libri vermis

Honestly, I didn't like the movie Being John Malkovich either, and I don't have feelings either way towards the actor.

I hope you are well.

Here is one of my favorite quotes: The gentleness of a dove is something we cannot understand. Sometimes a fighter, it is not all of one color. But most of all it is moved by quiet love and a wish for simple life among the trees. And when it dies, it breaks us apart, for it never thinks of itself. But God protect it if it should die alone, and God protect it's poor family. This is from the short story A Dove of the East by Mark Helprin.

I would love to hear your thoughts when you are finished. I have this one on my bookshelf.

Never listen to the hype, that is my motto. I know what you mean, though. There have been books that I read because of the hype, and my reaction was to shrug my shoulder and scratch my head in bewilderment.

Definitely, and now I will have to purchase a copy when I have the money. This is one I must own. I am sorry things have not been pleasant lately. I hope it all gets better from here.

I used to have a Winnie the Pooh teddy bear. I miss it.

Definitely Winnie the Pooh for me, the Taoist bear.

Hi Andrea. Yes, I finished it and I thought it was very good. I wouldn't give it 5 stars, but definitely 4. I thought what was there was excellent, but I thought the author could have added more, gone more in depth. It is definitely a book I will read again someday, though, so it stays on my bookshelf.

I like you already. Welcome to the forums.

Now that is hilarious.

A few chapters into Jane Eyre, and oh my, is this book superb so far. I want to slap some sense into certain characters Jane is my soul sister.

there was something sinister lurking...

Granted, but the world explodes into nothingness as soon as your reign begins. I want to be a fairy queen.

Loki, the master of trickery...

For myself, it is important. I don't think religious fanatics nor bullies are just born that way. I need a reason for why they do the things they do or believe the things they believe. I could see a person becoming a fanatic like Carrie's mother because she was abused or hurt as a child, and therefore became overprotective of her own daughter. Most people are not just crazy. There is something that led to their craziness. Also, why did Carrie's classmates bully her? Were they just mean? Or were they taught their behavior from their parents? Perhaps Carrie made them uncomfortable, and being teenagers, they didn't know how to deal with Carrie's strangeness. Even though I myself was bullied in school, I can still get inside the head of a bully. Bullies usually feel insecure for some reason, and feel a need to take down others because of that. They are not just bullies to be mean, but because it somehow makes them feel better about themselves. People are not one-dimensional. Stephen King's characters, especially his evil ones, come across that way to me. But of course, I would never tell anyone else not to read his work. Different flavors of ice cream for different people.

Sorry, I missed your post earlier. I think this may be why I did relate a bit to Carrie as a teenager. I was not popular, often ridiculed and yes, tortured, through high school. The character I was disappointed in with this book was Carrie's mother. Yes, she was a religious fanatic. But why? My own mother is religious, but nothing like Carrie's mother. Carrie's mother didn't make sense to me. My own mother does. I understand where my mother's religious beliefs come from. I did not understand where Carrie's mother's fanatical beliefs came from. At least, Stephen King did not explain it to my satisfaction. I would.

Thanks, Vanwa. I may give the Dark Tower series another go. I am not sure when, as I have so many other things to read.

I might be willing to give the Dark Tower series a re-look, but I read the first four books, and while I thought it started out great, I got more and more annoyed with the characters as time went one. Maybe book four was the worst one and it gets better after that?

All right, I will give my two cents about Stephen King, who is an author I will never read again. I used to like King years ago, when I was teenager. When I started reading other authors, I realized what was missing in his writing. While the man is a master at building suspense, his endings were always a let down. Plus, I never related to any of his characters. When I look back, they seem shallow to me. For example, in The Shining, Jack Torrance could have been a compelling character. But he was simply a drunk that let the evil hotel take over his mind. Well, people are not drunks for no reason. I wanted to know why he was an alcoholic and what about that flaw in his character that led to alcoholism also led to his specific vulnerability to the evil of the hotel. THAT would have been a compelling story. For me, anyway. *waits for the Stephen King fans to throw rotten fruit in my direction*

Oooo, I just saw this post. One of my favorite Shakespeare Sonnets and Walt Whitman is also one of my favorite poets. Here is a favorite verse from Song of Myself. 48 I have said that the soul is not more than the body, And I have said that the body is not more than the soul, And nothing, not God, is greater to one than one's self is, And whoever walks a furlong without sympathy walks to his own funeral drest in his shroud, And I or you pocketless of a dime may purchase the pick of the earth, And to glance with an eye or show a bean in its pod confounds the learning of all times, And there is no trade or employment but the young man following it may become a hero, And there is no object so soft but it makes a hub for the wheel'd universe, And I say to any man or woman, Let your soul stand cool and composed before a million universes. And I say to mankind, Be not curious about God, For I who am curious about each am not curious about God, (No array of terms can say how much I am at peace about God and about death.) I hear and behold God in every object, yet understand God not in the least, Nor do I understand who there can be more wonderful than myself. Why should I wish to see God better than this day? I see something of God each hour of the twenty-four, and each moment then, In the faces of men and women I see God, and in my own face in the glass, I find letters from God dropt in the street, and every one is sign'd by God's name, And I leave them where they are, for I know that wheresoe'er I go, Others will punctually come for ever and ever.

Here I go again, resurrecting an old thread. I absolutely refuse to read The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner. When the author himself says (and he has about this one) that you need a companion piece to understand his novel, my first thought is:If you the author know that your book has failed to communicate it's message(s), then it is your job to fix that book so that it does so. Otherwise, your novel is a big, fat FAILURE. In other words, Faulkner, by his own admittance, has failed as an artist (at least with this particular novel). Art should not need an explanation, especially by the creator of it!