Anna's comments (member since Jan 24, 2008)

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

Thanks so much for the link!

So are they just the stories of the series or are these books new stories?

Is there a list out there of all of Jim Dale's audio book performances? I'd listen to just about anything read by him. He's amazing.

I'm listening to Year of Wonders now and the narrator, Stina Neilsen is excellent.

Dini already mentioned Eat, Pray, Love, which I'm reading right now. It is really funny.

I really like In Defense of Food. It was a really eye opening read.

Thought ya'll might be interested in this interview. She talks about Gilmore Girls movie possibilities about half way down the page.

http://ausiellofiles.ew.com/2009/01/excl...

So I finally finished; I thought it was a painfully long slog. I didn't seem to have the same antipathy for Lord Henry that others seem to have. Although I love your comment Meghan about the drug-dealer nature of the relationship. Lord Henry, while shallow, certainly didn't seem to be pushing Dorian in the more horrific aspects of his descent. In fact, at the end of the novel Lord Henry seemed to not really understand how far Dorian had descended into self-satisfaction and self-destruction. There was a point in which Lord Henry was talking about how art is not responsible for what people do, but that it only reflects the reality of people's behavior. (I don't have the book with me so I can't pinpoint the exact place). I got the impression that he Lord Henry (and Wilde) was trying to point to the fact that people are responsible for their own actions. It reminded me of the censorship debate in our contemporary society.

LOST SPOILERS



I didn't get the impression that Ben controlled Smokey, I thought that he just let down the fence that kept it out. I think that Smokey killed the pilot because he wasn't supposed to be on the plane and hence on the island, it was supposed to be the guy who is with the Freighter people.


I don't think that Ben is trapped off the island; I think that Ben can telaport to and from the island somehow. This is not my own idea, but one I took from Doc Jensen over at EW. That would explain how the polar bear skeleton got to the desert near where Ben showed up wearing a heavy winter parka.

Finally, Kate said that they found the pregnacy test in the luggage when they were rounding up all the meds.

I'm so behind! I just perused everyone else comments ,and I've never read this book before so I don't know what's to come, but I didn't get the impression that Lord Harry was the devil. I thought that he was just trying to seduce Dorian. I got the impression that is was sort of like Dangerous Liaisons where he just wanted to see if he could get Dorian to fall for him. And so far, it seems like he succeeded. I felt so badly for Basil, to lose his muse to someone who was supposed to be a friend.

I watched S & S too. I really liked it, aside from the racy beginning, which I thought was a weird way to start a Jane Austen film.

As for the calling, I really have no idea. I never understood the "rules" either. I hope he calls you soon though.

I totally spaced out last month, but I'm so excited to read both of these.

Thanks for the link. I love the Jane Austen mysteries, so I definitely going to add this to my to read list.

Daisy Miller & Vanity Fair
The Awakening & A Doll's House
The Code of the Woosters & Ella Minnow Pea

There was a review in this morning's Chicago Tribune in which the reviewer claimed the movie was neither historically accurate nor that faithful to the book. While the lack of historical accuracy is a charge that is leveled at the novel, I was surprised that it wasn't seen as a faithful adaption of the novel as Gregory was a consultant on the film.

The reviewer did however rave about Portman's performance, claimed Johanssen did an admirable job, and that Banna was nice to look at (no arguments here).

I've read the book. I preferred some of Gregory's other work, particularly The Constant Princess.

I think that the movie looks great. Both Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson looked outstanding in the previews.

Thanks for the link Meghan. I've never heard of that journal and it is not one of the full text journals available at our library. From the abstract it was hard to tell what methods they used, but it sounded like they were only talking about women who are in abusive relationships. It seems like exposure to Byronic heroes has to be a relatively small contributing factor to the tendency to enter into, and more importantly stay in, an abusive relationship.

Meghan do you have a link for that article you mentioned. As a psychologist I would really take issue with that author's claims that the average American adult male is like the typical Byronic hero. While there are certainly maladjusted individuals, society would cease to function normally if most of the male population tended toward the brooding, conflicted style typified by these characters.

While women might find them romantic to some degree, those characteristics actually don't correlate to what they look for in a partner. In the 37 cultures study emotional stability and maturity were at the top of the list of characteristics desirable in a partner.

I think that list of Byronic heroes is pretty interesting. Of course they are many of the fictional men I love, so what does that say about me I wonder?

Sarah, the Heathcliff bit is in Book 3, which I just finished. I thought it was the funniest part of the whole book.

Meghan your penchant for research is amazing!

That bit about Mycroft's name is relevant in a future book, so if you continue reading the series keep it in mind.

I think it is easier to think a war is just when there are clear human rights abuses. Contemporary military actions in Bosnia and Afghanistan were typically considered more just because there was the goal of helping individuals faced genocide and ethnic cleansing. But at the same time, I have to wonder if there aren't better ways to deal with these conflicts than escalating into war. I'm not saying I know what those ways are.