What are you reading...right now?

[melliedee]

Originally Posted by PlayaGroom

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies was , IMO. I quit after just 10 chapters and brought it back to the library.

You're probably right, mel, that I should probably read Pride and Prejudice first.

That's about how far I made it and I'm going to return mine, too. I don't know; I guess it was too predictable since he follows the original story so closely, with the exception of Elizabeth pulling a knife from beneath her petticoat to kill a zombie from time to time. I thought it would be funny, or maybe charming, but I ended up not appreciating the way the author clung to Austen's style. Was it homage or mockery?

I almost didn't even give it a chance after reading the back cover: "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies transforms a masterpiece of world literature into something you'd actually want to read." I realize that the marketers are trying to be funny, but I thought it was insulting.

If they made it into a movie, it would probably be hilarious.

[PlayaGroom]

Originally Posted by melliedee

That's about how far I made it and I'm going to return mine, too. I don't know; I guess it was too predictable since he follows the original story so closely, with the exception of Elizabeth pulling a knife from beneath her petticoat to kill a zombie from time to time. I thought it would be funny, or maybe charming, but I ended up not appreciating the way the author clung to Austen's style. Was it homage or mockery?

I almost didn't even give it a chance after reading the back cover: "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies transforms a masterpiece of world literature into something you'd actually want to read." I realize that the marketers are trying to be funny, but I thought it was insulting.

If they made it into a movie, it would probably be hilarious.

It's interesting you say that because it reads almost like a screenplay.

I agree with you in that he was probably mocking Austen. I could almost hear him while writing:

"Have the girls at the party dancing and being ladylike, trying to impress...blah blah blah...let's make her get angry then ZOMBIE ATTACK! Yeah, heh, that'd be sweet."

[annrawa]

50 Shades of Gray......

[melliedee]

Great Bradbury interview here:

I discovered me in the library. I went to find me in the library. Before I fell in love with libraries, I was just a six-year-old boy. The library fueled all of my curiosities, from dinosaurs to ancient Egypt. When I graduated from high school in 1938, I began going to the library three nights a week. I did this every week for almost ten years and finally, in 1947, around the time I got married, I figured I was done. So I graduated from the library when I was twenty-seven. I discovered that the library is the real school.

Do you know why teachers use me? Because I speak in tongues. I write metaphors. Every one of my stories is a metaphor you can remember. The great religions are all metaphor. We appreciate things like Daniel and the lion’s den, and the Tower of Babel. People remember these metaphors because they are so vivid you can’t get free of them and that’s what kids like in school. They read about rocket ships and encounters in space, tales of dinosaurs. All my life I’ve been running through the fields and picking up bright objects. I turn one over and say, Yeah, there’s a story. And that’s what kids like. Today, my stories are in a thousand anthologies. And I’m in good company. The other writers are quite often dead people who wrote in metaphors: Edgar Allan Poe, Herman Melville, Washington Irving, Nathaniel Hawthorne. All these people wrote for children. They may have pretended not to, but they did.

Paris Review - The Art of Fiction No. 203, Ray Bradbury

[Sue]

[gingele]

Originally Posted by Sue

[flyingpig11]

Book four.

[PlayaGroom]

Originally Posted by Sue

I literally had Atlas Shrugged in my hands during the aforementioned visit earlier this week. It was on the end rack that were "librarian recommended." Carried it until I found the one I eventually ended up checking out, then I put it back as there's no way I'd read it simultaneously within my check out time.

I haven't read it yet. Worth it? It's friggin' huge...

[Sue]

Originally Posted by PlayaGroom

I literally had Atlas Shrugged in my hands during the aforementioned visit earlier this week. It was on the end rack that were "librarian recommended." Carried it until I found the one I eventually ended up checking out, then I put it back as there's no way I'd read it simultaneously within my check out time.

I haven't read it yet. Worth it? It's friggin' huge...

If you are interested in literature and all of the writers represented in what we call literature, I think you ought to read it. She's rather long-winded, but I wouldn't call her a bad writer. It's her philosophy I have a problem with.

[melliedee]

PG, if you want to give Rand a test ride, start with Anthem. It is short; a novella. My literature colleague calls it the "gateway drug" Rand. It does have much of her political and philosophical bent, but it is a quick and compelling read.

[gingele]

Originally Posted by Sue

If you are interested in literature and all of the writers represented in what we call literature, I think you ought to read it. She's rather long-winded, but I wouldn't call her a bad writer. It's her philosophy I have a problem with.

Well put - I agree 100%.

[PlayaGroom]

Originally Posted by Sue

If you are interested in literature and all of the writers represented in what we call literature, I think you ought to read it. She's rather long-winded, but I wouldn't call her a bad writer. It's her philosophy I have a problem with.

Originally Posted by melliedee

PG, if you want to give Rand a test ride, start with Anthem. It is short; a novella. My literature colleague calls it the "gateway drug" Rand. It does have much of her political and philosophical bent, but it is a quick and compelling read.

Originally Posted by gingele

Well put - I agree 100%.

These were absolutely perfect feedback.

Thanks, ladies! *tips hat*

[bearcat]

Originally Posted by Sue

If you are interested in literature and all of the writers represented in what we call literature, I think you ought to read it. She's rather long-winded, but I wouldn't call her a bad writer. It's her philosophy I have a problem with.

I got up all the energy and stamina I thought was needed to tackle Atlas Shrugged. Boy, was I wrong, it kicked my ass. I think it took me 3 weeks to get through 100 pages. I found myself rereading the same paragraph over and over. Just did not hold my attention and I really wanted to like it. I will just watch the movie.

[Luv2Dance]

Originally Posted by melliedee

PG, if you want to give Rand a test ride, start with Anthem. It is short; a novella. My literature colleague calls it the "gateway drug" Rand. It does have much of her political and philosophical bent, but it is a quick and compelling read.

I loved The Fountainhead too.

[melliedee]

Toledo's new used bookstore is right in my hood. It is spacious and organized. Search kiosk. Cash or credit for trades. Cool owners. Free wifi. I am in love.