frankie Posted March 28, 2010 Share Posted March 28, 2010 You're right, the synopsis does sound intriguing It's definitely different from the Moomins, they are for kids (but can be read by adults as well), although I've heard that there's this one book which strongly implies that Moominpappa is smoking weed . When I was younger I used to forget which one was from Finland and which one was from Sweden: Tove Jansson or Astrid Lindgren. When I learnt that Tove was from Finland I remember being so disappointed because I really dislike the Moomins and I just love all of the Astrid Lindgren novels that I've read. It broke my tiny heart Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Univerze Posted March 28, 2010 Share Posted March 28, 2010 I think from that list I have read 15 so far (most from the 1800s ), and the number of those books that is on my TBR list is a lot bigger.. like 30 or something. Just a lot of these books are hard to get hold of, with little money. Our library rarely has them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted March 28, 2010 Share Posted March 28, 2010 Edit: I'm so pleased to see that there's even a Finnish novel on the list, V Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankie Posted March 29, 2010 Share Posted March 29, 2010 I thought this might do for my 'world challenge' (and to tick off the 1001 list if I download the new one), but sadly it seems to be about Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted March 29, 2010 Share Posted March 29, 2010 May I suggest another book? It's called Purge and it's by my favorite Finnish writer, Sofi Oksanen. She's quite a controversial persona here but her books are truly great. The only downside is that most of the characters in Purge are from Estonia or of Estonian heritage and the novel describes Estonia's history in length (part of the story taking place in Estonia as well) and I wouldn't recommend it as a novel that is very informative of Finland. But, it's by a Finnish author and it's excellent. From amazon: Product Description Soon to be published in twenty-five languages, Sofi Oksanen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankie Posted March 29, 2010 Share Posted March 29, 2010 You're welcome Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted March 30, 2010 Share Posted March 30, 2010 By the way, I just found out last night that the Oscar Wao novel actually won a Pulitzer prize? I'm starting to think maybe I should give it a try. Wish I still had my copy because I would send it to you gladly ... but it got charity shopped pretty smartish. I wanted to like it, I felt I would .. but I didn't. It started well but it just dissolved .. at least that's what I thought .. you might love it though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankie Posted March 30, 2010 Share Posted March 30, 2010 Wish I still had my copy because I would send it to you gladly ... but it got charity shopped pretty smartish. I wanted to like it, I felt I would .. but I didn't. It started well but it just dissolved .. at least that's what I thought .. you might love it though. You'd send it to me so you could get rid of it? Thanks for the thought, BF has it so I can borrow it any time. Besides, I don't think it's on top of my wishlish or ever will be Sometimes one would like to give a certain book a try but then again, life's too short... What can you do Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted March 30, 2010 Share Posted March 30, 2010 You'd send it to me so you could get rid of it? Thanks for the thought, BF has it so I can borrow it any time. Besides, I don't think it's on top of my wishlish or ever will be Sometimes one would like to give a certain book a try but then again, life's too short... What can you do Undeserving books have to be got rid of to make room for deserving one's. Three of the books that I've read this year have been donated to my Mum for her charity stall .. the rest however I'm quite fond of. Hubby would like me to be a bit more ruthless but I can't ... I'll even keep a book that I didn't like much because I love the cover. Life is certainly too short for the 1001 books that Mr Boxall thinks I should read .. I shall try to make a dent in it though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BookJumper Posted March 31, 2010 Share Posted March 31, 2010 I've read 40 - The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams - Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams - The Long Dark Teatime of the Soul by Douglas Adams - Interview with the Vampire by Anne Rice - Slaughterhouse-five by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. - The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov - A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess - The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien - Memoirs of Hadrian by Marguerite Yourcenar - Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham - Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell - Exercises in Style by Raymond Queneau - The Path to the Nest of Spiders by Italo Calvino - Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh - Animal Farm by George Orwell - The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exup Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted March 31, 2010 Share Posted March 31, 2010 - Frankenstein by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley Now Giulia, do you recommend reading Mary's original text? I see there are two versions. I've abandoned 14 forever - The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood Oh dear! I have this on my shelf waiting TBR ... what didn't you like about it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cookie Posted March 31, 2010 Share Posted March 31, 2010 I've read 31 and I've got 39 on the TBR pile. So even if I did start this I've got a long way to go! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freewheeling Andy Posted March 31, 2010 Share Posted March 31, 2010 A new check through seems to have me around 112 (although I will admit that's not precise - I've ticked a Le Carre, and a couple of Greene, and a McEwan which I think I've read, but all so long ago and so unmemorable that I may have in fact read different ones...). And there are a few un-marked that I never finished (Don Quixote, Labyrinths, Finnegan's Wake). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BookJumper Posted March 31, 2010 Share Posted March 31, 2010 I have only read the Frankenstein edited by P.B. Shelley as of yet, but I can recommend the Vintage Classics edition - it's called The Original Frankenstein and includes Mary's earliest known draft, Percy's text as we know it and a nice introduction to the differences between the two do want! I was made to read The Blind Assassin for university and just found it dull, dull, dull - I don't mind books where nothing happens for 100 pages so long as the nothing is described prettily, but alas, this was a case of no plot or style ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freewheeling Andy Posted March 31, 2010 Share Posted March 31, 2010 (edited) So, as it goes, here's my list, categorised as such: Blue = marvellous, one of my favourite ever books Green = good stuff, but not top ranking Orange = Pretty meh, really, either underwhelming or mix of good and bad Red = utter garbage, best used as fuel or compost. I'll add a note that some books, like On The Road and Lord of the Rings get particularly bad rating after I went back to them having quite enjoyed them first time around and realising they were entirely self-indulgent tosh that were a hideous battle to get through second time. I suspect that others I've not gone back to would be subject to the same kind of revisionism. The White Tiger Aravind Adiga The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao Junot D Edited March 31, 2010 by Freewheeling Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maureen Posted March 31, 2010 Share Posted March 31, 2010 I was made to read The Blind Assassin for university and just found it dull, dull, dull - I don't mind books where nothing happens for 100 pages so long as the nothing is described prettily, but alas, this was a case of no plot or style ! I am trying hard with this at the moment - and only because I am so darn persevering (OH is sometimes right, see?). As Guilia said, it is dull. The only thing I like about is is the occasional clever phrase that Atwood scatters here and there. Will probably not finish it all though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted March 31, 2010 Share Posted March 31, 2010 I I was made to read The Blind Assassin for university and just found it dull, dull, dull - I don't mind books where nothing happens for 100 pages so long as the nothing is described prettily, but alas, this was a case of no plot or style ! I am trying hard with this at the moment - and only because I am so darn persevering (OH is sometimes right, see?). As Guilia said, it is dull. The only thing I like about is is the occasional clever phrase that Atwood scatters here and there. Will probably not finish it all though. Oh Bother!!!! .. and it's taking up two inches of space on the bookshelf as well I'll have to read it .. and charity shop it (not very charitable but still). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sirinrob Posted March 31, 2010 Share Posted March 31, 2010 Interesting to note that FWA makes ref to 'Independent People' by Hallodor Laxness in regard to this list. I've searched high and low through the Arukiyomi spreadsheet, but no luck. I have read the book, so a tick in the box be nice lol. Anyone spotted this one? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freewheeling Andy Posted March 31, 2010 Share Posted March 31, 2010 It's #636 in the new spreadsheet I downloaded today. I feel there's less Pynchon and Ballard on this list than on a previous one I looked at. I'm probably wrong, but I'm feeling hard done by... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sirinrob Posted April 1, 2010 Share Posted April 1, 2010 (edited) I've downloaded the Lite version of the 2010 spreadsheet today. Quick scan through and I've notched up 83 books, sure with a more detailed look I could bump that up a tad. Sticking with this one. Mulling over the possibility of turning this into a database, could extend the functionality quite easily ... hmmm Edited April 1, 2010 by sirinrob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted April 3, 2010 Share Posted April 3, 2010 Red = utter garbage, best used as fuel or compost. I'll add a note that some books, like On The Road and Lord of the Rings get particularly bad rating after I went back to them having quite enjoyed them first time around and realising they were entirely self-indulgent tosh that were a hideous battle to get through second time. I suspect that others I've not gone back to would be subject to the same kind of revisionism. The Shipping News E. Annie Proulx The Lord of the Rings J.R.R. Tolkien Oh dear .. these are two of my fave books ever. 'The Shipping News' I absolutely adored. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lexie Posted April 4, 2010 Share Posted April 4, 2010 Oh dear .. these are two of my fave books ever. 'The Shipping News' I absolutely adored. And that's all it matters. Opinions are exactly that: opinions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maureen Posted April 4, 2010 Share Posted April 4, 2010 Poppyshake, it does get better - but the first 200 pages were as dull as ditchwater. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted April 4, 2010 Share Posted April 4, 2010 And that's all it matters. Opinions are exactly that: opinions. You're right ... it wouldn't do for us all to like the same .. think of the rugby scrums there'd be in Waterstones Poppyshake, it does get better - but the first 200 pages were as dull as ditchwater. Thanks Maureen, I will read it as I've already bought it (d*mn Waterstones and their 3 for 2) and I'm trying to make a dent in the list. I'm not sure how good my 'dullometer' is .. I might find it riveting!! I'm a big fan of Persephone and Barbara Pym books where sometimes the most exciting thing that happens is the vicar turning up five mins late for his sermon . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
emelee Posted June 10, 2010 Share Posted June 10, 2010 (edited) My list is a little bit embarrassingly short.... But I don Edited July 8, 2010 by emelee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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