| Author |
 Topic Search  Topic Options
|
Luna 
Forum Senior Member
Joined: July 28 2010
Location: Funky Town
Status: Offline
Points: 12794
|
 Posted: July 27 2013 at 23:59 |
 The.Crimson.King wrote:
I never give up on a book, but could only get through half of Atlas Shrugged before I threw in the towel. The day I quit I felt a huge weight had been lifted from my shoulders  |
Read Anthem if you ever want to understand her philosophy. No, it's not that good a novel, nor is the philosophy sound, but it's 100 pages so there isn't much to lose.
|
|
|
 |
The.Crimson.King
Forum Senior Member
Joined: March 29 2013
Location: WA
Status: Offline
Points: 4591
|
Posted: July 28 2013 at 00:03 |
The T wrote:
Neelus wrote:
The Stand
|
For me one of my favorite S King novels. Below Salem's Lot of course. |
From '79 to '81 I followed a crazy ritual with my two fave Stephen King novels...I'd read "The Stand" in June and "The Shining" in October 
I kept up with everything he'd write (even the Bachman books) but after "Misery" I jumped off the bus and have never gone back...
|
|
|
|
Ambient Hurricanes
Forum Senior Member
Joined: December 25 2011
Location: internet
Status: Online
Points: 2549
|
Posted: July 28 2013 at 00:21 |
I liked Anthem. Don't get what people think was so bad about the writing style. Granted I've never read anything else by her, but I found Anthem to be an engaging read, until it got preachy at the end, that is (hmm...sounds like a certain Upton Sinclair novel...). You have to take it in its historical context too, this is pre- 1984 so the whole dystopia thing hadn't really been done much before; it might be a flawed book but it's one of the seminal works in its genre.
|
|
I love dogs, I've always loved dogs
|
|
rogerthat
Prog Reviewer
Joined: September 03 2006
Location: .
Status: Offline
Points: 9869
|
Posted: July 28 2013 at 00:24 |
Ambient Hurricanes wrote:
I liked Anthem. Don't get what people think was so bad about the writing style. Granted I've never read anything else by her, but I found Anthem to be an engaging read, until it got preachy at the end, that is (hmm...sounds like a certain Upton Sinclair novel...). You have to take it in its historical context too, this is pre-1984 so the whole dystopia thing hadn't really been done much before; it might be a flawed book but it's one of the seminal works in its genre.
|
That is if you don't classify Brave New World as dystopia. So I am curious what you would call it.
|
|
Triceratopsoil
Forum Senior Member
Joined: April 03 2010
Location: Canada
Status: Offline
Points: 17995
|
Posted: July 28 2013 at 00:35 |
refugee wrote:
A friend of mine was a big fan of The Alchemist, so, much to my regret, I read it. I’ve avoided Coelho since then.
|
I didn't mind The Alchemist, but you have to keep in mind that it's basically a kid's book
|
|
refugee
Forum Senior Member
VIP Member
Joined: November 20 2006
Location: Greece
Status: Offline
Points: 7026
|
Posted: July 28 2013 at 05:29 |
Triceratopsoil wrote:
refugee wrote:
A friend of mine was a big fan of The Alchemist, so, much to my regret, I read it. I’ve avoided Coelho since then.
|
I didn't mind The Alchemist, but you have to keep in mind that it's basically a kid's book
|
I don’t think so. It’s a fable, and IMO it’s not more children’s literature than One Thousand and One Nights or Grimms’ Fairy Tales. Still I love many children’s books, like the books of Milne, Carroll (though I’m not certain if the Alice books are fit for children), Tove Jansson and Astrid Lindgren, so it wouldn’t have bothered me if it actually was a children’s book. I’m finally reading The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (not disappointing, btw), so here’s a personal comment to Slarti: Thanks for designing Norway!
|
|
He say nothing is quite what it seems;
I say nothing is nothing
(Peter Hammill)
|
|
Ambient Hurricanes
Forum Senior Member
Joined: December 25 2011
Location: internet
Status: Online
Points: 2549
|
Posted: July 28 2013 at 12:45 |
rogerthat wrote:
Ambient Hurricanes wrote:
I liked Anthem. Don't get what people think was so bad about the writing style. Granted I've never read anything else by her, but I found Anthem to be an engaging read, until it got preachy at the end, that is (hmm...sounds like a certain Upton Sinclair novel...). You have to take it in its historical context too, this is pre-1984 so the whole dystopia thing hadn't really been done much before; it might be a flawed book but it's one of the seminal works in its genre.
|
That is if you don't classify Brave New World as dystopia. So I am curious what you would call it. |
No, I just forgot about that one  .
|
|
I love dogs, I've always loved dogs
|
|
Equality 7-2521
Forum Senior Member
Joined: August 11 2005
Location: Philly
Status: Offline
Points: 15783
|
Posted: July 28 2013 at 13:10 |
|
A few that I loathed,
The Catcher in the Rye, The Great Gatsby, Siddhartha, Naked Lunch
Naked Lunch was the biggest disappointment because it starts with so much promise.
|
|
"One had to be a Newton to notice that the moon is falling, when everyone sees that it doesn't fall. "
|
|
moshkito
Forum Senior Member
Joined: January 04 2007
Location: Grok City
Status: Offline
Points: 16146
|
Posted: July 28 2013 at 14:56 |
BaldFriede wrote:
...
King has generally disappointed me. Not that his books are completely bad; on the contrary. He definitely knows how to build an atmosphere. Let's take "Needful Things"", for example. A great idea, but then it is ruined by a bloodbath at the end. But 90% of the book are great.
...
|
If I look at the history of literature in the Gothic mode, going as far back as The Castle of Otranto, by Horace Walpole, then Stephen King is a fake, and very cheap writer, simply praying on people's lack of perception or understanding of things in general. Taking advantage of people is not what the horror genre was originally about, and it became just another French bloodbath in 1792 ... this time without a guillotine, but with an ample number of replacement implements to take care of your thirst and whatever else one wants to call it. But I also KNEW fro my upbringing in Portugal that Picasso's "Guernica" was a novel in its own right, and that the stories about/on WW2 were no joke, and that families were still horribly affected, up to and including friends of my father, and a professor who had been a child in Auschwitz.
After being shown and seeing the sadness and hatred and other emotional breakdowns in so many folks, I can't say that anything I ever read has been boring ... or not interesting in some way ... they were ALL interesting in their own way ... they WERE a different person each and everyone of them! AND I KNEW that there was something in all those books underneath it all ... that is far more important to you and your person!
But I will tell you a fun example ... is being a kid, at 4 or 5, and having Aldous Huxley walk up to you and 3 inches from your face, look you in the eye and ask ... what you thinking little boy? ... and when you read half his work, it is the same kind of mentality ... always curious, fun and interesting ... and to me, ALL of what is known as "literature" is that person in some form ... and this is the reason why Stephen King doesn't bite for me ... is just plain ... master-reverberation, by a pop-writer! It will not stand up to the greats in the horror genre and does not have "depth" other than what is known as "mind-fukcniking" ... which is not something I am interested in!
In my mind, one fo the very best books EVER written, was done by a woman ... Frankenstein ... and on one given night she told a story that scared Polidori, Byron, Shelley and others ... and it will be remembered forever. It's like me going around saying that I did not enjoy that woman for this reason or that ... and that was not true, or I would not be there ... and the whole thing a selfish waste of time and ego. Literature, for me, is about ... something, that we don't even have terms and words for ... and as such, no one will ever be a disappointment. In 62 years it has not been!
The same for all the folks here! I would never be disappointed by anyone's choices, maybe surprised ... but you have to give the person credit for who they are, and what they mean. But it's hard, over here in America, they think that mysticism is Harry Potter and they have no idea ... so they can never take seriously and appreciate stories that have more depth!
One other woman I like to read. To my surprise, the material that Ann Rice writes under her pseudonym and is found under "erotica" is farfarfar better stuff than her regular work ... why? ... she gets into it and allows the genres and species to explore each other, and she does a magnificent job of even clarifying it fro ma physical perspective, instead of a mental perspective ... how feminine that point of view is, as opposed to the ever so mental men and their work!
Another woman ... Doris Lessing ... if you have never read "The Golden Notebook", or "Briefing for a Descent Into Hell" ... you really do not know what you are missing.
There is only one book, that I think I might consider ... disappointing ... and it was a part of the Carlos Castaneda thing, and the last book they put out, which is obviously not Carlos at all, and just some kind of paste-up bs put together by folks to try and maximize the sales, workshops and such for doing some physical exercises that supposedly don Juan and friends enjoyed doing, or playing around with! It was a cheap attempt at validating his very "mental work", with something else, and it failed ... because no one knew the connection and no one could agree on how it was connected! ... because it is an individual thing, not a social thing!
Sorry ... I read too much! Now you know why so much music and lyrics are just crap for me ... they are empty! But you are all making it look like Melmoth can never love again!
Edited by moshkito - July 28 2013 at 15:21
|
|
Music is not just for listening ... it is for LIVING ... you got to feel it to know what's it about! Not being told!
www.pedrosena.com
|
|
The T
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator
Joined: October 16 2006
Location: FL, USA
Status: Offline
Points: 17493
|
Posted: July 28 2013 at 15:22 |
|
Ehem....
|
|
|
|
CPicard
Forum Senior Member
Joined: October 03 2008
Location: Là, sui monti.
Status: Offline
Points: 10837
|
Posted: July 28 2013 at 16:44 |
moshkito wrote:
Taking advantage of people is not what the horror genre was originally about, and it became just another French bloodbath in 1792 ... this time without a guillotine, but with an ample number of replacement implements to take care of your thirst and whatever else one wants to call it.
|
I'm not especially patriotic, but I would be glad to see the French-bashing coming to an end.  The rumors describing Robespierre and its government taking their showers in a rain of blood had been widely exagerated. Back to the topic, Calderon's Life Is But A Dream didn't really strike me as a masterpiece of 18th Century theater. OK, it has its moments, but I still wonder what the other teenager of my high school (if I believe what our litterature teachers told us) found in it. (By the way, is it me being pesky or is this thread about famous AMERICAN books only?)
|
|
thellama73
Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator
Joined: May 29 2006
Location: United States
Status: Offline
Points: 8368
|
Posted: July 28 2013 at 16:52 |
|
I hated The Great Gatsby, loathed Wuthering Heights and can't stand anything by Dickens except A Christmas Carol.
I really like a lot of stuff that everyone else hates, though. Herman Melville and Nathaniel Hawthorne are among my favorite writers and most people can't stand them. I also quite like Ayn Rand's books apart from the Fountainhead, which was rubbish, but I'd prefer not to drag this thread into politics.
Victor Hugo is my all time favorite author and I find every single one of his books stunning, whereas many find them tedious and overly wordy.
|
|
|
|
Equality 7-2521
Forum Senior Member
Joined: August 11 2005
Location: Philly
Status: Offline
Points: 15783
|
Posted: July 28 2013 at 19:37 |
|
Melville is a gem. I don't understand why people hate him so much.
|
|
"One had to be a Newton to notice that the moon is falling, when everyone sees that it doesn't fall. "
|
|
Ambient Hurricanes
Forum Senior Member
Joined: December 25 2011
Location: internet
Status: Online
Points: 2549
|
Posted: July 28 2013 at 19:49 |
|
I've read Moby Dick and obviously it's long and difficult to get through but you can't deny the genius of Melville's characterization, his mastery of the English language, and his intelligent attention to the detail of his subject matter. It's been a long time since I've read it (for school twice, once when I was 12 or so and again in sophomore year of high school) and I'm sure I would have a greater appreciation for it now.
|
|
I love dogs, I've always loved dogs
|
|
refugee
Forum Senior Member
VIP Member
Joined: November 20 2006
Location: Greece
Status: Offline
Points: 7026
|
Posted: July 28 2013 at 20:17 |
|
Moby Dick is a great book – though Melville was a rather poor cetologist.
|
|
He say nothing is quite what it seems;
I say nothing is nothing
(Peter Hammill)
|
|
Equality 7-2521
Forum Senior Member
Joined: August 11 2005
Location: Philly
Status: Offline
Points: 15783
|
Posted: July 28 2013 at 20:28 |
More importantly you're forgetting Yevgeny Zamyatin's We which every dystopian novel ever has stolen pretty blatantly from.
|
|
"One had to be a Newton to notice that the moon is falling, when everyone sees that it doesn't fall. "
|
|
Equality 7-2521
Forum Senior Member
Joined: August 11 2005
Location: Philly
Status: Offline
Points: 15783
|
Posted: July 28 2013 at 20:29 |
refugee wrote:
Moby Dick is a great book – though Melville was a rather poor cetologist.
|
He kind of set a standard for scientific writing with the book so I'd say that's a pretty big accomplishment for a nonscientist.
|
|
"One had to be a Newton to notice that the moon is falling, when everyone sees that it doesn't fall. "
|
|
thellama73
Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator
Joined: May 29 2006
Location: United States
Status: Offline
Points: 8368
|
Posted: July 28 2013 at 21:04 |
Equality 7-2521 wrote:
refugee wrote:
Moby Dick is a great book – though Melville was a rather poor cetologist.
|
He kind of set a standard for scientific writing with the book so I'd say that's a pretty big accomplishment for a nonscientist.
|
Edgar Alan Poe wrote a story about riding a hot air balloon to the moon, so I think a little perspective is in order. :)
|
|
|
|
The Dark Elf
Forum Senior Member
VIP Member
Joined: February 01 2011
Location: Michigan
Status: Offline
Points: 12656
|
Posted: July 28 2013 at 21:18 |
BaldFriede wrote:
Kotro wrote:
I think Catcher only really gets you if you're:a) a guy b) adolescent
Otherwise you're missing it's charms. I devoured it in a single night and remains one of my all-time favorites.
Most of my literary disappointments have been books by authors I otherwise love, such as Tom Sharpe or Saramago. A couple of Nobel laureates have left me cold, as well.
|
Maybe I simply have the wrong gender and was too old when I read it.
|
I don't think it is a gender thing. I loathed Catcher in the Rye. And while I loved Joyce's Dubliners and found Ulysses interesting (the line "Stately, plump Buck Mulligan came from the stairhead, bearing a bowl of lather on which a mirror and a razor lay crossed." is forever stuck in the cobwebs of my mind), I could never get through the inaccessible mess that is Finnegan's Wake. Any book that requires footnotes for every sentence does not make for an enjoyable read. Hell, Chaucer's Canterbury Tales in the original Middle-English was more legible.
|
|
...a vigorous circular motion hitherto unknown to the people of this area, but destined
to take the place of the mud shark in your mythology...
|
|
Equality 7-2521
Forum Senior Member
Joined: August 11 2005
Location: Philly
Status: Offline
Points: 15783
|
Posted: July 28 2013 at 21:21 |
|
|
|
"One had to be a Newton to notice that the moon is falling, when everyone sees that it doesn't fall. "
|
|
/PAlogo_v2.gif "Progarchives.com Homepage")
What famous book were you most disappointed by?
