12-13-2007, 09:12 PM | #901 |
Elven Maiden
Join Date: Aug 2002
Posts: 3,309
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I liked Anna Karenina a lot when I read it but I definitely prefer Dostoevsky too As for those K Brothers, I can't put them down. ... well, unless it's to 'moot.
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12-14-2007, 02:25 AM | #902 | |
Dread Mothy Lord and Halfwitted Apprentice Loremaster
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Quote:
Personally, I prefer Greek tragedy to histories (their comedy was too crude for my taste). Platonic dialogues are cool, a bit on the wild-eyed mystical idealist side for my taste, but less so than they used to be. Aristotle makes sense, but he's kind of boring. Homer is cool, though the battle scenes of the Iliad get pretty repetitive. The Presocratics were a bunch of madmen with good points, and provide cool quotes (such as "All things are full of Gods"). So, there you have my views of classic Greek letters in a nutshell.
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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 |
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01-10-2008, 09:04 AM | #903 | |
High King at Annuminas Administrator
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Quote:
I'm now a little (somewhat less than 100 pages) into Mansfield Park.
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01-22-2008, 01:43 PM | #904 |
The Lovely Hobbit-Lass
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: Bounded in a nut-shell
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Tell us what you think of Mansfield, Val. I read that one a while back.
Currently reading The Hungry Ocean by Linda Greenlaw. It was recommended to me by a friend, and it is quite good--written by the world's only female swordfishing captain.
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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! |
01-24-2008, 08:04 PM | #905 |
Dread Mothy Lord and Halfwitted Apprentice Loremaster
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Read Therese Desqueyroux and two short stories about the same character by Francois Mauriac; grim yet magnificent study of a person thrust into a life which does not fit her. I will be starting the final work on her, The End of the Night.
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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 |
01-24-2008, 11:11 PM | #906 | |
High King at Annuminas Administrator
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Quote:
I like it. All the British naval stuff is interesting - and familiar, because it's in accord with reading I did many years ago of Horatio Hornblower.
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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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01-25-2008, 10:43 AM | #907 |
Elf Lord
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Ilha Formosa
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The one Austen novel I absolutely hate.
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Glendower: I can call spirits from the vasty deep. Hotspur: Why, so can I, or so can any man; But will they come when you do call for them? "I like pigs. Dogs look up to us, cats look down on us, but pigs treat us as equals."- Winston Churchill |
01-25-2008, 11:23 AM | #908 |
Half-Elven Princess of Rabbit Trails and Harp-Wielding Administrator (beware the Rubber Chicken of Doom!)
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Why is that, GMouser?
Val - the BBC thing started last Sunday, with a rendition of Northanger Abbey that was pretty good. Not great, but pretty good. But I missed the first third or half or so. I think they're supposed to do every Austen novel!
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. I should be doing the laundry, but this is MUCH more fun! Ñá ë?* óú éä ïöü Öñ É Þ ð ß ® ç Ã¥ â„¢ 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! |
01-28-2008, 10:37 AM | #909 | |
Elf Lord
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Ilha Formosa
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"Hate" is a little too strong, but I certainly didn't like it, and I'm not alone (including her own mother)
Quote:
Mansfield Park, By Jane Austen Spoilers!!!! As well, the snobbish reaction of Fanny to her family- "Oh dear, people who actually work for a living". Given Austen's love of and pride in her brothers who were in the Royal Navy- shown earlier in the novel- this was grating. But it's mostly Fanny as compared to, say, Lizzie Bennet or Elinor Dashwood. As well, the snobbish reaction
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Glendower: I can call spirits from the vasty deep. Hotspur: Why, so can I, or so can any man; But will they come when you do call for them? "I like pigs. Dogs look up to us, cats look down on us, but pigs treat us as equals."- Winston Churchill |
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01-28-2008, 05:12 PM | #910 |
Half-Elven Princess of Rabbit Trails and Harp-Wielding Administrator (beware the Rubber Chicken of Doom!)
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Yes, Fanny is definitely irritating, and it's kind of a reverse Pride and Prejudice where Fanny resembles Lady Catherine's daughter in a way, and whats-her-name is like Lizzy. I wonder if that's why she wrote it - as kind of a challenge? It took me a while to like the book, because I wasn't fond of its heroine. But as a whole, it's an interesting book, and a good character study, although its certainly not my favorite.
I don't remember Fanny being snobbish, though - what I remember her not liking was their lack of consideration for others.
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. I should be doing the laundry, but this is MUCH more fun! Ñá ë?* óú éä ïöü Öñ É Þ ð ß ® ç Ã¥ â„¢ 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! Last edited by RÃan : 01-28-2008 at 05:13 PM. |
01-28-2008, 06:23 PM | #911 | ||
Lady of Letters
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Either Oxford or Kent, England
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I must defend one of my favourite Austen characters
Quote:
Quote:
As for Fanny herself, it will never cease to puzzle me how readers can hate a character for being shy and having strong principles.
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And all the time the waves, the waves, the waves Chase, intersect and flatten on the sand As they have done for centuries, as they will For centuries to come, when not a soul Is left to picnic on the blazing rocks, When England is not England, when mankind Has blown himself to pieces. Still the sea, Consolingly disastrous, will return While the strange starfish, hugely magnified, Waits in the jewelled basin of a pool. |
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02-03-2008, 08:39 AM | #912 |
Elf Lord
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Ilha Formosa
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Oh well, maybe I'll have to go back and give Fanny a second chance.
Currently reading "Caesar: Life of a Colossus" by Adrian Goldsworthy. His field is Roman military history, so he tends to focus on that- naturally, if you're dealing with one of the world's Great Captains- and a lot of politics (ditto). A good old-fashioned biography, heavy on the action, light on psychoanalysis - though a fair bit of sex, Caesar being quite the lady's man, among all his other accomplishments.
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Glendower: I can call spirits from the vasty deep. Hotspur: Why, so can I, or so can any man; But will they come when you do call for them? "I like pigs. Dogs look up to us, cats look down on us, but pigs treat us as equals."- Winston Churchill |
02-04-2008, 12:05 AM | #913 |
Elf Lord
Join Date: Aug 2001
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Currently in the middle of a collection of classic science fiction short stories by Kuttner and Moore. It's titled The Two-Handed Engine.
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02-05-2008, 06:30 AM | #914 |
Elf Lord
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Checked out the Table of Contents. I haven't read them all, but there's some great stuff in there.
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Glendower: I can call spirits from the vasty deep. Hotspur: Why, so can I, or so can any man; But will they come when you do call for them? "I like pigs. Dogs look up to us, cats look down on us, but pigs treat us as equals."- Winston Churchill |
02-19-2008, 09:49 PM | #915 |
High King at Annuminas Administrator
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Finished up Mansfield Park, and liked it. Didn't mind Fanny at all. If anything, maybe she's more realistic than either Emma or Elizabeth Bennet.
Currently about halfway through Northanger Abbey. Didn't watch the BBC on it, because I wanted to read it first.
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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!! |
02-22-2008, 10:52 PM | #916 |
Elf Lord
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02-23-2008, 09:11 AM | #917 |
Elf Lord
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In 1999 Locus sf magazine had a poll in which "Vintage Season" was voted Best Novella of All Time (voting restricted to prior to 1990)
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Glendower: I can call spirits from the vasty deep. Hotspur: Why, so can I, or so can any man; But will they come when you do call for them? "I like pigs. Dogs look up to us, cats look down on us, but pigs treat us as equals."- Winston Churchill |
03-21-2008, 10:25 PM | #918 |
Fëanáro's Fire Mistress
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Indiana, USA
Posts: 1,423
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Ok I read these books last summer but...since I havent' been on much since then, I'm listing them now.
The Red Tent....AWESOME! The Caananite Trilogy by Marek Halter...again...AWESOME! Veil of Roses....very good Nefertiti.....very good I think that's all for now....I'm currantly reading The Constant Princess by Phillpa Gregory |
03-22-2008, 07:50 AM | #919 |
Elf Lord
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Mirkwood, well actually I live in North-west Scania, Sweden
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At the moment Im reading Manda Scott's Boudica: Dreaming the Eagle, Churchill's The World Crisis I and John Grogan's Marley & Me.
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04-05-2008, 02:24 PM | #920 |
Elf Lord
Join Date: Aug 2001
Location: 2nd star to the left.....
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Agatha Christie's A Secret Adversary, which I read in installments online. It's the first of the Tommy and Tuppence mysteries.
There's a site called DailyLit where you can sign up to read books in the public domain for free. (Or pay a fee to read others.) An installment is sent to your inbox every day (or more frequently if you hit the "send next installment" link at the end of email. |
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