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

With more than 1300 list books it can be overwhelming to find good books, and I think unfortunately many of us only read the more famous books on the list and miss out on a lot of really good books. So please use this thread to promote some of the lesser known works on the list.

So, if you exclude all the famous and popular books on the list, which of the lesser known books are your favourites?


Among my favourites are The Knot Of Vipers by the French author François Mauriac and Transit by the German author Anna Seghers.
There are several other lesser known books on the list that in my opinion deserve more attention, so will come back later with more.
Looking forward to your recommendations!

I dont know if its lesser known, but it says it only has 374 ratings. but I thought it was pretty good and it's pretty short for someone who wants to knock out a quick one. It took me only a couple of days to read. It's a really good, dry, absurd humor that I like.

Chad E Spilman wrote: "I dont know if its lesser known, but it says it only has 374 ratings. but I thought it was pretty good and it's pretty short for someone who wants to knock out a quick one. It took me only a couple..."

Which book are you referring to, Chad?

oh sorry, hahaha, I meant to mention Memoirs of Martinus Scriblerus

I loved A Ballad for Georg Henig by Viktor Paskov who is from Bulgaria, and evidently wrote it in Bulgarian. A really charming story. I convinced my partner to read it and she also liked it a lot. It has about 3000 ratings so not one oe the least-known but not well-known. It is pretty short also.

The Museum of Unconditional Surrender was mine. Loved it and never would have even heard of it if not for the list. I had some trouble trying to track down a copy of it too.

I enjoyed The Life and Death of Harriett Frean It was sad, but I enjoyed it in that she was kind of set up to fail by her parents and figures out that she could have lived her life differently by the end.

I really enjoyed Erewhon by Samuel Butler, and So Long a Letter by Mariama Bâ -- both books I'd likely never have read without this list.

I really love VS Naipaul's work - I wouldn't have come across them without the list. A Bend in the River has quite high ratings, but In a Free State, has just over 5000. I also loved So Long a Letter and Martinus Scriblerus.