Boxall's 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die discussion

Time Frame: January 1, 2021 - December 31, 2021

A-Z Challenge: Locations Edition

Read a book from the combined 1001 book lists with a specific location name to fit for each letter of the alphabet. Each location must be a proper noun and begin with that letter of the alphabet. You may only use one location per book, but that location can be real or fictional. Locations may be, but are not limited to, countries, cities, villages, bodies of water, mountains, states, provinces, fictional realms, planets, etc. The entire book does not need to be set in the location, it merely needs to be mentioned by name somewhere within the book. This does not need to be done in a particular order. It's your challenge, and your rules.

Here are some examples using non-1001 books:
A: Austria in The Story of the Trapp Family Singers
B: Boston in Love Story
C: Caribbean or Cuba in Our Man in Havana
D: Dahomalia in Stand on Zanzibar

Set up your own personal topic in this thread to chart your progress.

Happy Reading!

This could be kind of fun. Do we have to read these in the alphabetical order of the locations? I just finished Journey to the West Vol. 3 and it had an “A” location in it but now I’m reading Kristin Lavransdatter and while it has lots of named locations, I don’t think it has a “B”.

James wrote: "This could be kind of fun. Do we have to read these in the alphabetical order of the locations? I just finished Journey to the West Vol. 3 and it had an “A” location in it but now I’m reading Krist..."

It's your challenge so you can do it however you want. Might be much more challenging to do it in order. Personally I plan to just make sure i get as many as I can without regard to order. I will start my thread with all the letters and fill them in as I read them with the edit button.

Great idea Sean. I think I’ll steal your idea.

I don't know if this is the right place but I'm reading Burmese days by Orwell. In the book the country is named Burma but now days it's called Myanmar. Is it ok to use Burma or should I use the name they call it now?

I think if you are going to use this book then it has to be Burma. The “rules” permit using any place mentioned in the book, whether real or not. In fact Burma is real but whatever, for right or wrong, it is named in the book. Myanmar however is not. Just one person’s opinion.

Mia wrote: "I don't know if this is the right place but I'm reading Burmese days by Orwell. In the book the country is named Burma but now days it's called Myanmar. Is it ok to use Burma or should I use the na..."

You can use any place name mentioned in the book.

James wrote: "I think if you are going to use this book then it has to be Burma. The “rules” permit using any place mentioned in the book, whether real or not. In fact Burma is real but whatever, for right or wr..."

This is what I was thinking about but I wasn't sure. Thank you :)

Diane wrote: "Read a book from the combined 1001 book lists..."

That's from the bookshelf https://www.goodreads.com/group/books..., or ?

Armin wrote: "Diane wrote: "Read a book from the combined 1001 book lists..."

That's from the bookshelf https://www.goodreads.com/group/books..., or ?"

Yes, or any book listed here: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Great, thanks. Then, let this party started :)

I found an X !!!

I thought this an interesting challenge. I try to record each location mentioned in a 1001 book I read. I first thought the Scrabble approach would be how I would tackle the letters - use the hard ones first. But, Scrabble is geared towards usage of a letter *anywhere* in a word. So, I found some letters harder, or easier, than their Scrabble counterparts. Like letter 'J' - an 8 on Scrabble, but it is readily obtained in books because many mentions of Japan. U is Scrabble point of 1, but is harder. Yes, there is United States, but often it is only mentioned as the States or America. United Kingdom is often Britain, or Great Britain, or England, not UK. Uruguay is harder to find in a book. Other than US or UK, I only found U in 2 books (Uzhavoor, and Upstate NY in The God of Small Things, then Union Station and Ulinth in The Blind Assassin).

Looking ahead. I figured that the hardest letter would be 'X'. followed by Q then Z (easier because of Zurich). Sure enough. I have read 25 books and finally found an 'X'. Actually, two locations of X in the same book. _The Blind Assassin_ by Margaret Atwood has both a real place Xanadu (now called Shangdu), and a fiction planet called Xenor (in the event you are more discriminating). BTW, this book has every letter... from Aa'A to Zycron (both imaginary places).

So, I am one book shy of reaching all 26 letters. Using the Scrabble approach, I left the letter 'L' which is found in almost all UK and US books with references to London. I have 7+ months to find London in a book, :-P

Harder letters:

I - Istanbul in Brideshead Revisited (has all letters, except Q U and X). Okay, I is easy with Italy, India, Ireland and Iceland (hard to find in a book, though), but I wanted something more obscure.

J - Japan in Around the World in Eighty Days (has almost all the letters; I read in 2021 before finding this challenge, so can't list all the letters/places). 3 different J's in The Blind Assassin. Jerusalem in Brideshead Revisited. Jefferson in The Sound and the Fury

K - Klagenfurt (Austria) in The Third Man. Katmandu in The House of the Spirits. Kentucky in Blood Meridian. Kenya in Brideshead Revisited. Key West in Breakfast at Tiffany’s.

O - Ossining in Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Some place other than Ohio or Oxford, One State is in _We_ by Zamyatin.

Q - Quebec in Last of the Mohicans. Quang Ngai in The Things They Carried. Quinlon in The God of Small Things. Queenstown in Around the World in Eighty Days.

X - Xanadu & Xenor in The Blind Assassin

Y - Yoknapatawpha (imaginary county) in The Sound and the Fury. Yuma is in Blood Meridian. I think Yemen is in Americanah. Yokohama in Around the World in Eighty Days

Z - Zurich in Franny and Zooey and Brideshead Revisited. Zycron in The Blind Assassin

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My personal approach, I can only use a place if it is mentioned itself. For example, I can use Germany, but not Germans. Japan but not Japanese... even though it is obvious those places exist. It shortens the available places.

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Books with fewest places thus far have been Sci-Fi:
We by Yevgeny Zamyatin.
Foundation by Isaac Asimov.

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FWIW, my lists look something like this after every book. This is The Blind Assassin

A. Aa’A. Atlantis, Atlantic Ocean, Arnprior, Avilion. Africa. Arn. Appian Way. Alph.
B. Berlin. Bourlon Wood. Buffalo. Boston. Buckingham Palace. Berlin. Babylon. Britain. Berengeria. Barcelona.
C. Canada. China. Chicago. Coliseum. Caribbean. Czecho-slavakia.
D. Dresden. Detroit. Detroit River.
E. Earth. Erie Street. England. Europe. Egypt. Eiffel Tower, Eurasia. Empire State Bldg.
F. Florida. France. Finger Lakes. Fort Ticonderaga. Flanders.
G. Greece. Germant. Greenland.
H. Halifax. Holland. Hudson's Bay. House of Parliament. Hades. Hollywood. Hell.
I. Italy. India.
J. Jogues River. Jubilee Bridge. Jericho.
K. Kingston. Kensington.
L. London (UK). Louveteau River. Lake Erie. London (Ontario). Lake of Bays. Lutetia.
M. Mars. Mesopotamia. Montreal. Maple Leaf Gardens. Mexico. Muskaka. Middle Earth. Munich. Mount Abora. Madrid.
N. New York (city and state). Nineveh. New Guinea. North America . Notre Dame. Niagara Falls. Nile
O. Ontario. Outer Space. Ottawa.
P. Paris. Port Ticonderaga. Pennsylvania. Port Hope. Portsmith Penitentiary. Palm Beach. Paradise. Panteon.
Q. Queen Mary (ship). Queen’s Park. Queen Street.
R. Rosedale. Rubicon. Rome. Russia. Royal York Hotel. Rajisthan. Rocky Mountains. Royal Ontario Museum. Rhineland.
S. Saturn. Sakiel-Norn. Stratford. South America. Somme. Sahara. Sweden. Sheba. Samarakand. Southampton. St. Peters. Spain. Siciliy.
T. Toronto. Trinity College. Troy. Tower of London. Tiber.
U, United States. Union Station. Ulinth (p351).
V. Vahalla. Vimy Ridge.
W. Winnipeg. Windsor. Westminster abbey. Waldorf-Astoria.
X. (Xanadu - Chapter Miss Violence, page 155, Mayfair article Feb 1936, and chapter title as well) (Xenor – planet Xenor, first on page 350).
Y. Ypres Salient.
Z. Zycron.

My list (all but L)

A Arizona Arkansas Abilene Alleghenies Algodones Alamo Mucho Blood Meridian Cormac McCarthy
B Bureau of Guardians We Yevgeny Zamyatin
C Christminster Jude the Obscure Thomas Hardy
D Dublin Ulysses James Joyce
E Ethiopia The Things They Carried Tim O’Brien
F Flanders All Quiet on the Western Front Erich Maria Remarque
G Gravesend, NH A Prayer for Owen Meany John Irving
H Hawaii The Island of Dr. Moreau H.G. Wells
I Istanbul Brideshead Revisited Evelyn Waugh
J Japan Around the World in Eighty Days Jules Verne
K Klagenfurt (Austria) The Third Man Graham Greene
L
M Marabar Caves A Passage to India E.M. Forster
N Nigeria Americanah Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
O Ossining Breakfast at Tiffany’s Truman Capote
P Philadelphia Ethan Frome Edith Wharton
Q Quebec Last of the Mohicans James Fenimore Cooper
R Rochester The God of Small Things Arundhati Roy
S Salinas Cannery Row John Steinbeck
T Terminus Foundation Isaac Asimov
U United States The House of the Spirits Isabel Allende
V Venice Death in Venice Thomas Mann
W West Sussex The Invisible Man H.G. Wells
X Xanadu (real) or Xenor (imaginary) The Blind Assassin Margaret Atwood
Y Yoknapatawpha The Sound and the Fury William Faulkner
Z Zurich Franny and Zooey J.D. Salinger

Kurt wrote: "I found an X !!!

I thought this an interesting challenge. I try to record each location mentioned in a 1001 book I read. I first thought the Scrabble approach would be how I would tackle the lette..."

Great job and great find! I have been sitting at 25 locations for quite some time. I am missing "X". Unfortunately, I have already read all three books I know of with an X location. I thought I had remembered a 1001 book with a Xanadu location, but I couldn't remember which one.

L Littlehampton Never Let Me Go

List finished Apr 21.

Kimberly's A to Z Challenge:

A: Antwerp: Cheese
B: Barsetshire: The Warden
C: Chiselhurst: The Sense of an Ending
D: Dublin: Girl with Green Eyes
E: Everglades: Their Eyes Were Watching God
F: Finland: The Summer Book
G: Germany: The Left-Handed Woman
H: Harlem: Passing
I: Istanbul: Blaming
J: Japan: The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter
K: Kent: Flaubert's Parrot
L: London: Momento Mori
M: Midaq Alley: Midaq Alley
N: New York: Miss Lonelyhearts
O: Oxfordshire: Love in a Cold Climate
P: Paris: Justine, or The Misfortunes of Virtue
Q:
R: Rio de Janeiro: The Hour of the Star
S: Stuyvesant Square: The Bunner Sisters
T: Tennessee: Wise Blood
U: United States: Anagrams
V: Vienna: The Third Man
W: Windsor Mansions: Disgrace
X:
Y: Yugoslavia: The Chess Story
Z: Zacatecas: The Underdogs

Probs wont even remotely complete this in the time of the year left, but it seems like fun, and i think i'll try and do as many as i can:

So far....

C - Cuba - The Old Man and the Sea
N- Nantucket, Moby-Dick or, the Whale
T - Toledo, The Pit and the Pendulum

Er...that's it so far. Pathetic really. I'm not an avid reader from the 1001 list, and i also have so much other stuff not on the list that I tend to read more (sci fi in particular, which is almost totally absent from the list). But we'll see...