BookJumper
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When I moved to England I left behind two bookshelves stacked two rows deep; I haven't really been able to recuperate any essentials off that for the past four years as when I go back I'm always travelling weighed down by uni books. So what I
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(watch out for those lads Shakespeare and Dickens - I reckon they're going places
)LOL.
My other favourites include West Side, Phantom, Jesus Christ Superstar, Singing in the Rain, Across the Universe (let's pretend it counts *ahem*).
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Why hello
and well done to you for instilling your love for books into your child. My mum did the same for me and that's the best kind of gift you can give to a kid, really - imagination, independence, comfort, adventure, friends, all in the same package! You're very welcome here, I'm sure you'll have a good time - people are nice as they are well-read. A haven, really! -
There is a movie of Les Miserabl
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Quite shameful that (considering how well that's been doing for the past 18 years) Terry and Neil haven't in all that time teamed up to write another one together. I'd like that.
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I used to be a big fan of Berserk (a bit shocking and painful to read at times but the story was so good I just had to keep reading), Fushigi Yugi (best graphic go at the same old "schoolgirl gets transported into a weird world she needs to save" plot in my opinion), Nana. Then the friend I was borrowing them from stopped collecting them because they were dragging on too long, and I never did discover how any of them ended.
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I couldn't finish Stephen King's "Dolores Clairborne" - about a mother's renvenge when she finally discovers her daughter has been abused by the father.
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My copy of "Join Me! The True Story of a Man who started a Cult by Accident". It's accompanied me to so many joinee meets and bears the signatures, dedications, drawings of so many friends, so many memories of good times and good deeds done, that I'll never replace it. Not even when it starts truly falling apart.
The copy of "The P
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Definitely "Harry Potter" - I'd refused to read them right until the first came out for whatever stupid teenage reason (I probably thought they were for kiddies/too popular for the young intellectual in me to appreciate them); then I broke a foot and found myself having pretty much read every other book in the house so I had no choice. I plowed through the first three in a day and the fourth the following, dead to the world. Good stuff.
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This thread's a natural consequence of my current "Les Miserabl
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My favourites when I was *really* little (talking pre-10 years old here) were:
- "Journey to the Centre of the Earth" by Jules Verne.
- "The Black Corsair" and "Sandokan" series by Emilio Salgari - amazing, rollicking, swashbuckling tales of adventure, love, friendship. It enthralled me to think that a man who had never left his own town could transport himself and his readers to the new world and the mystic East and make it all feel so vivid and urgent and real.
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Read for school and loved:
- Dante's "Divine Comedy" (I believe it still counts if you stopped short of "Paradise", everybody finds that one boring!).
- Pirandello's plays, especially "Six Characters in Search of an Author", meta-theatre at its best.
- Ariosto's epic poem "Orlando Furioso": a knight quite literally loses his sanity for a maid and his best friend must ride to the moon, where the reign of lost things is, and find his sanity and bring it back. Brilliant plot, brilliantly written.
Read for school and loathed:
- Alessandro Manzoni's "The Betrothed", or "how to take a reasonably good plot and drag it out with tedious moralising and an unreadable style.
- Daniel Defoe's "Moll Flanders", see above comment.
- Umberto Eco's "The Name of the Rose", abandoned on page 36 and never returned to again. Very good story destroyed by an over-read (yes, it is possible!) author who thinks it is sophisticated to write every other sentence in Latin, with no footnotes. Pompous (insert epiteth here) - he ended up writing the only book on earth who is surpassed in merit and enjoyability by its Holliwood adaptation. Do see the film, it is quite a good murder mystery with monks in it.
- Torquato Tasso's epic poem "Jerusalem Liberated" - tedious drivel. The only good thing that came of it was Byron's excellent poem "The Lament of Tasso", on the writer's toil to complete his masterwork while in prison. Not often does it happen that the commentary is more gripping and moving than the work itself.
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I didn't really get to discover the last book's storyline to be honest - the poor quality of the writing (so far removed from the near-genius of the first four) made it impossible for me to proceed any further. I only know the end, vaguely, because friends urged me to read the "Epilogue" for cringing-value. *Shudder*
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It is very good, though it is a long time since I read it (over 15 years now I think about it . . .)
*gasps in horror and goes on to remove "Good Omens" from her list of best books written in the past decade* I had no idea it was that old - although it explains why my second-hand copy is quite this mangled!
Still, brilliant book. It had me in stitches right from the beginning (the whole "Earth's a Libra" thing is pure genius) 'till the end (the extra bikers of the Apocalypse especially); Crowley and Aziraphale are a charming duo, and it's refreshing for once to see the good angel portrayed as just as layered/interesting as the demon; the strengths of both authors (such as Pratchett's histerical footnotes and Gaiman's surreally dark humour) are plentiful and their few faults virtually cancelled out, as if those two were each other's Nature-intended editor.
In one word, unmissable. Especially for fans of Douglas Adams' "Hitch-hiker's Guide to the Galaxy" and people with a Monty Phyton-esque sense of humour.
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Not terribly sure, though the firsts I have distinct memories of are as follows:
- Horror: "Monster" by Christopher Pike at about 11-12. Made me go aaaah and awwww in turns; probably laying the foundations for my later adoration of Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein".
- Fantasy: "The Lord of The Rings" by J.R.R. Tolkien at 13. I remember getting very frustrated because the library was loaning it as three separate books so I was having to wait inordinate amounts of time to read each installment (being a fast reader has its downsides).
- Science Fiction: "The Martian Chronicles" by Ray Bradbury at about 8-9. I had a beuatifully illustrated hardback that went with me near everywhere for a whole summer.
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Years ago I read the Thomas Covenant chronicles on OH's recommendation - I think there were 3 - I don't know why we don't have them any more. Anyone read them? - I did enjoy them - he was such a reluctant hero in his world - not really a hero either if I remeber rightly
LOL I hated him so much (though I still stoically read all of them, halfway between the hope things would improve and the conviction that abandoning a book was only something evil adult people did)!
All the way through I remember thinking, "the ungrateful little (insert epiteth here)! If only I found myself in a faraway world whose people worshipped me as their saviour, oh the adventures I'd have, the fame I'd acquire, the great deeds I'd do! When is he going to stop whining and accept he is the hero of his own story?"
Of course, all heroes (especially in fantasy) have an initial moment wherein they doubt their ability to perform their quest; most, however, stop quivering and moping eventually. Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever sadly stays through to his name and whines, doubts, quivers and mopes. All the time. Aahhh!!
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I might get stoned for this but, ahem, let's try anyway: I thought the first four books were awesome, incredible, the best books I'd read in ages (it helped that at the time I was at home with a broken leg and boredom aplenty, so I got to read them in one go), the fifth very hit and miss, the sixth bad and the seventh just unreadable.
I got the feeling with the last one that she'd lost the will/inspiration to write about these people and that she was just doing it to fulfill a contract/fan's expectations/her pockets. I also got the feeling the publishers, knowing full well anything with "Harry Potter" written on the cover would sell, didn't even bother paying someone to proofread it - style, syntax, grammar are all-over the place.
Or is it just me?
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Stevie was one of my first favourite authors, i.e. ones I'd borrow from the school library on the strength of their name alone. I remember being 11 or so and being made to return a half-read copy of "IT" as my mum deemed it unsuitable; between one thing and another, I have not picked it up since. Through the years, my favourites have been:
- "Carrie", because somehow this man seems to know exactly what it feels to be a bullied teenage girl. Beautifully written, heart-breaking, terrifying for the abysses of human nature it exposes more than for the actual "horrific" ending (am I the only one who cheered Carrie on?).
- "Misery", because it's one of those rare books that chill without any recourse to actual supernatural elements. Great bit of mind-toying, plus I think King is at his most eloquent when he talks about fellow writers.
- "The Dark Half", unsurprisingly enough also about a writer. My copy is in absolute tatters. Features one of the best showdowns, like, ever. It also seems to have given me a phobia of birds, which is literary influence if ever I saw one.
- "Christine", because there's something so silly it's genius about a car who's alive, female, jealous, and on a killing rampage.
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One of my favourite books of all time. Almost mis-titled, in my opinion - the way I see it this is not a story about a scientist who plays God (Frankenstein), it's the story of how hate crime can turn a Creature who just wanted to be accepted and loved into the monster they have already decided he is. The Creature's plight knotted my insides with the indignation I reserve for the deepest injustice; few books have achieved quite that many knots.
What Kenneth Branagh did to this book was inexcusable - the film was all about him (Frankenstein); Robert de Niro was a massively underused Creature all of whose profound reflections on humanity are cut, thus reducing one of the most moving beings in literature to the murderous wretch that in reality he is only made to become.
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That is too bad about the version with Liam Neeson and Geoffrey Rush, but me, I am thinking those two alone were magnificent in feelings and nuances and so I loved it very much
Indeed they were magnificient (I really like both as actors), so I was particularly dissappointed that the rest of the film wasn't as good (apart from the complete lack of an ending, silly historical mistakes were made such as having black students in the riots - in 19th century France?!); however John Malcovich was in my opinion unsurpassed as a screen Javert. I really must find an Italian video of that production...
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Hello! Crumpet and cheese?
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Indeed I am quite interested in Arthurian Legends; I took a course in Medieval Literature a few years ago and our professor was so passionate she transmitted her love for the topic to all of us. I have read (struggling a bit with the Medieval English, admittedly) most of Mallory's version, but my favourite remains T. H. White's "The Once and Future King" - I'm up to part three now, "The Ill-made Knight", about the love of Guinevere and Lancelot and I actually had to stop reading it was making me so sad! I've never really felt for Lancelot but I think T. H. White comes closest to making his readers sympathise with him. I really should pick it back up, shouldn't I?
I completely sympathise with your feeling of temporal displacement; personally I should have lived with the Romantics, gulped wine with Byron, made up ghost stories with the Shelleys...! Oh, well. At least you get the Camelot re-enactments, they sound like amazing fun! And go you for your independence of thought and dress - not many people don't want to stand out so never dare to look like they feel inside, which is quite sad. So well done!
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Hello there. Your inspired choice of name, excellent book/music taste and commendable views on translation make me like you already
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My musical taste/knowledge largely begins in the rockin' fifties and ends in the hair metal mid-eighties.
This tends to show in the live concerts I've chosen to attend in my rather short life (23), for they have included: Paul McCartney, The Rolling Stones, Mark Knopfler from Dire Straits, The Shadows, Bruce Springsteen, Chuck Berry, Bob Dylan (thrice) and so on. I was heartbroken when I couldn't afford to go to the Eagles reunion; on the plus side me and my dad already have tickets for the Cliff Richard & The Shadows reunion in October.
My other classic loves include Meatloaf, Elvis, early Bon Jovi (before Jon cut his hair; the "You Give Love a Bad Name" and "This ain't a Love Song" good old days), Queen, and that's just the obvious ones.
My favourite song, even though I completely failed to get into the rest of their discography, is "Friday I'm in Love" by The Cure.
The few female singers I really like are Barbra Straisand ("Where is it Written" is one of the most empowering tunes ever), Bonnie Tyler (IMHO, the female equivalent of Meatloaf, which is saying something), and the astoundingly good vocalists Meatloaf himself employs on his records (the woman who sings "Paradise on the Dashboard Light" with him so very nearly steals his thunder, methinks).
Among the few modern bands I enjoy and endorse are the swedish glam rock band The Ark and The Divine Comedy, but then neither sound like this decade so I don't think they really count as modern after all.
All new What's for dinner?
in Food, Cooking & Recipes
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My "I don't have to cook, so I'll stuff myself with frozen rubbish" weekend is backfiring slightly. I feel a bit ill...