The Next Best Book Club discussion
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Thread Of Dire Judgment
At the same time, in my humble opinion, Farenheit 451 deserves 5 stars too. *ducks*
Kaion, 1984 is awesome! You gave two stars to A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier, which is like giving five stars to genocide. Yeah!heh. Your edit on the Ulysses sentence made me lol.
Kandice, you could try One Hundred Years of Solitude instead. Same author. See how that grabs you.
Fiona, hold on to that feeling. And don't watch ET again.
Love this thread!Here's mine: I absolutely and completely despised both The Secret History and Mrs. Dalloway. One's a modern "classic" and the other is a classic classic. Well, bah on both their houses!
Oh and Alex, I can't believe you gave Guns, Germs & Steel 5 stars and The Third Chimpanzee only 4. Are you freaking kidding me? GG&S is extremely dubious social science, whereas TTC is fresh and at least correct.
Kandace gave 5 stars to raccoon slaughter. ;P Maybe I'm just more compassionate to animals. (And I stand my ground with A Long Way Gone... it was vague with facts and stuff.)1984... I don't need a book to tell me that totalitarianism was bad. Particularly one that lingered for the second half.
Some children's movies really don't hold up after you grow up. Like Rats of Nimh.
But I gave the first Harry Potter 2 stars, so *makes quick exit*.
Alex wrote: "Ha...yeah, that's the list for me. Basically if I see my mom reading it, I know I won't like it.On the other hand, Mary, you gave the Aeneid two stars."
I will concede that the Aeneid may deserve more that 2 stars if I were to give it a re-read. The last time I read it was under duress in high school.
Kandice, you gave Old Man & The Sea 4 stars? Were you dreaming up a more interesting story while snoring through that snoozefest?
Cindy wrote: "Kandice, you gave Old Man & The Sea 4 stars? Were you dreaming a more interesting story while snoring through that snoozefest?":P:P:P:P:P
That's a raspberry!
I love how sparse Hemmingway is. I know that's what most people hate, but...I can't help it.
Kandice wrote: "What raccoon slaughter? Come back..."Where the Red Fern Grows(except you only gave it four stars, I'm blind). But it's all about the joy of hunting down helpless raccoons! For the honor and prizes. And you're supposed to feel *bad* for the kid when the mountain lion kills his dog?
Ella Enchanted is romantic. And awesomely feminist (especially without giant Heidi Klum and ninja skillz and a fairy in love with a book).
Kandice wrote: ":P:P:P:P:P
That's a raspberry!
I love how sparse Hemmingway is."
Well at least you own it! But remind me not to go fishing with you...
Well, it was written pretty realistically and made me feel!
Jeez, I spend a couple hours being a perfect girlfriend by going to the guitar store AND the Toy & Comic Book Convention and look at all this fun I was missing!Well, Alex has already reamed me for my lack of interest in Middlesex, but I did call him out for his 3-star rating of the freaking Inferno. I failed to mention, Alex, that Dante has a circle in his hell dedicated to people like you. Or at least he should. Especially since you admittedly gave 5-stars to Little Girl Lost (which I also read and loved, though my cheap-ass copy didn't have the photo inserts - grr - and I would probably give it 3- or 4-stars).
I'm still on the ET wagon, all these years later. It was a childhood staple, just like Return of the Jedi or Temple of Doom. I am a product of the Eighties and it's best to just embrace it. But like Fiona pointed out about ET, the original rocks - the Spielberg-with-a-conscience version should never have been made.
Of course by own it I mean own the rating you gave the book... not the book itself. I was soooo sad that my English class when I went to high school in Switzerland (i.e. non-native speakers learning the language) had to read Old Man & The Sea. What a dull introduction to Anglophone literature.
In high school in America, I was introduced to Spanish literature with The Alchemist, so I feel your pain. (And sadly, I actually read the first half of it twice- once again in English to realize that it wasn't just the language barrier.)
Kandice wrote: "I love how sparse Hemmingway is. I know that's what most people hate, but...I can't help it."There's sparse... but then there's Hemingway. :) I've never been able to get on his bandwagon. But that probably has more to do with the fact that he was too drunk and busy beating his kids to drive the bandwagon well. I'm glad there are people who have places in their hearts for him though. I'm just definitely not one of them... though I do need to re-read A Moveable Feast. I remember liking that one.
El, I consider The Scarlet Letter one of my favorite books and an essential comfort read, but I'm also aware about 90% of the rest of the world hates it! Hated it in school and hate it now.*sigh*
Oh, here's one people can bash me for: I really disliked The Devil and Miss Prym. 2 stars, and that was generous. LOL
I can back The Scarlet Letter. I gave it a solid 4-stars. I can't say I would consider it a comfort read, or that I would want to re-read it anytime soon, but I have an appreciation for Hawthorne.
El wrote: "I can back The Scarlet Letter. I gave it a solid 4-stars. I can't say I would consider it a comfort read, or that I would want to re-read it anytime soon, but I have an appreciation for Hawthorne."Yay!!! I know there are at least 10% of us.
I'm about halfway through The Historian right now. I think it has more words than is necessary.
I hated The Shack to the point I almost felt offended by it, and I know a LOT of people loved that book.
Fiona wrote: "Kaion wrote: "But I gave the first Harry Potter 2 stars, so *makes quick exit*. "*chases after with a pick axe... and ET*"
I was 10, I loved fantasy books, and I still didn't like it, what can I say?
Kaion, I can dismiss your issues with Harry Potter, but seriously? 2-stars for The Handmaid's Tale? I think my heart just started to weep a little.
El wrote: "Kaion, I can dismiss your issues with Harry Potter, but seriously? 2-stars for The Handmaid's Tale? I think my heart just started to weep a little."A travesty!
The Handmaid's Tale is one that I definitely need to read again.
El wrote: "Kaion, I can dismiss your issues with Harry Potter, but seriously? 2-stars for The Handmaid's Tale? I think my heart just started to weep a little."I'm willing to give The Handmaid's Tale another chance, actually. I read it a long time ago. I just remember being bored, and not enough explanation for their dystopia (if only a few years ago the main character was living all normal-like).
But 2 stars for The Curious Incident? I cried. My mom cried. Everyone who read my copy of this book cried.
Kandice wrote: "Kaion, read it again.
;)"
I did! My teacher read it to us in class, and then I read it for myself in print. And I read the next three hoping I'd "get" it. I didn't. Harry's relentless "special"ness never ends, he never makes a decision without people prodding him all over the place, and the school is clearly a horrible environment for kids of any age, and no one ever acknowledges it. (And if Dumbledore is always in the know, why doesn't he ever tell them about the big deep dark mystery?)
And what sort of careers are they going to grow up having, being so ignorant, anyway? And Quidditch is a terrible sporting event to watch, since it all seems to boil down to the little golden ball with the wings anyway. Why even bother with all the other players?
Maybe you should read The Handmaid's Tale again, too! That book was awesome.NOW we're arguing...:D
I gave 2 stars to The Curious Incident. I thought it was ridiculously overrated.
Kaion wrote: "But 2 stars for The Curious Incident?"I actually have an autistic cousin, so on a personal level I was interested to read the book. I think the personal experience is what led to disappointment. That, and everyone telling me how incredible the book was. I did not cry. But then I also did not cry for The Book Thief or I Capture the Castle. To be fair, I'm not much of a literary crier.
I haven't read it (The Curious...) mostly because it is so hyped. I'm waiting. I do better with those books when I expect nothing.
I Love this!!!I'm saving countless dollars on Amazon, etc. the more I read!!!!!
I'm not sure that offsets the big money drain being on goodreads causes. O.O My TBR pile scares me.
Alex wrote: "Petra, three stars for Diving Bell and the Butterfly?! That book is beautiful!..."Yeah, somehow couldn't really connect with the author, despite the amazing feat he performed by writing the book.
....Alex......3* for Into the Wild??!! That's at least 2* too many! Oh my!
Gosh, you step away for a little while and you miss all this hatin'.Petra, not a fan of Into the Wild huh? Did you like Into Thin Air?
Cindy! Someone to talk about Jared Diamond with! *hug* You're my best friend. Third Chimp had a fair amount of stuff that was similar to GG&S, and I read it second, so I was bored by those parts. Many parts of 3rd Chimp felt like practice for GG&S. The first half or so was terrific though.
I agree that many of GG&S's conclusions are dubious, but I was interested in the effort, I guess. That question - why isn't Africa in charge? - has always fascinated me, and Diamond's at least willing to take a crack.
But y'know, I also think that context matters. GG&S came at a neat time for me, when I was just starting to get back into learning. And I read it in Italy, which has great ice cream. So when I see that book, I automatically get happy. If I'd reversed the order and read 3td Chimp in Italy, maybe I'd have flipped those ratings right around.
And poor Mary was forced to read some crap translation of the Aeneid in high school, and now that book has bad associations for her even though it's totally f'in awesome.
This is why it's so important to read Moby Dick in high school: because it sucks, so it doesn't matter if it gets ruined for you.
And now I'm off to hunt raccoons in my own private circle of hell.
Great thread Alex! And you're right, Moby Dick does suck, it's my most loathed book ever. I don't usually hate books, I'll just be bored with them, but I did hate that one.Also:
ET rules
I love the Old Man in the Sea
I really liked Guns, Germs, and Steel (some neat thoughts in there)
I read and liked a Brief History of Time
1984 is amazing
And I'm sure there's lots to make fun of on my shelves.
Alex, I checked your shelves and you've read Brief History of Time, how can you make fun?!
Petra, you have great taste in books. Only three stars for Graveyard Book and Hunger Games? Booo
Alex, you have to give TTC 5-stars just for figures 4&5 from Chapter 3! The number of times over the years I have pulled out that book to talk about testes size theory... (yeah, i'm an inappropriate hoot at parties.)I will concede your point though about reading a book at the right time in the right place, and leaving you with warm fuzzy memories. I read TTC about 15-ish years ago in my heady liberal-arts days. GG&S I only read this last year. I *know* I have significantly reduced brain capacity, so perhaps that shaded my view. OTOH, I wish Diamond hadn't kept repeating himself over and over and over again in GG&S - it started to feel a bit like hammering by the end.
Of course, I was only giving you crap for the sake of giving you crap. I really enjoyed both books - have you read anything else by Diamond?
Ok so I'm joining the a little late but here are my opinions so far...1984, The Scarlett Letter, and Moby Dick are all classics and get a 'thumbs-up' from me.
Harry Potter the books are fantastic...and the movies are ok (isn't that always the case though)
Movies from the 80's the original three 'Star Wars' and 'Indiana Jones' movies are among my personal favorites and I'll bravely admit that the first time I saw E.T. was in the theater...and cried at the end...ok I was very young.
Leaving very quickly now...
Mod
I loved The Road and The Secret History. For shame to everyone who bashed them!!!
What I didnt like was:
1984 - dull and humdrum and so anticlimatic for me!!
Saturday by McEwan - holy shit was the the most BORING day in a mans life or what? He had two shining moments, the rest was a snooze fest.
Wuthering Hieghts - I mean, seriously? A classic? It was about a guy with a nasty attitude and a girl who needed to smart the hell up.
Gullivers Travel's - dry dry dry. Great story ideas, god awful delivery.
Catch 22 - tryed three times to get past page 40. COuldnt do it.
Atlas Shrugged - Tryed twice to get past page 60. the worlds most uninteresting, know it all, crap for personality chracters I have ever attempted to read about.
Ahhh.... that feels better :)
Mod
My favorites:
Goonies
Princess Bride
Labyrinth
Legend
ET
Flight of the Navigator
Little Monsters
Monster Squad
Dark Crystal
Breakfast Club
Pretty in Pink
I own all except the last two. These are movies I can watch over and over and over, and they never get old. I also got my kids into most of them... They claim Goonies is one of the best movies of all times!!
Oh God, Cindy, I should make my wife come on here and estimate how much time I spent talking about my equipment after that book. "But it's HUGE!"....I should probably explain that to the rest of you. Proportional to other primates, humans have wicked huge penises. You can imagine how happy that makes us.
I've read Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed, which is probably my favorite of the three of them. It's certainly propaganda as usual; I wonder if a conservative writer would conclude that environmental destruction is a prime reason for societal collapse? But I happen to be on Diamond's side here, so that's fine with me. And I think his points are a touch less explosive and more solid here than in GG&S.
You won't find any less repetition, though. Diamond likes to hammer his points home.
Apparently the natives of Easter Island killed everything on the island, chopped down every single tree, and then (of course) died. Which seems breathtakingly stupid, but on a larger scale, we're doing exactly that worldwide right now.
Interesting info on Haiti, too, in case anyone was wondering why that earthquake was such a disaster for them.
I bet we could spend eternity just arguing about Ayn Rand alone. Over on that "What does your bookshelf say about you?" thread, some guy said "If I see Ayn Rand I just turn around and leave." I think she says the same thing in every book, so you might as well read Anthem and save yourself a million pages. But as far as insane fascists go, she's a competent writer.
Atlas Shrugged partly falls under the Ulysses rule: I've never met anyone who made it through all those 20-page speeches near the end. They go on forEVER. And it's just the same crap she always says. And then someone else steps up and repeats the whole process. WTF, Rand? I just skipped those parts.
Hmm... =\I've never read anything by Ayn Rand, but I do own Anthem and The Fountainhead.
Guess I'll be starting with Anthem, then.
Definitely start with Anthem. And then ask yourself if you want to read 700 pages more of that with a horrible romance thrown in.I'm not actually as down on Rand as I sound like I am - I'm vaguely glad I read her, if only so I can hold my own in arguments about her - but her philosophy is crazy. She's a crazy person. When she starts describing her utopian society, ask yourself this: where are all the black people?
Lori: Dark Crystal is awesome.
I've never been in any hurry to read her. She's always struck me as one of those wordy controversial authors that people "read" just to seem unmainstream... You know what I mean? "What are you reading?"
"Harry Potter. I love this series!"
*sniff* "Harry Potter. HAH! I'm reading Atlas Shrugged for the 5139874r56th time."
"Uh huh."
Haaaaa....yeah, you're totally right. That's hilarious.Which reminds me - Jayme, I actually a read a Briefer History of Time. It's the new, updated, wuss-friendly version. And I only read it to show off, and I didn't particularly like it. Hawkins has a reputation for being able to explain these things coherently, but I'm not sure where he got it; I don't think it's earned.
Same thing, Alex, you still read it! And when are you going to rate the books you've read that we can make fun of? It's too late to deny that you've read Flowers in the Attic, but it's shockingly absent from your read shelf. You know you want to give it 5 stars.
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Yes it does.