Guybrush122 Posted March 16, 2004 Share Posted March 16, 2004 Yep, a topic for all things literary. Things to tell us when you post: What's your favorite book? Why? Who is your favorite author? Why? What do you think of school literary programs [i.e. how they teach books in school]? And what's the book you'd recommend to a non-reader? I know I know, kind of weak. But still. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reaper Girl Posted March 16, 2004 Share Posted March 16, 2004 Favorite Book : Don't make me choose. I might explode. Why: Because of the voices. Fave Author: King, maybe. Why: Honestly. Need you ask? What do you think of...: If we got paid, I'm sure we'd read the books... Whats the book...?: "Read books or GO TO HELL! BWHAHAHA!" <feeling jolly> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edlib Posted March 16, 2004 Share Posted March 16, 2004 Book: "The Restaurant At The End Of The Universe",.. or Maybe "The Long Dark Teatime Of The Soul" Why: Funny as hell, and every line is memorable and quotable,.. yet intelligent and thought provoking at the same time. Author: Douglas Adams (should be pretty obvious) Vonnegut runs a very close second Why: See last "Why" above... What do you think of school literary programs [i.e. how they teach books in school]?: All kinds of bad. I read a few good books in school,.. and a whole lot of crap. The way literature is taught takes all the fun out of reading. I know a lot of people who claim to be proud of the fact that they haven't read a book since leaving school. That's a horrible testament to our standarized educational system. Book for a non-reader: "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" Please don't make me explain that choice... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Jones Posted March 16, 2004 Share Posted March 16, 2004 tom sawyer. just tom sawyer. no specific author. no. oh and i like to second edlibs thoughts about school and literature. this is sad, indeed. read tom sawyer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yufster Posted March 16, 2004 Share Posted March 16, 2004 What's your favorite book? I have three. Wuthering Heights, by Emily Bronte. The Colour of Magic, and Mort, by Terry Pratchett. Why? I love the characters and the storytelling in Wuthering Heights. It's such a powerful love story, and there's so much love and hate. Awesome. As for the other two, they're funny as hell. Especially Mort, which also had a plot. Some of the scenes were so well orchestrated that you could picture them vividly in your head. Who is your favorite author? Terry Pratchett. Enid Blyton and Roald Dahl were childhood favourites too. Why? Terry Pratchett keeps on spawning relentless awesomeness through his Discworld series, which are funny as hell. Enid Blyton and Roald Dahl created a lot of amazing worlds for kids to escape into. What do you think of school literary programs [i.e. how they teach books in school]? Crap. I loved Wuthering Heights, but reading through it and analysing every sentence made it possibly the most boring thing in the world. We're not encouraged to have our own opinions about novels; if they teach about them in School, they MUST be FABULOUS and beyond question. I see reading as a hobby, a pastime. It's not an exact bloody science. And what's the book you'd recommend to a non-reader? Terry Pratchett - Mort. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alien426 Posted March 16, 2004 Share Posted March 16, 2004 What's your favorite book? Don't really have one. Why? There are so many good ones. Who is your favorite author? Chuck Palahniuk is great (you probably know the movie adaption of his book Fight Club), Terry Brooks, Orson Scott Card, Douglas Adams, ... Why? Different reasons. They have mastered the standard writing styles and added their own flavors (fun stuff, deep thoughts). What do you think of school literary programs [i.e. how they teach books in school? Sucks. Some modern and controversial literature would be appreciated. And what's the book you'd recommend to a non-reader? Anything the person is interested in. Start with "the book to the successful movie" if you want - though you probably don't want to begin with epics like LOTR. Start with comics. You can even stop there - reading comics is fine with me and I don't regard it less valuable than a book. If you don't agree, read Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics (I mentioned it before). Read the modern classics: The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Robinson Crusoe, The Sea Wolf... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joshi Posted March 16, 2004 Share Posted March 16, 2004 Colour of magic had a plot, it was just in another book somewhere, i'm still looking. Fave book I'd have to say Night Watch although I love most of the Discworld series. Why? It's a great book, funny as hell and actually makes you think. If you've read the other bnooks based around the watch (or sam vimes in particular) you'll find it even better, it's just so great. Fave Author PTerry Pratchett is great, although I'm partial to Scott Adams and other comedy writers, (if it's not funny, it's not worth it) Why? His writing ids thoguth provoking and funny as hell without being overly silly. The plts are very good and the plot devices are nicely placed. His work is also so uniquly descriptive as instead of laying down pages of description, he mainly allows you to judge for yourself. Completely different people to pratchett compile the maps and so on of this world after the books were written and his world has take so much shape it is almost real. All it's missing is it's own language, but we really don't have to veer that close to LOTR or a Klingon. And scott adam way of the weasle got me through life. School literary system Hate it, I don't like being told what to read by people who don't even know me. You guys now know what i like now so you may be able to recommend something, but people I don't know telling me to read something and then write about thrity essays on why there was symbolism in the word 'smoke' is just plain annoying. I recommend Mort. Yufster is right in likeing it a lot, and it's great for just getting into pratchett if you want to. it's funny as hell and has a great plot. It's slightly complicated, but that just makes it more interesting. and the charcters are real. these are not fairy stories, not by a long shot (oh sure, there may be actual faries in them, but they're harmless... most of the time). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reaper Girl Posted March 16, 2004 Share Posted March 16, 2004 hmm... Juvenial delinquents, Death, and hatred... ...we read the best books. as anyone read "Maskerade" by Pracett? I've been looking for it for a while...saddened... DAMM MY LIBRARY! MLKDSMLM1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guybrush122 Posted March 17, 2004 Author Share Posted March 17, 2004 Thats right, I'm answering my own questions..... What's your favorite book? In no particular order: "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" by Philip K. Dick, "The Big Sleep", by Raymond Chandler, and "The Shining" by Stephen King. Why? "Do Androids...?" Paints such a vivid, dark, gloomy, gritty, and film noir-like scene into your mind that it's compelling beyond all belief. A grim, noir detective thriller set in the future...how can you go wrong? The movie adaptation, Blade Runner, was fabulous (Director's Cut only). "The Big Sleep" is straight up 1940's noir invovling pornography scandal, murder, blackmail, snappy dialogue and lust lust lust. Sexy book, that is. And "The Shining"? Well, let's just say I didn't go into my bathroom for a looooonng time. Who is your favorite author? Stephen King. I'd like to say Ray Chandler, but I've only read a few short stories of his plus "The Big Sleep". Steve takes the cake. Why? He's got such a turgid style to him. He has such a command of storytelling, and he can be belly-laughing hysterical and scream-out-loud terrifying... What do you think of school literary programs [i.e. how they teach books in school]? They put such a stress on annotating and finding symbolism, and analyzing this and that....it makes the reading no longer fun. Books that I have loved now leave me struggling to turn the next page knowing I will soon have a TEST on whether or not I remembered what the driver of the bus' favorite color is... ...I could go on and on and on...but I'll sum up with this: Mark Twain once requested that his books were to never be taught in school. And what's the book you'd recommend to a non-reader? "Everything's Eventual" by Stephen King. It's a collection of short stories and they all have a lot of diversity to them, so a newbie would probaly get a kick out of it. As an afternote: I haven't read any Pratchett at all, and I hear that's illegal in some states. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skinkie Posted March 17, 2004 Share Posted March 17, 2004 Read Men at Arms, that's my favorite Pratchett book. Although it makes more sense if you read Guards!Guards! first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joshi Posted March 17, 2004 Share Posted March 17, 2004 Originally posted by Orca Wail hmm... Juvenial delinquents, Death, and hatred... ...we read the best books. as anyone read "Maskerade" by Pracett? I've been looking for it for a while...saddened... DAMM MY LIBRARY! MLKDSMLM1 Read it for the second time last week. It good if you like the witches saga (and still good if you don't much) read it, it's god. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reaper Girl Posted March 17, 2004 Share Posted March 17, 2004 *attacks Joshi* WHERE DO YOU LIVE??!?!?!?! ....MUST...HAVE.... *dies* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Remi Posted March 18, 2004 Share Posted March 18, 2004 What's your favorite book? Too many to list. However, the last book that I read and that I'm now completely obsessed about is "The House of Leaves". Why? It's both freaky and confusing, and really requires you to think (as well as do additional research and do multiple readthroughs). It's like a David Lynch movie, just probably even crazier and richer on details. Who is your favorite author? Chuck Palahniuk if I only had to pick one. Why? He always writes interesting books, with crazy twists and turns. Plus they're funny. What do you think of school literary programs [i.e. how they teach books in school]? I graduated high-school in '96, so I don't really remember anything about this. And what's the book you'd recommend to a non-reader? Any in the Harry Potter series. Easy to read, and very entertaining. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joshi Posted March 18, 2004 Share Posted March 18, 2004 Originally posted by Orca Wail *attacks Joshi* WHERE DO YOU LIVE??!?!?!?! ....MUST...HAVE.... *dies* I haven't actually visited a library in years, i buy all my books so i can read them and referance them when I want (that unseen universeti challenge can be hard and the Wyrdest link is just fun (RIP Josh Kirby:( )) And so if you're wondering, yes, i do own all 28 discworld novels, as well as all maps (although I can't find deaths domain, i may have lost it), both quiz books, two editions of the companion, both available storie's of discworld (although anotherone is due out sometime in the next year following on from Wee Free Men), both DVD's of those badly made cartoons (meh, they're all right, I guess), Nanny Ogg's cook Book and the pratchett portfolio. Hah! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reaper Girl Posted March 18, 2004 Share Posted March 18, 2004 Originally posted by Joshi And so if you're wondering, yes, i do own all 28 discworld novels, as well as all maps (although I can't find deaths domain, i may have lost it), both quiz books, two editions of the companion, both available storie's of discworld (although anotherone is due out sometime in the next year following on from Wee Free Men), both DVD's of those badly made cartoons (meh, they're all right, I guess), Nanny Ogg's cook Book and the pratchett portfolio. Hah! urge to kill...rising... I don't...er...have...alot of money. So the library is my primary source. AND MY LIBRARY SUCKS! I've also been looking for Susan Kay's "Phantom", and the first person to say they have it will be stalked. Oh, and "Phantom of Manhatten" is very good if you enjoy historical fiction. "Beast" by DeNapoli was very good too, if you can slough thru the melodrama. Dream Book/Movie....lock Pratchett, Burton(tim), and maybe King in a room with ten million $. Either they'll have a crazy threesome, or they'll make an excellent work of fiction. ...or a really crappy one. I'm gonna go try it now... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alien426 Posted March 18, 2004 Share Posted March 18, 2004 ca-click Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptdc Posted March 19, 2004 Share Posted March 19, 2004 What's your favorite book? Lord of the Rings Why? It was good once I'd got into it and, and, I don't know. Who is your favorite author? Terry Pratchett Why? He (sometimes) writes good books. He is alive. I have a signed Terry Pratchett book. The end. What do you think of school literary programs? Well when I was in school I felt I was being forced to read books, and then being made to overanalyse them to take out any fun that had left in them. And what's the book you'd recommend to a non-reader? Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials Trilogy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Feral Posted March 19, 2004 Share Posted March 19, 2004 What's your favorite book? Night Watch, by Terry Pratchett, or Misery, by Stephen King Why? Night Watch, because it's the best Pratchett has ever written and is all based around my two favourite characters, Vetinari and Vimes. The plot is a wonderful twist on an old literary cliché, and really broadens the Vimes character. Misery, because I feel it is only just superior to The Shining and the all-too-intimate atmosphere is superb. If only the movie came close to living up to it... Who is your favorite author? I'd like to say King, but I simply haven't read enough, so I have to go with Pratchett on this since I've read and own all of the Discworld novels. Why? See above. He has had some stinkers (Equal Rites, Carpe Jugulum, Jingo), but even those are good by normal standards and the best of his novels (especially the last four) more than make up for them. What do you think of school literary programs [i.e. how they teach books in school]? I like it myself, but only because I have a passion for both literature and writing essays and so I enjoy picking apart novels and poems. However, I can see where the problems lie for the people that don't enjoy writing essays all that much (i.e. most people), but then I can't think of a better way. And what's the book you'd recommend to a non-reader? The one I'm currently reading, Stephen King's "The Green Mile". In typical King style, it's both intense in plot and easy to read, making it perfect for non-readers...even my girlfriend was anxious to read it. Oh, and Orca, I'd be happy to sell/lend you my copy of "Maskerade"...just send me an e-mail on feral@feralweb.com . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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