The Modern Library 100 Best Novels Challenge discussion

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October 2009 - Post comments here!

still waiting for this to arrive

I actually read this last spring, just because I had picked it up in a used bookstore. I'll wait until others have read it to post comments.

I have this coming from the library. Should be here this week. I cant wait. I have seen the movie many years ago and have never read the book.

I just read this one in the past year so I am not going to reread it. The book is incredibly disturbing, and I vividly remember watching the movie in 7th grade Honors English. It terrified me! My sister and I watched the movie again this summer (thank you Netflix) and while it didn't have the SAME kind of terror as it did the first time, it was still incredible bizarre and eerie. Make sure you look for religious symbolism as you read...and the title is from a famous Shakespearean play. :)

This has just arrived and I am looking forward to reading it.

started this a few days ago. I had high hopes and really liked it. But I hit a wall at 160 pages in and I have to take a break and read something else for a little while. I will finish.

I downloaded this on my iPod, which is a first for me. I set out on a walk tonight and my first complaint is the earbuds don't want to stay in my ears. Then, neighbors want to stop and talk to me. Next, I get about a mile from home and the bottom drops out on me and I get drenched. By the time I got home, I wasn't sure what I listened to. I think I'm going to have to work on being a better listener.

Lisa: that is very funny. I just tried to listen to an audiobook again this weekend...I like the concept, but I just can't get it done. My problems are similar--punctuated by ADHD and NO listening comprehension. However I was listening to The Brief Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao...I kept wondering how to spell the fuuukuuuu, and would forget to listen to what was being said. Maybe I should just try another story.

I think there really must be an art to listening to audiobooks. On my next attempt I'll try walking through the park. I'm afraid with my luck, if I try the neighborhood again I'll get hit by a car.

I am listening to this on audiobook and am really enjoying it. It would be a good one to read, too, though. Bradbury's crazy word usage is so wonderful! He uses nouns as adjectives, and adjectives as verbs, and while the strings of words themselves don't seem to make any sense, I really get a perfect visual of what he's trying to say. Why haven't I been reading his books all my life? The story is perfectly creepy and dark and wonderful for fall. I have some issues with the narrators voice in my audio version--great narration and great, great job with the voice of Mr. Cougar, however the voice he uses for the kids sometimes, and for the seventh grade teacher just grates. I'm excited for my evening commute so I can get back to the story.

Well I just finished this, and I have to say it lost some momentum about halfway through. It just ended up seeming very long. I think it might have been more effective as a short story. Again, I loved Bradbury's writing style and I thought the story line was great. I just found myself unable to concentrate at some parts where he is very long-winded in his philisophical discussions about life, death, youth and old age. All in all, I did enjoy this, and agree with Stephanie's comment that it would be great to see this made into an artsy film. This has piqued my interest in Bradbury, and I've added some other books of his to my shelf as a result.

I finally ordered this one from Alibris after not finding it in any local used book stores. I should get it next week.

I have to agree with Jenn. Halfway in and I really liked this book then it really started to drag. I am not a fan of the writing style at all.

I've read the book twice - years ago, and then last spring. Like others, I liked the book to start with and then lost interest. I think I liked it better the first time, years ago. I think the problem, partially, is the dated story -- we've gotten ourselves used to stranger stories and stories where the plot lines move quicker.

I just started this one this morning and I like it so far. Hopefully I'll appreciate the second half as well as the first.

I really enjoyed this, and personally I liked his writing style so much that I had to keep going back and re-reading phrases and paragraphs just to admire them. It certainly does read like a film festival movie. Have to disagree with those who thought it lost momentum-but probably helped to have read it in almost one sitting (in an airport of course, don't usually have that much time).

Thanks for this update Sunflower. I was beginning to have my doubts after reading all the earlier opinions. I've read several other books by Bradbury and have liked them all. I thought the first chapter in this book was really good. It does read like it was made for the big screen to me.

Yes, don't be put off by the negative reviews. Each to their own, and at least somebody must have loved it to put it on the 100 best novels list? I have found that bits of this book float back into my mind at odd times, too-always the sign of a good one for me.

I finished this one at lunch today. What a great little read! I really liked the "action" and "movement" of his words. I found myself re-reading phrases and passages as well. I remember reading at least the first several chapters of this book a LOoong time ago. But I'm pretty sure I never finished it because the ending was new to me. I'm glad I got around to reading it again.

I finished this and enjoyed it. Carnivals always seem to have a creepy deviant feel, don't they? That witch and the slimy balloon... Yikes!

I liked the yin/yang of Will & Jim and power of love and forgiveness Will's father demonstrates.

Ditto Sunflower:
"I have found that bits of this book float back into my mind at odd times, too-always the sign of a good one for me. "

I finished listening to this on my iPod a few days ago. I liked the story for it's sinister carnivalesque plot, but I was never really drawn into the tale. It may be because I listened to it on audio, so my experience of it was different. I admit this was a learning experience for me, because it was the first audiobook I have tried. I found it hard to focus my attention on listening. I don't think I want to ride any merry-go-rounds or enter any house of mirrors anytime soon.

Well I tried Something Wicked This Way Comes but gave up. The story didn't grab me at all. The writing style bored me to tears.

Lisa wrote: "I finished listening to this on my iPod a few days ago. I liked the story for it's sinister carnivalesque plot, but I was never really drawn into the tale. It may be because I listened to it on a..."

No, I read this in print and it didn't grab me either.