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

I haven't read Wives and Daughters. Now I want you to read it so I can read your review ;)

i was actually looking for someone to encourage be back to reading it :) Usually when i'm in a book i finish it, but the problem is the initial picking up of the book, it's so long, i've even read somewhere that Gaskell died before finishing it and her brother continued it, well maybe i might

Well, of over 3500 ratings here on GR, it has an average rating of 4.12. It must be decent, at least.

Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Well, of over 3500 ratings here on GR, it has an average rating of 4.12. It must be decent, at least."

Someone's review says it will be enjoyed by Austen and Dickens lovers. Hm. I LOVE Dickens and LOATHE Austen. I can't imagine how those two authors' work could even be related! They're both British - that's the only thing I can think of. Totally different plots, totally different styles. I suppose they lived near to the same time, but Dickens was 5 when Austen died.

Bucket wrote: "Someone's review says it will be enjoyed by Austen and Dickens lovers. Hm. I LOVE Dickens and LOATHE Austen. I can't imagine how those two authors' work could even be related! "

LOL, we're on the same page with those two authors! I have so many books I want to read and Wives and Daughters is one of them. But who knows, my head is easily turned by the next shiny thing.

Bucket wrote: "Elizabeth (Alaska) wrote: "Well, of over 3500 ratings here on GR, it has an average rating of 4.12. It must be decent, at least."

Someone's review says it will be enjoyed by Austen and Dickens l..."

people say that a lot, because those are two authors that have so many fans that want to read more books with the same style, and i agree, Dickens and Austen can never be compared, even though i read for and love both. maybe the review means that the book discusses society as Austen's books do, but not in the ironic, satirical way Austen does but by the descriptive style of Dickens.

Which list are you all referencing in the books that are on the list but aren't? I would swear that some of these books that the lot of you have mentioned ARE on one of the lists. I'm going by the group bookshelf & the 2010 list.

Lisa wrote: "Which list are you all referencing in the books that are on the list but aren't? I would swear that some of these books that the lot of you have mentioned ARE on one of the lists. I'm going by th..."

People are probably using a variety of lists who post in this thread. I haven't posted a relevent message in here (i.e. one that has to do with a book I read that turned out not to be on the list) but if I did, I'd be using the combined list for all three years.

The World According to Garp by John Irving. I had read A Prayer for Owen Meaney and assumed that this book was on the list too...alas, it was not.

I could have sworn that The Boy in Striped Pajamas was on the list when I started reading it but it turns out it's not!

Maybe we should start our own Goodreads "1001 Books You Must Read" list. Criteria: books we believe are worth reading for one reason or another.

Gemma wrote: "I could have sworn that The Boy in Striped Pajamas was on the list when I started reading it but it turns out it's not!"

Isn't that funny? I intentionally picked up The World According to Garp because I was SURE it was on the list. I vaguely remember the movie from years ago with Robin Williams but it is not one that I would have wanted to read if I did not think it was on the list. Hmmmmm....will have to check my list yet again. :)

The World According to Garp is on the BBC top 200 reads, maybe you've gotten confused between lists? I do that a lot (:

The World According to Garp is #303 on the original list.

I'm surprised to see that A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is not on the list.

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man is #736 on the list.

Oh, thanks! I didn't find it on the group's shelf, so I either missed it, or it's not on here.

Am I one of the few that uses a combined list including all the books regardless of whether they were later struck off?

I figure if a book was important enough to be put on the list in the first place, I should at least try to read it.

I use the combined list too (:

I too use the combined list.

I'm with Sophie, Gemma and Tom, I use the combined list.

I also use the combined list. My goal is to read 1001 total books from the lists, so every time they make changes it just widens my options! :) Plus, it's a good way to avoid the issue of things like Taebaek Mountains that aren't in english, and are also impossible to get your hands on.

I read The Emigrants thinking that it was NOT on any version of the list, but just saw it was actually on the 2006 list and then removed.

I would love to make a "dent" in the list - that would be an accomplishment. But no force on this earth will make me read any more William S. Burroughs, so that's out. :-)

Solar by Ian McEwan - I figured everything else he's written is on the list, so that one would be! Oh well.

Recently finished Sula; Toni Morrison has several on the List, but that's not one of them.
I also thought that Never Let Me Go was on the List when I read it.

Linda wrote: "I also thought that Never Let Me Go was on the List when I read it."


It is on this group's bookshelf, so I would assume it's on the list. Maybe not on all versions?

Sandi wrote: "Linda wrote: "I also thought that Never Let Me Go was on the List when I read it."


It is on this group's bookshelf, so I would assume it's on the list. Maybe not on all versions?"

Yes, it's on at least one version of the list.

Sandi wrote: "Linda wrote: "I also thought that Never Let Me Go was on the List when I read it."


It is on this group's bookshelf, so I would assume it's on the list. Maybe not on all versions?"

It was on the 2006 list.

Never let me go was No 1 on the 2006 list, because at that time it was the youngest book.

The Painted Veil by Maugham (others of his are on the list - got this on sale at Audible, only to discover not a list book. Still a good listen!)

Ditto for Player Piano by Vonnegut - really enjoyed this one as it's so appropriate for our current economic shifts, even though it was written in late 70s.

It is strange that As I Lay Dying by Faulkner is not on the list. Also I could have sworn that Double Indemity and Our Lady of The Flowers were on the list as well.

I bought The Piano Teacher because I knew it was on the list-- but come to find out, there are two books by that title, and I bought the wrong one! Argh! (Oh well, I only paid 50 cents for it.)

A Good Fall. But am enjoying and happy to be reading it. Watership Down is on the list of books to read before you grow up, I think, so it is on a list, just a different one...

The next book I'm reading is East of Eden which I really thought was on the list... but it's not. I'm still looking forward to it! :)

Bucket
There's always the guardian list, East of Eden is on that.

Hehe - good point, Deanne. It's always nice when books are on multiple lists though - killing two (or more!) birds with one stone.

I recommended The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. LeGuin to my wife who read it but it was not on the list (she is also a list reader). It was on an SF list instead plus I have not read it yet either. She thought it was ok. She forgave me.

I was so sure that I've seen The Thorn Birds on a list, but apparently not this one. Maybe it was on the BBC Big Reads list?

I also could have sworn that The Road was on the list, but apparently there are only two books by McCarthy on the list and this is not one of them. I guess I must have confused it with On the Road...

Denae wrote: "This isn't exactly something I read because I thought it was on the list, but I just realized there is no Shakespeare whatsoever. I guess that is because they are plays, but it still seems utterly ..."

As far as I can tell, that's because the 1001 Books list is comprised entirely of novels, so Shakespeare is not included, since he wrote plays, not novels. I was surprised at first too, though!

I thought the Brother's Karamazov was on the list...I'm glad I read it, but sad that I don't have a list to mark it off of.

Keri wrote: "I thought the Brother's Karamazov was on the list...I'm glad I read it, but sad that I don't have a list to mark it off of."

The Brothers Karamazov is on the list.

Charity wrote: "Keri wrote: "I thought the Brother's Karamazov was on the list...I'm glad I read it, but sad that I don't have a list to mark it off of."

The Brothers Karamazov is on the list."

It was on the 2006 list and removed for the 2008 & 2010 lists.

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

Darn...I guess I just need the older list so I can mark it off! I think I have the 2010 one.

Liz M wrote: "It was on the 2006 list and removed for the 2008 & 2010 lists."

Ah, yes. I just always assume people are using all three lists. ;)

I read The Painted Veil, Revolutionary Road and Blindness this summer 'cause I thought that those books were on the list.

Which author of "Blindness"? The one by Saramago isn't, but the one by Green is....

I read only the Saramago one also thinking it was the one on the list!

It was Saramago. And I was so sure that it's on the list 'cause there is some of his books, but not this one.

"The Road" by Carmac McCarthy

Thought this was on one of the lists for years until someone here corrected me!