Angels & Demons

Oldie but a goodie...was a great read....but definately not as good as The Da Vinci Code


What are you reading....or just finished reading?

That book was way more gory in parts than I expected.

I just finished a book called Midwives, by Chris Bohjalian. Very good.

right now, this poem over and over (i'm supposed to be writing about it).

i'm re-reading this in spare moments:

L'Assomoir by Zola.

Fucking brilliant.

I'm reading Todd McFarlane's run on Amazing Spider-Man

evenstar3 said:

I really like that poem.

Spookymuffin said:

wanna finish my essay for me then?

My favorite topic:

This is my current reading list:

Darwin's Dangerous Idea by Daniel Dennett (I've been on a science kick lately...this has been rough but well worth it.)

and

Madame Bovary - Flaubert (I've been reading this for over a month...I should have read this before Proust and Tolstoy. I'm almost done but I'm thinking, who cares...)

evenstar3 said:

I could give it a go - what's it on?

It's for my dissertation

Spookymuffin said:

Just explicating that poem; it's really easy so I get bored doing it.

evenstar3 said:

Have you noticed the ABAB CC rhyme pattern that adds a flowing structure to the poem that emphasises the reader's empathy with the speaker?

The first few lines up to "sun" are made up of 10 syllables each - coincidence? I THINK NOT. This is classic of poetry from the era where the emphasis fell on form and use of language over content (notice how it deals with a far from original subject of unrequited love).

I grieve and dare not show my discontent, A
I love and yet am forced to seem to hate, B
I do, yet dare not say I ever meant, A
I seem stark mute but inwardly do prate. B

I am and not, I freeze and yet am burned, C
Since from myself another self I turned. C

My care is like my shadow in the sun, A
Follows me flying, flies when I pursue it, B
Stands and lies by me, doth what I have done. A
His too familiar care doth make me rue it. B

No means I find to rid him from my breast, A
Till by the end of things it be supprest. A
Some gentler passion slide into my mind, B

For I am soft and made of melting snow; A
Or be more cruel, love, and so be kind. B
Let me or float or sink, be high or low. A

Or let me live with some more sweet content, C
Or die and so forget what love ere meant. C

I have a feeling the poem was meant to be laid out thus, with the final stanzas rhyme scheme changing to alter the emphasis: Notice the first stanza's focus on "I" then the second staza loses the focus on "I" and thys the rhyme schme changes.


[Edited 11/21/06 12:33pm]

I just finished reading Lord of the Flies again


Currently 60 pages into a book by Arther C Clarke.




This is science fiction work that looks at social changes and attitudes towards technology (speicifally Alien technology), and so far the plot twist as completely unexpected from me. I'm not hooked and I'm on 60 pages into it.

Spookymuffin said:

oooh, i love it when you're all brainy

i already prattled on about that aspect of the first stanza thanks though!

wait a second, there's only one line in the whole thing that deviates from that syllable structure! i went back and checked it.
[Edited 11/21/06 12:42pm]

I think people like whatever Dan Brown book they read first the best. They're basically all the same. I liked them all.

I just finished the Wolves of Calla--book 5 in Stephan King's Dark Tower

also



this was a very creative and touching book

evenstar3 said:

I'd find more, but I'm drunk and I'm not as good with english stuff as I am with foreign literature/poetry.

Spookymuffin said:

pretty good for being drunk!

AsianBomb777 said:

This is really one of the greatest sci-fi books ever... Very influential also.

evenstar3 said:

The Golden Rule for Oxford is apparently: "Always look for form first, then content."

The reasoning being that content is never original, form just might be (although usually never is - only the pioneers or masters of one particular form are ever truely great - like Neruda or Shakespeare).



Now I'm feeling drowsy. Fancy a shag?


I said that in public.

Spookymuffin said:

not on a thread about books!

coolcat said:

thanks boo


It's funny how many Clarke books' I've actually read.
I think it was the RAMA series that turned me off to him for a while

The first Rama book was incredible. The others where meh.

Spookymuffin said:

You started early! Hope you'll be feeling fresh for your interview tommorrow !

susannah said:

I don't get hangovers and I know my limit. I just need some stress relief right now!

AsianBomb777 said:

Yeah, I'm actually not a Clarke fan. He just focusses so much on describing the the environment, science and politics of the day (from what I've read anyway)... The story itself gets lost on me. Like in 3001, I think he only spent the last chapter actually talking about the monoliths.

But I loved Childhood's end and 2001.

Spookymuffin said:

Good stuff. Go for it then!

coolcat said:

Never read 2001.

I did read 2061 and I like that a great deal. 3001 was shite.




Do you like Orson Scott Card? He's my favorite author becuase even though he uses sci-fi as his backdrop, he's actually just a damned good story teller.

AsianBomb777 said:

I just read Ender's Game which was great!

I'm a big Asimov fan. I love the robot novels!
[Edited 11/21/06 13:01pm]

AsianBomb777 said:

I liked Ender's Game a lot. I'm reading Flow My Tears the Policeman Said, by Philip K Dick right now. He's another good writer who just happens to write Science Fiction.

I've actually never read any Clarke.

coolcat said:

The sequal "Speaker for the Dead" is even better.
It's a totaly different kind of novel than Ender's game. Larger in scope, and more political, but contains the same emotional grip.

Xenocide (book 3 of the Ender Series) is also a very good book. not quite as good as the first two, but that doesn't mean it's not an excellent book.

He finished it off with "Children of the Mind" which I thought was ok, but he stretched out too much on that book. Too much going on, and the end of the book felt rushed.

NDRU said:

If you've never read Clarke, start with books like:

Childhood's end
2001
Rendevouz with Rama

Don't read the thick books. Clarke seems to work best for me when the books are short and concise. I also don't care for books in which he collaborates.



oops card-to-Clarke edit
[Edited 11/21/06 13:30pm]