OMG.. My youngest daughter was assigned a semester long project last year on Sylvia. She was not impressed. (She did ace it though.) You are a scarey scarey person Brianna! :)

Yeah, I read the first three Thomas Covenant books when I was 17. I liked Lord Foul's Bain, the rest sucked. I liked Robert E. Howard, too.

I read them all about the same time as Spexxvet. I enjoyed them, and I sometimes think about the White Gold Wielder when I'm climbing down through the boulders, bumping my heel against the rock to make sure I've put my foot down as far from the edge as possible.

I *might* even have one or more of them downstairs somewhere still.

I still have them. My 17 year old son couldn't get through the first one. He read The Hobbit between 2nd and 3rd grade, and loved the Sword, Elfstone, etc. of Shannara books. Didn't like ol' T-Cov, though.

I'm hurt!


What didn't impress your daughter? the person or the poetry?

Her position is that Plath is only famous because she killed herself. The Emo thing has lost its allure through over-use in the present generation.

Oh no!

Ariel was a tour de force! The poetry is phenomenal!! Not the lurid details of her life - !!

She's too young to see that.

This is a kid who instinctively figured out what utter nonsense Catholicism was at about 10 years of age... it took me about 30 more years than that. She is perceptive to the point that I worry about her.

:) a smart cookie.

IMHO the poetry would stand without the salacious details of the poets life.

"Viciousness in the kitchen" is a truly great line. :)

I agree with Griff's very wise daughter. Read her back in HS and again after college...

Plath = meh.

opinions are like...well, you know. :rolleyes:

Yep, I know and we have some of them here.

I've never been a fan of the dark crap. Life is too short and its far more enjoyable to focus on the positives.

There is a difference between cynicism and stoicism, though. Life isn't just positives, and dwelling only in happy places doesn't really prepare you for much of what is likely to happen.

My experience was about the same as yours. I made it through about 3 of them and really enjoyed them, but couldn't get into them after that. I still occasionally think about the self checking and painstaking behavior like the heel bumping. Must suck to be a leper.

Smiles! Everybody has one! ;)