MuggleMagic
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Posts posted by MuggleMagic
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My reading year has been really good. As I am trying for a baby I wanted to read a lot more than usual as I am scared I won't be able to read with a little one running around and tiredness.
I discovered Daphne Du Maurier this year, which I am VERY happy about. I love her writing so much.
Best Books:
Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier
Boy in the Striped PJs by John Boyne
The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson
Let The Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist
The Time Machine by H.G Wells
White Oleander by Janet Fitch.
I also read the Twilight saga. I enjoyed the first two books (twilight and new moon) but I really lost it with Eclipse and Breaking Dawn unfortunetly.
I was also quite disappointed in The Other Queen by Philippa Gregory
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I'm reading Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban today
good book
I hope that you enjoy it -
I'm currently reading Jamaica Inn and it is brilliant. I am so impressed with Daphne Du Maurier. She can describe something without wittering on and one for pages and I am still able to get a good idea of the scene she is trying to set.
Oh I love her :friends0:I just wish I had discovered her sooner
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I also studied this for English Lit and I loved it. Still do. We watched the film in class (Marlon Brando version) and I cried at the end. I was SO embarassed. It really is a fantastic play.
I also read Tennessee William's memoirs and they were really good
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Has everyone read The Reader? We had 12 people vote for it, so there should be plenty of discussion...
It is BRILLIANT!!!!
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I've noticed that some of you are reading this at the moment.
I finished The Lost Book of Salem recently and loved it and thought I'd like to read something similar.
This, I believe hasn't been out long has it?
I wondered what you thought of the Heretic's Daughter and should I get it?
I REALLY want to read this one. I nearly brought it in a charity shop in Isle of Wight but didn't (it was
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Just Read - One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest by Ken Kesey (was a little disappointed with this one)
Currently Reading - Jamaica Inn by Daphne Du Maurier (I looooove Daphne Du Maurier so much
)Next - Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris (cannot wait to read this. It seems right up my street)
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I saw this show last week and I really liked it. I missed the Oceanic billboard though...which is surprising, since I'm such a Lost fanatic.
this is it
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This won't be popular.
Bridget Jones Diary.
What a load of pretentious trite, IMHO. Film - not a dry seat in the house.
Ohyes, I remember now! The Bridget Jones books are not very good. I absolutely LOVE the films though. I love Bridget
(they are making a third soon)
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I watched it. OMG it was fantastic!
It is made by the same people that created Lost - did anybody notice the Oceanic billboard??
I can't wait until Mondays now
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Hands down Harry Potter films...especially the Half-Blood Prince...I get so excited for the movies and almost all disappoint. The HBP didn't even have the same ending as the book really...I hope they do well with the 7th and 8th movies but I won't get my hopes too high:lol:
Diana
same here. Very dissapointed in HBP unfortunetly.
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I very rarely watch a film before I have read the book. I think I prefer the movie The Notebook to the book. I saw the film first and absolutely loved it and it spoiled the book for me.
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I am certainly going to add this to my reading list but will probably need to be in a very good frame of mind when I read it as animals are my weak spot.
I have never been a dog person though *whispers* I am a crazy cat lady really.
It sounds like a great book. Thanks for the review
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A friend was talking about this the other day. I'm adding it to my reading list
thanks for the review 
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This is a ramble, but i thought i'd add something to the debate, and my friend Peacefield and i always clash over this By my avatar you might have guessed i find The Shining a fantastic piece of work (film and novel).
Okay, i agree with how disappointing it can be, that it is not very true to the novel and the novel's genius like the adaptation of say, Misery, was. Though there is plenty of inspiration from the story within the film, enough for me personally to be satisfied. But, i disagree with a lot too.
King commented that the film was 'cold' and that it was like a beautiful car, but without a reliable engine to make it purr along (or something along those lines). Which is true with respect that it was his own creation, but he should be flattered that someone as intelligent as Kubrick decided to create something so fantastic from his work and realise that it is a totally different interpretation. They are both brilliant.
Kubrick was a very different director from the 'norm' and very clever with his work. I think he could have made a mere 'adaptation' in his sleep if he wanted to. He loved King's premise, so built on top of that foundation for his own purposes and means. The Shining (film) is full of hidden messages, social commentaries on America, the theme of communication and isolation, the digital media age versus the written media age, and the concepts of such things as labyrinths (hence the change from hedge animals to a hotel maze), duplicity, and the unconscious mind with references to Freudian theories. It's such an amazingly complex and clever film. It's like a whole metaphor of a maze in itself; there are so many levels to it.
Once you start to realise things and see the meaning behind the film, it becomes a LOT more frightening than you consider at first glance - in fact, most people are annoyed at the lack of action - but this is the point. The story is not the focus of the film, it's the things which don't happen and what isn't shown or explained. It's a film which makes you really think, and just gets inside your mind and disturbs you the more you dwell on it. Like, you actually get lost yourself in that maze of the film. There are deliberate 'mistakes' embedded in it, to add to that disorientating feel. For example, Jack's typewriter actually changes colour in one scene and stays that way for the rest of the movie. Also, the chairs at the bar (where Jack is 'talking' to Lloyd) change position after Jack walks into the Gold Room, as if inviting him a way in). Of course, it could be fairly 'obvious' that these are actual continuity errors, but with someone as meticulous as Stanley Kubrick and with the content of the film he desired to create, it's unlikely. There are a lot more. With the Overlook, nothing is ever static or 'certain'.
We barely ever get a clue as to what is causing this, is he actually going crazy? Why? Is he being possessed? What by? Does he actually see these ghostly inhabitants of the hotel? Or is Kubrick suggesting that Jack is insane from the very outset, by the way he includes mirrors in such scenes?
The scariest part of this film, to me, is the moment where Jack is just staring out of the window, his demented face illuminated by the impending snowstorm, and his eyes roll up slightly and the hint of a smurk begins to etch across his face, you just wonder what the hell is he hearing or seeing in his mind.
That is one of the most frightening parts of a movie i have ever seen.
I really enjoyed reading this.
I have read The Shining four or five times and you have made me want to read it again.
I have to agree with you - Jack Nicholson was perfect as Jack Torrance but I also found his wife quite annoying.
Jack Nicholson scares the life out of me now. I cannot forget what he is like in that film. I just see him as a nutcase now
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I refuse to watch films based on books that I love as I find that I can never read the book in the same way again afterwards. The people from the film start to creep into my head and replace my idea of what the characters look like etc (does that make sense or does it make me sound crazy?)
Before I made this rule I watched Interview With A Vampire. Don't get me wrong, it's not a terrible film, but it's a FANTASTIC book. I just find that a film will never compare to a book that you love, and you spend the whole time thinking "well I wouldn't have cast them in that role...." so I just don't bother!
However, what really annoys me is when they turn a book into a film, and then start putting pictures from the film on the cover of the book! Drives me crazy!!!
Or, as in the case of Northern Lights, they changed the name of the film to The Golden Compass (why oh why?) and then on the cover of the book afterwards they started writing 'The Golden Compass' in really big letters across the middle, and 'Northern Lights' in tiny letters at the top. Makes me so mad!
I'm with you on this one. I never get the movie tie-in book cover incase people think I am only reading the book because of the film :s I know I shouldn't worry about what other people think but it is such a cheap ploy to sell books
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I put up a book as a book ring over 2 years ago and the last person who had it, despite saying they would be "sending it back soon" ever did. They also stopped repllying to my emails on the subject and I ended up giving it up as a bad job., It was a book I had intended to keep too, so I ended up having to get hold of another copy for myself. As a result, I pulled all the other books I had listed for bookrings and vowed never to do one again.
that is a shame. one bad experience really does ruin it for everyone
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The True Blood books are Charlaine Harris's Sookie Stackhouse -bookseries which have been made into the TV-series called True Blood
thank you
I am adding them to my (ever growing) reading list 
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I agree Guilia, I read somewhere that the american version will have a more 'hollywood ending'
A more Hollywood ending? Right... whatever that means
I thought the pool scene was fantastic. I was particularly interested to see how they handled that bit and I thought it was done very effectively.
I hate to think what Hollywood will do with that bit
I am boycotting this remake!
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Have you tried the True Blood series of books? They are way better than Twilight, which actually are also quite good when you give them a chance. Much better than the movie...as usual!
I could be wrong but are these True Blood books the ones that have been made into a TV series/movie recently?
I did read Twilight but since all the hype I kind of turn off when I hear about vampires. However, a LOT of my online friends have been raving about how good True Blood is.
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I saw PS, I Love You the other day. That irish accent was AWFFFUUUUUL!
I started the film thinking
well, the good thing is he gets bumped off at the beginning of the story so I don't have to put up with the accent for much longer
and that is very bad considering the story
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The film was indeed quite good, even OH enjoyed it (he's not into vampires and usually prefers more action-y things), he called it "subtle" and it is, it's got an understatedness to it which makes the few intense scenes even more intense. Great acting from the two kids although if I were you, I'd try and see it subtitled - the dubbers aren't all that; Eli's English voice was all wrong, IMHO.
Yes, I saw the subtitled version. I have also heard that an American version is being made. I'm glad I have seen the original.
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MuggleMagic, I certainly understand you wanting your offspring to enjoy reading, there's nothing wrong with that By the way, good luck with that project
Jewell I think you nailed it right there, I've also come to the conclusion that some people are just too lazy. It's so much easier to turn the telly on and just sit and watch. You can even choose the most dimwitted shows there are, avoiding the mindbender ones. I confess I've done that myself sometimes
Thank you very much. I'm sure I'll be shouting it from the rooftops when we get some good news
Perhaps, I'll read Harry Potter to my son/daughter as a child... brainwash them from the start
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I saw the film at the weekend. I was worried that it would be a bit grim because I found some of the parts in the book a little close to the mark.
Anyway, it was a REALLY good film. I loved it
Definite thumbs up for book and film
World War II Books
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Yes, it is a brilliant book
I tried to read another book my Sebastian Faulkes but I didn't like it