What are you reading for February 2008

Happy February, wow January went by fast.

I am still reading White Teeth and am also reading Jane Eyre

Am up to page 267 of Glamorama by Bret Easton Ellis

Will be reading American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis next, which means I will have read all of Bret's work on the list.

I just finished Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell this morning, and I bought a copy of The Plot Against America by Philip Roth yesterday so I'll probably start that tonight. If not, I'll finish reading A Pale View Of Hills by Kazuo Ishiguro which I'm currently half way through. It's been a good few weeks for knocking things off the list...

Just Finished The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood which was great. Next up is Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson.

Just started The Last Chronicle of Barset by Anthony Trollope.

Today I completed War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy.

That concludes my 36th book from the Peter Boxall list. According to the spreadsheet some of us are using I should aim to read 35 books from the list each year if I wish to complete the list prior to my demise - I know! I am hardly likely to be completing the list after my demise :)

I am reading A Handful of Dust by Evelyn Waugh.

Just started Portrait of a lady by Henry James.

I finished the trial by Franz Kafka in January.

I've had Pickwick Papers, Clarissa, The 120 Days of Sodom, and Tristram Shandy out from the library for a year and a day, so I'm going to try to get through at least one of them before the NYPL makes me give them all back. Probably Pickwick Papers, since I suspect that the rest will take more time to get through than I have renewals remaining. Oops.

For my light, portable reads, I'm just finishing up Franny and Zooey, and will be starting next on Miss Pettigrew Lives for A Day, and then for my heavy, non-portable reading, I'm tackling War and Peace.

#10. That's the problem with some of the books on the list, you can't take the books anywhere cause they're so huge. Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace is 1.4kg. You can barely rest it on your lap let alone take it places.

#11 Agreed, and when the bulk of my reading time is on the train, that does hamper me when it comes to the hefty tomes!

The only 1001 books coming up soon on my TBR list are 2001: A Space Odyssey and Sense and Sensibility.

I'm currently reading Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy - great so far, but not 1001 (not sure why there aren't any McCarthy books on there). Coming up non-1001 books are Bonesetter's Daughter, The Grizzly Maze, Shining Through, and my two early reviewer books that I should get soon. Oh, also, my husband is making me read a Superman book -- not too excited about that, but we'll see how it goes.

Still going with Elizabeth Gaskell's North and South, and just started listening to the audiobook of Northanger Abbey. I'm listening to it only while at the gym, so that gives me an incentive to go.

One of the things I love about this group finding I've read a 1001 that I didn't even realize was on the list!

I recently read The Leopard, which had been recommended by others on LT and I completely forgot to cross-check with the list. Lucky for me someone mentioned it in one of this group's threads, or I would have remained in blissful ignorance. Now I have one less to read before expiration :-)

I am reading Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. She was an anthropologist who researched African - American folklore and oral culture in her native Florida. This book was severely frowned upon, and, I believe banned when it was first published.

I'm almost done with "reading" The Age of Innocence. If it weren't for audiobooks I'd never finish any of these!

Oh so close to finishing The Wings of the Dove by Henry James. Not an easy read.

I've just started Dead Air by Iain Banks. I read The Wasp Factory last year.

Le roi des aulnes by Michel Tournier - I thought it wasn't in the list until I learned here that it was translated as 'The Ogre'.

I finished reading The Master on 1 February. I only really got into it in the last 100 pages or so. I am still reading The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn on dailyreader.com and am really enjoying it. I think The Time Machine will be next.

I'm still reading War and Peace and will be for a while yet! I'm hoping to finish it by the end of the month. It really rewards a slow, close read though.

I'm also reading War and Peace though the size of it is a bit daunting. It's not the sort of book you can carry around in your handbag. I'm 1/4 of the way through White Teeth and considering giving it up.

I finished Corelli's Mandolin, which I enjoyed, and started House of Leaves, which I am not sure about. I'm only a few chapters in, but it's just such an odd book. I guess I'm not much for experimental reading. Has anyone read it and what did you think? Should I hang in there?

Treasure Island was a cool shorter adventure story. I found a lot of the interaction between the pirates really interesting, and it's a really fast read. Now I've started Rabbit Redux by John Updike, and I'm really liking that so far.

I just finished The Adventures of Augie March, and started the first movement of A Dance to the Music of Time by Anthony Powell. I'm getting a little tired of the really long books. Any suggestions for a good, quick read when I'm finally, finally, finally finished with all four movements?

I'm getting a little tired of the really long books. Any suggestions for a good, quick read when I'm finally, finally, finally finished with all four movements?

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Since I don't know what you've read already, I'll direct you to the thread all about short books. (There is also a thread on the short stories on the list.)

http://www.librarything.com/talktopic.php?topic=18831

#24 - I recently finished House of Leaves and I really enjoyed it. I definitely preferred the Navidson story to the Johnny Truant commentary. It can, with some squinting, be read as more of a horror/thriller than an experimental novel. Also, once you get into it, the book goes pretty fast because there are a lot of pages in the middle with only a couple lines per page. I will add as a disclaimer that I like weird experimental fiction, metafiction, postmodernism etc.

Finished that in January, still reading Hardy's The Hand of Ethelberta.

About to start Adam Bede by George Eliot for class this week. We're only spending one week on it, and its nearly 600 pages, so I might not be able to finish it now; the end might have to get put off until the summer.

I just started The Music of Chance by Paul Auster today.

I gave up on Dead Air and have moved onto Regeneration by Pat Barker, which even only a few pages in feels like a much better read.

I know it is the first in a trilogy- is the 1,001 entry for all of them or just the first book ?

>31 wonderlake: Oddly, I think only two from the trilogy are on the list: Regeneration (#1) and The Ghost Road (#3). But all 3 are definitely worth reading.

Last night I finished One Day In The Life Of Ivan Denisovich. Trans: H.T. Willetts by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (1991). An astounding book.

I just finished Cranford, and now I'm on to Bleak House by Charles Dickens. It's almost a 1000 pages long, so it should keep me occupied for a while.

I gave up on Fingersmith for the time being, since it had to go back to the library, but I have moved on to The End of the Affair, which should go quickly.

shootingstarr7 Enjoy The End of The Affair - have you read any other Graham Greene I wonder?

36-
This is my first Graham Greene, and I'm really enjoying it. And I've never seen any of the movie adaptations, so it's completely new to me.

So far, i've read Journey to the Centre of the Earth by Jules Verne and Les Liaisons Dangereuses by Choderlos de Laclos. I'm currently reading Villette by Charlotte Bronte and Out of Africa by Karen Blixen.

Message 38- Does your edition of Villette have a big chunk in French in it? I tried reading it back in high school but my version had so much French that I gave up, but I'd like to try it again if there are editions that include translations.

This month I have read Ethan Frome and Summer by Edth Wharton. I enjoyed both of them, and only have to read one more thing to have read the entire Edith Wharton section of the list. I've been trying to read Orlando by Virginia Woolf, but I can't really get into it.

#40- I've been trying to read Orlando by Virginia Woolf, but I can't really get into it.

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I've never read Orlando, although I do own it, but I love, love, love, the movie. It stars Tilda Swinton as Orlando, and I think she's fabulous. It also has Quentin Crisp as Elizabeth I, which I think is a hilarious twist on the Elizabethan rule of female parts being played by boys. Anyway, I often find with difficult books that it helps to see the movie first. You might want to give it a try.

# 39 Kplatypus - I'm not very far into Villette yet - only a couple of chapters. Lucy has only just arrived in France, so I haven't a clue if there's chunks of French in it. It's a Librivox recording.

# 40 legxleg - I read Orlando just last year and got heartily fed up with it. I liked the story well enough but I just couldn't get on with the writing style at all. Loved the film though.

I finished Rabbit Redux by John Updike, and I thought it was amazing. I liked the first novel in the series, but this one was much better. Much broader scope, and many important issues tackled. I would hesitate to recommend this widely, because if you offend easily this is not for you. Very crude language and situations, but if you do not have a problem with that, then this is brilliant. Many do not want to read/hear about some of the things this book talks about, but these words are used in the real world, so I applaud Updike for talking about many of the problems with American society in the terms that are used by real people. It gives the characters more of a gritty and real feel to them, and helps to make them seem more realistic. Unfortunately racism and sexism do exist, and I feel it is important to portray both sides of an issue to fully explore it. Taking a short break from the 1001 list with a little Alice Munro who is inexplicably absent despite winning three governor general's awards and two giller prizes which are Canada's two most prestigious literary prizes. She is best known for her short story prowess, but she has plenty of novels as well. Okay, rant over, but I had to stick up for a very deserving fellow Canuck.

#41 and 42, thanks for the advice on Orlando. I sat myself down last night and just forced myself to get farther into it. I told myself, one hundred pages, and then I can give up if I want. Once I was into it, and a bit more used to the style, it was easier going. Although I agree with you, Kell_Smurthwaite, the writing style wasn't my cup of tea. I like my paragraphs to be less than two pages long. ~_~ Only the little asides kind of poking fun at the style kept me going at times. Anyway, it was alternately hard-going and funny, and definitely the weirdest book I've read this year. Still, I'm glad I got through it.

Nickelini, I didn't realize that they'd made a movie out of it! I'll have to hunt it down. The book was so out there and kind of introspective, rather than plot-driven, that I'd love to see how they make it into a movie. Thank you for telling me about it!

Anyway, now I've put Atonement in my bag, in the hopes that it will be easier going!

I finally finished White teeth which I thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyed. The character development and plot development was amazing. I am in awe of her writing (I'm not worthy, Im not worthy) - easily the best book I've read this year.

I am now also taking a break and reading The ha-haby Dave King and I am really enjoying it so far.

Currently trying to hack my way through Nostromo by Conrad. A serious chore as I just can't seem to find anything interesting about it.

Just started One Hundred Years of Solitude.

>40 legxleg: and > 42, I had listened to Orlando as an audiobook. Had I tried I may have actually been able to read it. There are apparently a lot of inside jokes and references. This fanciful story was certainly more enjoyable than Mrs. Dalloway or God forbid, To the Lighthouse. Have you tried these? I'm gonna spoil them for you. The former is about a dinner party. The latter has much more adventure. It's about a painting, a dirty house, a walk by the sea and a sailboat trip. Yawn.

Right now I'm reading The House of Mirth.

#48, I loved The House of Mirth, I hope you enjoy it. I read To The Lighthouse for a class in undergrad, and it was even harder to get through than Orlando. If a professor wasn't there enthusing about the ecstasy of the parentheses in To The Lighthouse, convincing me that it would get better at the end, I don't think I would've read it. Alas, it doesn't really get better. I think Virginia Woolf, on the whole, is just not my cup of tea.

#48: This fanciful story was certainly more enjoyable than Mrs. Dalloway or God forbid, To the Lighthouse. Have you tried these?

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I haven't read To the Lighthouse (though it too is on my TBR mountain), but I've actually read Mrs. Dalloway two and a half times. The first time I was sick in bed one day and read the first half. I got better and didn't return to it. I don't know if it was the sickness or the book, but I found it pretty boring. About a year later I picked it up again to read for a course that I was planning to take. Around the same time I also read The Hours, by Michael Cunningham. I ended up not taking the course after all, but I enjoyed reading Mrs. Dalloway along with The Hours . . . they have this sort of dialogue going on between them. It's hard to explain, but one sort of informs on the other. And I've watched the movie The Hours at least six times, and that adds another layer of complexity.

Then I read Mrs. Dalloway a third time because I took the course the next time they offered it. Over this arc in time, I went from finding Mrs. Dalloway boring to finding it fairly cool. I've read a lot of Virginia Woolf's essays and many of her short stories, and my opinion of her has gone from "boring, pretentious nonsense" to considering doing an English lit honours thesis on her (probably won't happen, but I'm entertaining the idea). I can completely see why people think she's overrated but I find her intriguing. Especially when considered in context with art movements of the time and the society that she lived in (I don't find she works as well in isolation). And that's probably more rambling than you wanted to hear.

hi juliettee, I am here for accident, and i don't know this page, I want ask you for abook of William burroughs, this book is called junky and I want to read it but in english, i am from colombia and in this moment i am reading ( la muerte de artemio cruz) in spanish, is wonderful.
write me now

#48 and #49 - I know Woolf isn't for everyone but To the Lighthouse is one of my favorite books of all time. You have to remember it's more about what's going on inside the characters' minds than what is going on around them. It's one of the most brilliant things I know I have ever read.

Perlle! I didn't realize you are a Virginia Woolf fan. I knew I liked you.

Well, I absolutely believe that you can come to like a book you hated once. Sometimes it's a matter of having certain experiences, or learning something more about the book's context, or else of just being in the proper frame of mind. I know I've hated a book, and then been forced to read it again a couple years later and quite liked it. So, although I can get down on the books I'm disliking at the moment, I do try and keep in the back of my mind that I felt that way about some other books I now love. Of course, the back of my mind rarely comes across in a messageboard post.

So, who knows, maybe I'm just not in the proper place mentally to enjoy Virginia Woolf right now, but will be later. That was certainly the case with me and Jane Austen, and Jane Eyre. And really, it's not all Virginia Woolf I dislike; I really liked A Room of One's Own, and, although it was hard going at places, I'm glad I read Orlando. Maybe if I picked up To The Lighthouse agains some time I'd like it more. But, if it's all the same, I think I'll wait awhile before giving it another shot. I'm glad other people like it so much though!

I've just begun The Shrinking Man by Richard Matheson and I plan to go on with A Sziget by Sandor Marai - I don't know if there's an English translation already available, I'm going to read the Italian edition.
I've read many posts on Virginia Woolf ... I had to read Mrs Dalloway at school but enjoyed Orlando much more!

Ah, thanks, Nickelini. :)

I'm reading Life of Pi by Yann Martel for a class. I'm only a few chapters in and so far it's a bit jarring. The transition from chapter one to two for example. But I've been told the ending is amazing. Anyone care to confirm this and allay my fears?

I'm reading Cranford at the moment and then hopefully Atonement.

#57 about the ending to Life of Pi . . .

I haven't read it yet (another one that's perched on Mount TBR), but I saw an interview with Margaret Atwood, and it was her comments that made me want to read it. According to her, the ending is the most important part of the book.

#57.

Yes the ending of Life of Pi makes the whole book worthwhile. Definitely a worthwhile book to read.

Have to agree about The Life of Pi.

Just finished The Remains of the Day which didn't really do it for me. Hoping Cloud Atlas - which I'll start reading soon is better.

I finished Cloud Atlas a few days ago and I loved it. I've now decided to track all his other stuff to read as well. It took a little while to get into, but the way in which he weaves the 6 seemingly unconnected stories together is fantastic.

I hope you enjoy it too!

So interesting about people's likes and dislikes. Mrs. Dalloway and To the Lighthouse are two of my favorite books. I've read them both twice. I think reading To the Lighthouse in a college class really helped me appreciate it to the fullest. I also LOVED The Remains of the Day. I'd say that is one of the top 10 books ever for me. I think it is very similar to the Woolf style. It isn't about much except what is going on in the characters heads. I also enjoyed The Years by Woolf and plan on reading Orlando soon.

I just finished Elizabeth Costello today. I wasn't 100% sold on it to start with, but I've found Coetzee to be readable even if I don't know if I like it or not. The ending actually really made that book for me. It left me thinking, which is often the sign of a good book. Not sure what's up next....I'll have to sort through my TBR pile to find another 1001 Book.

Have started reading Perfume: the story of a murderer by Patrick Suskind and it is very good so far, of the 12 or so pages I've read.

#62 dreamlikecheese I'll let you know how I go with Cloud Atlas. Coetzee is one of my favourite authors but I wasn't that impressed with Elizabeth Costello.

#63 strandbooks I generally enjoy and appreciate books like The Remains of the Day. But somehow, and I'm not sure why, it just didn't work for me this time. Perhaps I was just in the wrong mood for it.

Just finished On the Road by JACK KEROUAC.
There were times I got hung up on the "beat" style of writing but quite fully enjoyed it. Read it as part of "Kerouac Road Novels 1957-1960" which included selections from his journals which "On the Road" was based, which are at times even better written then the novel.

Started reading today The Odyssey by Homer. Quite tough, though I'm still in the first chapter.

Whoops. just checked and The Odyssey by Homer is not on the list. I'm through a couple of chapters and I'm starting to enjoy it but now I'm wondering if should finish it because I'm really just trying to just focusing on the 1001 list. Decisions, Decisions.

You should definitely finish it. While it may not be one of the 1001 novels you should read, it is definitely one of the books you should read at least once in your lifetime. So much of Western culture and novel development came from these early oral "books".

Meanwhile, I started reading The Line Of Beauty last night. It's both a 1001 book and a Booker Prize winner so I can knock it off two lists. They were showing the mini series on TV a couple of weeks ago and it inspired me to pull it out from the bottom of Mount TBR.

Lists, lists, lists! I love them. Have any of you checked out listsofbests.com? Among their topics are lists of books - Pulitzer Prize novels, Time's 100 Greatest Novels, the Rory Gilmore book club (don't sneer - she was surprisingly well read!). The fun thing is that it allows you to track your progress in completing a list.

Just finished Myra Breckinridge two days ago, and today i started reading Dona Flor e Seus Dois Maridos.

How was Myra Breckinridge? The illustration they chose for it in 1001 Books really turns me off (it's a still from the movie, and it just looks like one of those 1970s movies that I'd hate). I don't know anything about the book, and I know I shouldn't judge it from that one picture. Was it worth the read?

I finished The House of Mirth (excellent) and am now starting Tom Jones. I've read some abridged versions in the past.

It was worth the reading. I think that is's a strange but strong book. and caught my total atention completely.

Bkieras - I found that listofbests site the other day (like I just found this one today!) Seemingly I'm 6% complete the 1001 (about 60 books) - not bad - love the fact you can tick them off.

Anyway - I finished War and Peace at the beginning of this month and am now on Don Quioxte. I wish I hadn't let the size of them put me off for so long as I've really enjoyed both! My next plan is to go for The god of small things and The Buddha of Suburbia as I feel like 2 1000 pagers in a row was a bit extreme!

dreamlikecheese (and others if you've read it) - let me know how you get on with The Line of Beauty - I wasn't sure how I felt about it!

I am reading The Blind Assassin, The Great Gatsby and Three Lives right now.

Started today on The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins. Very enjoyable so far... I'd heard of it more as a Gothic/mystery sort of novel, but its actually quite funny too.

I am currently reading Lolita. I have decided this year that every other book that I read will be from the list. I am hoping this will not only help me tackle the list, but also my TBR pile!

Another Virginia Woolf fan here.

I've been reading Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons - easy and amusing. Also The Leopard by Tomasi di Lampedusa which seems good so far.

I am reading The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco. Ok so far -- some sloggy parts.

>69 dreamlikecheese: dreamlikecheese, you reminded me that I'm reading a "double-lister" as well: Iris Murdoch's The Sea, the Sea which, like Line of Beauty, is on the 1001 list and won the Booker. And it's pretty good so far ...

I struggled with bits in The name of the rose too!

Might buy a copy of The sea, the sea - gotta love the ones on more than one list!

The Blind assassin, The god of small things, Amsterdam and Life of pi are also on both booker and 2001.

Looks like I may have made a slight error. Turns out The Line of Beauty is not in fact on the 1001 list. Which means I'm still only at 100. On the plus side it was well worth the read, and it knocks one off my Booker Prize list anyway.

>buckifire

I enjoyed The Line of Beauty quite a bit. It wasn't so much the story or characters but the prose. It was almost lyrical. That's not to say I didn't enjoy the plot or characters, but Hollinghurst's style and rhythm made the journey that much more enjoyable. I'm inspired to read more of his work now. He does have two books on the list, alas this was not one of them.

>dreamlikecheese

I totally agree with you about the prose - I think that's why I had mixed feelings about it - I didn't really feel like I engaged very well with the characters or story line but at the same time I did enjoy the actually reading. I've found quite a few of the booker winners/nominees to be like that - incredably well written almost to the point it makes the character/plot seem poor in comparison.

Into the second book of Don Quioxte's adventures and still really enjoying it - I recommend anyone going to read it to give it a chance for the first 300 or so pages as it takes quite a while to get into it - but well worth it!

>buckifire

I've found a couple of Booker (and other) Prize winners to be like that also, but I think The Line of Beauty was more balanced in that respect than some.

I'm not sure what I'll be reading next on the list but I suspect Graham Greene might have something to do with it. Brighton Rock or The Quiet American?? I can't decide...

I think this will be a non 1001 month...

I'm wrapping up Gone With the Wind and I think I'll move on with Tatiana and Alexander and finally pick up Wildwood Dancing.

I'm reading now War and Peace. It's quiet a long book, but so far i'm enjoying

I started Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy yesterday, and it is absolutely nutty. Very funny so far, and if nothing else, original and entertaining.

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens.
Love the English slang and humor.

I'm going on holiday to Italy next week and travelling overland, giving me many hours reading time there and back. It seems an ideal opportunity to make my 132nd book from the 1,001 something Italian. All these are currently on my bookshelves:

If On A Winter's Night A Traveller by Italo Calvino
Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco
The Leopard by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa

Finished Middlemarch today. Next up is the much shorter Old Masters by Thomas Bernhard.

I didn't mean to be so cheeky and crass about To the Lighthouse and Mrs. Dalloway. Woolf is an unbelievable writer, she's just not my cup of tea. I prefer Faulkner. I guess you could say he's my mason jar of whiskey.

Also, hat's off to those reading the real long ones like War and Peace and Don Quixote. I enjoyed Tolstoy more than the latter. I'm still reading that long one by Fielding Tom Jones. I'm not in the flow of things yet but hopefully I'll persist and get through it.

I finished The heart of redness on Monday and enjoyed it, but did not love it.

I am now reading The Corrections and am enjoying it.

I'm reading The Radiant Way by Margaret Drabble. It counts for the 1001 and I'm reading it for the Social Class theme for March on the girlybooks group.

Hi everybody!

Coming out of lurkdom!

So far for February:

Lolita
Choke
To Kill a Mockingbird
Just finished: A Clockwork Orange

Going back to a series I loved as a teen now tht the omnibus is out..The Vampire Diaries.

After that, trying to decide between American Psycho or Siddhartha--hehe, what a difference! :Þ

Hi Punkypower

Both Siddartha and American Psycho were good reads - enjoy them both.

Well, in the end I decided on The Quiet American which was fantastic. In fact, it was so good I want to go and get the rest of Graham Greene's books. After that a friend lent me Castle Rackrent and The Absentee by Maria Edgeworth. I read the first one which was only 56 pages long, and I'm planning to start The Absentee soon. Next I read Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit which was amazing. I'm so glad I read this. It only took me two short sittings and I want to go back and read it again soon. And I read all of these books in the last 2 days! It's been a productive weekend. The new university year starts back tomorrow so I think the reading may have to slow down if I'm going to pass any classes...

Congrats to you War and Peace readers! I completed it last month and am still reeling. So sorry I will never be able to turn that last page and reflect upon the work for that very first time of reading!!

#76 I completely agreee about War and Peace. Did you know there is a group reading Don Quixote at the present? I think it is a Google group - it was a spin off from the Yahoo group who are still reading War and Peace. Let me know if you would like to know more.

#89 Did you know there is a LT group discussing War and Peace as well as a yahoo group? Please ask if you would like to know more.

No more 1001 books this month for me!

Hi. Thanks for the notice. I "discovered" this site only two weeks ago and i'm still exploring all it's possibilities.

I do reviews on books published by indie presses, so they probably don't look very familiar because most of them are so new. I've read The Writing Circle, Downriver by Jeanne Leiby (no link for this showing), Once in a Promised Land, Locke 1928, Walking in Two Worlds, Glass Voices, The Budding Tree, and I'Jaam by Sinan Antoon. Busy, busy! But hey, I'm buried in snow here, so it keeps me happy...

I finished The Radiant Way in one day. It was exactly what I needed to get me out of my reading rut. I'm going to pick up the sequel this week, even though the next one isn't on the 1001 list.

I am currently reading One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest.

I finished The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells. I am now reading Rabbit is Rich by John Updike.

Ok, I decided to make it official and join this group... What's another challenge, right? ^^

I came up to about 40 books read and decided it was way too low! So I picked up a whole bunch of books on the list and dug right in. I just finished One day in the life of Ivan Denisovich which I thoroughly enjoyed. I'm now reading Jane Eyre which is really good too.

Welcome to the group Vonini. I thing we have a good group of regulars and the list makes for really good reading.

I am on track to finish The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann - a ten week effort, but worth it. To keep me going I also finished Long Dark Tea-time of the Soul and I'm just about done with The Virgin Suicides.

I was interested by M#48, #50 about The Hours and Mrs. Dalloway. I read and enjoyed The Hours, though I've not seen the movie. And I have Mrs. Dalloway on my March TBR stack. I'm looking forward to it -- my first Virginia Wolff novel I'm almost ashamed to admit.

The books that I've read this month that are on the list are:
The Lord of the Rings 50th Anniversary Edition,
Northanger Abbey,
The Name of the Rose,
The Spy who came in from the Cold and
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

This month I've also managed to completed a few from the list:

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
The Last Chronicle of Barset - Anthony Trollope
Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
An Artist of the Floating World - Kazuo Ishiguro

Currently reading L.M. Alcott's Little Women.

I finished War and Peace and now i've started something completely different, Tieta do Agreste. Just what i need to relax, right now

Congratulations with War and Peace - was it a first read?

Now that February is drawing to a close, I finally decided to officially end my current attempts to read Clarissa and Tristram Shandy. Never even started Clarissa and only got about 150 pages into Tristram. Oh well. I guess my brain just wasn't in the mood.

On the plus side, however, I did finish Wide Sargasso Sea and just started The Dubliners. My MSOffice crapped out, so I can't use the lovely spreadsheet anymore :( This makes it much more difficult to keep track of which books are where. I had written a whole thing about Washington Square, which I also read, before I realized that it wasn't included on the list. Bah.

Kplatypus can I recommend a much better alternative to MSOffice OpenOffice it is a free open source program that runs circles around MSOfiice. I first started using open source alternatives when Microsoft Word crapped out me and I started using AbiWord. I couldn't be happier with the results, much easier interface, less processor load, and no crashes yet and fully compatible with Microsoft documents. Enjoy.

I just picked up today Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American by Hunter S. Thompson. Will start reading this weekend.

I went down to the cellar today and found

The Golden Ass by Apuleius, (two penguin editions, 1950 and 1954! what were the ancestors thinking!
The Bell by Iris Murdoch
A World of Love by Elizabeth Bowen

there's more, but they need airing and I already have a huge TBR pile!

Just starting a nice new edition of The Golden Notebook by Doris Lessing for March.

Yes, it was. It took me longer than usually, to finish, but i really enjoy it. Now i'm going to try to buy more LT books

Just finished Old Masters: a comedy. It definitely wasn't a comedy.

#119 - Just finished Old Masters: a comedy. It definitely wasn't a comedy.
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Perlle, I've had that reaction recently to some Shakespearean comedy that I've read. In these stories, they're considered comedy because the characters live at the end (and get married), as opposed to tragedy when everyone dies. They're certainly not ha ha funny. The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms defines comedy as:

"a play (or other literary composition) written chiefly to amuse its audience by appealing to a sense of superiority over the characters depicted. A comedy will normally be closer to the representation of everyday life than a tragedy, and will explore common human failings rather than tragedy's disastrous crimes. Its ending will usually be happy for the leading characters."

Does that fit Old Masters? Or was it just supposed to be ha ha funny and didn't work?

#120 - I was being a bit literal in my comment. Funny you bring up the definition of comedy because i spent most of the book contemplating how this work could possibly be labeled comedy in the literary sense.

I decided that the character, there's only one main character, was experiencing what so many other elderly people go through, but he felt like he was unique. Like it was a tragedy only because it happened to him and his attitude somehow showed his "human failings." I don't know, that's all I could come up with.

I thought the ending was not at all happy for the leading character, but it was ambiguous enough that one could argue that it was a happy ending.

You'll have to let me know what you think when you get around to this one. :)

Started The Brothers Karamazov yesterday.

Just finished Breakfast at Tiffany's which I enjoyed. I don't think the other three stories in the book also count for the list, but I intend to read them anyhow, just to finish the book.

Still reading Jane Eyre which is going a lot faster now I've discovered a lovely on-line version that I can read before work and after lunch. There are quite some of the (older) books from the list on there, so this will speed my reading up considerably I think.