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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 137
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member
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 137 |
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury (Because I haven't)
Light on Yoga by BKS Iyengar (more reading than I expected)
Goose Music by Richard Horan (recommended by a friend)
Dealing with Dragons by Patricia Wrede (also recommended, reading with my children)
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
Nice to see you, ladymoon!  I finally finished Snow Crash. The basic premise was interesting enough: that, milennia ago, a part of all humans' brains was "hard-wired" to share a common language; then the Sumerians discovered a secret speech that caused a new "branch" to form, and from there on, languages diverged. Mr. Stephenson's Protagonist described this secret speech as a virus. I was rather put off by the style. The stereotypes were so overdone that I suspected he must be spoofing someone (possibly himself?) or some genre; and that seldom goes down well, with me. Give me a nice, straight, believable story any time. I intend to get back to Grendl, if I can steal it back from my daughter.
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Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 1,526
veteran
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veteran
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 1,526 |
"Dear wow your old saying is an old wives tale. It was not for agreeing to disagree that the Second World War was fought. This board becomes mere chat if the exchange of ideas are not offered for the purpose of resolution. Men of goodwill without a life in search of truths are self-righteous buffoons who disgrace the human species. What's more, they rarely have a sense of humor."
Mil,
The saying referred to "people of good will." I don't think the germans of world war ii were acting with good will. England and France both failed to live up to their treaty obligations (insteading of squashing Hitler at the start) and the behavior of neither the US nor the USSR was noble - although they may have been legitimate political reasons all around. (I'm referring to the governments of these countries and not to the individuals who fought.) I've only read one book on this subject and I can't claim to be an expert on it. Even if I remember the details fully and correctly, a single book wouldn't make my opinion worth a hill of beans. Still, even if you disagree with my last few lines, I think you will agree with the first -- that the German leadership was a nasty lot, none of whom could remotely be included in the set of people comprised of "men of good will."
k
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,819
Pooh-Bah
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OP
Pooh-Bah
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,819 |
Back to books, I have abandoned The Club Dumas for now and have begun The Big Sleep. The Club Dumas was getting a little too self-referential, and reminded me of those films that spoof horror movies. The Big Sleep has been fun so far; I am definitely enjoying the dialogue more than the plot at this point though.
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Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 2,636
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 2,636 |
I am about halfway through A Man by Oriana Fallaci. Anyone here read it?
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 771
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 771 |
No, but I've finally been shamed into reading The Lord of the Rings. I'm almost done with Fellowship, and I'm told that I have to finish The Two Towers before the movie comes out... I'll probably break it up a little, I got Elephantoms: Tracking the Elephant at the library, and I'll need some non-fiction for balance!
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Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 5
stranger
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stranger
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 5 |
Ahh...Lord of the Rings. A favorite of mine. I generally dislike fantasy, but the complexity and depth of the series captured my attention, and I found the appendices interesting. The 'Sherlock Holmes' series by Sir Conan Doyle was engaging, but it took very little time to zip through it. Now am on the look out for 'The Lost World'. Too bad our library is so poorly suppeditated.
For non-fiction, "The Piltdown Man: Unraveling the Scientific Fraud of the Century" was well done ( I would not trust my memory of the exact title, though).
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Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 2,636
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 2,636 |
Welcome, Verbarian. Thanks for the warning!  Here's what you were trying to remember: Unraveling Piltdown: The Science Fraud of the Century and Its Solution by John Evangelist Walsh (Random House, 1996) While I was looking for that, I ran across this: http://www.artistdirect.com/music/artist/card/0,,479623,00.htmlYet another fraud!
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Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 1,526
veteran
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veteran
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 1,526 |
Finished Les Miserables this morning.
I don't recall having seen the word 'assize' previously. It was the word of the day a week or two or maybe three ago. I then noticed it two or three times in the book.
I saw the musical years ago (14, perhaps more) and it seems to hold quite true to the book up till the end. Turns out Jean Val Jean really hates Marius at first, but saves him anyway (carts his unconscious body through the Paris Sewer). Also, Monsieur Jean lives for four or more months after the battle at the barricade, sees Marius and Cossette married, gives them a large inheritance, and confesses to Marius that he is 'an old convict.' Marius, not understanding the situation fully, comes to detest Jean, and schemes to make him very uncomfortable when visiting Cossette. Jean quits coming to visit the house and dies not of wounds, but of a broken heart. Just before Jean keels over, the inn-keeper, Thenardier comes to Marius to try to extort money from him, and this is when Marius realizes how noble Jean really is. He rushes immediately with Cossette to see Jean - just in time to witness JVJ's last moments.
I'm a little pissed off right now thinking what a waste it was and what an ass Jean was attempting to extricate himself from their lives and in the process killing himself.
k
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Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,467
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 3,467 |
My sister-in-law is a librarian in a small town in western NC, and reports that some years ago a woman returned a stack of books and said, "I just loved this one, but I couldn't figure out who Les was." Liz looked down at the top of the stack. Yep, a copy of Les Miserables.
True story. (Would I make up something like that??)
TEd
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