Greg’s Comments (group member since Jul 02, 2014)

Greg’s comments from the All About Books group.

Ruth wrote: "Greg, how was the Thor movie? Did you like it?"

I did Ruth, but I really enjoy those sorts of fantasy movies; so I'm not super-critical when it comes to that genre - a great escape from the troubles of real life! :) It was a little silly and over the top but a lot of fun.

Joan wrote: "Greg - we are going to try Ikea on Tuesday, thanks."

Hope it goes well Joan! :)

idiffer wrote: "Got out of the house finally. Went for a walk with my friend, had a very good conversation with him. Felt good talk to someone face to face. Got stopped by the cops - routine check, they searched u..."

Glad you got out of the house to see your friend idiffer; a shame you got stopped though - glad it all worked out ok.

Joan wrote: "Greg,
Beautiful view out the window - your vampire queen is a bit scary!
I went to Ikea only once - OMG- it was overwhelming I needed an extra-large cup of cocoa just to recover."

Haha Joan, some remaining Halloween decorations. :)

Ikea is a nightmare to walk through - some of the furniture is a bit rickety and a pain to assemble, but I've been very happy with my sofa and also with my matress. I got the bed frame on sale somewhere else, but the Ikea mattress is good. Ikea also has a free return policy on their mattresses; if you are unhappy for any reason you can return it for a full refund. That was a selling point for me; I was worried I'd get a new mattress home and a week later regret it being too soft or too firm. The return policy took away the stress. :)

Karin wrote: "Precisely. The media skews things to make it seem like it's new or limited to fewer types of groups that it actually is. This sort of thing has gone on for millennia in different ways and by people who are athiests, religious, political, apolitical, etc. Some humans are horrible--sad but true. ..."

This is so true Karin! - you can go back as far as ancient Roman times and find this. There is mental illness of course and also truly evil people.

But for the rest of us, I think the key thing is to hold firmly in one's heart to a line that won't ever, ever be crossed for any reason. There is often great injustice, sometimes partly imagined but other times very, very painfully real, and it's possible to make oneself believe that anything is necessary to stop it .. the human mind is just too self-deceptive, and some things can't be undone. There has to be a line that no matter how intellectually convincing the argument or how emotionally pulling the conditions, one won't step over for any reason because it is better to die than to cross it. When I was younger, I didn't understand that, but thankfully I lived in a historical time, place, and condition where I wasn't led astray. I shudder to think of all the people who live in conditions of civil strife and war, where choices aren't easy and consequences are beyond imagining.

Working today, but if I'm going to be working all the extra hours, praise God for windows! The last company had no windows in the engineering lab. Here there is a whole wall of windows and it raises my spirit. Today, these beautiful rain clouds are rolling in ...

Joan wrote: "What is true is occasionally debatable- unfortunately today too many folks believe facts are often debatable. I guess the confusion among histories, memoirs and historical fiction contributes to th..."

This is such a good point Joan!

And I often notice very odd genre labels on goodreads books. I suppose it's almost too much for the librarians to keep up with, when people are constantly adding new ones!

Angela M wrote: "It’s a damp , slightly rainy day , in the 50’s in upstate, NY . A perfect day to spend the afternoon reading which I am about to do in between loads of laundry. Hope everyone is having a good weekend."

Enjoy your raining reading days Angela and dely! Today I'm working (sigh), but yesterday we went to see the new Thor movie and then spent the rest of the day blissfully relaxing! :)

Karin wrote: "Esther wrote: "B the BookAddict wrote: "Esther, stray cows being hit by the Melbourne train were a constant problem where I used to live on the coast. Farmers incurred massive fines when that happe..."

That's fascinating Karin - thanks for the picture! I guess the shape helped push the weight toward the side and off the tracks?

Joan wrote: "Dely and Angela sounds you have had lovely days.
I’m trying to shop for a new mattress- ugh the options are overwhelming."

I did that recently Joan and settled on a mattress from Ikea .. cheaper and still quite comfortable, for me anyway. I couldn't believe how expensive the high end mattresses at some stores got - practically the price of a small car!!

Joan wrote: "About the newness of terrorism - I’ve just finished March by Jon Lewis and I was amazed to learn how often cars, trucks, bombs, chemical fumigants and guns were used to attack children in the U.S.A..."

It is very sad Joan

dely wrote: "Yesterday I had a lovely morning. A cousin of mine with his wife and two grandchildren arrived with the cruise ship so I went to the harbor to pick them up and brought them to sightseeing. They liv..."

That does sound wonderful dely!

Renee wrote: "Okay. I will try the movie too."

Renee, I preferred the book myself - no way to quite convey the lyricism of the text that made the book so special.

Still, the movie was very good in its own way. Actually there's a stage musical version that is quite good too. All are different because of the different strengths of the mediums, but all are good. The book though to me is best.

B the BookAddict wrote: "In Australian shelters, it is simply the pure excess in numbers of hurt, stray or unwanted cats that makes the time needed to rehabilitate a feral cat untenable.

If everybody got their cats desex..."

Yes, that is true in some US shelters as well. At some shelters, if an animal doesn't get adopted in a certain amount of time, the animal is euthanized.

Joan wrote: "I, too, like Philip Levine.
When I read thematic collections, such as The Mercy, I can get too caught up in the narrative, start reading it like a novel, and lose my experience of the poetry. Being..."

I do that too with my favorite poets Joan to savor the experience!

Petra wrote: "I'm reading House of Names by Colm Tóibín. This is a GR Giveaway win and I'm really glad I won a copy. It's wonderful."

Congratulations of the giveaway Petra! I really want to read his The Master

Joan wrote: "I’m curious about how others approach a book of poetry.
Do you read the poems in order as presented?
Do you dip in - reading the poems nearly randomly?
Do you pick specific poems, for example by ti..."

Good question Joan! For me, it depends on if it's a selection/collection or if it's one of the shorter books poets publish of poems from the same period arranged in sequence.

Often in those shorter books that poets publish of their work written in the past year, the poems are arranged in a sequence to build on each other - either thematically or to tell a story or for effect. These books I always read in order, usually in one or two sittings.

Selections/Collections that pull together works written from disparate years I read completely differently. Those I often glance through and sample poems from different parts first before I read the whole book. I'll read some sections in these books out of order, just depending on what grabs me; then I go back and read the rest.

By the way, I quite like Philip Levine!

Joan wrote: "Greg mentioned Angelina Weld Grimké in the fiction thread. I’d not heard of her but found 9 of her poems at
https://www.poemhunter.com/poem/the-e...

The Eyes Of My R..."

Love that poem of hers you found Joan!

Alannah wrote: "Sent my recommendation to Greg."

Not sure if you were able to see my PM, but thanks for the great choices Alannah! I'm picking We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson.

I'm mid-chapter two right now. It's intriguing, but I don't know what to make of it yet. Nothing humorous yet Pam, at least for me so far.

I didn't find the first chapter too engaging; this very intellectual caricature of the intelligentsia makes way too easy a target. Plus the exaggeration was just so extreme that nothimg struck home for me.

On the other hand, the extremely strange reimagining of the encounter between (view spoiler)[Jesus and Pontius Pilate (hide spoiler)] in chapter 2 has my attention. I'm not far enough along to understand the point exactly, but there's something more sophisticated to unearth here, I suspect. I'll know more as I get further.