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BookJumper

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  1. Awesomesauce stir-fry: chopped up apple sausages, mushroom medley, sweet chilli peppers, coconut milk & butter chicken sauce mixed in with three types of pasta (chilli penne, tricolour fusilli and cannellini, since you ask). It was absolutely YUMMY, particularly considering it was the first meal I've made from scratch since moving here in October and was rather fearing I'd forgotten how to cook... :blush:!

     

  2. Having been doing these every Thursday night since October, it's only just dawned on me that play readings - where people from uni gather in wonky circle to act out Renaissance plays with a wine break between acts III and IV* - might just count as book activities, I read A Game at Chess by Thomas Middleton today.

     

    Verdict: pure genius - the play's histerical, and immensely followable even though it's an allegory of the England-Spain rivalry played by actual chess pieces.

     

    * wine = better (perception of) performances all around :D!

  3. Disclaimer: I haven't slept since the last post, so it's totally still the same day :D!

     

    Note: I listened to the audiobook version as read by John Cleese. I am pretty convinced I would have liked the book regardless (sorry Janet :blush:), but I'd be lying if I didn't allow for the fact that Cleese's excellent delivery worked perfectly with the text to bring out every subtlety of humour.

    1. Who was your favourite character and why?

    Screwtape, easily. His observations regarding the human race were darkly humourous and always made me snigger.

    2. Was there a particular part you enjoyed/disliked more than the rest?

    I loved the idea of religious positivity being an offensive thing with punishability potential - it's the kind of ironic reversal that made the book all the more enjoyable for me.

    3. Was this the first book you've read in this genre/by this author, has it encouraged you to read more?

    I only had the Narnia books read to me as a child, but this book has further inspired me to do what I've been meaning to do anyway, which is read Lewis's theological works (Mere Christianity etc.)

    4. Were there any parts/ideas you struggled with?

    Not really, no.

    5. Overall, did you find it an enjoyable experience?

    Very, I was both amused and thought-provoked throughout.

    6. What did you think the book was about?

    To me it was an embodiment (enbookment :cool:?) of the idea of "playing devil's advocate". I find the potentially bureaucratic nature of evil a concept as fascinating as it might at first appear silly - I've written a short story about it myself, even! - so it's a joy to see it realised so well here.

    8. Did the author seem to appear in the book? How? Why? Was the presence of the author disruptive? Or did it seem appropriate/fitting?

    As Janet remarked, Lewis is undoubtedly present as the whole thing concerns notions of good and evil that are key to the author's non-fiction. That said, because this presence constituted the very skeleton of the book, I don't think it could be construed to disrupt the narrative - if anything, it props up the narrative, because without Lewis's preoccupation with the problem of evil and so on, we would have no book.

     

    9. If one (or more) of the characters made a choice that had moral implications, would you have made the same decision? Why? Why not?

    The book's very particular in the sense that it is all about choices with moral implications, so it would be daft and herculean for me to try and answer the question literally. The book, I think, is designed to make one aware of the very concept of moral implications - it

    could be said that the biggest moral imperative one can glean from the book is the internalisation of the fact that every action, no matter how apparently trivial, is like a huge bat of butterfly wings in moral terms.

    10. Did the book affect you in a personal way, such as offending you or making you uncomfortable?

    Nah. Though it deals with serious themes, it's written so tongue-in-cheek I think one would need to be trying really hard to be offended or upset by it.

    11. Did you reassess your views on / gain a better understanding or new awareness of certain topics because of the novel?

    I wouldn't talk about a better understanding or new awareness as such, as I hold all of half a degree in philosophy and am therefore used to thinking about these topics (and saying things like "moral imperative." Hello again, Immanuel Kant, where have you been the past three years?). I don't seem to have changed my views on things like human agency in the grand cosmic scheme of things, however I've given them a good reassessing and (as mentioned in question 9) I do think that was kind of the point of the exercise at hand.

    12. If the book was written some time in the past, do you feel that it was dated well? Have things changed drastically since then?

    My version even contained a preface in which Lewis explained, amongst other things, that he had not tried to situate the "correspondence" in human time, which proved my gut instinct I.e. that temporal location isn't really the book's point at all. Stylistically, I would say it hasn't aged at all, it reads very fresh and could to my mind easily have been written by a contemporary satirist.

     

    13. What kind of person would you recommend this book to?

    Apart from just about all my ex philosophy classmates (in particular the *groan* determinists), I would really say anyone with a supernatural interest and a zany sense of humour - which pretty much describes all of my friends, ever.

    14. If you were writing a sequel, what would you plan for the characters?

    Writer Giu needs more time to elaborate a proper answer to his one - you'll get that tomorrow!

  4. Interestingly I acquired the first season of Dexter earlier this month and have been meaning to make a start on it ever since; your glowing recommendation seems to prompt me further.
    'I know not "seems" ' (quot.) :lol:!

     

    Seriously though, there's no two ways about it, it is an absolutely stunning series in every possible respect and you should start watching it yesterday. It takes a solid concept and makes it iron-proof with terrific scriptwriting, a real feel for setting and insanely good acting. It's beaten only by Supernatural (you're taking notes, I hope) in terms of being a show that transcends the whole Monster of the Week format to become a much grander parable about (in)humanity peopled with characters you laugh, cry, clap in glee and rip your hair out for. I'm happy when they're happy, sad when they're sad. No greater compliment exists, really.

     

    Argh! They're only airing season 4 over here. Specifically, I watched episode 7 last night. Still, I guess it's good to know that I have loads of great Dexter ahead of me.

    How darling of you, you're actually assuming I'm watching these on the telly :D /conspiratorial whisper.
  5. It is assumed that you have read the book before reading posts in this thread, as the discussion might give away crucial points, and the continuous use of spoiler tags might hinder fluent reading of posts.



     

     

    The Screwtape Letter by C.S. Lewis

    Synopsis

     

    A masterpiece of satire, this classic has entertained and enlightened readers the world over with its sly and ironic portrayal of human life and foibles from the vantage point of Screwtape, a highly placed assistant to 'Our Father Below'. At once wildly comic, deadly serious and strikingly original, C.S. Lewis gives us the correspondence of the worldly wise old devil to his nephew Wormwood, a novice demon in charge of securing the damnation of an ordinary young man. Dedicated to Lewis's friend and colleague J.R.R. Tolkien, The Screwtape Letters is the most engaging account of temptation -- and triumph over it -- ever written.

     

     

    Basic Questions #1

    nicked from Kell

     

    1. Who was your favourite character and why?

    2. Was there a particular part you enjoyed/disliked more than the rest?

    3. Was this the first book you've read in this genre/by this author, has it encouraged you to read more?

    4. Were there any parts/ideas you struggled with?

    5. Overall, did you find it an enjoyable experience?

     

    Basic Questions #2

    nabbed from Classic Lit

     

    6. What did you think the book was about?

    8. Did the author seem to appear in the book? How? Why? Was the presence of the author disruptive? Or did it seem appropriate/fitting?

    9. If one (or more) of the characters made a choice that had moral implications, would you have made the same decision? Why? Why not?

     

    Basic Questions #3

    borrowed from The Reading Club (UK)

     

    10. Did the book affect you in a personal way, such as offending you or making you uncomfortable?

    11. Did you reassess your views on / gain a better understanding or new awareness of certain topics because of the novel?

    12. If the book was written some time in the past, do you feel that it was dated well? Have things changed drastically since then?

    13. What kind of person would you recommend this book to?

    14. If you were writing a sequel, what would you plan for the characters?

     

     

     

    I'm currently rushing off to class so I will be back tonight with my answers, in the meantime - get stuck in :) I look forward to discussing our new book with you all!

  6. One of Us Is Gonna Die Young - The Ark.

     

    The more I listen to this band the less I can't believe that they're not more well known, they just sound so unashamedly good and Ola Salo is such an excitingly fresh yet classical-rock inspired songwriter. He once said in a very clever interview that 'if listening to one of our songs makes you feel happy, you've got the message of the song' and I'm pleased to report that their songs do make me feel happy. Even the depressing ones.

  7. Dexter, Season 5, episode 7. *tears hair out* this is getting more intense every episode, on one hand I can barely bare to watch, on the other hand it's so good I wouldn't miss it for the world. I keep being blown away by how good the writing and acting is, this show is really something else.

  8. I bought The Life and Death of King John by Shakespeare today - in readiness for (hopefully!) seeing it on Saturday 26 March at Stratford!

    *desperately looks for a Facebookish "like" button. I so hope you like it - it's definitely not one of Billy's real blockbusters but I think it deserves more recognition than is usually given to it, there's some real fabulous dialogue and 99% of the characters are really great to hate :D!

     

    Just finished One Of Our Thursdays Is Missing. Not sure what I'll read next ...

    Ended up recommending this to two uni friends today as we were conversing on metanarrativeness, one of them actually took notes so I hope to have made a convert...!

     

    Raided Waterstones!! Finally bought 1001 books you must read before you die. Had a skim through and found myself disagreeing already. Any list that misses out the Iliad and the Odyssey is incomplete!!

    Agreed.
  9. Jealous #2. James makes me think things I couldn't possibly post :D and his voice is just to die for, he's such a good singer as well as such a talented & drop-dead gorgeous bloke... what more could one ask for?!

  10. We had a little chat (mostly with me gushing and probably embarrasing the life out of him)
    It was exciting for me just to read about your story about meeting him (wow, he's really good looking). I hope he comes to Australia one day. I wouldn't have a clue what to say to him though. I'd probably grin like an idiot and just say 'hello' and 'thank you'.
    sure I said some pretty stupid things, I'm only surprised that I didn't fall down at his feet. I could have listened to him forever, he was just so interesting.

    Isn't he just gorgeous?! I thought he looked like a redhead version of Hugh Laurie, which is a yummy association and just fine my me. Add to that how much I respect him as a fellow writer and you'll get why I still can't believe the things I said to him last year before running off with burning cheeks :blush: must be on my very best behaviour this year or I might be blogged about as 'this crazy girl from the Midlands against whom I'm thinking of taking a restraining order'...!

     

    They were also publicising an event called 'Fforde Fiesta' .. which takes place in May I think and is a celebration of his books (the event is best described as random) .. it get's booked up pretty quickly apparently.

    I want to go to this so badly. Anyone willing to go halvsies on a minor bank robbery?

     

    What a wonderful trip, and a fabulous surprise. Please tell Alan I am nominating him for the BCF Gorgeous Surpriser 2011!
    Nomination seconded!

     

    I've put them on my reading blog, Frankie .. I thought I'd been good and stuck to my lists but now I've typed them up I see I did a bit too much freestyling!
    No such thing as too much freestyling *toddles off to peek at your pretty pictures & lists*!
  11. When my scanner decides to cooperate once more, I have to show you guys the 'vouchers' made by my sister which I've started using as bookmarks. As she has a job and I don't, she tends to treat me to trips / experiences / things for Christmas and birthdays, and as she's very art-y she always crafts beautiful glossy colour postcard-sized vouchers detailing just what my gift includes. They're really pretty and they remind me of a sister who loves me :).

  12. I have just finished Jasmyn - Alex Bell it was a lovely story loosely based on the swan fairytales (you know the swan maidens) and its partly set in the most beautiful fairytale castle I have ever seen Neuschwanstein in Bavaria

    Oooh! I'm so glad to hear this, Bell is an author I'd never heard about whose books keep trying to jump out at me in bookshops :D also, Wild Swans is by far my favourite traditional fairytale, so I can see myself liking this one a lot. Have you read his Ninth Circle, by any chance, any idea if it's as good?
  13. Being Human.....ahhh Mitchel

    I know, isn't he just *nom*? Quite fond of George too, but in a more cuddlesome way. I'll be catching up on the BBC iPlayer in a sec, I was so dead yesterday I actually managed to fall asleep halfway through the episode. Shameful, I know.

     

    Supernatural. The boys are in Sioux Falls. When I heard that, I was like 'Abbyyyyyy!'
    You were not the only one. Abbyyyyyyyy!
  14. I am actually grateful for the spoiler, 'cos you've given away precisely the kind of moment that tells me I will love a book! Whatever Mieville was smoking I want in - even though I entirely chickened out of applying to do a Creative Writing PhD with him (he lectures at Warwick) because he scares me a little bit :lol:!

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