Meg's comments (member since Jan 07, 2009)

Meg's comments from the Gather Yourselves Together group.

Well, I've already got a copy of Flowers for Algernon, and I'm up for it, especially since it seems like not too many are into the Please Understand Me idea. Of course, I'm already working on American Gods... and Flow... this might be a record book-juggling for me!

It's probably almost EXACTLY like those management seminars. HAHAHA Of course, most people don't sit in those seminars every day and would enjoy the book. I think it's really interesting.

But guys, should we pick a fiction as well? Nobody seems to be messaging... probably the holidays. Should we take the month off?

Yeah, well, that's cause there are about 15 kids in the average household, so there isn't even enough taxpayer money for the school system, let alone the libraries... HAHAHA

Brilliant, Walker! I concur... Can somebody set up a chat section for Please Understand Me (as I am technologically inept)? The book is all over stores, but I'm sure most libraries have copies as well. If not, any Myers-Briggs reference book would probably do. It's not so much a book that you "read" as one that you skim the relevant sections, so it won't be very time-consuming for the holiday season. Plus, it's highly interactive--almost like a game. All the historical stuff in the beginning is totally optional (in fact, I recommend you skip it, then go back if you're truly interested). My advice: take the test, then look up your section and read how freaky dead-on it is (at least that's what 99% of people say)... then test your family/friends and look up their sections, etc. Should make for some interesting posts on the website, if everyone's up to participating. SO PARTICIPATE!

Seriously--take the test guys! It'll cost you about 15 minutes of your life--and reading the results is fascinating. (I'm an INTP--what Kiersey calls an "Architect"--if anybody's curious.) And if you can't get a hold of the test--message me your email address. I have the questions and an answer sheet in Word format... in fact, I even have the basic description of each type that I could email you if you like.

I'm gonna put in a request for Mary and O'Neil... but I'm sure my library won't get it to me until next month, so I'll be late on the commentary, as usual. Sounds really interesting, though...

Let's get a couple more suggestions and plan through March at least. Speak up guys--we need votes and suggestions!

Okay, I'm gonna suggest a non-fiction and see what you guys have to say about it. It's a book called "Please Understand Me II" by David Keirsey, based on the Myers-Briggs personality types. I know non-fictions are often dry and boring, but I use what I learned from this book almost daily. You take a test at the front of the book (and if you REALLY want to have some fun, get your spouse/children/friends to take it as well)--then read about the different types of personalities, including how the personalities interact with each other, the careers that suit them best, the strengths and challenges of romantic relationships among certain pairings, etc. I think the more people you test, the more interesting it is. I gave it to my parents, my siblings, my husband, and sort of answered the questions myself for both of my young children, then marked their names on the pages that applied to them. I think it's the best way to get to know the needs, interests, fears, and dreams of the important people in your life. I also take the test as my character each time I get cast in a theater/film role or write fiction. It's just so useful! Plus, it might make for some interesting discussion, since I bet the group of us represents a wide spectrum of personality types.

BUT... if you guys aren't up for a non-fiction... how about Flowers for Algernon or The Life of Pi, both of which have been huge, and (I'm ashamed to say) neither of which I have read... REPLY NOW AND TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK!

I submit vote #1 for Walker! In general, I shirk responsibility...

I just got American Gods from my library today, and knowing them, I won't be able to get Mary and O'Neil before you guys finish reading it anyway... nor do I even have the time to do two-a-months during the holidays... so I think I'm just going to finish American Gods this month.

Can we pick ahead a couple of months for next year, maybe? Stay two months ahead and help my public library out? Somehow if I get behind I just STAY BEHIND... y'all know how it is I'm sure :)

(Did y'all just hear my 'Texan' come out to play?--all y'all know y'all love it!... and yes "all y'all" is the plural of y'all :)

Tiffany--you're doing great! Keep up the good work. I wouldn't pick another moderator at all--and there's no way I'd know what to do.

Yeah, let's try for 8-12--I agree. That's pretty much perfect!

And Walker--what do you teach? I'm a secondary teacher--high school drama.

Okay, I've got a hold order in for American Gods, though it looks like I probably still won't get it for a couple of weeks.

Well put, Walker! The interesting thing to me is that we are so diverse as individuals we can actually read the same book in completely different genres.

That's funny, because I actually loved that about the book. It came across as so honest and genuine to me.

Becca said something that interested me, and now I'm really curious? Do you guys think of this book as a mystery? Because I read it as more of a drama, where the main character just happens to be a detective for a living. To me, the actual story was more about Christopher's past and the effect it had on his life than trying to solve anything in particular. Guess that's why I wasn't frustrated that I couldn't solve it. I was more sympathetic with what he'd had to go through, and interested in the psychological differences it made in him as a person.

If this is a mystery, MAN did I read it wrong. HAHAHA

Oh yeah--and what are we reading for November?

Finished the book--I think it's about a 3-star, personally. I definitely liked it overall (thanks, Walter!). But I agree with most of the critiques going on here--particularly Elena and Walter, brilliant observations!

However, I don't consider Christopher to be an unreliable narrator. Well, actually, I do--but no more so than any other narrator, and possibly less. He's a detective. An analytical mind. And for the most part he's looking back on memories from when he was 8 or 9 (sometimes even as young as 4 or 5)--so of COURSE those impressions are unreliable. He just happens to admit it, where most narrators don't. When he says things might not have happened exactly that way... or maybe someone else said that, not mom... I just considered him to be a detective trained to second-guess everything and only accept absolutely IRREFUTABLE, empirical evidence. He sure does jump around a lot, though (as does the novel in general)--"loses track of his thoughts" as Elena said--and that's probably my #1 complaint about this novel. Often I would sit down and start to read then think... "Wait a second... I'm lost again... what happened last time I read???" I couldn't remember, or connect with, a lot of the plot.

Miss Hemmings grew on me--but I still think she got what she deserved. (I LOVE how Christopher handled her trying to sneak into that party and hated that he apologized for it! He was absolutely right.) Misguided and selfish though she might have been, she made the choices that got her where she ended up, in both bad ways and good.

I hated the house search at first (particularly the way Akira was reintroduced so randomly--I found it entirely unbelievable!)... but then I thought the house episode probably communicated the theme of the entire piece. It was a psychological glimpse into what it's like to be an orphan (loved how many of the characters seemed "orphaned from their countries," by the way--my favorite part of the book). Orphans spend their lives trying to fill some kind of void. Can they ever? Possibly not. But they keep searching... I do think Jennifer might have been introduced to be just another orphan (maybe to increase sympathy for Christopher? Turns out he actually has a heart and tries occasionally to help others?)--but I liked that she was a part of the story. I liked the image of orphans helping each other... trying to fill the void they share.

Good read!

And I hate Miss Hemmings!! The bratty snob. Run, Christopher, RUN!!!!

Read chapter 1 last night, and quite enjoyed it. I love reading about the narrator wandering the streets of London. I spent 3 months in Kensington a few years ago, so I remember walking those same sites he mentioned and even doing some of the same things! It made me think... those are probably the sections people zone out on if they have no previous connection with the setting, but for someone like me who has lived there, it awakens such concrete sensual and emotional memories. So... does a personal experience with historical setting enhance the reading experience? Overall, I don't know... but in this case it does. For me, anyway. Probably because the narrator is so VERY cerebral rather than sensual or emotional. It helps that I can make a personal connection.

Which brings me to my second observation--the character of Christopher Banks. He seems so remote, detached, objective. CEREBRAL, as I said--that's probably the best word for it. And I enjoy reading in this style, though it is somewhat less emotionally-engaging. Yet underneath all his detachment, you can tell something serious happened in his past. Something he's had a severe EMOTIONAL reaction to... probably having to do with his parents, I'm guessing. And obviously something is pushing him to detective work. It's fascinating. I'm wondering if it will continue in this quintessentially "British" objective sort of style, or if our friend Banks will start something of a deep emotional journey. Guess we'll see...

My vote is When We Were Orphans then American Gods if no one objects.

Tiffany--you are like a sister of my soul! At least when it comes to Hunger Games #1. I pretty much could not agree more with every word you said. So let me know how you like #2. If you love it, I'm 99.9% sure I will, too.

Of course, I enjoyed #1 - it just lacked a little emotional and psychological depth to me. I mean, I get the survival idea--but I find it hard to believe that an angst-filled 16-year-old who's been forced to risk her life for a corrupt government doesn't have just a FEW thoughts and feelings on the matter. Rarely do I call for more whining in a book, but come on! Katniss has got some seriously heavy crap to whine about! Or at least RAGE about... or cry about... ANYTHING! MORE DRAMA! HAHAHA

I'm realizing now how picky I am on the "drama factor" continuum. I mean, if Ms. Collins had gone TOO far in that area, this book would have been HORRIBLE. Cheesy and overdone. So I guess erring on the side of caution is alright... as long as #2 steps it up!

Yeah, I read Fablehaven #1 and I'm pretty certain I won't be moving on to #2 until there's nothing else left in the world to read.

However, although parts of Hunger Games frustrated me, I could still recognize that it was well written--and more than that, just well CRAFTED. I suspect that I will LOVE this series. And that fact alone is enough to keep me reading. If I think of #1 as essentially exposition, then I'll pick up #2 thinking, "Alright now... let's get this party STARTED!"

I got When We Were Orphans! I know... I'm such an overachiever... but, as you all know by now, the second I see it on my teeny weeny library's shelf--I gotta grab it!

I'm about #48 on my library's waiting list for the Hunger Games sequel... so I'll probably get my hands on it sometime before the year 2012. Ms. Collins has got one more chance to knock my socks off. I have a feeling it'll be like the Uglies books for me: the first book a big letdown, but the series as a whole makes up for it.

I've already finished it as well--and posted my review. I enjoyed it a lot, I just didn't find it particularly exceptional in any way.

I kept trying to understand why I didn't just LOVE it, because the idea is right up my alley. And I think I finally figured it out when I read Walker's opening comment on this thread. The immorality, brutality and injustice of this world is never fully examined by the characters themselves in this first book--although I hold out great hope for the sequels to do just that. Other than Gale's rants in the forest (and wow--can I tell you how much I hate ALL of her male character names? They're ridiculously feminine) and the occasional reference to Cinna's subtle protests--the author doesn't fully question or challenge the world, even in the mind of her heroine. I'm hoping that this first novel is just background information--to show in an almost objective way the brutality of the Games... and then the sequels will get into a hard-core Big Brother showdown!

My favorite characters were by far the unfortunately-named Gale and the equally feminine-sounding Cinna. Now I finally realize why. They're the only ones that seem to be FIGHTING the system.

Also, I'd like to make a quick prediction. I think Cinna is a future revolutionary! Perhaps that's why he requested to work with District 12? And also the motivation behind having Peeta (someone help this woman name her men!) and Katniss hold hands in the opening ceremonies? What do you guys think? Cinna the fashion consultant and future leader of the rebel forces? He can stage a coup while giving you the perfect highlights to match your skin tone!

Meredith--I have to thank you for recommending Tales from Outer Suburbia. I positively ADORED it. Brilliant!

My favorite story is hard to choose... it was probably a tie between Distant Rain (the long poem made out of scraps of many people's writing) and Grandpa's Story (which I thought was an AMAZING parable for marriage--the reality vs. the fairytale). My least favorite was the turtle one--I'm still not entirely sure what it meant, so it didn't have quite the impact of the others for me.

There is NO WAY the story could have carried itself without the pictures. The way I read this book, it was mostly ABOUT the pictures (which I LOVED) and the words were really just a way of making more concrete sense of the artwork.

I've lived in the suburbs all my life, yet never met a soothsayer buffalo or crushed a stick person. There's no intercontinental missile in my backyard (to my knowledge). Then again... maybe I haven't been looking hard enough...