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

Maldoror. Ew ew ew

Finished Choke by Chuck Palahniuk. Got really tired of hearing him talk about his "dog".

I finally got out of my reading slump this month and of list books got around to reading Emma, The Cider House Rules and The Day of the Triffids.

Emma - actually really liked the title character despite what everyone else say. Only 3 stars though as it lacked focus and editing.

Cider house - didn't get any idea of who the characters were or their motivations. 2 stars.

Triffids - women who think of harems as a great and logical idea. Need I say more? 2 stars.

I finished The Power and the Glory. I enjoyed it more than I expected to from things I had read about it. I listened to it and, at first, the narrator was awfully slow, but it improved as it went along.

I just finished A Modest Proposal byJonathan Swift and The 39 Steps by John Buchan.

I just finished The Gathering by Anne Enright, and agree with what seems to be the group consensus. This just doesn't feel like a book that is up to the standard of the other list books. There is something disconnected about the narrator and the story she is attempting to tell. Perhaps that is the point I am not getting? Anyway, there were a couple early moments where I thought I could recommend this book to others (I thought it was going to be similar to Middlesex for a bit), but they slipped away. At least there were a few quotes about struggling with love/hate of family members that I appreciated!

Read the Mill on the Floss, you can't not like George Eliot. Just finished the Dangling Man by Saul Bellow, well written and interesting.

Jean wrote: "I just finished A Modest Proposal byJonathan Swift and The 39 Steps by John Buchan."

What did you think of A Modest Proposal?

I had to tell myself over and over that "It's a satire." I still could not wrap my head around the satirical concept. Rated it 3 and that was stretching it.

Finally finished a long one I have been chipping away at for a while: Gargantua and Pantagruel by François Rabelais. Apparently fart jokes go back for many centuries.

Diane wrote: "Finally finished a long one I have been chipping away at for a while: Gargantua and Pantagruel by François Rabelais. Apparently fart jokes go back for many centuries."

Ha! That's what I thought when I read Don Quixote.

Just finished Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino. It's a short one, but given its abstract style and lack of plot it took me longer than expected. Basically Marco Polo describes the fantastical cities he may or may not have visited to Kublai Khan. I read it right after The Travels of Marco Polo (not a list book, sadly) which provided an interesting counterpoint.

Jean wrote: "I had to tell myself over and over that "It's a satire." I still could not wrap my head around the satirical concept. Rated it 3 and that was stretching it."

It was Swift's way of getting back at those people who objected to giving financial help or assistance to the poor....basically he was saying ok let those who cannot afford their children sell them like cattle or other commodity. You would have to understand the historical time that this essay was written in. I found it hilarious and he made his point so very well.

Finished Agnes Grey last evening. It felt very amateurish and dull, so only 2 stars. At least it was short!

Mandy wrote: "Jean wrote: "I had to tell myself over and over that "It's a satire." I still could not wrap my head around the satirical concept. Rated it 3 and that was stretching it."

It was Swift's way of ge..."

Thanks for the tip. I must admit, I really didn't know the full background.

The Talented Mr. Ripley! Started off great but lagged a bit in the middle.

Jean wrote: "Mandy wrote: "Jean wrote: "I had to tell myself over and over that "It's a satire." I still could not wrap my head around the satirical concept. Rated it 3 and that was stretching it."

It was Swift..."

no problem Jean, this is probably a better overview..http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Modest...

Thanks for the site, Mandy.

Finished On the Road by Jack Kerouac. I was surprised that I liked it as much as I did. He writes in a very conversational manner.

The Return of the King to complete The Lord of the Rings. Great trilogy. Glad that I finally picked it back up to complete the story.

Nice! I'm almost done with two towers!

Diane wrote: "Finally finished a long one I have been chipping away at for a while: Gargantua and Pantagruel by François Rabelais. Apparently fart jokes go back for many centuries."

I am also chipping away at it, very odd book.

Mandy wrote: "Jean wrote: "I had to tell myself over and over that "It's a satire." I still could not wrap my head around the satirical concept. Rated it 3 and that was stretching it."

It was Swift's way of ge..."

Great read can you believe there are people out there who didn't get that it is satire

Finally finished Camilla by Fanny Burney. 913 pages of wordiness. Wasn't horrible, but tough to slog through.

I finished The Music of Chance by Paul Auster this morning. I hadn't realized it was also made into a movie. Now I just have to find it somewhere. For a fairly simple tale, I think the fate of the characters will stay with me for a long time.

I finally finished Robinson Crusoe today. Now I know why I abandoned it as a teenager. If it hadn't been a List Book I would have abandoned it again.

Finished The Marble Faun by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Very tedious. Not sure how it came to be on the list.

Just finishedCain. It was a quick,.easy read and it was very funny and clever.

Ellinor wrote: "I finally finished Robinson Crusoe today. Now I know why I abandoned it as a teenager. If it hadn't been a List Book I would have abandoned it again."

If you are working on the entire 1001 list, now is the time to read Foe--before you forget Robinson Crusoe. I enjoyed Foe more (I did not love Crusoe either), it is very interesting in the way it looks at what storytelling, memoir, etc can mean. It's also not very long, but it would be a tough read without Crusoe fresh in your mind!

Molloy. It was very odd.

Dree wrote: "Ellinor wrote: "I finally finished Robinson Crusoe today. Now I know why I abandoned it as a teenager. If it hadn't been a List Book I would have abandoned it again."

If you are working on the ent..."
That's good to know. I liked what a read by Coetzee so far, so I will try to read Foe soon.

Finished The Call of the Wild cover to cover in one day. I'm sure I read it in elementary/jr. high, but I really don't remember for certain. At any rate, a quick, enjoyable read.

Finished Martín Fierro by José Hernández. A quick read.

Just finished The Bonfire of the Vanities. I enjoyed it a lot more than I expected to, and it grew on me as the story progressed.

Diane wrote: "Finished The Marble Faun by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Very tedious. Not sure how it came to be on the list."

I actually really liked this one. But I am also puzzled why it was on The List. Doesn't seem like the type, unless it was there to prove that Hawthorne isn't always mind-numbingly boring. At least for me.

I just finished three Muriel Spark novels-Girls with Slender Means, The Driver's Seat, and The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. More disturbing then I thought they would be.

Breakfast at Tiffany's by Truman Capote.

Amanda wrote: "Diane wrote: "Finished The Marble Faun by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Very tedious. Not sure how it came to be on the list."

I actually really liked this one. But I am also pu..."

Ha! I am in the process of reading all of Muriel Spark's novels too...Memento Mori will be the last for me.

Finally forced myself to get cracking on the The Pilgrim's Progress which has been hanging around my audio player for far too long. Definitely not my cup of tea but at least it's done. I needed 3 Georgette Heyer's and 2 Terry Pratchett's to recover afterwards though!

1/2 a star?

I got up early to finish Hallucinating Foucault. One of the best reading experiences I've had all year. It was an emotional and thoughtful novel exploring the relationship between reader and writer.

Katherine wrote: "I got up early to finish Hallucinating Foucault. One of the best reading experiences I've had all year. ..."

I had not noticed that book. On my to-read shelf now.

Henderson the Rain King. It was a trip through Africa and a man's midlife crisis. I don't think I'll ever re read it but it wasn't too excruciating of a read like some of the others on the list.

The Sound and the Fury - Fantastically crafted, this work really shows Faulkner's skill.

4 stars

Just finished The Ground Beneath Her Feet the other day. I enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I was. I felt Rushdie rambled in some parts, interrupting the flow of the story but it was very interesting.

I just finished A Modest Proposal and Other Satirical Works. "A Modest Proposal" (the actual essay on the 1001 list) is definitely the best essay in this small collection--it is also the easiest to understand for a modern reader.

Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut

The 13 Clocks by James Thurber

after the quake byHaruki Murakami

Just finished Justine by Marquis de Sade. Not really my kind of book.

I finished A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving. It was excellent.

Timbuktu by Paul Auster