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1001 books?

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AlysonofBathe
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1001 books?

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Hi everyone,

I'm Alyson, and I'm oh-so slowly working my way through the 1001 books challenge. Anyone here doing the same?

Cheers,
Alyson
Alyson of Bathe's feeble attempt at completing the 1001 books challenge. You would think a former English major would have a better start than this. The World was Hers for the Reading
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arukiyomi
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Re: 1001 books?

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yes indeed. I've been doing it since the list first came out in 2006.

There are other forums dedicated to following this list on Shelfari (http://www.shelfari.com/groups/11271/about), LibraryThing (http://www.librarything.com/groups/1001bookstoreadbefo) and Good Reads (http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/970 ... re_You_Die)

See my signature below for links to the spreadsheet and iPhone app to help you track your progress with the list. And, to get the latest updates on the app, you can "Like" our Facebook page:
facebook.com/pages/1001-Books-App/28924 ... 2394463476
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wilde
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Re: 1001 books?

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What is the 1001 books challenge?

I don't do it, but I am doing the New Books Challenge again this year. Last year I got to 100, so I'm going for 150 this year. :)
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arukiyomi
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it's based on the book released first in 2006 called 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die. For more info, check out the links in my sig below
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Suzanne

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Re: 1001 books?

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This is some challenge. Are you reading these novels in the order there were written?

I have just downloaded "Oroonoko" which I believe AlisonofBath is reading now. Have you read this arukiyomi? I have finished the introduction which I found delightful. Behn's writing style is refreshing and I am looking foward to delving into the story. First thoughts; wisdom and compassion , she seems to be a writer before her time.

If you wanted to start a discussion on " Oroonoko" or any other novel you are currently interested in reading and discussing from the 1001 list I would like to participate.
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arukiyomi
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Re: 1001 books?

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Hi Suzanne... yes, it's some challenge and pursuing it has totally opened my eyes to areas of literature I'd never have discovered. There have been some clunkers, but on the whole, the books off the list been very good reads.

I don't read them in the order they were written, no. I read them as and when I get hold of them and along with other books that aren't on the list (although not many of them!)

Oroonoko I read just a few months ago actually and reviewed it HERE. Don't worry, no spoilers so you can read it before you finish the book. She was definitely a writer ahead of her time. It's a very important novel but not exactly the most gripping in our day. I'd be interested to hear what you think of it.
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Mitya
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Re: 1001 books?

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Anyone diligently forging through a 1001 guide, without questioning some of the choices, could use a guide for their guide. Orwell's Keep the Aspidistra Flying was written to fulfil a deadline, and he admitted he produced it soullessly without the intellectual vigour associated with his major works. Burmese Days is better, but only illustrates the embryonic phase of his talent and isn't essential for anyone other than his most devoted readers. There's a lot of deadweight elsewhere, like Ishiguro's An Artist of the Floating World(I like the guy a lot, but did he really need five entries??), McEwan's Amsterdam and Enduring Love, Iain Banks's Dead Air(include one of his worst books why don't you!), Balzac's Eugenie Grandet, Finnegan's Wake(when you've got Ulysses and A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, why add a telephone book that even Joyce didn't read?), Atwood's Alias Grace(hardly a glowing intro to her work), Amis's The Information(a mess of a text, even by his indulgent standards, and an eyesore to many of his acolytes), anything by Philip Roth written before Operation Shylock, Bellow's Dangling Man, Bronte's Villette(Jane Eyre's enough to be getting on with), Breakfast at Tiffany's, and Graham Greene's The Third Man(which was a trifle, in the writer's own estimation, and more of a blueprint for a film than anything else).

Looking at some of the lazy inclusions you get in these mortality bibles, I'm tempted to write a blog titled "1001 1001 Entries You Can Afford to Miss". I suppose the good thing about the multiplicity of superfluous inclusions is the number of times certain authors recur, which allows more discerning readers to sample just one novel per scribe. And if you come across someone you just can't abide(Victor Pelevin and Ismail Kadare so far, in my case), you can always pull the cord and move onto something more amenable to your taste. I've certainly benefited from a few of the recommendations myself, such as Akhil Sharma's An Obedient Father and Toibin's magisterial The Master. I don't think I would have been persuaded to read The Hours either had it not been so cogently sold, and I'm looking forward to Mistry's A Fine Balance. When I've got time I'll look over the revised edition, and see how many of the filler texts have been jettisoned.
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arukiyomi
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Re: 1001 books?

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