The biggest problem with the 1001 books list is that, when the makers like an author, they tend to add EVERYTHING that that author wrote, not just the masterpieces but a whole lot of lesser works that you *don't* really need to read before you die. Saul Bellow is one such author, and The Victimshould probably have been included only in the 2002 books list. But at least it's short.

( Why Does This Happen to Me? The victim, by Saul Bellow  )

Title: Der Zauberberg (The Magic Mountain)
Author: Thomas Mann
Translator: John E. Woods
Published: 1924 (2005)
Pages: 854
Source: Borrowed from the library

Summary: "The Magic Mountain takes place in an exclusive tuberculosis sanatorium in the Swiss Alps–a community devoted to sickness that serves as a fictional microcosm for Europe in the days before the First World War. To this hermetic and otherworldly realm comes Hans Castorp, an “ordinary young man” who arrives for a short visit and ends up staying for seven years, during which he succumbs both to the lure of eros and to the intoxication of ideas." --from the jacket.

Review: This was a very well written work that, if I hadn't been reading it for this project, I probably would have given up on by page two hundred. Not knowing a great deal about Pre-WWI Europe or the various philosophies the characters represented, I'm sure I missed a great deal, so I don't actually have much to say. However, if one is willing persevere, the book is worth the read.

Title: A Home At The End Of The World
Author: Michael Cunningham
Published: 1990
Pages: 343
Summary: Here are two decades of American life told through four people: Bobby and gay Jonathan, growing up together in a small town in the 1970s; Jonathan's mother Alice; and unconventional Clare, with whom the two grown-up men form a family.


( Review )

This one made my personal Top 100 Books list, and I was quite happy to read it again for this project. If you haven't read it yet, I envy you, because you are going to have SUCH a ball!

( Libertarian Paradise: Red Harvest, by Dashiell Hammett  )

Title: Adam Bede
Author: George Eliot
Published: 2002 by Modern Library
Originally Published: 1859
Pages: 624

Summary from Goodreads:


"Carpenter Adam Bede is in love with the beautiful Hetty Sorrel, but unknown to him, he has a rival in the local squire's son, Arthur Donnithorne. Hetty is soon attracted by Arthur's seductive charm and they begin to meet in secret. The relationship is to have tragic consequences that reach far beyond the couple themselves, touching not just Adam, but many others, not least, pious Methodist Preacher Dinah Morris.

"A tale of seduction, betrayal, love, and deception, the plot of Adam Bede has the quality of an English folk song. Within the setting of Hayslope, a small, rural community, George Eliot brilliantly creates a sense of earthy reality, making the landscape as vital a presence in the novel as that of the characters themselves.

"Eliot probes deeply into the psychology of commonplace people caught in the act of uncommon heroics. Alexandre Dumas called this novel 'the masterpiece of the century.'"

Ok, so, Adam Bede. Not the longest or most laborious Victorian novel I've ever read, but it was close. My struggle mainly came from the great amount of minutia being described at all times. Also, when someone came into a room expecting to see someone, they would greet everyone, drink a few drinks, sing a few songs, engage in some lively conversation and THEN ask where said person was hiding. *headdesk headdesk headdesk* Right, moving on. That said, it was a fairly enjoyable book. The story is set in 1799. Adam Bede is a carpenter with a loyal younger brother, a drunk for a father (who dies early in the book) and possibly THE most annoying mother I've ever come across in literature. Most of the time she was just whining and complaining about every single thing that happened to her and "it would be better if I were dead and in the ground" and "you have to be here for me in my declining years" and on like that every single time she appeared. Soon we established not a love triangle but a love pentagram of sorts. Adam is in love with Hetty. Hetty is in love with Arthur. Seth is in love with Dinah. And when Adam and Dinah first meet, it's pretty much obvious to the audience but not to themselves that they just need to get together.

( Spoilers!! )

So, a book that has to be read? I don't know. This was her very first book. It was based on a story that George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans) got from her aunt Elizabeth Evans who had been a Methodist preacher and was the basis for Dinah. Her aunt had spent much time in a jail cell with a girl accused of killing her child and finally confessed to her. Obviously the story she got from her aunt was just a very small part of the book since only about three or four chapters are dedicated to it. She showed rural life and the way they acted and thought then very well. I think the writing is fantastic (even though incredibly detailed). And the story line, while muddled, fairly easy to follow. A few characters just about annoyed me to death, but Adam, Seth and Dinah I liked very much. Even Arthur with all that he did was quite likable. Overall, I'd give it to a person who is a nut about Victorian literature or one of my old English teachers. But I think anyone might find this torture! :-P

Title: Empire of the Sun
Author: J.G. Ballard
Publication date: 1984
Edition: Buccaneer Books
# of pages: 279
Source: Local library

FOREWORD

Empire of the Sun describes my experiences in Shanghai, China, during the Second World War, and in Lunghua C.A.C. (Civilian Assembly Centre), where I was interned from 1942 to 1945. For the most part this novel is an eyewitness account of events I observed during the Japanese occupation of Shanghai and within the camp at Lunghua.

The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor took place on Sunday morning, December 7, 1941, but as a result of time differences across the Pacific Date Line it was then already the morning of Monday, December 8, in Shanghai. During the war, as I have recounted, the great pagoda at Lunghua was equipped with antiaircraft guns and served as a flak tower. The military airfield at Hungjao is now the site of Shanghai International Airport.

( Generally positive review. )

Ballard was a prominent member of the New Wave movement in science fiction and has seven books in 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die. Two of his science fiction books have already gotten lukewarm reviews as part of this project. Ballard may be on the list because of some academic fixation, but this book isn't science fiction and I really enjoyed it, so I say it does belong. And I'll read at least one of his other books just to see what they're all about.

Title: The Lover
Author: Marguerite Duras
Published: Random House, Inc., 1985
Originally Published: Les Editions de Minuit., 1984
Pages: 115