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[Kirsten]

Just noticed that Much Ado will be "read" in February. If you haven't seen it, do look for Joss Whedon's version of this. He filmed it at his own house and it stars Alexis Denisof, Amy Acker, Nathan Fillion, and was filmed in B&W.

[Felicia]

Hi everybody!

I was just wondering, do you consider the Narnia series to be a classic? I've never read the series but I believe I want to, although I'm worried it will be to childish since it is a series meant for children? Do you think it's a little like the Harry Potter series, a series meant for kids/young adult but also suitable for older readers? Do you think I should read the Narnia series? I used to really like the movies when I was younger.

[LiLi]

Yes, I think the writing could also be enjoyed by an older reader. In fact, you might get more out of the symbolism that flies over many young readers' heads.

Another children's writer that I would still read as an adult is E. Nesbit.

[Bob, Short Story Classics]

Felicia wrote: "Hi everybody!

I was just wondering, do you consider the Narnia series to be a classic? I've never read the series but I believe I want to, although I'm worried it will be to childish since it is ..."

I agree with Elizabeth, Narnia is certainly a classic, if for no other reason than age (published in the 50's). I have read reviews from adults that read the series and the majority have been positive. I've thought about reading it myself. Of course to play it safe I would read the first book before I committed to the whole series.

[Johanne]

Children's librarian and Master in children's literature here. The Narnia series are definitely considered classics also in a stricter definition than the age one. I believe they can definitely be read by an older audience (even if you don't have an interest in children's literature like I do), the symbolism can feel quite heavy, but I believe that's more a trait of the times than the intended audience. I would give it a go! And I'd read them in chronological series (not publication) order, beginning with 'The Magician's Nephew'.

[Kirsten]

Johanne wrote: "Children's librarian and Master in children's literature here. The Narnia series are definitely considered classics also in a stricter definition than the age one. I believe they can definitely be ..."

I haven't read all of them and I love them. Another great classic fantasy children's series that I still loved as an adult is the Dark is Rising series by Susan Cooper.

[Johanne]

...and that is the order they're usually in, if you look in a collected edition. (People have differing opinions on this, but I have reaf the series several times, and always thought that order made sense).

[Johanne]

*read

[Rosemarie]

The Dark is Rising series is excellent!

[LiLi]

I read Narnia in publication order. I can see arguments for both, but starting with _The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe_ just seems like such a good way to discover the other world.

[Rosemarie]

I read them in publication order like you did, Elizabeth. It just made sense for me. I read The Magician's Nephew second and am rereading the rest of the series one per year. This year is the turn of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.

[Johanne]

I can also see the reasons for both reading orders. I guess I just prefer the chronolical series order, because that's how I read them first. This site shows the two orders: https://www.narniaweb.com/books/readi...

[Kirsten]

Rosemarie wrote: "The Dark is Rising series is excellent!"

I am so glad someone else thinks so! I discovered it by accident when I was (I think) in middle school and I was at the public library. I actually read The Grey King first since it had a dog on the cover. Then I went back and read it all in order.

Recently I purchase the entire series in one volume and read it. I am 50 and it still thrilled me!!!!

[Lynn, New School Classics]

Felicia wrote: "Hi everybody!

I was just wondering, do you consider the Narnia series to be a classic? I've never read the series but I believe I want to, although I'm worried it will be to childish since it is ..."


Yes, I would say that The Chronicles of Narnia are classics because:
1. They are older and have stood the test of time.
2. The writing is very high quality.
3. The writing was inspirational in that it was often imitated by other authors.
4. The author C. S. Lewis has written other books also considered masterpieces such as The Screwtape Letters and Mere Christianity.
5. They are just wonderful to read. They are fun and the last book in the series had me in tears almost the entire time I was reading it.

About The Dark is Rising Series, I bought the 5 book series six months ago. I have only read the first two so far. The Seventh Grade in my school read Book #2 The Dark is Rising last year, and since I teach Eighth, I wanted to keep up with what the students had read. I do plan on finishing the series this year. I enjoy it, but if I had to compare I love Narnia more.

[Lynn, New School Classics]

Rosemarie wrote: "I read them in publication order like you did, Elizabeth. It just made sense for me. I read The Magician's Nephew second and am rereading the rest of the series one per year. This year is the turn ..."

I cannot remember the order that I read them. It was whatever number order was on the spines. I did read them all as a continuous flow. It took me one month to finish all seven. You must read all the way through number seven before the rest of the series makes full sense. Also, I would suggest reading about how Lewis originally was telling bedtime stories to his children that developed into the series. He considered the series an allegory and the character Aslan has special symbolic significance.

[MK]

I feel like I finally read one of the Narnia books a few years ago, after I read Lev Grossman's The Magicians, but I don't have it marked as 'read' here on GR ...

I know I always wanted to read that series.

Here on GR, they list the series both ways, Chronological Order, and Publication Order.

I love children's literature, and I realize there's so very much of it that I never read. I think it was The Little Princess a few years ago that made me want to go back and read all those stories that I sort of know, but never actually read. As an adult, they are generally delightful, fast reads. And still, so very worth it. There's so much to get out of 'children's fiction', whether you're a kid, or just a kid at heart!! :)

[Wreade1872]

I just watched the first film verison of Frankenstein http://publicdomainmovie.net/movie/fr... its 13 minutes.
I don't know whether they didn't read the book or what but some pretty strange changes going on in there :lol .

The first title card said something like 'Frankenstein Goes to College' and i thought omg this is like a parody or something! but no, o course they meant Dr. Frankenstein not the monster :lol
The resurrection is more like the reanimation of a (view spoiler)[vampire or mummy (hide spoiler)] than a dead human.

And the ending was quite... odd :) . Also i think the monster looks like (view spoiler)[Blanka (hide spoiler)] from Street Fighter :P .

[Tonia]

Wreade1872 wrote: "http://publicdomainmovie.net/movie/fr... ."


That is such a great website, thanks for sharing! It blows my mind sometimes to think about how extraordinary these first movies must have seemed in their day... imagine seeing people on the screen for the first time... we take it all for granted now but I'm sure some must have been totally floored by it all.

[Wreade1872]

Tonia wrote: "
That is such a great website, thanks for sharing! It blows my mind sometimes to think about how extraordinary these first m..."

Well i was mostly sharing the film rather than the website, i've never used that one before i just heard the first Frankenstein had been released by someone and did a search.
Heres the Library of Congress version, i'm not sure the quality is much better but the Title cards are so thats something :) https://blogs.loc.gov/loc/2018/11/the... .

[Tonia]

Thanks. I love that people are taking the time to preserve these old films.

I wonder if the assumption back then was that people had already read the book so knew the story? ... By which I mean, a modern version of Frankenstein has certain tropes that we all expect to see because the story is so familiar to us - I know they wouldn't have been tropes back then, but I wonder how familiar the audience was with the novel before watching the film.

Did they all leave the cinema murmuring that it was nothing like the book?!

[Wreade1872]

On a completely unbook topic, i started my net and noticed that one of the networks in range is "Garda surveillance van23" , the Gardai being the police we have here.
So either we have some terribly incompetent surveillance people, quite possible ;), or someone is having a little joke.

Assuming its the latter, what a GREAT way to troll any local criminals! :lol .
I'm inclined to think its a joke, mostly as i doubt there are more than a couple of surveillance vans in the entire country :P, so 23 is a little high :) .

[Katy, Quarterly Long Reads]

LOL
How funny.

[MK]

Wreade1872 wrote: "On a completely unbook topic, i started my net and noticed that one of the networks in range is "Garda surveillance van23" , the Gardai being the police we have here.
So either we have some terribl..."

That's wonderful. Thx for the smile :D

[Christopher]

Is this a case of "I knew you knew I knew you knew"?

The best place to hide is in plain sight?

[Aprilleigh]

One near me is named Agent Zed, and another is CAUTION. I get a giggle out of it every time.

[Renee]

Much Ado About Nothing is the Shakespeare read this month? Darn! I got the wrong one. For some reason I had it in my head that A Midsummer Night's Dream was what we were reading this month. Guess I just really wanted to read that one 😊 Will have to search for the right one now :)

[siriusedward]

When does the 'Moderators surprise book ' start ?
I have been checking the announcement...

[siriusedward]

Renee wrote: "Much Ado About Nothing is the Shakespeare read this month? Darn! I got the wrong one. For some reason I had it in my head that A Midsummer Night's Dream was what we were re..."

Now you will have read both ,Renee. :)

[Pink]

siriusedward wrote: "When does the 'Moderators surprise book ' start ?
I have been checking the announcement..."

Our mods surprise book was to add a choice to the polls, not automatically be a group read. I don’t think any of our choices were successful in the polls.

[siriusedward]

Oh .I thought it to be an additional book.
Oh well.🤷‍♀️

[Aprilleigh]

I suppose it can be if you want it to be, we all know which books the mods chose because each announced it in the poll.

[Pink]

Aprilleigh wrote: "I suppose it can be if you want it to be, we all know which books the mods chose because each announced it in the poll."

Yep, I went ahead and read my choice of Les Liaisons dangereuses it was a 5 star read for me and I’d highly recommend it :)

[Renee]

siriusedward wrote: "Now you will have read both ,Renee."

I probably will read them both. I read three Shakespeare last year, and loved them all.

[siriusedward]

I liked his tragedies more than comedies..of the plays I read...

[RJ - Slayer of Trolls]

Pink wrote: "...I went ahead and read my choice of Les Liaisons dangereuses it was a 5 star read for me and I’d highly recommend it :) "

Great book! I read that one in college and I've kept a copy ever since.

[Wreade1872]

I'm just about to start reading The Eye in the Pyramid which i got from the library and its filth... and i don't mean sex, i mean literal dirt ;) , this is the crubbiest book i think i've ever seen :| .

It looks like it was in a fire, or a sewer, or a sewerfire :P, i feel like i should be wearing rubber gloves while reading it :lol .

I don't think its even physically possible to get a book dirty on all sides like this if its on any kind of shelf, it must have been lying exposed on a table or the floor ;) .

[Wreade1872]

Got ya!
I saw this book in the store a few days ago and meant to take note of its title but completely forgot it. All i had was a vague memory of the bookcover and that i was pretty sure it began with an R. Just spent like 3 hours trying to find it, finally did searching best science fiction on google and going back year by year.
I had thought it was from 2018 but finally found it in 2015, luckily google weren't using the original cover or i never would have spotted it.

Original cover , but heres the one that caught my eye really like that Metropolis-style aesthetic.

[MK]

Now that's some book sleuthing! Hope the book is fabulous :)

[Pink]

Wreade1872 wrote: "I'm just about to start reading The Eye in the Pyramid which i got from the library and its filth... and i don't mean sex, i mean literal dirt..."

Oh no! I’ve had some grubby books from the library, but none that I’d describe as being in a sewerfire! 💩🔥

[Wreade1872]

Pink wrote: "Oh no! I’ve had some grubby books from the library, but none that I’d describe as being in a sewerfire! 💩🔥, ..."

I keep the hand-wash near :) .

[Nente]

Hello everyone! I know I haven't been much of a contributor lately, but here I am asking advice and hoping for your indulgence.

What should I read by Stephen King if I'm a nerves-of-cottonwool type person (as opposed to nerves-of-steel one)?

I'd only read The Langoliers ages ago, and it was good and creepy. But for some reason I got more instead of less sensitive to horror stuff with the passing of years... Anything bad happening to small children is a particular trigger.
But I'm sure King writes good stuff and I'd like to try him - just not to be knocked out in the process.

[Luke]

Nente wrote: "Hello everyone! I know I haven't been much of a contributor lately, but here I am asking advice and hoping for your indulgence.

What should I read by Stephen King if I'm a nerves-of-cottonwool typ..."

Either The Eyes of the Dragon or Lisey's Story. The first can't even be considered horror, while the second has horror elements but is more a grappling with grief than a horror story.

[MKay]

Nente wrote: "Hello everyone! I know I haven't been much of a contributor lately, but here I am asking advice and hoping for your indulgence.

What should I read by Stephen King if I'm a nerves-of-cottonwool typ..."

How about The Stand?

[Aprilleigh]

Agreed. The Eyes of the Dragon was written for his daughter, who had no interest in his creepy tales. I love his work, so I naturally have a copy. It's fantastic.

[Nente]

Thank you, Aubrey, MKay, April!
MKay - I'm leery of the length of The Stand, to be honest...

[MKay]

I understand! I read it in high school and once again since.

[Wreade1872]

I was looking for a cover image for an old book and came across these funny jokes from the 1920s https://www.fulltable.com/vts/p/pshow...

:LOL

[Wreade1872]

The mystery and thriller goodreads logo reminds me of Trapdoor https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fF4nA... , loved that show :) .

[Luke]

If any users could take a moment to fill out this 18 question survey, that’d be great. It shouldn’t take more than 5-7 minutes of your time (not April Fools related): https://forms.gle/kpdyvyAixu9EvBBd9

[Terry]

Aubrey, I filled out the questionnaire but since I am relatively new to Goodreads, I didn’t know a lot of the answers, so I just guessed. Do you know where to look for answers to the questions? I ask, because I actually have wondered about some of these questions.