The Cellar  

Go Back   The Cellar > Main > Arts & Entertainment
FAQ Community Calendar Today's Posts Search

Arts & Entertainment Give meaning to your life or distract you from it for a while

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 03-11-2011, 12:22 PM   #1996
Trilby
Slattern of the Swail
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Posts: 15,654
I just read a SS by David Foster Wallace and now I want to kill myself.



What?
__________________
In Barrie's play and novel, the roles of fairies are brief: they are allies to the Lost Boys, the source of fairy dust and ...They are portrayed as dangerous, whimsical and extremely clever but quite hedonistic.

"Shall I give you a kiss?" Peter asked and, jerking an acorn button off his coat, solemnly presented it to her.
—James Barrie


Wimminfolk they be tricksy. - ZenGum
Trilby is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-11-2011, 12:33 PM   #1997
Shawnee123
Why, you're a regular Alfred E Einstein, ain't ya?
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Posts: 21,206
I've gotten through all the Lionel Shriver books I've found. Some I really like, some are just OK. The last one was interesting, about population control in Africa, Game Control.

There are still some I haven't read but I didn't see them at my library.
__________________
A word to the wise ain't necessary - it's the stupid ones who need the advice.
--Bill Cosby
Shawnee123 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-30-2011, 09:54 AM   #1998
Clodfobble
UNDER CONDITIONAL MITIGATION
 
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 20,012
I'm reading House Rules, by Jodi Picoult, on the strong recommendation of several friends. The main character is high-functioning autistic.

She did a fantastic job of capturing his voice (a lot of it is first person from his perspective) and portrays the conflicting emotions of his mother and brother excellently as well. The underlying plot is pretty good so far too. It's a little pedantic at first, assuming the reader has absolutely no experience with the disease, but it gets past that quickly. This book is my new recommendation for friends and relatives who want to get it, but don't yet.
Clodfobble is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-30-2011, 10:02 AM   #1999
infinite monkey
Person who doesn't update the user title
 
Join Date: Mar 2011
Posts: 13,002
Oh wow. I JUST finished that book, Clod. (I've been on a reading marathon, about 2-3 books a week lately.)

I was going to ask you what you thought of it or if you'd read it, but it slipped my mind. I liked it, but of course your perspective is something else entirely. I thought about you a lot as I read it.
infinite monkey is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-30-2011, 10:16 AM   #2000
glatt
 
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Arlington, VA
Posts: 27,717
I'm about halfway through Room, a book written from the point of view of a kid born to a woman kept captive in a sound proof shed. The kid is 5 years old and has never known anything outside of Room. He only knows Ma, and the captor. There's a TV, but he doesn't understand that the TV is showing the real world. It's really well written from the kid's perspective and is quite a page turner. Easy read and riveting.
glatt is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-30-2011, 11:54 AM   #2001
infinite monkey
Person who doesn't update the user title
 
Join Date: Mar 2011
Posts: 13,002
I'm going to look for that at the 'brary. I think I'd like it. Thanks.

I have, somewhere, a VHS tape of a Nova show called "Secrets of the Wild Child" a true story about a kid who was chained up for years (by her elderly parents) before she was discovered. It went into the whole nature/nurture argument. It was fascinating, though no real conclusions were drawn. The story, and the girl, mesmerized me. So sad.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/transcr...112gchild.html
infinite monkey is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-30-2011, 12:49 PM   #2002
Sundae
polaroid of perfection
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: West Yorkshire
Posts: 24,185
Glatt - that book was the talk of the staffroom yesterday. In fact I came here directly from Amazon, looking to see if I could snag a second hand copy (the teachers reading it already have their books promised elsewhere).

They say it's really sad.
Sundae is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-30-2011, 01:23 PM   #2003
glatt
 
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Arlington, VA
Posts: 27,717
I haven't finished it yet, so I don't know if it's a happy ending or a sad ending, but the overall book has some serious ups and downs. Certainly some very sad parts. But also some amazing parts.
glatt is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-30-2011, 01:25 PM   #2004
infinite monkey
Person who doesn't update the user title
 
Join Date: Mar 2011
Posts: 13,002
I'm going to stop reading this thread, I'm skeered of spoilers.
infinite monkey is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-30-2011, 02:12 PM   #2005
glatt
 
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Arlington, VA
Posts: 27,717
I won't spoil anything.
glatt is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-30-2011, 04:27 PM   #2006
Clodfobble
UNDER CONDITIONAL MITIGATION
 
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 20,012
Quote:
Originally Posted by infinite monkey
Oh wow. I JUST finished that book, Clod. (I've been on a reading marathon, about 2-3 books a week lately.)

I was going to ask you what you thought of it or if you'd read it, but it slipped my mind. I liked it, but of course your perspective is something else entirely. I thought about you a lot as I read it.
I'm only halfway through so far, but the part early on [whited out for small spoilers] where the kid is in jail... that shit had me crying. I had to go pick up Minifobette from therapy right in the middle of those scenes, and I was just sick to my stomach the whole way, until I was able to get back to the house and tear through the pages until I got to the part where he finally got out again.
Clodfobble is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-30-2011, 04:52 PM   #2007
DanaC
We have to go back, Kate!
 
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Yorkshire
Posts: 25,964
Currently I am reading:

Una McCormack, Doctor Who: The King's Dragon. Not bad, not great.

Edward Coss, All for the King's Shilling: The British Soldier Under Wellington, 1808-1814. Brilliant. Just brilliant. One of the most important new works in my field.

John S. Cooper, Fusilier Cooper: Experiences in the 7th(Royal) Fusiliers during the Penninsular Campaign of the Napoleonic Wars and the American Campaign to New Orleans. Fascinating, and very readable.
__________________
Quote:
There's only so much punishment a man can take in pursuit of punani. - Sundae
http://sites.google.com/site/danispoetry/
DanaC is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-31-2011, 07:32 AM   #2008
GunMaster357
Professor
 
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: Brest (FRANCE)
Posts: 1,837
Just finished "Land of the painted caves" by Jean M. Auel
__________________
"War is God's way of teaching Americans geography." - Ambrose Bierce
GunMaster357 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-31-2011, 07:37 AM   #2009
infinite monkey
Person who doesn't update the user title
 
Join Date: Mar 2011
Posts: 13,002
When Madeline Was Young by Jane Hamilton
infinite monkey is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-31-2011, 11:34 AM   #2010
Happy Monkey
I think this line's mostly filler.
 
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: DC
Posts: 13,575
Annotated Grimm's Fairy Tales. I'm not impressed with the annotations; I'm probably spoiled by The Annotated Alice.
__________________
_________________
|...............| We live in the nick of times.
| Len 17, Wid 3 |
|_______________| [pics]
Happy Monkey is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
books


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 2 (0 members and 2 guests)
 

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

All times are GMT -5. The time now is 12:19 AM.


Powered by: vBulletin Version 3.8.1
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.