May 2008: What are you reading from the 1001 list

I'm roughly half way through George Eliot's Middlemarch.

I just finished the first section of Middlemarch.

I am reading Death in Venice, by Thomas Mann.

Is this a collective desire to do away with April as soon as possible?

(Not trying to be a smart aleck...I just find it funny.)

Right! Oops . . . well, with 700-ish pages to go, I know I won't finish Middlemarch on this the last day of April. I'm safe to say Middlemarch will be around well into May. Into June even.

My reading has slowed right down and I'm in the first 100 pages of Middlemarch. The first 10 pages had me silently shrieking No! Dorothea, No! It's starting to flow better now. And no commentary because it's a Vintage edition.

Just to spice up this Middlemarch crowd with some variety ... I'm reading Peter Carey's Oscar and Lucinda and enjoying it very much.

Merry10 - I'm reading the Vintage edition too, and while it's a lovely book to hold, I'm really missing those notes! Next time it's a Penguin Classics edition for me.

Too right!

I'm also reading Middlemarch, and I'm also on track to (finally) finish Fingersmith this month.

I've only been working on it since January...

Keep at it on Fingersmith -- it definitely keeps getting better as it goes!

As for me, on top of the usual huge pile of books I want to read, I'm going to start the month (tomorrow) by knocking of Alan Garner's Thursbitch.

I'd only read about 50 pages of it at the start of April, now I have 200 pages left. It's a lot better now that I found a rhythm for it.

Just finished Calvinos Invisible Cities

Now, what next?

Keeping the Venitian theme- I have finished Death in Venice, and started The Talented Mr Ripley.

> lindsacl
I enjoyed Oscar and Lucinda too. But I think it's one of those ones where you have to tell people "just read it!" because it you try to explain the story to them it sounds really dull/ strange. The entry about it in the 1,001 didn't do anything for me.

Slowly working through the Chaterhouse of Parma - its not that it is hard going, but I am reading 2 other books simultaneously.

From time to time I get the plots mixed up with the wrong characters..

I'm halfway through the 4th movement of A Dance to the Music of Time. This makes me happy, because now I can move on to other books, but also a little sad because I'm getting to the end and the series is so good and I've become rather attached to the narrator, Nick Jenkins, and all the crazy people he encounters.

Because the 4th movement is a pretty large book, my commuting book at the moment is A Pale View of Hills by Kazuo Ishiguro. I'm loving it. This has to be the 4th book of Ishiguro's that I've read, and I have yet to be disappointed.

After those are finished, I have The Trial by Kafka out from the library, so that'll be next.

I have some projects to tackle around the house over the next week, and I like to listen to books while I work. I've downloaded the audio book of Never Let Me Go from the public library onto my PC. I have no idea what this book is about, and I've never read Kazuo Ishiguro before, so this will be all new.

Never read Ishiguro? Oh, you're in for a treat! You should line up The Remains of the Day immediately! :)

Well, I did see the movie Remains of the Day, although it was so long ago I really don't remember it.

I've been reading North and South for almost two months now... I have no idea how long it's going to take from me to finish it... I do enjoy it, though.

I'm reading Life of Pi by Yann Martel at the moment.

This is a book I really didn't want to read. A combination of the cover (yes yes I know "don't judge a book by it's cover") and what I had heard it was about: a boy lost in the pacific on a raft with imaginary animals as friends. It just was not my cup of tea. But it's so highly recommended and on about every list there is etc that I decided to give it a go. And you know what I have just finished part 1, the bit about his childhood growing up in a zoo, and I LOVE it!!

I just finished King Solomon's Mines which brings my total from the list to an even 50!! And I even enjoyed the story, so that really is a plus :)

I've just read the first chapter of Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol.

Finished Life: A User's Manual and Reasons To Live. Also just finished Siddhartha today. Great book! And a very quick read. I finished it in a couple of days.

Next I have Billy Budd, Ethan Frome and I picked up another Geroge Perec book called Avoid which, in both the original French version, and the English translation, does not ever use the letter "e".

-- M1001

I'm in the second movement of Dance to the Music of Time. I'm also reading Nostromo by Joseph Conrad, The Violent Bear It Away by Flannery O'Connor and Fear of Flying by Erica Jong.

Last week I finished The Lost Honor of Katharina Blum by Heinrich Boll. It was just ok.

Currently reading Dead Souls by Nikolai Gogol. Not sure what is next, maybe North and South?

Still reading The Crying Lot 49 but can't really get into it. Started Madame Bovary while I take a break from Pynchon.

#19, I am on pg 167 of Never Let Me Go. I was enjoying it, but not loving it, when suddenly, in chapter 12, something interesting was revealed, and now, I'm excited about reading it again. I'm also excited about finishing it, because I just bought 4 new books that I can't wait to read: Nip the Buds, Shoot the kids by Kenzaburo Oe, The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy, You Shall Know our velocity by Dave Eggers and The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon. It'll be a coin toss as to what is actually next.

Gayle -- I had to take my daughters to lacrosse tonight and I only had about 20 minutes left on the audio book of Never Let Me Go. Aaargh! I've enjoyed the whole thing--I had no idea what I was getting myself in for. Now I have to go read 8 year old Anne of Green Gables (not on the list, of course), so I won't be able to finish until later.

I've just Started William Trevor's The Story Of Lucy Gault.

Just finished The Sound and the Fury. The first third or half even of the book was challenging to say the least. However I read spark notes on each of the four chapters after they were finished, and that helped me to digest what I had just read. While frustrating early on, I found myself very impressed by the time the novel was finished. I'm now reading some Graham Greene that is unfortunately not on the list, but once that's done I'm going to read The Awakening by Kate Chopin.

I just started re-reading All Quiet on the Western Front this morning on my train ride to work. I had forgotten just how powerful the book is. The first chapter alone, with the young soldiers in the meadow contemplating how peaceful it seems, while the front is only five miles away and their friend lies dying in a hospital tent.

I started Empire of the Sun yesterday. Still ploughing on with Midnight's Children; the finishing line is in sight.

After a few previous tries, I am reading Moby Dick via dailylit.net. I am about halfway through and enjoying it in these small chunks.

#31 The Sound and the Fury was my favorite book for a long time. I read it in high school (a year-long group project involving lots of reading literary criticism, culminating in teaching the book to the class) and the first half is definitely not easy. My teacher actually suggested that we read the 3rd & 4th parts first, and then go back to Benjy and Quentin. It was easier to figure out what Benjy was remembering when I already knew there were 2 Quentins, for example. Congratulations on making it through!

Coming up soon (already checked out from the library) are Bonfire of the Vanities, Middlesex, Don Quixote, and Portnoy's Complaint. Already read this month are Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time (really enjoyed it...very quick read) and Slow Man (conflicted about it).

Just finished Molloy yesterday, and I started on Wise Blood by Flannery O'Connor today. (I wanted to start Death in Venice, but it looks like I left that at work.)

I'm also reading Ulysses at the same time; in order to really understand it (or so I hope!), I'm only reading 10-15 pages a day, and I'm making sure it's dedicated reading (so no reading it while on the bus, or while working out). I figure it'll only take me two or so months at this rate, which isn't bad.

I've been working on An American Tragedy for a while now- maybe since early April? I read Sister Carrie a year or so ago and really enjoyed it, so I'm a bit frustrated by the slower movement of An American Tragedy. The story is really good, and the characters are, not so much sympathetic as realistic, as far as really old-fashioned characters go- it just feels like the book needs some serious editing. Some of the descriptions just go on and on, repeating the same ideas endlessly. Argh. Thus, I am reading it in small chunks to increase my pleasure and decrease my annoyance.

My other reading has been pure fluff, with a recently ended Christopher Moore jag leading the way. Now I'm reading a book about nuns and convent life that, while interesting, is, sadly, not very well-written.

Oh, and I started Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World (not on the list, I know, but I also have After the Quake out from the library, to be read if I like the latter.) Seems okay so far, but then, I'm only a chapter or so in.

I finally finished Fingersmith very early this morning. 45 down, 956 to go. Now I'm going to try to finish The End of the Affair. I'd started it earlier this year, and now I'm ready to finish it.

I read a short story the other day, The Garden Party, to jumpstart my 1001 reading again. Finished after the quake today, and I just started Thursbitch, though that one is quite a slow read (despite only being 150 pages or so).

#38: Hard-Boiled Wonderland is my favorite book. Hope you enjoy it.

I'm sloooowly making my way through John Fowles' The Magus. I imagine that my progress will be speedier in a few days, when my semester officially ends.

I also recently finished Half of a Yellow Sun (from the new edition of 1001 Books), and E.M. Forster's A Room With a View.

I am reading A Suitable Boy, which I am really enjoying, but will likely take me all of May to read at a whopping ~ 1400 pages.

#30 - How did you like The Story of Lucy Gault? That was one of my favorite novels read last year.

I've finished Treasure Island which was a rollicking good yarn and I'm now reading The Island of Dr Moreau. The narrator is rather uptight!

I just finished The Sea by John Banville. Loved it!

Finished Thursbitch and have embarked on a similarly short one, The Old Man and the Sea. I'm all about artificial number inflation this month!

dczapka--what is "artificial number inflation," and is it something I want to learn to do?

It's what I call reading a bunch of short books so that my 1001 number rises quickly! And I suppose if you have self-confidence issues about how many you've read, ANI might be the answer for you!

#47: dczapka

Hah, I do that, too!

Well, I try to read a mix of books and if I am deep into a really long novel, like Les Miserables or Life: A User's Manual or Infinite Jest or Moby-Dick, I have parallel short books that I am reading at the same time.

I am currently reading Billy Budd because Melville took so much time from me with Moby-Dick.

Ironically enough, there are some short book that take a long time to read. Like Nausea or The Turn of the Screw or Heart of Darkness. Billy Budd is starting to look like one of those deceptively short novels.

-- M1001

Well, since my challenge for the summer is to read Proust, I figure it's not a bad idea to scale things down a little bit!

Well, I've done a little of that ANI (artificial number inflation) myself. Isn't that why everyone seems to have read The Yellow Wallpaper and the Poe stories? Now I'm doing the opposite--reading Middlemarch. I can't think of a special term for reading the longer books on the 1001 list.

dczapka,

I am making a "Remembrance of Things Past" thread.

I need to read it,too.

Consider it leverage. :).

-- M1001

Is that a race? ;-)

Just started with If on a winter's night a traveler by Italo Calvino. It's a book about buying and reading books, can it get any better? It's funnier than I expected it to be, and more exciting too.

Am about 3/4 of the way into The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende. It's my first Allende ~ I was reluctant to try her because I thought her stuff would be like Marquez, with whose writing I am not enamoured ~ but I am absolutely loving it and am definitely going to be looking for more by her to devour!

This doesn't happen often, but reading House of Spirits leaves me feeling strangely mellow, almost like I've been doing something illegal (or at the very least illicit), and filled with satisfaction.

#53: I loved If on a winter's night, but a couple of friends to whom I recommended it later threatened to beat me over the head with it. It seems to be one of those "love 'em or hate 'em" books. So--I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

#53 & #55 - I agree about If On a Winter's Night a Traveler . . . I thought it was very cool, but others I know who have read it just hated it.

#54 - Great recommendation--you've made me move Allende up in my TBR pile.

I think the pile of Books You've Always Said You'd Read So Now Maybe You Really Should Read Them did it for me....

I just finished Mao II by Don DeLillo. This was my first DeLillo. What an amazing writer! I will definitely read more of his work. So many disturbing and thought-provoking ideas, and his ability to send his message on multiple levels is outstanding!

>>41 Medellia: Medellia12 I didn't realize the new edition of 1001 was out.... I don't want to hijack this thread, but I'd like to hear more.

#59: Actually, the only thing I know about it is from this thread, which lists a few of the books that have been added / taken away from the new edition. I've not laid eyes on it myself. Read further here:

http://www.librarything.com/talktopic.php?topic=35195

Took a 1001 break to finally read Rant, but I'm thinking that once I finish, Never Let Me Go is calling to me...

Thanks--I had missed that thread altogether; I appreciate the link.

Just wanted to add that GD is starting a group read of Alice In Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass so that is what I am reading.

http://www.librarything.com/talktopic.php?topic=36481

and
http://www.librarything.com/talktopic.php?topic=36482

#62: Yep, I'll be in on that, too, in a few days. Will probably start reading it over the weekend.

I've had a lot of reading time in May, so after I finished Pale View of Hills and The Trial I moved on to An Artist of the Floating World and In Cold Blood. I highly recommend them both, although they are very, very different.

After I finish Artist, the only Ishiguro novel I'll have left to read is The Unconsoled, which is exactly what I'm going to be when I have no more Ishiguro novels to read. He better get cracking on the next book.

Seconded. I only discovered Kazuo Ishiguro a few months ago, but I've been ravenously devouring his books ever since. Haven't meant one I didn't like yet!

I concur. My first Kazuo Ishiguro was the audio book of Never Let Me Go that I listened to earlier this month. It really makes me want to read more from this author . . . I've seen the movie Remains of the Day, which in my memory bears no resemblance, and I own When We Were Orphans, which several people I know have read, and again, it seems sooooo different from the others.

Are all his books completely different from each other? What makes a Ishiguro book an Ishiguro book?

I've only read two by Ishiguro ~ Never Let Me Go and When We Were Orphans ~ so perhaps I am being presumptuous to say this, but for me it's the understated elegance of his style, the way he doesn't pound you over the head with his meaning. With both books, I enjoyed reading them but didn't think they were all that wonderful until after I finished them. Then I couldn't stop thinking about them ~ the stories and characters and themes all resonated within my mind for days, weeks afterwards.

Finished Middlemarch and have picked up Never Let Me Go. It's my first Ishiguro and I've been looking forward to it after hearing everybody rave about his books. I'm up to chapter three and I'm hooked. There's something about his writing - smooth and easy - it just makes me want to keep turning the pages.

#66: Are all his books completely different from each other? What makes a Ishiguro book an Ishiguro book?

In addition to what Storeetllr wrote (with which I completely agree), I saw something on his Wikipedia entry that I found interesting. It discusses the connection of most of his work to the Japanese concept of mono no aware. The definition, taken from Wikipedia: "Mono no aware, also translated as "an empathy toward things," or "a pity toward things," is a Japanese term used to describe the awareness of mujo or the transience of things and a bittersweet sadness at their passing."

Wikipedia on Kazuo Ishiguro
Wikipedia on "mono no aware"

I'm currently reading The Postman Always Rings Twice.

Just finished Far from the madding crowd by Thomas Hardy, which was an excellent read.

I've packed my bags and left Middlemarch, and I've now set sail on the Wide Sargasso Sea. At only 111 pages, it will be a quick journey.

I finished Under the skin which is probably my favourite book this year - I could not put it down. I am now reading Timbuktu and I am afraid this book will make me cry.

I just started The Mysteries of Udolpho which I've been meaning to read for a while, mostly because it's always being referenced in other books.

I picked Lady Chatterley's Lover as my e-book. Read only the first 3 chapters so far, but I'm hooked!

Just finished Never Let Me Go -- wow, does that one sneak up on you. Really gripping and rather powerful stuff.

I just started The Third Policeman, and I'm debating giving in at last and knocking Jane Eyre off its perch as the longest resident of my to-be-read pile.

I just started reading John Bunyan's the Pilgrim's Progress. Not for religious content, since I'm an atheist, for for literary (and particularly literary historical) reasons. So far its actually much easier and more enjoyable than I'd been led to believe.

Other good books about Venice are these two non-fiction (biographies) by Andrea di Robilant. I doubt they are on the 1001 books to read list, though. The first book is called "A Venetian Affair" and "Lucia" came out this year. They are good historical portraits of Venice. Lucia takes place at the same time as the fall of Venice, with Napoleon and the Austrians. It really takes you back.

I just finished The Virgin Suicides. I really liked it. It's a quick and easy read, obviously a little depressing. But well worth it.

I just started War and Peace.

Gosh, I haven't been here for ages. I've read a few from the list this year and enjoyed them all:
In the Forest by Edna O'Brien
Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons
The Leopard by Tomasi di Lampedusa
The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
Sexing the Cherry by Jeanette Winterson
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
Broken April by Ismail Kadare

#169 for me, I just started The Secret History by Donna Tartt. So far it is extremely engaging.

Just finished The End of the Affair late last night and am starting A Room With a View next.

I finished The Island of Doctor Moreau last week and am just beginning Walden. I suspect this one is going to take me a long time.

I'm midway through Middlemarch and about to start An Artist of the Floating World, which I'm looking forward to as I've never read any Ishiguro.

Chapter 29 Middlemarch,two-thirds to go. Getting into it now, so should be finished soon.

Finished Billy Budd. Thought I would since I liked Moby-Dick. Short book, but I didn't like it much.

Finished Junky by William Burroughs. Much easier to read compared with The Naked Lunch. Also read pieces of Exterminator! Not a 1001 list book, but I was on a Burroughs kick.

About one third through Steppenwolf. Don't like it nearly as much as Siddhartha, it is much more dense reading. For an existential novel, its one of the better ones. Hermann Hesse was a brilliant guy.

-- M1001

Just finished The Mysteries of Udolpho and am now reading two other books from the list - Silk by Alessandro Baricco and The Emigrants by WG Sebald

I am now reading The double by Jose Saramgo

Just finished The Turn of the Screw. I actually enjoyed it, though the long, convoluted sentences were sometimes a bit daunting. Lots of allusions to literary works and historical personages and events & lots of symbolism, most of which I think I got, but will someone please explain to me what actually happened? I mean, the end was one of the most abrupt and shocking of any I've ever read.

No, I take it back ~ don't explain. I don't want to spoil it for anyone who hasn't read it already. I'll just have to read some critical essays on it and try to figure it out on my own.

If the ending of the Turn of the Screw wasn't odd and somewhat ambiguous, it wouldn't generate all sorts of great conversation and all those critical reviews. :-)

(At least that's how I remember it--I've read a lot of other things since then).

Yes, you're right, of course, but it wasn't just the ending that was ambiguous. So many questions all through the piece. (Which may be one reason I couldn't put it down.) :)

I just started In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. So far so good...

I am reading The Floating Opera, by John Barth. I got my copy from Tea and Tattered Pages in Paris !

I just started The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton.

blondierocket> You might want to check out

Group Reads - Literature
Topic: Next book suggestions - after Middlemarch

Age of Innocence is one of the nominees for next group read.

I just started Silk, by Alessandro Baricco and so far I'm absolutely loving it. Looks like it will be a quick read, but I hope I don't read it too fast and miss something.

The Human Stain - Philip Roth

Just started Frøken Smillas fornemmelse for snø by Peter Høeg.

I was reading Robinson Crusoe, but then I got sidetracked after the 1st 100 pages. I should finish it.

On this final day of May, I'm reading The Water Babies. Strangely compelling.

I finished If on a Winter's Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino a few hours ago. Breathtaking! My favorite incipits were "Outside the town of Malbork" and "What story down there awaits its end?"

I have been distracted from reading lately (often happens around NBA playoff time), and finally finished the very short The Awakening by Kate Chopin. After completing a non-1001 novel (which is my regular practice), I'll return to the list for the quite hefty The Three Muskateers by Alexandre Dumas

# 102 Megi53 - I also just finished If on a Winter's Night a Traveler this afternoon! I agree that it was breathtaking - I kept re-reading chapters as I finished them. My favorites were the first chapter and "Without fear of wind or vertigo". I am so glad I read this book.

#102 & 104 -> I finished it last week - what a great book! I really loved the way the first chapter welcomes you, and almost invites you to become part of the book.