Mary's comments (member since Dec 14, 2007)

Mary's comments from the The Rory Gilmore Book Club group.

Whether it's beauty products or Baby Einstein, doesn't it all come down to the same thing? Looking good to other people, keeping up with the Jones's, being envied. Our society has such a twisted definition of success that even environmentalism, good parenting, fitness, financial responsibility, and philanthropy, once they enter the mainstream conversation, are really all about looking good to other people. We start caring about the planet or kids starving in Africa or Katrina victims when Oprah and Julia Roberts tell us it's trendy. I think the struggle Dorian had at the end of the book to figure out if his attempt at goodness was really all about vanity is one that's pretty common to human beings in general.

I really wanted to like this book and I feel like I should like this book, but I didn't love it. I just had a really hard time getting into it. Maybe I was in the wrong mood...

1. Count of Monte Cristo
2. War and Peace
3. The Portable Dorothy Parker

The Thin Man
Bel Canto
The Kitchen Boy

As far as "proper" or standard American English goes, I think you could make an argument for it being "TV" English. I'm from Seattle and I've heard people say that in the Northwest we "don't have an accent" (which is just linguistically inaccurate, everyone has an accent). I think people say this because we do speak "newscaster English" or maybe you could call it "sitcom English."

I also think that, while it's true people make judgements about you based on your accent, we're more willing to change our initial impressions of people's intelligence once we've heard what they're actually saying. In that way, maybe we're a little less classist than the England of Eliza's day.

Pygmalion & Flowers for Algernon

A Separate Peace & A Tree Grows in Brooklyn

Speak, Memory & Special Topics in Calamity Physics

I was fascinated by the way Jane responded to Aunt Reed's treatment in this section too! It's almost `like Bronte became a character in the story at this point, using her authorial license to "punish" Mrs. Reed and her children for their treatment of Jane by ruining their lives (they're in financial ruin and Mrs. Reed is dying), thus allowing Jane to evolve into this graceful, forgiving, almost saintly character while still giving the reader the satisfaction of a measure of justice. It detracts from the realism of Jane's character- what would a real person in her situation have done if the Reeds were still living high on the hog? It might have been much harder to forgive and forget. But it sure makes for a fun read!

Oh, yeah. I'm also in the middle of Swann's Way. I finished the Prelude and Combray and I'm taking a little break before I move on to Swann in Love. I love it so far, but it's like meditating- I can only do so much at a time. I admire the people who have read all seven (?) volumes of Proust. I'm not sure I'm that ambitious.

Morgan- my principal recommended Three Cups to our staff. I'm anxious to read it- waiting for Amazon to deliver it to my door.

I just finished Jane Eyre, and I don't want to start The Eyre Affair until the discussions have started so I'm reading A New Earth in the meantime. I've never read Eckhart Tolle and I'm curious. I like reading "Oprah books" because of all the great resources she makes available online. I'm somewhat skeptical about this one, but I thought I'd give it a shot. So far it's interesting.

I can't put this book down! I read it in high school, but I barely remember anything about it. I love the section where Jane is at Lowood. The development of Jane's character, the way she matures and settles into herself while still keeping her spark and spunk, are so masterfully written. I love Helen and Miss Temple, too, in spite of (or because of?) the one-dimensional nature of their characters. Their utter purity and sweetness might be nauseating if written by a less brilliant author. And I love to hate Mr. Brocklehurst! The irony of his wife and daughters flouncing in clad head to toe in furs while he lectures the teachers about teaching the girls to "clothe themselves with shame-facedness and sobriety" just killed me. I'm so glad we picked this book!

In the first few chapters, I had the same feeling as Nicole and Sera: Mrs. Reed and her kids were evil and I was frustrated that Jane was stuck with them and had no alternatives.

The exchange between Jane and Bessie at the end of chapter 4 made things a little more complicated for me, though. Bessie doesn't seem "mean," she seems genuinely puzzled by Jane's odd and unpredictable behavior. I wonder if Jane's mistreatment is exaggerated in her telling of it, or if her tendency to melodrama distorts her impressions at all.

I finally got around to watching NA today. Overall, I enjoyed watching it, but I was disappointed that it was so different from the book in so many of its details. I agree with the previous posts about Elinor seeming too old and her friendship with Catherine not being developed enough. I think the main problem was that the movie didn't allow time to really develop any of the characters very well. And I felt that the implication that Captain Tilney just used Isabella for sex rather than that he tricked her into dumping James simply for sport was unnecessary and much less interesting. I should probably stop watching book adaptations until I get over my belief that they should remain as true to the book as possible. They never do!!

1. Swann's Way & To the Lighthouse
2. Jane Eyre & The Eyre Affair
3. Jane Eyre & Sense & Sensibility

I love Peet's and I'm in Fremont all the time so I go there a lot. You guys are right- it is smoother and less intense. I got to try Caribou when I was in Chicago a couple months ago. Yum! Do you guys know about Vinaccio coffee? The only store I know of is way out in Sultan (a teensy little town northeast of Seattle) but you can order their coffee online and it is so good. It's probably my favorite and it's pretty much all we drink at home.

Oh happy day!! I got my Venti sized travel mug!! It fits in my cupholder and it's not top heavy and it's red and shiny and I love it so much. This is the culmination of a search spanning years and states and possibly even boyfriends. Thank you thank you thank you Meghan!!

Just thought I'd let you know...I saw the question about whether I was disappointed by Henry in the movie, but I stopped reading this thread after that because I recorded the movie but haven't watched it yet. I'll watch it tonight and then comment (if my toddler with a raging double ear infection allows).

Becky- I wish I could send you the movie from my DVR. My husband says Windows Media Center is working on making that possible (or maybe it's already possible but not very user friendly?).

Hold everything. There's a 20 oz. travel mug at Starbucks?? I am so excited, although I have to admit I won't believe it until I see it. I hate all my travel mugs because they don't hold a venti. And I gave up disposable cups and disposable shopping bags as my New Year's Resolution, so I've been muddling through my days in a fog with only a grande latte to sustain me.

And...yes...you can bring your travel mug through the drive thru. I do it every day. You just say "venti nonfat latte (or whatever) in a personal cup (and then, if you're me, you try not to add "and a toffee almond bar)." It takes two seconds longer to get your drink, but they're very cheerful and happy about it and it's no big deal. And when I think about all the Starbucks cups that get thrown away every day...I didn't care about the earth at all until very recently, but then I had this radical (and inexplicable)change of heart. I think I was the last person in Seattle to go green.

I'm excited to watch the movie version of NA, but I'm a little nervous, too, because the book left me with a giant crush on Henry and I'm afraid the movie will ruin it. I have the Barnes and Noble Classics edition, and there's a comment in it somewhere that says that Henry Tilney almost seemed to be written more as a match for Jane Austen than for Catherine. I think that's so true. She created her equal in terms of wit and smarts in his character. I'm not sure Catherine totally deserved him. (I have a feeling I might get in trouble for that comment...)

This is so creepy. I didn't even know I had ever SEEN the Twilight Zone, but you guys are describing all my childhood nightmares! I remember that one about the silent guy and the image of his face...well...I guess I won't spoil it either, but I seriously thought that was just a nightmare I used to have as a kid. He was sitting in front of the TV when they show him after the bet, right?

Also have a foggy image of mannequins coming to life in a department store...

I also used to have a nightmare about a scary witch trying to sell me cocaine in the Albertson's parking lot when I was, like, 5 or something. Yes. I grew up in the "Just Say No" '80's and I was terrified of Evil Drugs. I'm guessing that wasn't a Twilight Zone episode, though, right?

It is SO crazy that you would bring up that episode, Michele. I saw it when I was a kid (I was 7 in 1985, not sure if I saw a rerun, though) and it has stayed with me ever since. I couldn't remember where I saw it or that it was an episode of TTZ or anything, but I've had that image of her stopping time with the missile over head in, like, a grocery store parking lot, maybe?? for what feels like my entire life. Weird. I thought maybe it was a dream I had...

Never thought about using the time to read, though....good idea.

Regarding the earlier posts about inconsistencies in Briony's voice (sometimes she's really insightful and sounds so grown-up and other times she reminded me of the spoiled, self-centered, melodramatic kid I sometimes was at her age) it helped me to remember as I was reading that this is McEwan's rendition of the adult Briony writing about herself as a young girl. So I didn't interpret it as a flaw of McEwan's, but as an intentional device he used because he was writing someone else's memoir. The inconsistencies in her voice highlight the difficulty of memoir-can we ever really write accurately about ourselves?, is memoir really a non-fiction genre?, did James Frey (A Million Little Pieces)lie any more than any other person telling their life story?, what's the difference between truth and fact? I still found Briony annoying a lot of the time, but she gave me a lot to think about.