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NatTheWriter Since: Oct, 2011
#1201: Mar 3rd 2013 at 12:54:56 PM

So I'm doing my AP Lit senior thesis on Nabokov's Lolita and the characterization/treatment of Dolores Haze. I'm reading it now for the third time and...well. The whole thing is really fucking sad.

More and more uncomfortable did Humbert feel. It was something quite special, that feeling: an oppressive, hideous constraint as if I were sitting with the small ghost of somebody I had just killed.

Miss Cormorant cannot decide whether Dolly has exceptional emotional control or none at all. Miss Horn reports she—I mean, Dolly—cannot verbalize her emotions … The general impression is that fifteen-year-old Dolly remains morbidly uninterested in sexual matters, or to be exact, represses her curiosity in order to save her ignorance and self-dignity.

God.

edited 3rd Mar '13 12:55:26 PM by NatTheWriter

MarqFJA The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer from Deserts of the Middle East (Before Recorded History) Relationship Status: Anime is my true love
The Cosmopolitan Fictioneer
#1202: Apr 17th 2013 at 12:10:26 PM

Does anyone know if Little Red Riding Hood's title character is in the public domain?

edited 17th Apr '13 12:10:34 PM by MarqFJA

Fiat iustitia, et pereat mundus.
majoraoftime (4 Score & 7 Years Ago)
#1203: Apr 17th 2013 at 12:19:31 PM

I can't think of any reason it wouldn't be.

Ninety Absolutely no relation to NLK from Land of Quakes and Hills Since: Nov, 2012 Relationship Status: In Spades with myself
Absolutely no relation to NLK
#1204: May 4th 2013 at 3:04:24 PM

Just finished Rx: A Tale of Electronegativity by Robert Brockway. I'm still processing the ending.

edited 4th May '13 3:04:30 PM by Ninety

Dopants: He meant what he said and he said what he meant, a Ninety is faithful 100%.
UltimatelySubjective Since: Jun, 2011
#1205: May 9th 2013 at 11:11:04 PM

English teachers are scary. Mine keeps recommending the class classic literature, attempting to sell it with the prose alone.

The fact that I was the only one who could tell him where the first line of A Tale of Two Cities came from probably should have tipped him off to his audience level (which to be fair includes some people whose first language is not English).

It's like it doesn't even occur to him that not everyone may be able to enjoy books like that.

How many classic books is your modern reader actually going to enjoy? Without having to have things explained to them?

Colourful metaphors and concise yet beautiful language aren't going to get me through a book I can't really relate to which is absolutely pre-postmodernism.

edited 9th May '13 11:19:29 PM by UltimatelySubjective

asterism from the place I'm at Since: Apr, 2011 Relationship Status: Hoping Senpai notices me
#1206: May 10th 2013 at 12:05:54 AM

The Count of Monte Cristo is pretty awesome. If you like a book that's full of people being awful to each other, then there's Dangerous Liaisons.

Bewitching Eyes
Yuanchosaan antic disposition from Australia Since: Jan, 2010
antic disposition
#1207: May 10th 2013 at 2:03:26 AM

Depends how you define "classic literature". I really hate how it's used normally: lumping everything old, famous and critically acclaimed into one group, which is then presented as a dreary challenge to students. Think about the variety of books written each year, and then consider that you are treating a collection of works written over centuries as one homogeneous group. There are plenty of "classic" works which are accessible and interesting: The Three Musketeers, Nineteen Eighty-four, Gulliver's Travels, the works of Mark Twain, Kurt Vonnegut, Jules Verne and P. G. Wodehouse...

What's wrong with the teacher recommending those works to people who aren't familiar with them? Surely that's the entire point: exposing people to new works and expanding their taste. No one starts off by reading Nabokov, so as long as the teacher is aware of the reading level of his class, it seems like a good idea to me. There is such a wide body of amazing literature out there, and it saddens me to see readers avoid it due to silly preconceptions.

"Doctor Who means never having to say you're kidding." - Bocaj
UltimatelySubjective Since: Jun, 2011
#1208: May 10th 2013 at 11:03:12 PM

Well, It can be harder to get into older stories. Consider the forward march of values, science and the art of writing.

There are a handful of truly timeless books but they are relatively few.

As I mentioned, I doubt he's thinking about the class level, and recommends stuff based on the writing and nothing else.

It's like someone recommending a movie based on nothing but the cinematography.

edited 10th May '13 11:07:16 PM by UltimatelySubjective

KnightofNASA Since: Jan, 2013
#1209: May 12th 2013 at 12:32:25 AM

Hm, so Inferno is coming out soon.

Let the mistakes rain down. *puts on "for history use only" glasses, brings out history textbook, takes out Shingeki no Kyojin*

CassidyTheDevil Since: Jan, 2013
#1210: May 15th 2013 at 12:12:54 PM

Why do critics categorize all fantasy books for kids as "a Harry Potter ripoff", when actually they're pretty different?

asterism from the place I'm at Since: Apr, 2011 Relationship Status: Hoping Senpai notices me
SKJAM Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: Baby don't hurt me!
#1212: May 18th 2013 at 3:19:19 AM

Also, Shallow Reference Pools. Harry Potter forced them to admit that children's/young adult fantasy even existed, so they'll compare everything to that. Just like every parsnormal romance book is compared to Twilight no matter how much the other ones don't resemble it.

StreamofConsciousness Since: Mar, 2011
#1213: May 18th 2013 at 3:51:00 PM

Just finished Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami. I'll be tackling Dance Dance Dance, The Infinity of Lists, and David Foster Wallace's Oblivion next.

SKJAM Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: Baby don't hurt me!
Iaculus Pronounced YAK-you-luss from England Since: May, 2010
Pronounced YAK-you-luss
#1215: May 19th 2013 at 1:35:14 PM

[up][up]Opinion?

What's precedent ever done for us?
KnightofNASA Since: Jan, 2013
#1216: May 19th 2013 at 11:45:42 PM

Reading Inferno. Reminded me of the horror of reading A Midsummer Night's Dream during middle school while other ELA classes gets to read Hobbit or House of Scorpion.

JHM Apparition in the Woods from Niemandswasser Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: Hounds of love are hunting
Ninety Absolutely no relation to NLK from Land of Quakes and Hills Since: Nov, 2012 Relationship Status: In Spades with myself
Absolutely no relation to NLK
#1218: May 21st 2013 at 4:06:01 PM

I liked it. Read it years ago though.

Dopants: He meant what he said and he said what he meant, a Ninety is faithful 100%.
KnightofNASA Since: Jan, 2013
#1219: May 21st 2013 at 9:33:45 PM

The book isn't bad. We have a Everyone Is Jesus in Purgatory turned Up To Eleven teacher. The process of reading is painfully slow due to it been middle school and all.

I regret choosing Hippolyta over Puck.

darkabomination Since: Mar, 2012
#1220: May 22nd 2013 at 10:25:54 AM

As for classics, I prefer the gothic, works based on court politics, or the darker material dealing with war and everyday life.

It's rather sad no one reads Carmilla anymore. An accessible short novel that has the good horror of Dracula while getting to it's point without the padding.

Dear lord, the padding some older books have is truly something to behold.

KnightofNASA Since: Jan, 2013
#1221: Jun 30th 2013 at 4:48:27 AM

Starting on Keigo Higashino's White Night after finishing Salvation of a Saint and the TV adaption. Is there English translations for his work? No trope page for this guy? I actually thought Higashino was a woman at first.

Tried out Critical a few days back. Copy and paste plot from Fate/Stay Night, purple prose writing, Mary Sue character. I want to throw the book out, but alas, it is not mines.

Misuki Full Time Bookworm from Clown Country (USA) (Long Runner) Relationship Status: One Is The Loneliest Number
Full Time Bookworm
#1222: Jul 9th 2013 at 5:28:23 AM

I just finished Discworld's The Last Continent and added a WMG to its page! Now I'm reading Unseen Academicals, since I couldn't find The Last Hero anywhere on my Nook color!

So far, so good.

"The three rules of the librarians of time and space: silence; books must be returned on time; no interfering with the nature of causality."
Drakyndra Her with the hat from Somewhere Since: Jan, 2001
Her with the hat
#1223: Jul 13th 2013 at 7:55:16 PM

So apparently JK Rowling secretly published a detective novel under a fake name earlier this year.

It also apparently got fairly good reviews, too. *adds to wishlist*

The owner of this account is temporarily unavailable. Please leave your number and call again later.
KnightofNASA Since: Jan, 2013
#1224: Aug 19th 2013 at 7:05:39 AM

Finished Worldshaker, and now starting on Demonata.

SKJAM Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: Baby don't hurt me!
#1225: Aug 26th 2013 at 1:20:55 PM

Non-fiction, but here's my review of "Wrapped in the Flag: A Personal History of America's Radical Right" by Claire Conner. It's about her life growing up as the daughter of the John Birch Society's most fervent supporters, and the legacy their organization has left for us.

http://www.skjam.com/2013/08/26/book-review-wrapped-in-the-flag-a-personal-history-of-americas-radical-right/

Published today, and it's already in my top ten blog articles ever!

eta: You can win that book, or one of six others, at my Autumn Giveaway (ends 9/30/13).

http://www.skjam.com/2013/09/16/giveaway-autumn-giveaway-ends-september-30-2013/

edited 16th Sep '13 7:29:27 AM by SKJAM


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