Vanwa
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Posts posted by Vanwa
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Can't say I have Habeebi. But two further options are James Patterson (the Alex Cross novels, not the ones) and Mark Billingham. My own mum is an avid crime-thriller reader, and these are her two favourite authors from the genre.
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Indeed it's been a while Katrina! Hope all is getting better than it was, per your Anxiety posts. Sorry to hear you've been having difficulties.
Provincial, classical, heavily descriptive and quirky are not qualities I dislike at all, I suppose MotF is just one I've never gotten around to. Mind you, I haven't read Middlemarch either. Both are on my lists on definite future reads, I just never have been able to consider myself far enough into that future yet to read them, if you see what I mean! Read MotF quickly won't you, and then give me a nudge towards reading it when you find its pros
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I see your point with regards to the bit in the middle VF, made me chuckle though, it's almost a little bit random for the genre eh?
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No probs Ladymacbeth, glad I could assist
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Ack. I was gifted this by a very close friend, and so far it remains untouched. I've been procrastinating since it arrived, so if you can give me a reason to cease procrastination and actually delve inside, Katrina (or anyone) I would be grateful.
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In addition to the points already raised above, modern use of the English language is somewhat abrupt.
Modern authors tend to go straight for the punch. For example, King (who I love by the way) opens The Stand, after the intial dialogue, thus:
First she glanced at the clock on the night table and saw it was quarter past two in the morning. Charlie shouldn't even be here; he should be on shift. Then she got her first good look at him and something leaped up insde her, some deadly intuition.
Immediately there is a sense of suspense and drama. But the language is basic. Look again at A Tale of Two Cities:
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way -
The text here is busy, and elaborate, but it is beautiful. The English language used to the most advanced of its time. We talk of language progressing, evolving, but I think it is the opposite when you apply the theory to fictional writing. We've gone from Dickens using English in this way, to King using the very basics to form his initial first few lines. Both are skilled writers, and are justly famed and reknowned for it.
Classical writing uses the text to draw in the reader, but the modern writer doesn't have the need for this. The human race has advanced tremendously since Dickens. Technology, religion, the way we percieve relationships. Dickens could never have begun a novel by having a man wake up his female counterpart. It would have been beyond controversial.
Additionally, during the time when Dickens was writing, education would have been extremely basic for the poor. Only the richer would be educated enough to grasp his language, and only the richer would have the money for books in the first place. It was a matter of practicality.
Dickens was limited in his target audience, where as King is far less limited. That doesn't make King any less of a writer of course.
Rather than look upon classics as a chore, try to view it more as a privilege. You're getting to read something that even at its time of publication most wouldn't have been able to read, by reading the classics you're on a journey to discovery. There will be some you like, some you don't, some you love, and some you don't. But each and every book, whether modern or classic, is both an achievement and a privilege, for the writer, and for the reader.
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What books have you found this with Vanessa?
I have actually started an immediate reread of a few, the two that spring to mind are The Shining by Stephen King, and Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde. There are several others but I can't recall which at the moment!
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Mine is War & Peace. After 11 years I'm still not even an 1/8 of the way through!
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Now I would like to read The Genesis of Shannara and the High Druid of Shannara books but want to know whether I won't understand them because of skipping the Voyage books.
Anyone know whether they will still make sense.
Genesis is almost a different series altogether, because it is set in our world as it exists today, and explains how Shannara comes to be our future. So these will make sense.
Additionally, each and every title in the Shannara series (barring Genesis) can be read as an individual. You may have noticed previously that each of the books you have read has a different story line, and is focussed around different protagonists from the same family, different generations. For example, with the Heritage books (Scions/ High Druid/ Elf-Queen/ Talismans) you don't even need to have read Sword.
Hope that helps.
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I still live at my parents' house, so most of my books are in my bedroom.
I've got 3x6ft shelves, and the top shelf has stacks of books on top of the row of books. These shelves are for my favourite fantasy (Brooks, Goodkind, etc).
I've got a 4 shelf bookcase, which has on it my favourite-favourite fantasy books (Tolkien, King, Fforde etc).
I've got a two-drawer unit on 1.5ft legs, so there's plenty of room for books under there. These are my children's fantasy books (Rowling, Sage, Lewis, etc). My thrillers are on top of this unit (Ludlum etc).
Above the two drawer unit I have another shelf which stores my poetry and drama (Shakespeare, Chaucer, Poe, etc).
I've got a two-door cupboard, which stores my special and first editions. My non fiction are kept on top of this cupboard.
My bed has full length cupboard space underneath, where I keep horror, family sagas, romance (Stoker, Koontz, Virginia Andrews, Penny Vincenzi etc) and general fiction.
Graphic novels are stored in a neat stack next to the computer.
And my collections are stored in the attic. These are mostly made up of rare but not first editions. Namely Tolkien. About 12 to 15 boxes in all I think.
Additionally, I have a couple of stacks of books on the floor. Mostly borrowed books, either from mum or the library which I've started using again.
The living room has a wide window sill where any books I think my mum will enjoy end up on a fairly temporary basis. There are about 2 dozen there at the moment.
And we have sharesies in the bathroom on the window sill. Things like Jeremy Clarkson and Top Gear, Simon's Cat, and so on.
My bedroom has a walk-in closet, and one end of this contains my classics such as Austen, Dickens, Bronte Sisters, and modern classics like Catch 22 and 1984.
I've also gotten hold of a couple of two-drawer desk cabinets, which will house any homeless books and any future purchases.
Once they're full, I am going to ask my neighbours to move out so I can use their house as my library.
Any little nook and cranny can be used for book storage. You just have to sacrifice buying other things.
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Definitely not. Last time I visited a bookshop, I went in with the intention of picking up only one book (Hitch Hiker's). I left with:
Complete Hitch Hiker's - Douglas Adams
Once - James Herbert
3 of the Dark Tower graphic novels - Stephen King
Marley and Me - John Grogan
A Thousand Splendid Suns
The Other Hand - Chris Cleave
American Gods - Neil Gaiman
- and a few others.
I will always find something I want to read, and as soon as I see it I have to buy it.
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Like Kell, I've checked the last box, and for me it's only technically true.
It's rare that I come a cross a word I don't recognise (and I mean maybe once every couple of years or so). So I don't need to look words up often. However, the reason I don't need to look them up is because I have (oh god I'm admitting this in a public place)... read the dictionary. So also technically, I have pre-looked-up any difficult words I might come across
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I'm not a huge fan per se, as I can't bear comics. Even as a kid I hated them, because I found most of them lacked whatever it is that keeps me reading. That and I'm not a superhero person. I can't bear Batman, Superman, Spiderman, Catwoman, or any of the others.
After reading Stephen King's Dark Tower books though, I have come to love the graphic novels based on his books.
I have also considered on several occasions getting into Gaiman's Sandman, as the concept appeals to me greatly. I find though, that anywhere I look, they are so expensive.
On Amazon for instance, one can pay anything from
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Put in spoiler tags just for you, Noll
LOTR and Narnia were actually the result of a bet of sorts between Tolkien and Lewis to see who could write the best Christian parable in fantasy form!
Giu, I'm curious. Where did this come from?
To my knowledge, and as written by the man himself, Tolkien absolutely abhored allegory of any kind. Have I missed something?!
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I'm definitely no expert, believe me. But if you want to take a look at how I lay my reviews out, you're welcome to check out the link in my signature.
The blog is quite handy really, it's allowing me to review all my books in one place where I can see them all, and then as I find the time I can post the reviews on the forum here. I just need to find the time
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3+ for me.
I'm rereading The Hobbit by Tolkien, rereading Complete Poe (who can be bothered to type the whole title?!), rereading The Silmarillion, taking my time with my Hitch Hiker's collection, which I adore by the way, reading Stephen King's Everything's Eventual collection of shorts, I've got two non-fictions about yoga on the go, and I'm just about holding off of rereading another couple of favourites until I finish at least one of the...quick count...seven I am already reading.
Blimey...
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Yay Katrina! You did it
Now you can not spoil anything you like!
Chapter 6 by the way. But am open to comment and discuss any chapter prior to that as and when required.
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Well this will make Linda happy. You've forced me to add this to my wishlist. Just need some cash...
Thanks for a fantastic review Pixie.
By the way Pixie, you can post the blurb on the back of the book to hint at the plot, and you can always use spoiler tags if you're worried you might ruin the unfolding of a book with any remarks.
For the spoiler tags, you can do the following:
*Click post reply.
*Write your post.
*Look above the text box, there are two lines of icons.
*On the second line there are these icons on the far right:
#
ABC*Highlight (click and drag) the text you want to hide with your cursor
*Click
It will look like this
Hi Pixie!
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Ooh Willoyd, in that case considering their ages you might like to try Goodnight Mr Tom by Michelle Magorian. Our year 5 teacher read this to us at school, and to this day it remains one of my favourites.
A young boy called Willie Beech is evacuated from London during WW2. He's a really shy and timid kid, who is put into the care of the miserable Tom Oakley. Against all odds, the two develop a strong friendship, and Tom discovers the reasons for the child's demeanor.
It is a children's book, and one that has stayed with me for about 15 years. I've read it dozens of times and fall in love with it all over again everytime I pick it up.
Not only that, but as the parent, you get the joy of reading it first to double-check it is suitable material! Win-win I say
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I'm not sure of the rules with regards to getting another member to buy a book for you from another country, but we have a buy, sell and swap section within the forum which would require 10+ posts in order to access.
This kind of thing is usually allowed only for regular members in order to protect the forum's users. You would need to make the ten required posts (non spam of course) in order to pose this question in the correct section.
May I suggest you take a look around the forum, perhaps introduce yourself in the Introductions section of General Discussion, and perhaps get involved with some of the other threads as well.
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It's nice and easy Katrina.
If you write anything that will spoil the story for anyone, highlight with your cursor, i.e. click and drag over the text in question. While the text is highlighted, click the yellow button with an S in it.
If you look above the text box you write replies in, you'll see two lines of icons. The second line down, on the right-hand side, you have:
#
ABCIt's the button that does your spoiler tags.
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Nope. No rules. Might I suggest though Katrina, with your approval of course, that we spoiler tag any giveaways from here on in, for those that might not have read it before, and who unknowingly stumble on this delightful thread?
P.S. I hope you started already Katrina... I'm well on the way;)
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Hmmm, LotR, LotF, these I can understand.
Patterson? Magazines? I think you're doing exactly the right thing. He needs a thorough education, not an introduction to pure twaddle.
He should be reading Shakespeare, Chaucer, Orwell, Dickens, Wordsworth... but then you know all this
I'm angry on your behalf Katrina. -
@ Katrina re finishing chapter 1, ready when you are.
@ Univerze re the tone. It is very different Univerze. The tone of the Hobbit is very light and fluffy, it is actually a children's story. Tolkien's publishers asked for a sequel and he wrote Lord of the Rings. LotR was originally intended to also be for children, but as Tolkien was writing, it became darker and darker until he had to call it a story for adults.
Got the timing wrong!
in General Book Discussions
Posted
Hi Emmylou. Having read the SoT series, and knowing how fast-paced and action-packed the books are, I can completely sympathise with your frustration. Here's a little bit of advice, as soon as Naked Empire arrives, order Chainfire. That way you won't get a bookless gap.
Also, Naked Empire is my least favourite of the entire series (actually I thought compared to the rest it was pants), but the last 3, Chainfire, Phantom and Confessor were in my opinion the best three of the entire series.