April 2008: What are you reading from the 1001 list

Post here with the book you're currently reading from the 1001 list for the month of April.

I just finished the Color Purple and I haven't decided what to read next.

I finished the yellow wallpaper yesterday and am reading bleak house next. Though the color purple is certainly shorter and I might start with that since you mentioned it, Nickelini.

I'm still reading Catch 22 and I went to the book shop today and picked up Never Let Me go that is on the list I hope..

Never Let Me Go is the last book on the list and one of my favourite books! I hope you enjoy it.

I started Memoirs of a Geisha last night and am loving it. It kept me up far too late last night.

Deeply involved in Oblomov, with The Ogre on hold.

I'm snorting my way through the delightful Cold Comfort Farm. The humor makes me think of both Jane Austen and Dorothy Parker.

I am reading Fingersmith this month.

I'll probably be reading Turn of the Screw this month, or maybe The Picture of Dorian Gray. Whichever one piques my fancy after I'm done reading what I'm reading now.

I just finished Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro today, but I read most of it in March -- so does it still count for April? ;-) I *loved* it.

I think I'll do Crime and Punishment next. That will probably take all month.

Just started reading The Body Artist by Don DeLillo which is fortunately on the list. I saw it in the library and knew there were a few of his books on the list. It's only 124 pages, which is quite different to what Underworld is, which I haven't read yet either.

Hopefully I will complete this one soon and bump it up to 51 books read.

I'm still reading Oscar and Lucinda... I think I might have to follow it up with a couple o'slimmer ones if I want to acheive my 50-Book Challenge

> I have The Body Artist TBR :)

The ends of both Cloud Atlas and Foucault's Pendulum are in sight. Not sure what I'll read next.

I'm moving on to movement three of A Dance to the Music of Time - at this rate I'll be done with the whole thing by June! I also have In Cold Blood at home, and should finish that by the end of the month.

I finished The blind assassin and am now reading Sputnik sweetheart.

#15. Did you like The Blind Assassin? I'm three quarters of the way through War of the Worlds and really enjoying it, particularly the descriptions of the Martians. Next I intend to read Treasure Island. I've read that it is a bit boring.

Message 16: bookmark123

Did you mean Treasure Island is boring? I don't know if I thought it was boring when I had to read it in school, but I read it again last month and loved every minute of it. My son was teasing me about reading one of his school books, but it was great fun.

About the only time I can find to read anymore is when I go to bed -- so I had some early bed times for a few days while reading that book. :-)

I'm starting the month off with Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey.

#16

I did enjoy the blind assissin. I really was sucked into the book during the ending - the middle dragged a little for me.

I finished Sputnik sweetheart and am now reading Amsterdam .

I finished The Body Artist by Don DeLillo.

It was pretty good and a very quick read. I enjoyed it far better than White Noise, because I found it was easier to read and therefore more enjoyable for me.

I've started Empire of the sun by J.G. Ballard

I have just started Love in the time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It is just wonderful so far !

And I just started Family Matters. So far it hasn't grabbed me, but I'll give it a chance.

>7 Medellia: medellia12 I'm also enjoying Cold Comfort Farm at the moment. I have been laughing out loud at times! I am also reading Notes from the Underground - which is not making me laugh!

This is definitely a bad topic for me to get into, since I read REALLY fast and tend to pick books off the list when I need a new book.

Just today I read Breakfast at Tiffany's. While at the bookstore, I also picked up Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Never Let Me Go, and I'll probably read those in the next few weeks (even though I'm currently in the middle of a non-1001 book, The Raw Shark Texts).

Before the month is done, depending on how work goes, I'm also hoping to knock off A Confederacy of Dunces and Rebecca. Busy busy!

For my on-line book I'm reading Far from the madding crowd by Thomas Hardy and I'm really enjoying it. It's my first book by Hardy and I'm really glad I decided to give him a try.

I finished the Pevear-Volokhonsky translation of Crime and Punishment over the weekend. I don't think I've ever felt as compeltely absorbed into a novel as much as I had with this. I don't mean liking a book, or being moved by one. I mean feeling that I am an essential part of the story being told, an accomplice to the action. The abject poverty, the raw humanity, the crime, the guilt, the offering of grace and redemption. In all of my reading, I think this book comes closest to encapsulating the entire human emotional experience. And does so by drawing you in and daring you not to become complicit. Bravo.

I'm reading a non-1001 book at the moment, something a little lighter, but I'll return to the list after this.

I have just joined this group. I am currently rereading The Metamorphosis by Kafka which is mentioned in 1001 in the entries on The Trial and The Castle, so I am sort of reading a book from the list, I suppose, stretching a bit. As a number of people have said in various posts, frequently we forget the works we have read. My recent resolve is to write a critical review/study of everything I read so that the work becomes imbedded in my mind more firmly. So I have about four reviews on the go while reading other works as well. There are certainly a great many of the works listed in 1001 which I have no interest in reading, Adjunct: An Undigest being the most obvious. But I have just printed off The 100 Most Meaningful Books of All Time list, and that one looks more appealing to me.

read a LOT over the weekend - finished the turn of the screw, then the third man, like water for chocolate - which I loved, the color purple- beautiful, 2 books by hanif kureishi which I think I must have read before and last but not least youth by coetzee. this morning on the train I started listening to an audiobook version of bleak house.

Currently reading Atonement. It's good, but I have only been able to read at night lately so it's slow going so far. Hopefully I can set aside some reading time this weekend!

I recently reread To Kill a Mockingbird to get ready to teach it to my freshman. Great book, of course. I am now reading for the first time Of Mice and Men. I can't believe I didn't get this one when I went through my Steinbeck blast back in high school. I thought I had read everything he wrote. Lucky me to find one more.

Finished To Kill a Mockingbird as well. (First time read for me though.) I had intended to start Thursbitch but I am continuing my two year pattern of bumping it for another book and will start The Story of the Eye instead.

> 32 perlle said: "I am continuing my two year pattern of bumping it for another book..."

Thanks for the laugh, I needed it! :-)

I just started Through the Looking Glass which I surprisingly have never read. So far, so good. I'm still only on the first chapter.

Got The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro from the library yesterday. Haven't started it yet, probably won't until I get on the bus on Monday morning. Hopefully it'll be a quick, good read, so I can knock another one off this list.

I started The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende just a few days ago. My mom had been trying to get me to read it for a while.

I'm still going with Madame Bovary which I'm enjoying but I forgot to take it on holiday with me so I started a whole load of other books instead. Yesterday I started King Solomon's Mines which is a good old-fashioned rip-roaring adventure tale...complete with British imperialism and insulting statements about the "natives".

I've just started Midnight's Children, number 137 off the list for me.

Only 50 pages in so far and it has frankly been a bit of a slog. I'm wondering what all the fuss is about.

>38 Grammath:: Grammath oh dear, I am planning to read Midnight's Children soon, b/c it's part of my quest to read all Booker Prize winners. And it was "the Booker of Bookers" on the 25th anniversary of the prize. So I have high expectations ... you'll have to let me know your final thoughts ...

>38 Grammath: I remember it taking me rather a while to really get into Midnight's Children, but once I did, I couldn't put it down. It mainly has to do with the fantastic premise of the story, but once you get into a groove with it, it's the surrounding history that really drives the story.

It ended up being one of my favorites of all time, so don't give up! ;)

I read the Wide Sargasso Sea over the weekend. A very good, fast read. Also, a little way into Treasure Island. Quite readable so far.

I finished Story of the Eye. Probably wasn't a good idea to do that back to back with To Kill a Mockingbird.
Now I'm starting Thursbitch. I have been putting that one off for so long it has a certain mystique for me. I just hope it's not as disturbing as Story of the Eye.

I am reading and enjoying Villette.

#38, 39 -- I struggled a bit with Midnight's Children - mostly because I was unfamiliar with Indian, Pakistani history -- a little Wikipedia reading was necessary. Overall, though I liked it -- although I regret to tell you, I liked the begininning and middle more than the end.

Half way through Murakami's The Wind-Up Bird Chronicles. I am struggling with it. I find that while actually reading it I am really enjoying it, but I don't look forward to picking it up. 300 pages in and determined to finish it, but hoping it will get better.

I'm currently reading The Death of Ivan Ilyich.

I'm reading Middlemarch along with the group read here at LT. So far I'm on chapter 2 with a very long way to go.

I also need a small book to throw in my bag today when I take the train downtown, so I just started The 39 Steps by John Buchan (who I always want to call Buchanan).

FINALLY READING pride and prejudice

Finished reading july's people and the picture of dorian gray over the weekend and started elective affinities by Goethe. bleak house is still on my ipod. I mostly listen to audiobooks on the bus or train so that'll probably take a while. Liking it though.

Am about halfway through Fingersmith (this is major progress for me, as it took me from January to March to get through the first fifty pages), and I'm loving it. I also started on Middlemarch today as part of the group read.

And I'm another who has started Middlemarch!

Also listening to an unabridged audiobook of Some Experiences of an Irish R.M. by Somerville and Ross.

Just finished Breakfast at Tiffany's which I thoroughly enjoyed - interesting that the movie version features a alternate ending than Capote's book. Still plodding through War and Peace. Less than 200 pages to go and I can start Middlemarch for the group read.

Finished Thursbitch which was different but a quick read. I think I might take a break from 1001 and read The Road next.

I finally finished Madame Bovary a couple of days ago. I'm almost finished Empire Of The Sun by J G Ballard which I can cross off both the 1001 lists and my Booker Prize shortlist list. It's a very powerful and disturbing look at the effects of war on people, both combatants and non-combatants. I highly recommend it, especially to anyone with an interest in China, Japan or WWII.

As for what's next, I'm not really sure. I might read Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie. I borrowed it from a friend months ago and I really should return it to her. Plus...it's on both my lists!

Hey, dreamlikecheese, what great recent reading! I read Madame Bovary recently myself and it is certainly on my list of all-time greats. What did you think of it? And I have read three Rushdies and loved them all, but have not yet read Midnight's Children but am looking forward to it. Empire of the Sun you have to be in the right mood, I would think.

I am accomplishing what I should have abashedly completed in High School; reading The Great Gatsby.

#55 -- I recently read The Great GAtsby for the first time as well -- overrated, IMHO.

Just read Villette and now reading Wide Sargasso Sea

#55 & 56: I don't understand why a teacher would assign the Great Gatsby to a high school class. I think it is a rare teenager who would find that book interesting. I read it in my 20s and even though I loved the era, I didn't like the characters and found the story boring. I think I might like it better today, but there are so many other books to read, I'm not going to bother.

#57 - I agree with you. One of those books that doesn't make sense for high school. I did like the book, always thought the reader was not supposed to like the characters very much. They were selfish and short-sided and caused havoc in their lives and others. If they had been more likable it would have ruined the story, don't you think?

Perle, yes, you're right. I remember being terribly disappointed. Now that I think of it though, it was probably the first book I ever read with characters that you weren't supposed to like. The concept was beyond me at the time.

Thanks Polutropos. I really enjoyed Madame Bovary. While Emma Bovary herself was completely misguided and a rather annoying character, the writing was amazing, and despite not liking Emma I really felt sorry for her....a sign of very good writing if an author can make you sympathise with an unsympathetic character.

I think you definitely do need to be in the right mood for Empire of the Sun. It was an amazing read, but certainly not something to read while you're feeling too depressed or emotional. The sheer blinding tragedy of the book, and the characters' numbness to the tragedy is breathtakingly sad.

As for Midnight's Children, it will be my first Rushdie. I've read the first 20 pages or so and I'm enjoying the writing so far but the story hasn't gripped me yet, but then I haven't given it a proper chance yet.

Hey,

I hope I am not breaking some sort of protocol by advertising another thread, but I have just started up a new group called Rushdie Lovers, and all are invited to join to come discuss the works of Salman Rushdie.

#56, 57, 58, 59 Great Gatsby

I want to be very careful to phrase this right and not come across offensively.

I have taught Great Gatsby to high school students numerous times and I would say with great success. The more I read it and the more I teach it, the more I find to admire in the book, a sign of a good book. Of course the characters are shallow and not appealing. Nick is an unreliable narrator. The book is difficult at first reading. Yet it has so many layers, so much to investigate and think about. The American Dream and disillusionment of course. But also other themes, symbolism, narrative methods, characterization... I lead the students to discover more beneath the surface and usually they do and frequently cite this work as the highlight of the course by the end. In the preface Matthew J. Bruccoli says, "The Great Gatsby does not proclaim the nobility of the human spirit; it is not politically correct; it does not reveal how to solve the problems of life; it delivers no fashionable or comforting messages. It is just a masterpiece." I concur.

It's been quite a while since I've read anything from the list, but I started V.S. Naipaul's In a Free State yesterday. I'm surprising myself by zipping through it.

Half way through Les Miserables by Victor Hugo, and I'm enjoying it.

#57, 58, 59

I studied Gatsby last year and I loved it. I thought it was a brilliant book. I own it now actually, because I thought it deserved to be on my shelf.

About Gatsby-
I read the book when I was roughly fifteen or sixteen in high school. I adored it then and wish I had the time to read it again. Perhaps it isn't a rare teenager that can appreciate the book, but a rare high school English teacher that can bring its admirable qualities to light. The woman who taught me with this book was a phenomenal teacher and made me really love everything she assigned (with the exception of Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter).

I also loved The Great Gatsby, but I had a fantastic English teacher, so that probably explains it. I also really enjoyed The Scarlet Letter, which is another that doesn't go over well in high school. The only book I did not like was Great Expectations, though I can appreciate it more now.

I finished Pride and Prejudice finally and really enjoyed it. I like how Ms. Austen is able to show how misunderstandings and prejudice can intefere with love.

I am now reading London Orbital - my second Sinclair. Hopefully, I like this better than Dining on Stones.

I am also reading The three musketeers through daily llit.

I know I said I was going to read Midnight's Children...but I borrowed some books from the library so they ended up taking precedence. So, I'm now reading Last Orders by Graham Swift, but I hope to get back to Rushdie soon.

#66, 67
Hmmm, amazing what a great teacher can do. LOL

#69
I have read Last Orders twice and listened to it on audiobook as well. It is one of my favorites. Do share your impressions once you are done. I have picked up an ARC copy of Graham Swift's latest, Tomorrow and hope to get to it soon.

I'm alone in space, my crewmates killed by a psychotic artificial intelligence, approaching Saturn in Arthur C. Clarke's 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Re-reading the The Handmaid's Tale. I read it when I was very young so I want to give it another go... Also reading Money and Middlesex. Still procrastinating... I have a paper due by the end of the week for my history class.

Update: I zipped through In a Free State (message #63) but wow, I really disliked it !!

I just finished The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway I have run in a couple of Marathons in my lifetime and would love to do so again. This is a must read for any marathon runner.

I just started King Solomon's Mines. Looks like a good read.

I can't wait to finish reading the non-1,001 Death at La Fenice and move onto Thomas Mann's Death in Venice- a nice short story to help me bump up my 50-book challenge :)

I finished The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith, and I thought it was good. I had previously seen the movie, and they were about as close as any book to movie combo I've read and seen to date. Pretty light reading for the most part, but well written like most everything else on this list. I started reading Dubliners by Joyce assuming it was on the list, but I was wrong. Once I finish that I'm going to read The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner. I've been looking forward to that for a long time now.

I'm now reading Invincible cities by Italo Calvino

I find it to be a bit repetitious and tidious, but well written also.

Just finished On Beauty by Zadie Smith. I guess that'll have to be my goal for this month. Since it took me so long to read that one, the odds of getting in another one this month are slim. Liked it, though!

I am listening to On Beauty on audio, unabridged, and am loving it. I had not cared for either White Teeth or Autograph Man that much, but this one is for some reason really resonating with me. I am very much aware of E.M. Forster nodding approvingly as On Beauty unfolds.

Starting The Crying of Lot 49 today.

Well, since I found out that Half of a Yellow Sun is in the new edition of 1001, and I happen to be reading it, I guess I am reading a book from the list after all. Who knew.

I am reading Rabbit is Rich by John Updike. I read the first two of the series years ago and I'm able to remember quite a bit of Harry Engstrom's life.

As for The Great Gatsby I hated it in high school and have yet to go back to it. I found the teacher frustrating because we spent so much time on parts of the book that I felt utterly boring. The ironic thing is that I have now read many other Fitzgerald books and they are on my top favorite lists. I loved The Beautiful and the Damned which I read right after I graduated high school and isn't considered to be one of Fitzgerald's best. Tender is the Night is also a favorite of mine that I've reread. Still won't reread The Great Gatsby yet. Same teacher ruined The Scarlet Letter and I really enjoy other Hawthorne books.