I hadn't been reading it for the Reading with Style winter challenge, I wouldn't have finished it.

I love it too when that happens! I often look a book title up, in hope ..."

It stars Billy Bob Thornton, so fingers crossed it's any good.

Haven't seen Lord of the Flies... is it worth the watch?

Haven't seen Lord of the Flies... is it worth the watch?"

The old one was really good. I haven't seen the remake.

The Turn of the Screw - I've seen several adaptations but this was my first time reading. It was good even though Henry James writes some long sentences.

Haven't seen Lord of the Flies... is it worth the watch?"

Tried it, didn't like it. Didn't finish it. (the new one)

A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway. Finished it a couple of days ago. My first war novel and I wasn't too impressed. I liked that it wasn't filled with gory descriptions etc, but if someone asked me what it's about I couldn't really say.

I'm glad The Old Man and the Sea was my first go at Hemingway, otherwise I might not have been too keen on picking up something else of his now. It did get three stars though, mostly for his writing which I for some reason really like - he can really create a feeling of realism.

Aleta wrote: "A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway. Finished it a couple of days ago. My first war novel and I wasn't too impressed. I liked that it wasn't filled with gory descriptions etc, but i..."

Wasn't impressed with the book either. And I was glad to have read The Old Man and the Sea before that one as well.
If you would be interested in a different war book from the list, I'd recommend All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque. I enjoyed it quite a bit, and I'm no war book fan.

Glad to know I'm not the only one :)
Thank you for the recommendation, I greatly appreciate that! I'd really like to have read a few of the genre classics, but when you're not a fan of it, it's hard to know which ones to pick as most reviews are by fans of the genre.

The Summer Book - rather sweet but not such an amazing experience for me as for others. Still, a good solid 3 star.

I just finished Never Let Me Go
Strange and sad book.

Most recently finished The Hours and added my thoughts on book club thread!

I recently finished The Cement Garden. It's an older work by Ian McEwan, about a very disfunctional family. Short, quick, and a bit disturbing.

I just finished Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day by Winifred Watson. I listened to the audiobook which was narrated by Frances McDormand who played Miss Pettigrew in the film version of the book.

I thoroughly enjoyed this bit of a romp that was written in 1938. Compared to The Name of the Rose, this book was a joy. It really is about one day in the life of Miss Pettigrew, and all the lives (including her own) that she changes that day.

The Sense of an Ending - very very good, it would have been a five star but I felt a bit disconnected to the narrator towards the end as I thought he took too much blame upon himself for events in his youthful past.

4 stars

Of Mice and Men - an absolute gem; I can see why this is such a beloved classic.

5 stars

Krista wrote: "I just finished Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day by Winifred Watson. I listened to the audiobook which was narrated by Frances McDormand who played Miss Pettigrew in t..."

I loved that book so much. Miss Pettigrew is wonderful and down to earth.

1001 Nights. So, so ridiculous. Also, the only list book I read this year because I'm crazy and read the 14 volume unabridged translation.

Kristen where did you find the volumes??

Nicola wrote: "Of Mice and Men - an absolute gem; I can see why this is such a beloved classic.

5 stars"

Yes, I loved this book. All of John Steinbeck's books are just treasures IMHO.

Krista wrote: "Nicola wrote: "Of Mice and Men - an absolute gem; I can see why this is such a beloved classic.

5 stars"

Yes, I loved this book. All of John Steinbeck's books are just ..."

I've read two and both were 5 stars which I don't give out often.

The Plague: Does it make sense for a priest to call the doctor when he is ill? The book is one the core list and on the Guardian-1000 list as well. I liked the start a lot and totally loved the chapter for the registrate and to doctors meet to decide what first steps to take. The registrate would prefer to do as little as possible, since the doctors are not sure if “plague” is the right word for the illness. The doctors want quarantine since the illness is deadly.

The book uses an interesting authoric trick, I have never seen before. A large part is told in first person form, but only the very last chapter reviles who the teller is.

I bought the kindle version off of amazon. but I don't recommend it. lots of typos, and difficult to refer to the footnotes if you want. I personally would recommend checking worldcat to see if a nearby library carries them.

The Hobbit - last book of the year! =)

Within this week I finished A Farewell to Arms which was just okay, The Great Gatsby which I've always had a strong dislike for and Amadis of Gaul, of which I could only get the two first volumes of the newer, unabridged translation. And the old translation of it is so bowdlerized that reading the two last volumes in that form would probably be less useful than the summary I read, so I'm counting it as read :)

Aleta wrote: "Within this week I finished A Farewell to Arms which was just okay, The Great Gatsby which I've always had a strong dislike for and Amadis of Gaul, of which I could only ge..."


It's nice to find someone else who didn't like The Great Gatsby. Everyone I know loves it. I've never been a fan, myself.

The Hours. Finished it in an afternoon. While it was interesting, I felt it tried too hard to mimic Woolf, and some of the focus was lost as a result.

Kristen wrote: "Aleta wrote: "Within this week I finished A Farewell to Arms which was just okay, The Great Gatsby which I've always had a strong dislike for and Amadis of Gaul, of which I..."

And here I thought I was all alone in the world in not loving it! It's great to see someone else not a fan :) I've even seen both movies and was bored to sleep. His prose doesn't do anything for me either, it feels like he tries too hard to be full of depth and completely fails (imo).

I finished The Catcher in the Rye a few days ago, although I found it easy to read I didn't really "get" all the controversy surrounding it and why it's such a great book- was it a good book of it's time rather then now?

The Pursuit of Love- Was this an early example of Chick Lit? Who cares! Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful.

4 stars

The Lover - According to the blurb I was supposed to read 'an unforgettable tale of an incandescent relationship'. Instead I got a story about an almost pre-pubescent girl who likes to have sex.

And has a very f**ked up family.

I think so anyway, the way the story was related was choppy and vague.

2 1/2 stars

Just finished The 13 Clocks by James Thurber and The Long Goodbye by Raymond Chandler. Both very good books.

Pastoralia by George Saunders. Fabulously surreal short stories.