Reading any good books? - Page 29

***Rían*** · 04-05-2006, 12:27 AM

Oh, Bleak House is great! I can't read the description of poor Jo (?) dying without tears.

Am currently reading "The Last of the Dragons and Other Stories", by E. Nesbit, to the kiddos. SO funny! I love Nesbit!

Rosie Gamgee · 04-05-2006, 04:20 PM

Life, Interrupted, by Spalding Grey (or Grey Spalding, one or the other, I don't know). 60-some-odd pages into it. Good so far, but sad.

Gwaimir Windgem · 04-17-2006, 04:45 PM

Just read Wilde's Picture of Dorian Gray. Ye gods...what a book. What a very good book.

***Earniel*** · 04-18-2006, 07:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gwaimir Windgem

Just read Wilde's Picture of Dorian Gray. Ye gods...what a book. What a very good book.

I agree. Very haunting.

Gwaimir Windgem · 04-18-2006, 01:44 PM

The portrayal of decay, decadence, and downward spiral is simply beautiful. Definitely a new fave of mine. And I loved the way Dorian was so very, very like Wilde. All he was missing was openly keeping the company of male prostitutes.

I got a very handsome volume of Wilde's stories off eBay, and I've read alll except the Canterville Ghost and the Fisherman and His Soul, and I read the latter a while back. Once I get those out of the way, I just have plays, poetry, etc. left!

I like him very much. Great author.

Mercutio · 04-18-2006, 10:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gwaimir Windgem

Just read Wilde's Picture of Dorian Gray. Ye gods...what a book. What a very good book.

I read/studied that in British Lit a couple years ago.

You then, Gwai, will be immensly interested in this book. Make sure you read the blurb about it.

Gwaimir Windgem · 04-19-2006, 02:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mercutio

I read/studied that in British Lit a couple years ago.

You then, Gwai, will be immensly interested in this book. Make sure you read the blurb about it.

Indeed, big fan of Joseph Pearce. Literary Converts is on my to-read list, (along with so many others...

) and I should hope to get this one also.

What did you think of Dorian Gray, Merc?

***Rían*** · 04-19-2006, 03:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gwaimir Windgem

Just read Wilde's Picture of Dorian Gray. Ye gods...what a book. What a very good book.

I haven't read the book, but the old black and white movie still gives me the creeps :shudder:

Gwaimir Windgem · 04-19-2006, 03:56 PM

Didn't know there was a movie. I'll say what I always say in such situations: Read the book!

Have you read any of his short stories, Ri?

Mercutio · 04-20-2006, 05:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gwaimir Windgem

Indeed, big fan of Joseph Pearce. Literary Converts is on my to-read list, (along with so many others...

) and I should hope to get this one also.

What did you think of Dorian Gray, Merc?

It was quite intriguing, though strange.

Rosie Gamgee · 05-30-2006, 07:47 PM

Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis. Fascinating. Very good, so far.

BeardofPants · 05-31-2006, 02:05 AM

China Mieville's "The Scar", dang is that man a serious babe, as well as bein' a talented writer.

***Valandil*** · 06-14-2006, 06:53 AM

Re-reading an old favorite: Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott.

Ireth · 06-21-2006, 03:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Valandil

Re-reading an old favorite: Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott.

I read Ivanhoe once, when I was 16 and simply loved it.

Currently I'm reading Piers Anthony's, "Incarnations of Immortality" (suggested by Grey_Wolf).

Curubethion · 06-21-2006, 04:35 PM

I finished "The Scarlet Pimpernel" a while back...quite an interesting story. I loved the surprise ending! I wasn't expecting it at all.

Mercutio · 06-21-2006, 06:18 PM

I just finished Howards End by E.M. Forster and am starting North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell.

***Earniel*** · 06-22-2006, 06:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ireth

I read Ivanhoe once, when I was 16 and simply loved it.

Funny how it goes, I didn't think much of the book, personally. I always wanted to slap some common sense in this Ivanhoe-fellow.

Currently reading a non-fiction book (gasp!) called 'Drawing Animals'.

***Valandil*** · 06-22-2006, 06:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eärniel

Funny how it goes, I didn't think much of the book, personally. I always wanted to slap some common sense in this Ivanhoe-fellow.

:
:

Why? Did you think he should marry Rebecca?

I noticed on this reading how much the story really involves the peripheral characters - more than the supposed "main" characters - Ivanhoe and the object of his affection. And - those latter two are very simply characters (or - as I just implied, get very little exposure) - the others in the story are much more complex.

***Earniel*** · 06-22-2006, 06:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Valandil

Why? Did you think he should marry Rebecca?

No, but he could have treated her a little better. Thruth be told I have forgotten much of the book by now, even if I just read it two years ago so I obviously wasn't much impressed. But I remember my main gripe was his constant obsession with heroics and glory and such. It just wasn't to my taste. Personally I'll take Robin Hood over Ivanhoe any day.

Quote:

I noticed on this reading how much the story really involves the peripheral characters - more than the supposed "main" characters - Ivanhoe and the object of his affection. And - those latter two are very simply characters (or - as I just implied, get very little exposure) - the others in the story are much more complex.

I agree, Rebecca for instance gets quite a lot of exposure compared to other characters. It's a curious way of writing. I wonder whether that has contributed to the book's popularity.

***Valandil*** · 06-22-2006, 07:02 AM

I think the author was being realistic about the treatment of (and attitudes toward) Jews in those days.

Maybe in some ways - he even displays the emptiness of the main characters' values...

Or, if 'emptiness' is too harsh - at least that they fall more than a bit short of perfection.

But - it was 1194 or 1195 or something. Ivanhoe in some ways was the "ideal" of that culture - and is on display as such to our own culture, isn't he?

04-05-2006, 12:27 AM	#561
*Rían* Half-Elven Princess of Rabbit Trails and Harp-Wielding Administrator (beware the Rubber Chicken of Doom!) Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Not where I want to be ... Posts: 15,254	Oh, Bleak House is great! I can't read the description of poor Jo (?) dying without tears. Am currently reading "The Last of the Dragons and Other Stories", by E. Nesbit, to the kiddos. SO funny! I love Nesbit! __________________ . I should be doing the laundry, but this is MUCH more fun! Ñá ë?* óú éä ïöü Öñ É Þ ð ß ® ç å ™ æ ♪ ?* "How lovely are Thy dwelling places, O Lord of hosts! ... For a day in Thy courts is better than a thousand outside." (from Psalm 84) * * * God rocks! Entmoot : Veni, vidi, velcro - I came, I saw, I got hooked! Ego numquam pronunciare mendacium, sed ego sum homo indomitus! Run the earth and watch the sky ... Auta i lómë! Aurë entuluva!

04-05-2006, 04:20 PM	#562
Rosie Gamgee The Lovely Hobbit-Lass Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Bounded in a nut-shell Posts: 1,593	Life, Interrupted, by Spalding Grey (or Grey Spalding, one or the other, I don't know). 60-some-odd pages into it. Good so far, but sad. __________________ It's New Years Day, just like the day before; Same old skies of grey, same empty bottles on the floor. Another year's gone by, and I was thinking once again, How can I take this losing hand and somehow win? Just give me One Good Year To get my feet back on the ground. I've been chasing grace; Grace ain't so easily found One bad hand can devil a man, chase him and carry him down. I've got to get out of here, just give me One Good Year!

04-17-2006, 04:45 PM	#563
Gwaimir Windgem Dread Mothy Lord and Halfwitted Apprentice Loremaster Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Thomas Aquinas College, Santa Paula, CA Posts: 10,820	Just read Wilde's Picture of Dorian Gray. Ye gods...what a book. What a very good book. __________________ Crux fidelis, inter omnes arbor una nobilis. Nulla talem silva profert, fronde, flore, germine. Dulce lignum, dulce clavo, dulce pondus sustinens. 'With a melon?' - Eric Idle

04-18-2006, 01:44 PM	#565
Gwaimir Windgem Dread Mothy Lord and Halfwitted Apprentice Loremaster Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Thomas Aquinas College, Santa Paula, CA Posts: 10,820	The portrayal of decay, decadence, and downward spiral is simply beautiful. Definitely a new fave of mine. And I loved the way Dorian was so very, very like Wilde. All he was missing was openly keeping the company of male prostitutes. I got a very handsome volume of Wilde's stories off eBay, and I've read alll except the Canterville Ghost and the Fisherman and His Soul, and I read the latter a while back. Once I get those out of the way, I just have plays, poetry, etc. left! I like him very much. Great author. __________________ Crux fidelis, inter omnes arbor una nobilis. Nulla talem silva profert, fronde, flore, germine. Dulce lignum, dulce clavo, dulce pondus sustinens. 'With a melon?' - Eric Idle

04-19-2006, 03:56 PM	#569
Gwaimir Windgem Dread Mothy Lord and Halfwitted Apprentice Loremaster Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Thomas Aquinas College, Santa Paula, CA Posts: 10,820	Didn't know there was a movie. I'll say what I always say in such situations: Read the book! Have you read any of his short stories, Ri? __________________ Crux fidelis, inter omnes arbor una nobilis. Nulla talem silva profert, fronde, flore, germine. Dulce lignum, dulce clavo, dulce pondus sustinens. 'With a melon?' - Eric Idle

05-30-2006, 07:47 PM	#571
Rosie Gamgee The Lovely Hobbit-Lass Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Bounded in a nut-shell Posts: 1,593	Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis. Fascinating. Very good, so far. __________________ It's New Years Day, just like the day before; Same old skies of grey, same empty bottles on the floor. Another year's gone by, and I was thinking once again, How can I take this losing hand and somehow win? Just give me One Good Year To get my feet back on the ground. I've been chasing grace; Grace ain't so easily found One bad hand can devil a man, chase him and carry him down. I've got to get out of here, just give me One Good Year!

05-31-2006, 02:05 AM	#572
BeardofPants the Shrike Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: San Francisco, CA <3 Posts: 10,647	China Mieville's "The Scar", dang is that man a serious babe, as well as bein' a talented writer. __________________ "Binary solo! 0000001! 00000011! 0000001! 00000011!" ~ The Humans are Dead, Flight of the Conchords

06-14-2006, 06:53 AM	#573
*Valandil* High King at Annuminas Administrator Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Wyoming - USA Posts: 10,752	Re-reading an old favorite: Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott. __________________ My Fanfic: Letters of Firiel Tales of Nolduryon Visitors Come to Court Ñ á ë ?* ó ú é ä ï ö Ö ñ É Þ ð ß ® ™ [Xurl=Xhttp://entmoot.tolkientrail.com/showthread.php?s=&postid=ABCXYZ#postABCXYZ]text[/Xurl] Splitting Threads is SUCH Hard Work!!

06-21-2006, 04:35 PM	#575
Curubethion Fenway Ranger, Lord of Red Sox Nation Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: College! Posts: 1,976	I finished "The Scarlet Pimpernel" a while back...quite an interesting story. I loved the surprise ending! I wasn't expecting it at all. __________________ Adventure...betrayal...heroism... Atharon: where heroes are born. My wife once said to me—when I'd been writing for ten or fifteen years—that I could always go back to being a nuclear engineer. And I said to her, 'Harriet, would you let someone who quit his job to go write fantasy anywhere near your nuclear reactor? I wouldn't!' (Robert Jordan)

06-21-2006, 06:18 PM	#576
Mercutio Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Narnia Posts: 1,656	I just finished Howards End by E.M. Forster and am starting North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell. __________________ Mike nodded. A sombre nod. The nod Napoleon might have given if somebody had met him in 1812 and said, "So, you're back from Moscow, eh?". Interested in C.S. Lewis? Visit the forum dedicated to one of Tolkien's greatest contemporaries.

06-22-2006, 07:02 AM	#580
*Valandil* High King at Annuminas Administrator Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Wyoming - USA Posts: 10,752	I think the author was being realistic about the treatment of (and attitudes toward) Jews in those days. Maybe in some ways - he even displays the emptiness of the main characters' values... Or, if 'emptiness' is too harsh - at least that they fall more than a bit short of perfection. But - it was 1194 or 1195 or something. Ivanhoe in some ways was the "ideal" of that culture - and is on display as such to our own culture, isn't he? __________________ My Fanfic: Letters of Firiel Tales of Nolduryon Visitors Come to Court Ñ á ë ?* ó ú é ä ï ö Ö ñ É Þ ð ß ® ™ [Xurl=Xhttp://entmoot.tolkientrail.com/showthread.php?s=&postid=ABCXYZ#postABCXYZ]text[/Xurl] Splitting Threads is SUCH Hard Work!!

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