Kenneth’s
Comments
(group member since Sep 04, 2014)
Kenneth’s
comments
from the Discourse in a Digital Age group.
Showing 61-80 of 166
For all that the structure is a gimmick, I'm really enjoying this book. It's impressive how hard a single question can hit you if you're paying attention. It is difficult to pick up the narrative thread until quite late, if you can pick it up at all, but it all relates to the themes of family, love, and life under the Pinochet Dictatorship. I'm having difficulty getting to the Chilean websites that have information about the Academic Aptitude Test and its replacement, the University Selection Exam. I did find this somewhat sketchy website that looks to give a good overview of the test.
I wish I had handed out photocopies of an answer key, so we could all fill in our answers and compare them. I will have copies at the help desk, if you want to pick one up, though.
My favorite question so far is #44. I answered E, but that's the only help I'll give you.
We are partnering with LBB for Bookfest. We'll be having an event for picture books and middle-grade books here at Schlafly. We are also hoping for a related display. As far as visiting it, let's make plans! It's the 23rd of September.
I'm only a couple of chapters in, but I had to share this with you. There's always time for a little Holiday Cheer (TM).http://chinamieville.net/post/1549054...
Listen to the audio of this bizarre video, where Mr. Kobek takes on a heckler: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqNxk...
I can confidently say that the book does not get "better" if you keep going. If you were put off early, then that would not change. I didn't hate the book or anything, but it was definitely a struggle for me to finish it. I'm also not sure if there was actually a story line - it seemed to amount to "Woman begins to use Twitter, is told to stop. Author stand-in hates San Francisco, so he leaves."
Also, very Kurt Vonnegut. (Thanks, reviews, I knew I had heard that voice before.)
Don't we all though, even as we know we can't live without it?Wow. I'm a few chapters into this book, but Anne's projected description of it as "So You've Been Publicly Shamed" crossed with "I'm Trying to Reach You" seems pretty spot on. I'm going to start annotating it right away. It will be the first to tell you it is not A Good Novel, but it's certainly a fascinating reflection of internet culture. Thanks for the recommendation, Kim Springer!
Reminder to me to find downloadable way to read this book for Donna. Hint hint, Kenny.
Check out this page: http://readcomiconline.to/Comic/Ms-Ma...I like the fan responses and questions to the work. These have traditionally been included in paper comic books, and this is no different.
We are set to discuss Ms. Marvel on Wednesday, May 10. Donna is bringing the treats. I found a way to read them online - this website has them. http://readcomiconline.to/Comic/Ms-Ma...What do you think of this debut superhero story by Ms. Wilson? Here is her website: http://gwillowwilson.com/
Finally, for now, Kim sent me an excellent interview with her that you can read here: http://www.newyorker.com/culture/pers...
This is our book for the April discussion. It is one of my favorite books of all time - I'm not sure if that says something bad about my tastes or what, but her humor really clicks with me. You might not be able to relate with some stories if, say, you've never owned a pet, but there are several "essays" in here about more universal things like childhood, responsibility, and human emotion. She describes depression in the most relatable way I have ever read - and it's still funny, too. Here is a link to her blog. Donna, take note! You can read many of the stories in the book on the website here - just take a look at the "Best of" section on the right. If you can't get enough of the book, just look here for more of her brand of humor.
http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/
At the meeting (which was indeed last week - I called Donna straightaway and told her not to come), we talked through it, and came up with some really interesting ideas about the book. My favorite was the idea that Joseph's actual family-granted power was that he could feel emotions through touch, which is why he became so withdrawn from people and shunned contact. The splinter-removing was a way to deeply connect with his mother, whom he could stand. There's some textual support for this when he touched Rose in the final scene. The turning-into-furniture thing was all that science he was working on.
I both liked and disliked the lack of detail. For one thing, you need that detail to function in a story world. But then, it gives you the ability to fill in the blanks with fantastic things the author may never have intended, like what I wrote above.
Ultimately, it succeeded in holding my interest, though it's definitely the kind of book that mostly leaves you with unanswered questions.
Just finished. I think we have a lot to discuss. Like, what was going on with Joseph, and what the Rose was like. We have some more magical realism we will get into later this year, I think. And im still planning on some Gabriel Garcia-Marquez, at some point.I will see you folks tomorrow, with a lemon-chocolate cake in tow. Maybe you can tell me what you taste in it?
What do you think of this title? I'm not very far into the book, but I'm thinking of it as a sort of Magical Realism title, which will chain into future books on our reading list.
What do you think of this title? I'm not very far into the book, but I'm thinking of it as a sort of Magical Realism title, which will chain into future books on our reading list.
Who would like to come with me to see Hidden Figures? I sent out an email about this, but if you check this first, good for you! Let me know what days and times work for you!
http://deadline.com/2016/09/nbc-put-p...NBC has committed to seeing a pilot for a television series. It looks like Ben Winters, the author of the novel, is in charge of writing it.
What would you do? I think that's probably the operative question here, yeah? The world is going to end in 6 months, so how do you spend your time? The book's publisher ran a publicity campaign with that as its theme, and they got a lot of fascinating responses you can read here. I think you would have to count me among the bucket-listers. I would need to visit Europe, at the very least. Otherwise, I'll probably be working to survive like normal. We'd be heading into a post-apocalyptic situation too, so I'd likely engage in some lazy, insufficient stockpiling while denying the reality for as long as possible.
How about you?
