After reading half-a-dozen or so novels I feel that I am beginning to be able to see differences between them and to see what makes them unique. For example one book that I have read (The Swimming Pool Library) sort of presented the gay man's fantasy... but with...
Read 1,000 Books
The Mill on the Floss
At 25 hours (700 pages), this was the longest novel I have read since starting this lifelong challenge. This book was written by George Eliot and was originally published in 1860. It is centred around the Tulliver family who owns a mill in a small town called St Oggs...
The Life of Pi
This book is about a young man (named Pi) from India whose family owns a zoo. They decide to pick up and leave to Canada for better opportunities - and bring many of their animals along with them. They all travel across the Pacific from India to Canada on a...
The Trial by Franz Kafka
I got about halfway through this book and thought "I don't even know what this protagonist is going to trial about... maybe I missed something". So I asked ChatGPT what he had been arrested for. ChatGPT said that the book never reveals the reason he is facing trial....
The Swimming Pool Library by Alan Hollinghurst
This book was about the homosexual experience at a certain time and place in history (England in the mid-twentieth century). This book is brimming with gay lust and I found reading it triggering at first. The main character was a mid-twenties gay aristocrat in England...
The End of the Affair by Graham Greene
I found this book very worthwhile precisely because it showed me what some of my triggers were. I've always thought if I had a girlfriend and she cheated on me I would kill the both of them. Such was how taboo I found adultery. But in this book (where the protagonist...
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
This book really grabbed my attention although though I found it triggering at times. I found the portrayal of the small-town south quite charming. It showed me a perspective on what life was like in another country at certain time in history and I liked it. It...