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Post by Lawrence on Aug 29, 2010 22:32:31 GMT
The Tom Bombadil section and the rest of the first half of FOTR does drag on but LOTR is really great if you stick with it...
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Post by Rosie The Red on Aug 29, 2010 22:38:08 GMT
^I got just past the end of Tom Bombadil, back onto the road again, then stopped. Maybe I'll go back to it sometime, when I'm feeling patient.
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Post by tarantella on Aug 30, 2010 4:22:02 GMT
I liked The Hobbit better than LotR, but then again I'm not a huge fan of either. I used to love reading classics, but unfortunately I'm a much slower and less enthusiastic reader now than I was when I was twelve.
I'm just taking it slow for now, reading short novels and plays. I'm finishing up Voltaire's Candide, which is probably great if you're a philosophy major and mildly amusing if you're not. I'm also getting started on some Sartre plays, which I'm much more excited about.
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Post by naaaat on Aug 30, 2010 13:08:28 GMT
Pride and Prejudice! I decided it was about time I read some actual literature. It's pretty hard going, but i'm getting through it. It's a little drab for me, but it least it's actually going places. It gets easier (and more interesting!) the further you get through it, Rhi I never really started reading actual 'classics' until I got to about 17 because I didn't really 'get' them on my own Next on my 'to read' list is probably Jane Eyre, I've had it since I was about 10 but never got past about Chapter 9, here goes!
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Post by wasabi87 on Aug 30, 2010 20:22:51 GMT
I almost finished "Obsession" by Simon Beckett, and I really like it ;D (like all of his books)
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Post by allison on Aug 30, 2010 21:27:04 GMT
Wow, rhi, you're brave - I started that book but couldn't get past the third chapter. So boring. Based on that attempt, and the one I read all the way through (something Manor, I think), I hate Jane Austen. Brontes FTW! The Tennant of Wildfell Hall (by Anne) and Villette (by Charlotte) are my favorites. I highly reccommend them both.
I'm starting The Foreign Legion, a collection of pieces by Clarice Lispektor.
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Post by mimicry on Sept 1, 2010 1:08:46 GMT
Yeah, Brontes > Austen. Pretty much.
I've been working my way through Isak Dinesen's Seven Gothic Tales and I like it so far. There are parts that are overblown and melodramatic, but you have to roll with it because it has gothic right in the title, you know?
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Post by husbandwifeheroin on Sept 1, 2010 11:46:52 GMT
Mysterious Skin by Scott Heim.
In the back is written: Lolita Sunday Aug 2 9:00pm on showtime
Previous owner <3d child abuse
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Post by wanderer on Sept 10, 2010 14:33:08 GMT
I'm back at college hence back to reading on busses/between classes/etc. I started 'What I Was’ by Meg Rosoff but I’ve read it so many times and I know that the second half/ending unsettles/upsets me…so that’s still half-read on my bedside table.
I then started Caroline Fisher’s ‘Corbenic’ yesterday and found it so interesting I finished it in one day and all I can say is it’s AMAZING! I love the weave of Arthurian legend, modern life and madness! - Edit- I just realised that madness and Arthurian legends are my two favourive book subjects, and this combines them both, so 10/10! =D
I then started ‘This Is How I Live Now’ also by Meg Rosoff, which also distresses me a little but not so much.
I do really like Meg Rosoff’s imagination and writing style but it can be a bit distressing and upsetting…you feel too close to the characters then pained by the pain she puts them through. When I finish these though I need to go back and trawl the charity shops for more bargains.
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Post by Rhiflect on Sept 11, 2010 10:54:00 GMT
I am going to be reading that Meg Rosoff book soon!
How I Live Now is SO ODD.
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Post by lastgoodbye on Sept 12, 2010 11:56:57 GMT
I'm back at college hence back to reading on busses/between classes/etc. I started 'What I Was’ by Meg Rosoff but I’ve read it so many times and I know that the second half/ending unsettles/upsets me…so that’s still half-read on my bedside table. Awesome! I love Meg Rosoff, and What I Was is a beautiful book (I remember first time I read it, being sat up in the early hours of the morning, like OH, OH, OH when I got to the twist at the end), but How I Live Now is probably my favourite of hers. I messaged her once and she emailed me back, but I can't remember what we said to each other, haha. She's an awesome lady. Also, on the subject of Rhianne and Pride and Prejudice - perservere! I love Pride and Prejudice. It DOES take a long time to get into, and maybe even a couple of reads (I've never read it without being taught it at the same time), but sometimes I find that books that you have to really try with, you end up with a deeper love for them. Also, once you get used to Austen's writing style you realise that she is actually VERY funny. Ahh, I love it. Ps. I'd reccomend the BBC adaptation with Colin Firth, as it's very faithful to the book, and just generally great.
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Post by Rhiflect on Sept 12, 2010 14:32:41 GMT
I need to find that! Just any adaptation would be good at the moment. I am getting there now, although i'm not sure how much I like Elizabeth. She's a good woman and has a very progressive outlook (i hope you know what i mean) but she's so unforgiving and stubborn, which I find very difficult to understand in people because i'm so much the opposite (i'm not insulting people here, by the way. I'm TOO forgiving etc etc).
But i'm keeping going!
Looking forward to the Meg Rosoff now.
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Post by victorinox on Sept 12, 2010 16:38:03 GMT
Just finished Raise High the Roof Beam, Carpenters/Seymour: An Introduction by J.D. Salinger aaand I thought the first section was hella boring, but kind of neat. The second part definitely includes some of the best sentences he's ever written which totally compensates. There were pages that I wanted to sauté and eat. Salinger is probably one of my favourite authors- does anyone else like/dislike him?
Oh, and now I'm rereading the rest of The Sun Also Rises by Hemingway and starting Haroun and the Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie because the cover was this really therapeutic blue colour.
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Post by wanderer on Sept 13, 2010 13:55:37 GMT
Meg Rosoff's writing is brilliant, in an unexpected way. I've finished those two now and ended up spending £7 on second hand books this morning. I got 'The Winter Book' by Tove Jansson which I am SOOO excited to start, 'A Clockwork orange' which I've meant to read for ages but never got around to, then several other 1960's/70's paperbacks.
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Post by thedreaming on Sept 16, 2010 18:16:51 GMT
I love Tove Jansson! "The Summer Book" is equally as good. I live only about 10 minutes away from the Moominworld Themepark, ha.
I'm at the end of my Summer of Steinbeck. I started with Of Mice and Men, which blew me away. It's a book that pulls you in early and carries you with it, it's beautiful, and haunting, and if your heart doesn't break a little then you are a robot. I re-read The Winter of Our Discontent, one of my favorite books, and read Tortilla Flat, which was a surprising 'meh' for me. I'm currently in the middle of the Grapes of Wrath. Any other Steinbeck fans?
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Post by jadeface on Sept 16, 2010 18:35:03 GMT
I am reading The curious case of the dog in the night time. People have told me to read it a lot, because of the way I write. HOWEVER, I'm not really reading it, more listening. Because the library only had the audio book. It's funny I feel like a child haha. Enjoying it so far, I love simple and fragmented writing, well, when it has a purpose.
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Post by lastgoodbye on Sept 16, 2010 21:22:56 GMT
I used to like that book, but we had to study it in lit class last year for our exam and it killed it. KILLED IT.
"The simple language represents Christophers autism. His use of diagrams represents Christophers autism. The prime numbered chapters represent Christophers autism." ETC
KILLED IT DEAD. It's a good book, but not for analysis.
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Post by Rhiflect on Sept 16, 2010 22:06:18 GMT
Yeah, I love it, so i'm pretty glad i'm not doing it for A Level.
The book i'm reading is super upsetting, because it's all about how a guy dreams the deaths of his loved ones, so all the main plot events are just the good characters dying! Sad times.
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Post by naaaat on Sept 18, 2010 21:39:59 GMT
I am going to be reading that Meg Rosoff book soon! How I Live Now is SO ODD. Absolutely LOVE that book! I remember reading it at 14ish when I was in a book review club at school (yeah, I was a really cool kid) and not being to express how much I loved it I've read her first three and I think she's got a new one coming soon? Yay Still reading Jane Eyre (definitely enjoying it more than I did at 10!) but have an exciting GIANT STACK of books waiting on my bedside table! I've got built in bookshelves in my uni bedroom next year so it'll be nice when they're filled
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Post by Rhiflect on Sept 19, 2010 11:39:06 GMT
Yeah, she's definitely one of the best writers for teens and in general out there. Although, if her next book features vampires I WILL retract that statement.
I've started What I Was. I didn't realise it was from a boy's point of view! It's v. beautiful.
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