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TaiyoTsuki
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Old 09-05-2013, 08:41 PM

Have fun with that. I've got a bunch of books on my "to read" list that are at the library next town over (because my local library stinks and isn't even in the area-wide consortium), and a few of them are steampunk books. I. Need. A. Life. Starting with a bloody job.

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Old 09-06-2013, 12:54 AM

Finished 14 books so far. ^_^
Started my 15th today.

Cherry Who?
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Old 09-10-2013, 10:54 PM

*flops around*

I started reading The Great Gatsby a few weeks ago for my own pleasure, but now school is keeping me from it. But I'm taking a course in American Literature from 1865-1920, and the assigned books are novels, not textbooks, so I'm still doing plenty of reading. We just wrapped up Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass (original 1855 edition), and have started in on Kate Chopin's The Awakening.

Leaves was alright, though a little needlessly long-winded at times. He had some really beautiful lines here and there, but then he'd get caught up in just making lists for three straight pages. It was cute at first, but then it got old... And he's not nearly as feminist as he thinks he is. But I digress.

The Awakening is, so far, very enjoyable. I even caught a metaphor! I'm always so bad at catching metaphors in books, they always fly right over my head as I take everything at face value. But I caught a metaphor!

To go back to Gatsby, I got that on a very successful book-buying weekend, in which I bought 6 books for a grand total of $3.50. Most were at a goodwill outlet, another at a regular goodwill. Mmm, goodwill outlet, it's like heaven in a dirty warehouse full of broken ceramics.

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Old 09-12-2013, 12:59 PM

I like Leaves of Grass, it's a nice summertime book. It's just not something that you can sit down and read cover to cover. I had to pick it up and put it down so many times, I think it took me about a month to read it all. Reading it with a class is probably for the best, I bet you're getting a lot more out of it than I did.

This week, I've made it up to my 36th book of the year. Probably about time that I updated my list here...

Cherry Who?
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Old 09-12-2013, 07:42 PM

I think I would have liked it more if I had read it less critically, actually. I enjoyed it well enough on the initial go-through, but then when I was looking for a thesis for my paper, I discovered some sexism in the writing, and having to work with that so intensely gave me a more sour opinion of the work. I just need to remind myself, now that I'm writing the paper, that he was still much better than anyone else in his time, and... eh.

Have you read The Awakening?

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Old 09-12-2013, 11:29 PM

I read The Awakening for an American Lit class too, and I loved it. It's been years since I read it last, but I recall it having a particular slow-paced, dreamy quality that I tend to love in novels. I got very passionate about that book and wrote a paper about the ending. I remember working with another student on our papers, and her thesis was the exact opposite of mine, and we had a lot of fun exploring each others' arguments. :D

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Old 09-12-2013, 11:33 PM

One of the questions in the pub quiz tonight was to name the kids from To Kill a Mockingbird and I got it because I read it for school. So your learnings will come in handy.

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Old 09-13-2013, 05:40 AM

Chexala - The dreamy quality is definitely cool, and it very much suits the theme of Edna... well, awakening. I can really relate to the story (well, not the ending >>), so I'm having a particular connection with it. I'm really going to enjoy writing a paper on this. I need to figure out a thesis soon, though.

Kat - Unless the kids played a prominent role, I'd never have remembered that.

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Old 09-13-2013, 09:41 AM

I didn't like the ending exactly, but I felt that it was very correct. Not just from a character point of view, but from an author point of view too. I would have to dig up my essay from the bowels of my computer to remember why though, lol.

Cherry Who?
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Old 09-13-2013, 08:04 PM

Yeah, I haven't finished the book yet. So while I know roughly what happens, I don't really know the exact context for it. So I can't say one way or the other how I feel about it just yet.

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Old 09-13-2013, 10:50 PM

The essay length question on my English Literature GCSE was about Scout's education in and outside of school. It took me longer to remember Jem. .-.

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Old 09-22-2013, 08:38 PM

So did I mention to you guys that over the summer I got completely addicted to the Song of Ice and Fire book series?
I'm on A Feast for Crows right now.
Its really enjoyable and well-written, in my opinion, but I gotta say I have little interest in seeing the TV adaptation, Game of Thrones, you know. From what I understand there's a lot of changes from the books, and some that are rather drastic.

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Old 09-22-2013, 09:19 PM

I'm reading the Song of Fire and Ice series right now too (only on Clash of Kings), I've watched all of Game of Thrones to date, and I've heard about some of the changes that were made between the books and the show. I would say, don't let that put your off, because the show is incredible, and seriously, adapting a dense book series into a show is like translating a symphony into a quilt. For all that they both use words and imagery, the storytelling methods of novels and television are radically different, and some things can't be done in the same way.From what I can tell though, I think the changes they made maintian the spirit of things and the keep the plot moving in the essential ways.

At this point, I would be more likely to avoid the show for violence issues than for adaptation problems, but so far, the violence hasn't been anything I couldn't bear (which is not to say it isn't rough to watch sometimes). But that tolerance varies from person to person of course, which is why I mention it. It's an HBO show, and man, they really don't hold back. (Except for penises, they still don't show those. But that's another issue entirely, lol.)

So yeah. As far as I've read, heard, and seen, I think the show is a high quality adaptation. It's also just a great show in it's own rights. :)

Cherry Who?
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Old 09-22-2013, 11:17 PM

Quote:
Originally Posted by Chexala View Post
adapting a dense book series into a show is like translating a symphony into a quilt.
This is beautiful.

I had the idea to read the series before watching the show, but I've given up on that idea once I saw how big the books were. I have so much on my to-read list and I know how I tend to get bored with long books, so I'm just going to watch the show. If I really super love it, that'll probably give me motivation to read the books through. If I don't, I know I'm going to be missing out, but... I have so many other things to read.

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Old 09-22-2013, 11:31 PM

I totally agree with your symphony into a quilt statement, Chexala.

I haven't had a chance to watch it yet anyway. We only have Netflix, and they never have the show on DVD at the library. We heard that they're trying to get it onto Netflix now though.
I honestly didn't think about the violence issues. So I will probably avoid it just for that. Its kind of odd, I think, but I can read books that describe violence and death in explicit detail and I'm okay with that. But watching a TV show or movie with graphic violence and with rare exceptions like Law and Order: SVU, I can't bear it. I cry, I'm scared, and sometimes I get physically ill. Only if its fiction though. If its non-fiction, like The First 48 and other murder/crime shows, I'm fine. I can watch it with a kind of detachment that I can't do if its fiction. I can't handle the images, most of the time with fictional violence. I'm such a weirdo.
But like....story changes....yesterday my fiance and I were watching something on YouTube that was talking about Tyrion, and his father, the king. And I'm sitting there blinking going "Wait, wait....Tywin Lannister was never a king. Is he a king in the show? Did they change it THAT much? What?" XP

Cherry:: They seem like big books, but...well for me anyway, I get so wrapped up in them that they never seem as long as they are.

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Old 09-22-2013, 11:59 PM

Lately I struggle to find the time to read any book that isn't assigned to me for a class, so I think committing to a book that big would assure I didn't read anything else for a good six months. If I had more free time I could do it, but... argh.

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Old 09-23-2013, 03:46 AM

Quote:
Originally Posted by Cherry Who? View Post
I had the idea to read the series before watching the show, but I've given up on that idea once I saw how big the books were. I have so much on my to-read list and I know how I tend to get bored with long books, so I'm just going to watch the show. If I really super love it, that'll probably give me motivation to read the books through. If I don't, I know I'm going to be missing out, but... I have so many other things to read.
That's what I went through too. Finally I realized that I really wanted to watch the show and be able to watch it as it comes out, so I just went for it. Once I decided that I liked it, I started reading the books.

I love the show, the world, and the characters, but for whatever reasons, I haven't felt super drawn into the books the way other people have. I can only read a couple chapters at a time before it gets too intense or I get bored. I think that is more of a me-problem than a problem of the books though; I get bored or overwhelmed really easily lately.

@Kitami: Don't worry, Tywin isn't king of anything he shouldn't be! From what I've heard, the only big change like that is that one semi-major character in the show who replaces a book character, but who serves the same basic plot-advancing function. Kinda hard to explain without naming names or spoiling anything though!

@Cherry: I could hardly manage to read any books that weren't assigned when I was in school. I started reading Game of Thrones in my last quarter, and it took me 4 months to finish.

Cherry Who?
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Old 09-23-2013, 07:16 AM

Yeah, I get bored and overwhelmed easily with books too. I mean, I love books and I love reading, but I've got some dumb mental blocks in place that make me easily intimidated by books. And sometimes I just cannot pay attention for the life of me. I'll read the same paragraph over and over. >< That certainly makes lengthy books challenging.

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Old 09-24-2013, 04:39 AM

Cherry:: I totally understand. How is school going by the way?

Chexala:: Well I'll try to watch it and see if I can stomach it if it ever gets on Netflix. I watched an episode of Breaking Bad with my bf and his mom the other day and they were dissolving a man in acid, only the stupid guy didn't do it in a plastic tub like he was supposed to, and the results were....pretty horrifying.

Cherry Who?
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Old 09-24-2013, 05:02 AM

Hannibal is a network show, but I've honestly never seen a show more gruesome than it. Dexter's got nothing on it.

Kitami - Stressful, but alright. A class I had been looking forward to that turned boring, a class that's reigniting an old interest of mine, a class I love so much that's making me consider changing majors and... math.

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Old 09-24-2013, 12:02 PM

The way that Breaking Bad scene plays out is kind of morbidly funny.

I renewed my library books and I still only have a few days to finish them.

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Old 09-24-2013, 03:14 PM

I've just added Peter Pan and Little Women to my reading list. Been tutoring some middle-schoolers here and those two are required reading for them, so I figured I'd best get current. Never read the prior, and it's been years and years since I've read Little Women.

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Old 09-24-2013, 09:38 PM

Cherry:: Its okay, I think a lot of people change their majors at least once. o_o

Kat:: I knew what was going to happen when he was putting the body in the tub and I was like "No Jesse. Dumb Jesse, BAD."
But I didn't know it was going to be that gruesome. XD;

Belly:: You should read Little Women and Werewolves. Its kind of awesome.
I need to read Peter Pan again. I haven't read it in SO long.

Cherry Who?
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Old 09-24-2013, 11:24 PM

Probably so, but it's a big decision and I don't want to make it lightly. So I've got to worry myself sick over it. 8D

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Old 09-26-2013, 10:59 AM

Thinking about taking this challenge on! I used to be a voracious reader, but I haven't read very much at all in years... o_O I'd like to get back into it, though, even if it's not as much as I used to read... For instance, I don't know if I could do 10 books in 2 weeks anymore. :P

@Cherry: UGH THOSE DANCING CATS. Can... not... look... away... @[email protected] Why must they be so chubby and cute. Why.

 


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