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

Finished Democracy, which is my favorite by Didion so far,
and
Ignorance, which was not my favorite by Kundera, but still very good. I liked Ignorance more than Democracy.

Pippi Longstocking... I like reading kid's books, but Im a bit confused on why this one is on the list... But a quick and charming read.

Love in the Time of Cholera - my first book by this author and it was a good one. I didn't 'get' the romance; like the female protagonist I take a practical view to life and the actions of the impassioned lover seemed pointless and silly to me as well. But the book itself was a literary masterpiece.

4 stars

The Brothers Karamazov - dang, that was a ride. I didn't like it quite as much as C&P--it takes a few hundred pages to get going, has some preachy moments, and some of the more insane female characters I've encountered in a while. But it also has utterly gripping stretches, raw spatters of pure emotion that get you all sticky...and if you don't bawl at the end, someone might have swiped your soul. 4 stars.

J wrote: "The War of the Worlds A classic, perhaps even the most classic book in science fiction. But is it worth reading today? H. G. Wells is a great writer, but 120 years has pasted now. The ..."

You must be following a later book. In the first list book there are five Wells: The Time Machine, The War of the Worlds, The Invisible Man, Tono-Bungay and The Island of Dr. Moreau. I have yet to get to any of them but I am looking forward to Dr. Moreau and Invisible Man.

The Sorrows of Young Werther by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. It was way better than I thought and I need to read more Goethe.

Angelique wrote: "You must be following a later book. In the first list book there are five Wells: The Time Machine, The War of the Worlds, The Invisible Man, Tono-Bungay and The Island of Dr. Moreau. I have yet to get to any of them but I am looking forward to Dr. Moreau and Invisible Man."

I think J was referring to all the H.G. Wells books he has read, as those are the only five books of his on the list. (The Invisible Man and Tono-Bungay were removed from the second edition and no new ones were added)

Kennie wrote: "Pippi Longstocking... I like reading kid's books, but Im a bit confused on why this one is on the list... But a quick and charming read."

I think it may have something to do with the fact that Pippi is such a strong (even literally!) and independent girl which still wasn't a common thing in children's lit then (at least not in Scandinavia, don't know about the rest of the world.) I grew up with the tv show and many of Lindgren's other stories and they're often quite original and with more strong female leads in several of them. Her stories have had a huge impact in Scandinavia and I just love them :) I get not feeling like it belongs on the list though, I felt that way with the children's book The Wonderful O. Liked it, but didn't get why it was so important :)

Last night I finished Fingersmith, which I enjoyed.

I just finished Slow Man by J.M. Coetzee. I liked the language and the way it was written but I found Elizabeth Costello very weird.

I just finished A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.

I just finished Moby-Dick; or, The Whale! I literally did a victory dance! ... or several actually.

It was such an uneven work. While I loved the chapters that gave an insight into the difficulty of biology back then when it came to sea animals (yes, I actually found the cetology chapter interesting!) as well as really liking the first chapters with Ishmael and Queegueg, it just lost focus and became one big mess. Didn't make me care about any characters, the dialogue was horrendously stilted and fake, not to mention the fact that everything was soaked in amateurish philosophy. Sorry, I'll stop ranting now. This poorly edited whaling essay receives only 2 stars from me.

I just finished Romance of the Three Kingdoms. It took a long time but was worth it.

Finished City Primeval by Elmore Leonard.

Wendy wrote: and if you don't bawl at the end, someone might have swiped your soul. 4 stars. "

I didn't cry at the end. I normally blubber like a baby at everything remotely sad but The Brothers Karamazov didn't strike me as that sort of book at all.

I'll have to check but I'm sure my soul is still intact ;-)

A Buyer's Market - Book 2/12

This seems to pick up the pace a bit in book 2, time has moved on and people are now beginning to carve out their careers and futures with varying senses of urgency. I'm finding it quite easy to get lost in the number of characters but fortunately there are references to events in the past so I can usually place them after a bit.

I'm looking forward to March and the 3rd book.

3 stars

I finished The Red Room by August Strindberg.

Finished Sandokan: The Tigers of Mompracem by Emilio Salgari

Story of the Eye by George Bataille. It's porn and absurdist porn. It goes so far beyond the pale that it would be ridiculous to get offended. It's actually well-written but I didn't feel that it was well-crafted. In a way, it's anti-story and I'm just not its audience.

I also read Vathek. It's a lot like an extended tale from the Arabian Nights.

I just finished A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute (Awesome short book and I love it) and The Comfort of Strangers by Ian McEwan (Little disappointed because I really liked The Cement Garden but I will definitely read more McEwan)

I just finished The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach. I got it on audio from the library and passed it up a few times because I wasn't sure if I would like a book about baseball. I was pleasantly surprised... I really enjoyed it.

Nicola wrote: "Wendy wrote: and if you don't bawl at the end, someone might have swiped your soul. 4 stars. "

I didn't cry at the end. I normally blubber like a baby at everything remotely sad but The Brothers ..."

The final bit that I'm referring to as tear-inducing was not the outcome for the Brothers, but to (view spoiler)[that whole bit with how the boy Ilyusha's family deals with his death. That the kid's mother has no idea what's going on, and cries because no one will give her the flowers off the corpse, then the father's unraveling, the throwing bread for the sparrows at the grave...all those little details did me in. (hide spoiler)]

I finished Breakfast of Champions. It seemed like a totally dumb book at first, and I was surprised by how deep it got later.

God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater by Kurt Vonnegut.

Great book! I am such a product of the 60s.

Finished The Color Purple and really enjoyed it!

This is funny, I also just finished Breakfast of Champions yesterday! :)

I agree with you Maggie, it could be quite immature at times, but I felt like it served a purpose most of the time and it certainly grows a lot in depth from the beginning to the end.

Finished Libra late last night. DeLillo isn't my favorite author (based on my preferences, not any lack of talent on his part), but I definitely appreciate what he accomplished here.

Couple days ago I finished Death in Venice by Thomas Mann and today I finished Rudin a Romance and a King Lear of the Steppes by Ivan Turgenev.

Mia wrote: ".... and today I finished Rudin a Romance and a King Lear of the Steppes by ..."

That doesn't ring a bell. Not a list book?

J wrote: "Mia wrote: ".... and today I finished Rudin a Romance and a King Lear of the Steppes by ..."

That doesn't ring a bell. Not a list book?"

King Lear of the Steppes is a list book, but I couldn't find any other edition than that.

I finished Beloved by Toni Morrison yesterday. I wouldn't exactly say I enjoyed this book, but it's one I don't think I will ever forget.

Mother by Maxim Gorky

I finished Walden two days ago. It was quite different from what I expected and a lot better too.

Finished A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian, which was much better than I expected, but still, I am not sure why it is a list book.

Also finished All Quiet on the Western Front, which was amazing and definitely worthy of its spot on the list.

I just finished 2001: A Space Odyssey. I really liked it, if more SF works were like this one I'd definitely read more of them.

Yesterday I finally finished The Count of Monte Cristo, I liked the story but it was dragging on a bit too much for my liking.

Dracula. 3 stars. I have never seen any of the movies, so didn't really know what to expect. Very YA-like to me.

1Q84 - After reading this and Kafka on the Shore, I think it's official that Murakami is not my cup of tea.

Just finished "Brighton Rock" by Graham Greene, can someone please explain why Pinkie didn't just kill Ida? Seems it would of been a lot simpler than what he did do.

Carol wrote: "Just finished "Brighton Rock" by Graham Greene, can someone please explain why Pinkie didn't just kill Ida? Seems it would of been a lot simpler than what he did do."

Can someone please explain why you think spoilers should be allowed in this thread?

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Carol wrote: "Just finished "Brighton Rock" by Graham Greene, can someone please explain why Pinkie didn't just kill Ida? Seems it would of been a lot simpler than what he did do."

Can someone ple..."

Sorry if you thought that was a spoiler I didn"t see it as such

I just finished Tirant Lo Blanc, I probably would have liked it bettr if I hadn't been binge reading the pre-1700 books lists lately. I think I had an ancient novel overdose.

Carol wrote: "Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Carol wrote: ""

That does seem like a spoiler to me, what I saw of your question anyway. Fortunately I saw Elizabeth's comment and averted my gaze from the rest of it. Can you please (view spoiler)[ tag it? (hide spoiler)]

Finished Animal Farm this afternoon and gave it a solid 5 star rating :)

I just finished I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, which I absolutely loved. I wasn't a big fan of the last few books I read, so itwas nice to read one I loved again.

I finished Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson and The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells.

I finished (well abandoned) Arabian Nights at 15%. 160 pages of stories of women as unfaithful whores that sleep with the darkest-skinned slaves they can find, and therefore must be gruesomely slaughtered by their innocent, kind and lovely husbands. Seriously, I hated this book and want it to die.

I really need to go find something to restore my faith in humanity.

Just finished The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath, 3/2/2015 It is so well written. There is humor in the first 100 pages that make you chuckle out loud. Of course, the rest of the book details fall into madness and her experiences during treatment. Why didn't I read this book before? I really liked it!

The Brothers Karamazov! It took me 2 months and 3 days to get through this (yes, I read other things too--or I would never have gotten through). Very glad to be done!

To Kill a Mockingbird. Can't believe it took me 22 years to read this as it's incredible!