Brian’s Comments (group member since Mar 02, 2009)

Brian’s comments from the fiction files redux group.

actually the YA label is something new for me. seems i first came across it with the harry pooter and twilight books. it may have been around longer but i'm usually slow at noticing things. so you're a teacher, huh? :D

and then i came across YAYA because it seemed YA wasn't enough. i'm just not sure what constitutes a YA or YAYA book. but i'm not losing sleep over it.

the only book i can remember reading in high school or thereabouts was A Separate Peace by John Knowles. i remember really enjoying it but i can't remember why so i just bought it to reread it. is that considered a ya book? is it still being read in schools? i probably could answer these questions when i get around to rereading it but i just started a tolstoy and as usual this tolstoy guy has a lot to say, this time about a certain anna and her friends and relatives.

the egg is what started me on sherwood anderson. so i guess you could say the egg came first... i may have to reread it now.

Slowrabbit wrote: "i've got 2 copies now, but i need to start bidding a bit higher than ben. sorry gang but times are tough. "

is your neighbor a bigger dick? could make a difference in the bidding.

I read the book Fire Ants a couple of weeks back and yesterday morning received this email from the author:

Brian,

I was referred to your comment on Library Thing about my collection of short stories, FIRE ANTS, and I was delighted by it. Thanks for your kind words. Much appreciated. I wish you more good reading and best regards.

Gerald Duff

I just think it's a nice thing when an author takes the time to send a short email to a reader. Maybe it's that southern hospitality... he is a southern writer, with a twist. And he's good. His book was great.

Shel wrote: " well some guys are aholes because they don't tret a girl with respect they only want to grab at them and antaganize them I am really nice to girls I help them out of trouble keep them from getting hurt and get guys off girls from hurting them I look for the personiallity and the charater of a girls not just her looks canbe decieving what about you bella no offince but what do you care what a guy looks lik or what and this question actually goes out to all the girls in this group..."

over the past 2 years i've read many ryu murakami books about crazy fucked up people and i read j.c. oates' book, zombie, about a serial killer and none of them captured the dialog of a twisted head as convincing as the quote above.

and i love that girls reply... she should be careful.

**Proud Father Alert**

My daughter won the Best Writer - Certificate of Achievement from her Saturday extracurricular activity at The Language Studio. I didn't get to read her submission but here's the exercise she had to do today...

Detail in Prose

I was unprepared for the tiny room at the end of the hall, unprepared for the dusty cobwebs in the corners, the light feathers from a long ago pillow fight, the fat beetle that scurried by me. Beside the bed there were three ripped-apart pillows. The bed sheet had bloody streak marks on it. The radio was playing a 1960's blues song. There was a large timber desk with a knife and a sheet of paper on it, little drips of blood on the floor. I could still hear the screams of the young lady. And on one end of the desk, there was a decomposing toe.

I hope she eventually finishes this because I need to know about the toe. And yeah... though only 10 I'm happy to see she has a dark imagination. In the meantime, my Ryu books are going on a higher shelf.

thanks for sharing this opportunity to become an instant millionaire.

that is a good number. congratulations! but are you sure you had enough fun?

Hugh wrote: "God, I'm hoping this doesn't come across as pimping... but I can't figure out how to send an email to all friends from the Fiction Files... Apologies who are wondering WTF....

I've got a blog at: ..."

it's so nice to see stuff like this happening. congrats to you hugh. any idea when the pirates over here will start hawking your wares?

west of here is india... you wrote a book about india je? congrats. that is very good news. you have much to be thankful for this year papa je.

ooo... kris... you're making me want to withdraw my hand from the shelf. i was about to grab that pamuk book down and let it's pages breathe. anna k. soon it looks like.

Shel wrote: "... I think you could hear a pin drop."

i don't think dropping pins is such a good idea. someone might step on them and that would hurt.

glad to see all went better than well!

well if mo gets it, i officially declare it an international sensation. it came from england and has been read in malaysia, the us, mexico, and canada.

just please tell me the club copy has not been lost. pfl, mia? sob!

well neil... looks like i may have to pick this one up. i've fondled it in the book shop several times and think about all of the unread books sitting on my shelf. now i'm thinking if i bought this book, it'll make friends with my other ones.

looking forward to hearing more about this little critter.

can someone post a status update on PFL please. last i heard je was in the tub with it... it might be yucky now, well, not that it wasn't yucky before, but yuckier now.

the thing about wodehouse's c., h., and b., sentence is the way he gently slipped into it by first talking about the turkish b. and note that the first b. is not the same as the second b. because enjoying a turkish b. would just be silly.

he prepared me for it. i think if he continued i could have read the rest of the book with just first letters and still understand him.

wodehouse... this is the same guy who wrote I sank into a c. and passed and agitated h. over the b. he can pretty much say anything he wants it seems.

happy birthday aunty jen.