Catching up on Classics (and lots more!) discussion
Archived Chit Chat & All That
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Nente
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Sep 14, 2020 10:33AM
Thanks Sandra, and after all it may be more memorable to have a non-round number, hmm...
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Ha! Perfect solution.
Oh, what fun. Covid-19 and now I’m evacuated from home because of California forest fires. Thank goodness for ebooks!
Don wrote: "Oh, what fun. Covid-19 and now I’m evacuated from home because of California forest fires. Thank goodness for ebooks!"Oh no! I certainly feel for those of you affected by the wildfires. I hope your home isn't in immediate danger and that you get to return soon.
Don wrote: "Oh, what fun. Covid-19 and now I’m evacuated from home because of California forest fires. Thank goodness for ebooks!"I was in that same situation not too long ago myself, Don. I hope it works out for you as it did for me.
I'm sorry to hear that, Don. I hope you can come back to your home soon.
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Reading Thomas Love Peacock you always need a computer (a dictionary just won't cut it) nearby. His words must have been pretty obsure back in the 1820s now many of them are completely defunct.Todays words include:
apophthegm = a concise saying or maxim; an aphorism.
funipendulous = suspended by a rope or cord
kakistocracy = government by the least suitable or competent
agrestic = relating to the country; rural or rustic.
autochthonal = existing where it was formed or born; native, aboriginal, indigenous.
Kakistocracy is definitely my new favourite :D .
Mod
To..."
Oh my what a wonderful word kakistocracy = government by the least suitable or competent.
Wreade1872 wrote: "Reading Thomas Love Peacock you always need a computer (a dictionary just won't cut it) nearby. His words must have been pretty obsure back in the 1820s now many of them are completely defunct.To..."
Apparently there are still people in the world who know the word "kakistocracy". I found a story that the former CIA director John Brennan used the word in a tweet about the current US administration in 2018.
Laurie wrote: "Apparently there are still people in the world who know the word "kakistocracy". I found a story that the former CIA director John Brennan used the word in a tweet about the current US administration in 2018..."HA! excellent! :) .
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Lynn wrote: "On the word kakistocracy there is a current term, a movie allusion, that is close and is used in everyday language "idiocracy". The meaning is not exactly the same, but close enough that it immedia..."Oh thats true, hadn't thought of that. Although i tink they have slightly different connotations.
Idiocracy to me suggests everyone is stupid.
Whereas Kakistocracy is more like just the people put in charge are stupid.
Although allowing a Kakistocracy to develop does not reflect well on the intelligence of those who let it happend i guess :D .
Mercer Human Resources Consulting Ltd4 St. Pauls Square
LIVERPOOL
I’ll use this as an example of a bug bear I have which I’m happy to admit is personal but I want to see if I can express it in writing; why I have this problem. So I’m using a film review to impersonalise this as much as possible. At least you can have a guess at what film is being discussed;
“Yes, embarrassingly this is my first Hitch. And it's kinda disappointing.
Absolutely it's not bad. But I went in this movie expecting to see one of the best and most iconic films of all time and honstly it's not. At least for me anyway. There's a ton of movies in this genre now better than it 100 times.
I saw the final 15 minutes of it coming 1 hour earlier and it's not even as good as imagined it.
It's a good film don't get me wrong and I enjoyed my time watching it but the thing is that it's not as good as I expected from what everybody says.”
There’s never a problem with an opinion of a work of art ending up anywhere on the scale from hate to love. This is a given yet it crystallises the nature of opinion; that we give it as much relevance as we choose to; but when we write down an opinion it has a transformative effect. It’s no longer a thought; it becomes a thought worth writing down so no longer an idle thought but something one can scrutinise and ensure satisfies our desire to communicate our opinion to others. I could compare with a twitter which doesn’t have the oxygen to become much more than a brain fart but the challenge is in the opportunity to really say what you mean. Whilst there’s nothing inherently wrong nor poor nor untypical about the review it doesn’t seem, personally, to try at all to rise to the challenge. The film is a classic but it may be the one film that has been repeated more than any other and it’s impossible not to see it without knowing what it’s surprises are. The point of the challenge of writing would be that “I’m disappointed” is a jump off point into a longer examination not a full stop. Disappointed by its having a reputation not with the film actually being bad? I’m disappointed they didn’t give it more thought since the film’s reputation probably suggests you should; the difference between the reaction and the reputation seems to necessitate it especially since the challenge is inherent in art, in general, so whether your opinion is that you like it or not ignores that challenge. “Classic” really does imply a challenge. Doesn’t it?
Haha ignore the address. Poor copy pasting.
Can anyone think of a good term for sequels/retellings etc. of books which are not by the original authors?I bet the germans have a word for it, they usually do ;) .
Currently i'm calling them Unquels, like sequel but not :P .
I'm planning a challenge for next year, things like Grendel, Frankenstein Unbound, Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Lovecraft Country, Dreams from R'lyeh, The World's Desire etc.
Wreade, is it "fan fiction" what you mean? Still I think Unquels sound much better. :)
Sandra wrote: "Wreade, is it "fan fiction" what you mean? Still I think Unquels sound much better. :)"..umm, you know i think this stuff is technically fan fiction in a way, but would you dare call Lovecraft Country fanfiction to someones face? :) .
Oh, i've just realised Unquel sounds like Uncle which is good word wise. Uncle sometimes being used with non-actual relatives to denote a connection.
I told a college professor that I wasn't interested in The Hours cause I read too much fanfiction as is, and he was never the same.
Lol, good point. And I insist I Unquels should be a word.
Michaela wrote: "What´s wrong about retellings?"Nothing's wrong with them. Some people just get infuriated when you tell them that their artificial hierarchy concerning the ways in which narratives are composed is merely a method of gatekeeping, not a credible way of separating the wheat from the chaff.
Not sure if I understood that Aubrey, but what I really meant was: What´s wrong about the word "retellings"?
And there´s a difference to fan-fiction imo, often written by hobby authors with no ideas about writing.
aarrrgghhh! My notification stopped working. I don't know whats happening anywhere :( .I found a sort of partial workaround, i'll have to go into the group everyday and list all Unread.
Doesn't help if people comment on my reviews though.
Super annoying, seems to have broken two days ago when i switched off my add-book update so i could add a load of books without annoying people with a ton of updates.
No amount of fiddling with the settings has unbroken it :# .
Wreade1872 wrote: "aarrrgghhh! My notification stopped working. I don't know whats happening anywhere :( .I found a sort of partial workaround, i'll have to go into the group everyday and list all Unread.
Doesn't h..."
I don't think it's anything you did, Wreade. I'm not getting notifications either. Goodreads did it:
https://help.goodreads.com/s/announce...
My notifications are broken as well. Nothing to do but wait until GRAmazon considers fixing them a priority.
Thanks for the info guys. Yeah just wait and see i guess :| .
It is some kind of maintenance in the site. It is very annoying.
Well i just took a weight off my mind, almost literally. The biggest independent bookshelf we have is directly over the bed and since its big it gets big books. So i've had this homemade shelf hanging there filled with the heaviest volumes. Every now and then it would start to nag at me again and i'd get visions of being bludegeoned by the The Planetary Omnibus or outright decapitated by the shelf itself!
Anyway :) , finally got to rearranging all my shelving, the almost weightless DVD's are up there now.
All i have to worry about now is the cat scratching my face off while i sleep, (he likes to do his nails on the headboard to wake me up :| ) .
Wreade1872, I'm still laughing after reading this! I'm picturing the cat and the bookshelf as it used to be.
Shaina wrote: "Wreade1872, I'm still laughing after reading this! I'm picturing the cat and the bookshelf as it used to be."Yes its good to have the shelf sorted, of course the cat is going in rather the opposite direction, getting increasingly larger and wider while the headboard remains quite thin :lol .
There's nothing quite like waking at 4am to see a big hairy monster wobbling precariously inches above your head as it sharpens its claws, while looking at you meaningfully, its eyes glowing in the half-light ;) .
“Get up and feed me, Human, or pay the consequences!”
Officially starting to put together lists of of potentials for this group's 2021 challenges...exciting...
Aubrey wrote: "Officially starting to put together lists of of potentials for this group's 2021 challenges...exciting..."I know, Aubrey! I'm starting to get excited about planning next year's reading, too -- not much longer to wait!
as per usual, I started my planning for next year in July(!)I already have a shelf for my 2021 "core" 52 books (1 per week):
https://www.goodreads.com/review/list...
Mod
I already have a shelf for my 2021 "core" 52 books (1 per week):
https://www.goodreads.com/review/list......"
Nice list. I have only read four of your books: two five stars, 1 three star, and a two star. There are also several that I would like to read. I even own a couple of those. Early wishes for a good year in reading.
Darren wrote: "as per usual, I started my planning for next year in July(!)I already have a shelf for my 2021 "core" 52 books (1 per week):
https://www.goodreads.com/review/list......"
I like your list, Darren! I've read 16, but several of the others are also on my TBR list. Can't wait to get started 2021 reading!! Enjoy :)
Did you see that John le Carre just died? :'(
Terris wrote: "Did you see that John le Carre just died? :'("I saw that Terris. I just picked up a couple of his books this year on sale. It's been years since I read him. Maybe I'll read them soon.
Susan O wrote: "Terris wrote: "Did you see that John le Carre just died? :'("I saw that Terris. I just picked up a couple of his books this year on sale. It's been years since I read him. Maybe I'll read them soon."
I had just planned to start the George Smiley series! So I guess I'll definitely try to do that :)
Terris wrote: "Did you see that John le Carre just died? :'("That's awful. 2020 is the worst year ever.
Mod
In English, stockpiling books without ever reading them might be called being a literary pack rat. People in Japan have a much nicer term for the habit: tsundoku.
According to the BBC, the term tsundoku derives from the words tsumu ("to pile up") and doku ("to read"), and it has been around for more than a century. One of its earliest known print appearances dates back to 1879, when a Japanese satirical text playfully referred to a professor with a large collection of unread books as tsundoku sensei.
While accusing someone of caring more about owning books than reading them may sound insulting, in Japan, the word tsundoku doesn't carry any negative connotations. Tsundoku isn't the same as hoarding books obsessively. People who engage in tsundoku at least intend to read the books they buy, in contrast to people with bibliomania, who collect books just for the sake of having them.
There are many reasons someone might feel compelled to purchase a physical book. Though e-books are convenient, many people still prefer hard copies. Physical books can be easier on the eyes and less distracting than e-readers, and people who read from ink-and-paper texts have an easier time remembering a story's timeline than people who read digital books. Of course, the only way to enjoy those benefits is by pulling a book off your shelf and actually reading it—something people practicing tsundoku never get around to. (mentalfloss.com)
According to the BBC, the term tsundoku derives from the words tsumu ("to pile up") and doku ("to read"), and it has been around for more than a century. One of its earliest known print appearances dates back to 1879, when a Japanese satirical text playfully referred to a professor with a large collection of unread books as tsundoku sensei.
While accusing someone of caring more about owning books than reading them may sound insulting, in Japan, the word tsundoku doesn't carry any negative connotations. Tsundoku isn't the same as hoarding books obsessively. People who engage in tsundoku at least intend to read the books they buy, in contrast to people with bibliomania, who collect books just for the sake of having them.
There are many reasons someone might feel compelled to purchase a physical book. Though e-books are convenient, many people still prefer hard copies. Physical books can be easier on the eyes and less distracting than e-readers, and people who read from ink-and-paper texts have an easier time remembering a story's timeline than people who read digital books. Of course, the only way to enjoy those benefits is by pulling a book off your shelf and actually reading it—something people practicing tsundoku never get around to. (mentalfloss.com)
Just because you buy or borrow a book doesn’t necessarily mean that you'll actually finish—or even start—reading it. In fact, the practice of stockpiling books without reading them is so prevalent that people in Japan even have a word for it: tsundoku. Though tracking which books don’t get finished is not an exact science, people have tried to figure it out.
The Independent reports that in 2013, Goodreads compiled members’ answers on which classic books they had abandoned. Joseph Heller’s Catch-22 clinched the top spot, followed by four notoriously verbose novels: The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien, Ulysses by James Joyce, Moby-Dick by Herman Melville, and Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. Strangely enough, none of these novels made the overall list of abandoned books, which features some surprisingly popular works:
The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling
Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James
Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
Wicked by Gregory Maguire
It’s possible that the film and stage adaptations of some of the above novels, while initially generating interest, ultimately ruined the “What happens next?” factor that can sometimes be so pivotal in establishing momentum for the reader. And, in The Casual Vacancy’s case, Harry Potter fanatics might’ve abandoned the novel after realizing that no magical elements were likely to appear in the story.
Jordan Ellenberg, a mathematician and professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, devised his own way of calculating a book’s unreadability, which he dubbed the Hawking Index. Ellenberg looked at the sections that readers have highlighted on Amazon’s Kindle e-readers, and infers that after they’ve stopped highlighting, they’ve probably stopped reading. According to his analysis, deciding to abandon Hillary Clinton’s Hard Choices is an easy choice—only 1.9 percent of readers actually finished the memoir. The rest of the top five list is as follows: Capital by Thomas Piketty, Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace, A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking, and Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman. This method also found that a staggering 98.5 percent of readers actually finished Donna Tartt's The Goldfinch, despite it being 784 pages long.
Since there are millions of people who neither report their reading habits on Goodreads nor use a Kindle, don’t take any of these statistics too seriously. But also don’t be too hard on yourself; if you decide to celebrate Book Lovers Day today by starting Catch-22 and have switched to watching Hulu’s television adaptation by tomorrow, you’re probably not alone. (Mentalfloss.com)
The Independent reports that in 2013, Goodreads compiled members’ answers on which classic books they had abandoned. Joseph Heller’s Catch-22 clinched the top spot, followed by four notoriously verbose novels: The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien, Ulysses by James Joyce, Moby-Dick by Herman Melville, and Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. Strangely enough, none of these novels made the overall list of abandoned books, which features some surprisingly popular works:
The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling
Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James
Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
Wicked by Gregory Maguire
It’s possible that the film and stage adaptations of some of the above novels, while initially generating interest, ultimately ruined the “What happens next?” factor that can sometimes be so pivotal in establishing momentum for the reader. And, in The Casual Vacancy’s case, Harry Potter fanatics might’ve abandoned the novel after realizing that no magical elements were likely to appear in the story.
Jordan Ellenberg, a mathematician and professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, devised his own way of calculating a book’s unreadability, which he dubbed the Hawking Index. Ellenberg looked at the sections that readers have highlighted on Amazon’s Kindle e-readers, and infers that after they’ve stopped highlighting, they’ve probably stopped reading. According to his analysis, deciding to abandon Hillary Clinton’s Hard Choices is an easy choice—only 1.9 percent of readers actually finished the memoir. The rest of the top five list is as follows: Capital by Thomas Piketty, Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace, A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking, and Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman. This method also found that a staggering 98.5 percent of readers actually finished Donna Tartt's The Goldfinch, despite it being 784 pages long.
Since there are millions of people who neither report their reading habits on Goodreads nor use a Kindle, don’t take any of these statistics too seriously. But also don’t be too hard on yourself; if you decide to celebrate Book Lovers Day today by starting Catch-22 and have switched to watching Hulu’s television adaptation by tomorrow, you’re probably not alone. (Mentalfloss.com)
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Guilty
As I said to a book sale attendant while she watched me pile 40-50 books into my bag for purchase a few weeks back, shelter in place orders made my personal physical library of hundreds of works not only palatable, but also necessary.
It’s possible that the film and stage adaptations of some of the above novels, while initially generating interest, ultimately ruined the “What happens next?” factor that can sometimes be so pivotal in establishing momentum for the reader.The media is exactly why I have not read Gone Girl. Soon after it was given to me, there was a story in national news that media outlets likened to the book. Talk about ruining the plot for people! 😡
Catching up on Classics (and lots more!)
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