poppy

I loved this book and the movie is one of my all time favourites. Perhaps because it's set against the sweeping Russian landscape and the turbulent overthrow of the monarchy, but I found it enthralling. I didn't so much look at Zhivago as a weak character, as someone trying to choose between the woman he loved and the woman he was married to. He chose to stay with his wife and children as the 'right thing' to do. I imagine that would be the harder choice and the least selfish one.

Thomas, who had taken a typing class at JFK, rolled a piece of paper into the machine and tried a test sentence: Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country. I typed one, too: Thomas Birdsey is an asshole. Ma said, all right, all right, that was enough of that kind of stuff. I Know This Much Is True ~ Wally Lamb

Because our Christmas is in the summer, quite a few people have a mid-winter Christmas dinner here, so you would fit right in Stephanie We also have a mid-winter light display in the shop windows and I often wonder what tourists think of santas and reindeers and Merry Christmas signs winking at them in June (these Kiwis are crazy )

I think OH has been watching too many cooking programmes on TV. Last night we had smoked saveloys and he said, "I'll just leave them on the bench to 'rest' for a while."

I didn't know a single answer in tonight's movie quizz but managed to fluke 4 right

Lol Kylie. Pilgrim's Progress is a religious book, 'the straight and narrow' and 'broad and wide', I'm pretty sure, are biblical references ...I'll have to look it up. But I've always understood 'the straight and narrow' as referring to doing the right thing, which is not always the easiest choice as opposed to 'the broad and wide' which is the way of the world and following your own selfish inclinations. (now it's as clear as mud says Kylie )

I have never found this poem sad. These lines: Oh, I kept the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back. I take to mean that often we think that if we don't do something now, we can always do it later, then circumstances change ...but it is not necessarily a bad thing. The over-riding message this poem has always given me is not to follow the crowd, don't be afraid to go your own way, the most popular way is not always the best. It always reminds me of Paul Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress where he talks about the 'straight and narrow way' leading to life, whereas the 'wide and broad way' leads to destruction. You made some good observations Kylie, I agree about the double 'I', although I didn't notice it until you pointed it out

Read Never Far From Nowhere recently and thoroughly enjoyed it. Andrea Levy is a very talented writer.

I have to agree with you on Lady Chatterly's Lover, sadya. I couldn't make myself read past pg 40, the husband was such a pompous, long-winded, snobbish bore that I nearly threw the book across the room :motz:Maybe I should have given it a bit more of a chance, but I doubt I will.

A couple that spring to mind are To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee and Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen. And if you want something quite different, but beautifully almost lyrically written, try Lighthousekeeping by Jeanette Winterson. I take no notice if a book is written by a male or female, I'm more influenced by the type of book it is. I have a friend who will only read books written by women as she doesn't think men can write from a woman's perspective and with a woman's voice. This isn't something I've ever noticed.

I think it's a great idea too ii

I'm a big fan of E.M.Forster. My favourites are A Room With A View and Howard's End. I didn't enjoy Maurice so much, I found it a bit pedantic. The movies made from his books are excellent, with exceptionally talented actors. I love his rather bohemiam main characters and their refusal to conform to class conventions.

Cow From Illinois The only cow in a small Kentucky town stopped giving milk. The people did some research and found that they could buy a cow just across the state line in Illinois for $200. They brought the cow from Illinois and the cow was wonderful. It produced lots of milk all of the time, and the people were very happy. They decided to acquire a bull to mate with the cow to produce more cows like it. They would never have to worry about their milk supply again. They bought the bull and put it in the pasture with their beloved cow. However, whenever the bull tried to mount the cow, the cow would move away. No matter what approach the bull tried, the cow would move away from the bull and he could not succeed in his quest. The people were very upset and decided to ask the Vet, who was very wise, what to do. They told the Vet what was happening. "Whenever the bull tries to mount our cow, she moves away.. If he approaches from the back, she moves forward. When he approaches her from the front, she backs off. An attempt from the side, she walks away to the other side." The Vet thought about this for a minute and asked, "Did you by chance, buy this cow in Illinois?" The people were dumbfounded, since no one had ever mentioned where they bought the cow. "You are truly a wise Vet," they said. "How did you know we got the cow in Illinois?" The Vet replied with a distant look in his eye, "My wife is from Illinois."

A teacher was reading the story of the Three Little Pigs to her classroom. She came to the part in the story where the first little pig was trying to gather building materials for his home. She read, "And so the pig went up to the man with a wheelbarrow of straw and said "Pardon me sir, but may I have some of that straw to build my house?"" The teacher paused and then asked the class, "And what do you think the man said?" One little boy raised his hand and said,"I think the man would have said, "Well I'll be ******!!!! A talking pig!" The teacher had to leave the room.

I've just finished reading I Know This Much Is True and think it's going to be one of my all time favourite books. Wally Lamb is a very insightful writer, the book was complex and deeply moving. I absolutely loved Thomas, the twin with schizophrenia, I found Dominick very angry and at times quite cowardly but in the end he discovered some very important truths ....power wrongly used, defeats the oppressor as well as the oppressed and love grows from forgiveness. This is a big book, over 800 pages and although at times I found it quite painful to read, it was compulsive reading. I would highly recommend this book, it's one you won't forget in a hurry. I'm about to start another of his Couldn't Keep It To Myself: Testimonies of Our Imprisoned Sisters, a book telling the stories of women from York Correctional Institute.

I'm reading I Know This Much Is True by Wally Lamb at the moment and I've been moved to tears several times

A SPANISH Teacher was explaining to her class that in Spanish, unlike English, nouns are designated as either masculine or feminine. 'House' for instance, is feminine: 'la casa.' 'Pencil,' however, is masculine: 'el lapiz.' A student asked, 'What gender is 'computer'?' Instead of giving the answer, the teacher split the class into two groups, male and female, and asked them to decide for themselves whether computer' should be a masculine or a feminine noun. Each group was asked to give four reasons for its recommendation. The men's group decided that 'computer' should definitely be of the feminine gender ('la computadora'), because: 1. No one but their creator understands their internal logic; 2. The native language they use to communicate with other computers is incomprehensible to everyone else; 3. Even the smallest mistakes are stored in long term memory for possible later retrieval; and 4. As soon as you make a commitment to one, you find yourself spending half your pay check on accessories for it. (THIS GETS BETTER!) The women's group, however, concluded that computers should be Masculine ('el computador'), because: 1. In order to do anything with them, you have to turn them on; 2. They have a lot of data but still can't think for themselves; 3. They are supposed to help you solve problems, but half the time they ARE the problem; and 4. As soon as you commit to one, you realize that if you had waited a little longer, you could have gotten a better model.. The women won.

Katherine Mansfield is another NZ author. Keri Hulme's Bone People won the Booker Prize in 1985. Some people may be familiar with the film Whale Rider which was based on Witi Ihimaera's book.

From her behavior, I supected this might be the case. So she did remarkably well. Run Charmy run, you cynic you (that reminds me of a joke, must send it to you )

Kell, but that's just it, Susan does strike you as being naive and not very media savvy. For that reason, it is probably best for her that she didn't win, I doubt whether she would have been able to cope. But for all that, she has an amazing voice for someone completely untrained.

I haven't been watching this very much but got the impression she was relieved not to win. I think the pressure and media hype were just too much for her. I agree with lovesreading and Suzanna ....I think your instincts are right Suzanna

The pastor asked if anyone in the congregation would like to express Praise for answered prayers. A lady stood and walked to the podium. She said, "I have Praise. Two months ago, my husband, Tom, had a terrible bicycle wreck and his scrotum was completely crushed. The pain was excruciating and the doctors didn't know if they could help him." You could hear a muffled gasp from the men in the congregation. "Tom was unable to hold me or the children," she went on, "and every move caused him terrible pain. We prayed as the doctors performed a delicate operation, and it turned out they were able to piece together the crushed remnants of Tom's scrotum, and wrap wire around it to hold it in place." Again, the men in the congregation were unnerved and squirmed uncomfortably as they imagined the horrible surgery performed on Tom. "Now," she announced in a quavering voice, "thank the Lord, Tom is out of the hospital and the doctors say that with time, his scrotum should recover completely." All the men sighed with relief. The pastor rose and tentatively asked if anyone else had something to say. A man stood up and walked slowly to the podium. He said, "I'm Tom." The entire congregation held its breath. "I just want to tell my wife that the word is sternum

instant evacuation due to a rampaging sleep-deprived dragon bent on .....

slipped seductively over her right ear, causing her to .....

Chrissy, I didn't know that ....thanks, that's a really good feature I only found out recently that if you scrolled over it and said what it was