Posted on 02/03/2014 2:13:32 PM PST by jocon307
Have you ever lied about reading a book? Maybe you didn’t want to seem stupid in front of someone you respected. Maybe you rationalized it by reasoning that you had a familiarity with the book, or knew who the author was, or what the story was about, or had glanced at its Wikipedia page. Or maybe you had tried to read the book, even bought it and set it by your bed for months unopened, hoping that it would impart what was in it merely via proximity (if that worked, please email me).
(Excerpt) Read more at thefederalist.com ...
I LOVED “Anthem”. It was written in a “made up” language that forced collectivism and did not allow individuality. At First it is hard to read because of this, but once the “rules” are established, it is an easy read. (The words I, Me, and My, among others are BANNED!)
There were parts of it that brought tears to my eyes, when I realized that we are being subjected to a similar destruction of the individual through language as we speak!
Ayn Rand was so prescient about that, as the book was written a long, long time ago.
I agree. Sometimes Brevity can be the soul of wit.
We Could turn it into a series.
A hugh and series series, involving sisters, moose, and cheese..
Read this back in the mid-80’s. When I started buying books back in the 70’s, whenever I went to the store, I would see this book. Finally, I purchased and read it back in 85. I thought it was great with the exception of the absence of Christ.
9. On the Origin of Species, Charles Darwin:
Have not read it.
8. Les Miserables, Victor Hugo and A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens:
Have not read Les Miserables but have read A Tale of Two Cities.
7. 1984, George Orwell:
Read it back in the 70’s. Interesting and depressing.
6. Democracy in America, Alexis De Tocqueville:
Have read a third of this.
5. The Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith:
Have not read it.
4. Moby Dick, Herman Melville:
I just finished this one about two months back.
3. The Art of War, Sun Tzu:
Read this.
2. The Prince, Niccolo Machiavelli:
I have it but have not read it.
1. Ulysses, James Joyce:
Have not read it.
Five out of eleven. Not bad.
LOL
Yeah, I was an early teenager when I read it originally, and I wanted the adventure story that was promised, and a happily ever after.
Perhaps I need to read it again with an adult's mind. :-)
Charles: No, I don't remember the translation, but I am thinking it's a real insult to the rabbit being told that.
Truly a brilliant series.
When I re-read the book as an adult, about 20 years after the first time, I was surprised at what a great management book it was. Hazel is a good example of how leaders should build winning teams. The author, whose name escapes me at the moment, was just some English pencil pusher who wrote stories in his free time, at first to amuse his kids.
He was never respected in the "real" writing community as his hobby was more successful than most of their serious careers.
LOL sorry about the spoiler. and the misspelling.
Books by Dickens do all have pretty much the same theme and even the same characters. For years my favorite was Nicholas Nickleby. Now I’m back to A Christmas Carol. I’ve been watching all the various movie versions. My favorite is the British version from, I think, 1957,
Great Expectations is a classic, and the tell tale sign is how often its been imitated.
Magwich was the benefactor all along, not Havisham. Then you have the ball-busting angle on it, and the power women have over men, despite the popular notion of it being a man’s world.
Even the Big Lebowski borrowed heavily from it - the old crabby guy in the wheelchair being penniless, but pulling all the strings.
Everybody borrows, but Dickens put the use of names as a clue to the characters true colors on the map.
I still love the name ‘Pumblechoke’. Nobody’s going to top that.
“Aubrey-Maturin series by O’Brien” Yes outstanding reader. Amazing range of dialects. Our whole family love these books.
Since the movies came out I have reread The Hobbit two or three times. I have come to appreciate it a great deal. I especially recommend the Kindle version. It has the author’s original drawings and there is even an audio of him reading a section.
I listened to the Confessions on audiobook. I don’t know whether I would have made it through a hard copy. Some good parts and an amazingly modern perspective on life. Fun to read something read so long ago and feel like it was written last week.
Crichton, along with Orson Scott Card, has always struck me as among the most uneven of modern authors. Some great stuff, and some nearly unreadable.
I sort of suspected that was the direction the story would go so no worries :P
I too love audio books because I have issues with my vision but lately have enjoyed my Kindle a great deal. I feel like I need to be moving when I listen to an audio book. If not, I sometimes fall asleep. I realized the advantage of audiobooks when I was rereading the Tony Hillerman mysteries. He does a credible job describing the wonderful southwestern landscapes but I had always skipped over that to get to the story. Now I listen to it all. Same with the Aubrey and Materin Master and Commander books. I will listen to the long descriptions of the rigging etc when before I skipped over it. I also find that I can listen to books about theology and physics while I walk (I walk a lot) and get about 60% of the meaning. If I try to actually read it I get bogged down and bored.
People take Shakespeare too seriously. First of all, the best way to experience his work is to listen to it and watch the old movies. Some of the jokes fall flat because we’re not from that time and culture. It takes sometimes a second listening to feel the passion in the tragedies. They’re my favorite although actually my favorite Shakespeare play is The Merchant of Venice and technically it is not a tragedy although Shylock is a very tragic figure. Another alchemy theme.
me me I’ve read the Divine Comedy and I love it. Actually, I had read the Inferno and Purgatorio in regular books and then I listened to it all on audio. Absolutely love it.
I find that listening to a book is for me a very different experience from reading it. Like you I tend to skip over stuff when reading, so I find I notice clonky prose (and for that matter beautiful writing style) a lot more when listening to the reading.
I have started listening to a lot of my favorite books, even those I’ve read several times, and really enjoy it.
A word of caution. The listening experience is enormously dependent on the talent of the reader. Approach books “read by the author” with fear and trembling. Writing and reading aloud are too very different skillsets!
too = two.
I knew that.
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