Dr. Peter Boxall's "1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die (2006 edition)"

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Each work of literature listed here is a seminal work key to understanding and appreciating the written word. These works have been handpicked by a team of international critics and literary luminaries, including Derek Attridge (world expert on James Joyce), Cedric Watts (renowned authority on Joseph Conrad and Graham Greene), Laura Marcus (noted Virginia Woolf expert), and David Mariott (poet and expert on African-American literature), among some twenty others. (Description from Amazon.com)

This is a community list. You can contribute, edit, or help maintain it by adding it to your lists. Please do not remove or add titles that will change this list from how it appears in 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die edited by Peter Boxall with an introduction by Peter Ackroyd.

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  1. 201.
    The Beautiful Room Is Empty: A Novel
    by Edmund White
  2. 202.
    Wittgenstein's Mistress
    by David Markson
  3. 203.
    The Satanic Verses: A Novel (Bestselling Backlist)
    by Salman Rushdie
  4. 204.
    The Swimming-Pool Library
    by Alan Hollinghurst
  5. 205.
    Oscar and Lucinda
    by Peter Carey
  6. 206.
    Libra (Contemporary American Fiction)
    by Don DeLillo
  7. 207.
    The Player of Games
    by Iain M. Banks
  8. 208.
    Nervous Conditions
    by Tsitsi Dangarembga
  9. 209.
    The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul
    by Douglas Adams
  10. 210.
    Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency
    by Douglas Adams
  11. 211.
    Radiant Way
    by Margaret Drabble
  12. 212.
    ?
    Afternoon of a Writer
    by Peter Handke
  13. 213.
    The Black Dahlia
    by James Ellroy
  14. 214.
    The Passion
    by Jeanette Winterson
  15. 215.
    Pigeon
    by Patrick Suskind
  16. 216.
    The Child in Time
    by Ian McEwan
  17. 217.
    Cigarettes (American Literature (Dalkey Archive))
    by Harry Mathews
  18. 218.
    The Bonfire of the Vanities
    by Tom Wolfe
  20. 220.
    World's End (Contemporary American Fiction)
    by T.C. Boyle
  21. 221.
    The Enigma of Arrival (Vintage)
    by V.S. Naipaul
  22. 222.
    ?
    The Taebek Mountains
    by Jo Jung-Rae
  23. 223.
    Beloved
    by Toni Morrison
  24. 224.
    Anagrams
    by Lorrie Moore
  25. 225.
    Matigari (African Writers Series)
    by Ngugi wa Thiong'o
  26. 226.
    Marya: A Life
    by Joyce Carol Oates
  27. 227.
    Watchmen
    by Alan Moore
  28. 228.
    The Old Devils: A Novel
    by Kingsley Amis
  29. 229.
    The Lost Language of Cranes: A Novel
    by David Leavitt
  30. 230.
    An Artist of the Floating World
    by Kazuo Ishiguro
  31. 231.
    Extinction: A Novel (Phoenix Fiction Series)
    by Thomas Bernhard
  32. 232.
    Foe
    by J. M. Coetzee
  33. 233.
    The Drowned and the Saved
    by Primo Levi
  34. 234.
    Reasons to Live
    by Amy Hempel
  35. 235.
    The Parable of the Blind
    by Gert Hofmann
  36. 236.
    Love in the Time of Cholera
    by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
  37. 237.
    Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit
    by Jeanette Winterson
  38. 238.
    The Cider House Rules
    by John Irving
  39. 239.
    A Maggot
    by John Fowles
  40. 240.
    Less Than Zero
    by Bret Easton Ellis
  41. 241.
    Contact
    by Carl Sagan
  42. 242.
    The Handmaid's Tale
    by Margaret Atwood
  43. 243.
    Perfume
    by Patrick Suskind
  44. 244.
    Old Masters: A Comedy (Phoenix Fiction)
    by Thomas Bernhard
  45. 245.
    White Noise (Contemporary American Fiction)
    by Don DeLillo
  46. 246.
    Queer: A Novel
    by William S. Burroughs
  47. 247.
    Hawksmoor
    by Peter Ackroyd
  48. 248.
    Legend (Drenai Tales, Book 1)
    by David Gemmell
  49. 249.
  50. 250.
    ?
    The Bus Conductor Hines (Fiction)
    by James Kelman

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This is a community list. You can contribute, edit, or help maintain it by adding it to your lists.
Created by starlagurl on Mar 27, 2006.
 

Comments

Pages: Pages: 1 2 3 5 7 8 9 … 15 16

naggie

Untitled — 4 years ago

18% on first read through of list, encouraging – must start on War & Peace now !!

Oct 28, 10:03AM | 0 comments | Reply to this

Wisconsin08

From 7 to 8 Percent — 4 years ago

Eight of the last ten books I read were worth consuming. From most to least favorites they were: 1. Brave New World, 2. Red Harvest, 3. Candide, 4. Underworld, 5. The Bluest Eye, 6. The Thin Man, 7. A Journey to the Center of the Earth, 8. The Crying of Lot 49, and, the two not worth consuming, 9. The Temptation of St. Anthony (too encyclopedic, not enough story) and 10. Death in Venice (dull and meandering). Thanks for your time.

Oct 25, 01:26PM | 1 comment | Reply to this

Wisconsin08

From 6 to 7 Percent — 4 years ago

The last ten books I read were all worth consuming. Ranking them from best to worst they are: 1. Cryptonomicon 2. Treasure Island 3. The Pursuit of Love 4. Siddhartha 5. Neuromancer 6. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde 7. The Awakening 8. The Yellow Wallpaper 9. The Nose 10. The Turn of the Screw. Number 10 was the only one close to not being worth consuming but I felt it to be a worthy read. Usually about one book of ten is not worth consuming but these all were. I expect I may be reading longer books for a while so my next entry may not occur for some time. However, I like to progress percentage-wise so I may read some shorter works also.

Sep 26, 08:15PM | 0 comments | Reply to this

Wisconsin08

From 5 to 6% — 4 years ago

I thought I would rank the books I read from most to least favorite of the last 10 I read:

1. Summer by Edith Wharton: very good, pre-automobile New England. Reads like a fantasy novel but with groups of humans, not fantasy races. Great author. 2. Heart of Darkness: like an impressionist painting creating partial images with good lighting and texture and it has meanings on multiple levels. 3. Death of Ivan Ilych 4. Ethan Fromme by Edith Wharton again 5. Poisonwood Bible: good follow up to Conrad’s Heart of Darkness because it also takes place in the Congo in the 1960’s to 1980’s 6. The Kreutzer Sonata: also by Tolstoy like Ivan.. is. 7. The Fox: good 8. Invisible Man, HG Wells’ 9. The Last September: written with great art and subtlety and 10. Foe by Coetzee which was the only one I felt not worth consuming which is too bad because he is a very great author. The book fizzled for me but I almost recommended it too. Now I’m going to read some longer works like Anna Karenina. See yah!

Aug 13, 06:31PM | 0 comments | Reply to this

GabeGrey

2006 version from source — 4 years ago

Here’s the 2006 version, with no changes, if anyone is interested.

http://www.listsofbests.com/list/55126

Aug 10, 02:12AM | 0 comments | Reply to this

buocl

In case anyone is looking for the 2008 version — 4 years ago

I am creating it now. I hope to be done by the end of the week, but no later than next week.

http://www.listsofbests.com/list/57568

Jul 17, 06:29AM | 2 comments | Reply to this

Wisconsin08

From 4 to 5 Percent — 4 years ago

I read whatever strikes my fancy at the time from the list. I just went from 4 to 5 percent reading Watt by Samuel Beckett. This book was the only one of the last 10 not worth consuming as it was rambling, obsessive-compulsive rubbish in my view. However, with the passage of time I am enjoying it more now as I think about it more. I read some really awesome books to get to 5 percent including Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, Lord of the Flies (a reread), Don Quixote, Disgrace, and To Kill a Mockingbird to name some. On the Road was a bit overrated but enjoyable and so was Stranger in a Strange Land. Happy Reading!

Jul 15, 08:53PM | 0 comments | Reply to this

Chuchotement

So, just out of curiosity.... — 4 years ago

…how is everyone going about reading through the list? Chronological order? Reverse chronological? Alphabetical? Whatever first strikes your fancy?

My methods are a bit more practical; I bought the books I stumbled upon at white elephant sales first. shrugs They were meant to be…ha.

Jul 12, 08:08PM | 4 comments | Reply to this

Deanne Beech

The list — 4 years ago

Just gone through and sorted out the list, fortunately have a print out of the list which is in the correct order.

At the moment all 1001 books are there and in the right order

Jun 23, 08:35PM | 2 comments | Reply to this

Plekter

what happened — 4 years ago

err….what happened to the list?

Jun 23, 05:11AM | 1 comment | Reply to this


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