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Post by Fletcher on Oct 6, 2015 13:53:04 GMT
just finished the 50 Shades trilogy...gonna use it for a class I am designing. Weird, read the whole shot in a day, they just don't write em like they used to. Dickens must be spinning in his grave The wife just read it. She said they were horribly written. But, there did seem to be a brief uptick in relations...
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Post by Fletcher on Oct 6, 2015 13:53:50 GMT
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Post by jmwalters on Oct 6, 2015 14:17:53 GMT
lol!!! Very nice!
I found it a pretty lame attempt to cash in on a "taboo" subject. Even subjected myself to the movie which was worse
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Post by Deleted on Oct 6, 2015 22:06:43 GMT
just finished the 50 Shades trilogy...gonna use it for a class I am designing. Weird, read the whole shot in a day, they just don't write em like they used to. Dickens must be spinning in his grave So what would you say the draw is? The sex? Is it one of those mass market paperbacks that are written like shit but have a lot of suspense?
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Post by jmwalters on Oct 6, 2015 22:21:28 GMT
just finished the 50 Shades trilogy...gonna use it for a class I am designing. Weird, read the whole shot in a day, they just don't write em like they used to. Dickens must be spinning in his grave So what would you say the draw is? The sex? Is it one of those mass market paperbacks that are written like shit but have a lot of suspense? The natural curiosity and draw towards taboo sex. Socialization has taught us that these are bad and sinful (which only increases the allure) so people can experience them vicariously through fictional characters in a book. That's about it.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 7, 2015 2:52:18 GMT
So what would you say the draw is? The sex? Is it one of those mass market paperbacks that are written like shit but have a lot of suspense? The natural curiosity and draw towards taboo sex. Socialization has taught us that these are bad and sinful (which only increases the allure) so people can experience them vicariously through fictional characters in a book. That's about it. So it's not "The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love" where a Pulitzer Prize winner is beleaguered by phallic references and graphic sex scenes?
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Post by jmwalters on Oct 7, 2015 2:55:24 GMT
The natural curiosity and draw towards taboo sex. Socialization has taught us that these are bad and sinful (which only increases the allure) so people can experience them vicariously through fictional characters in a book. That's about it. So it's not "The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love" where a Pulitzer Prize winner is beleaguered by phallic references and graphic sex scenes? no, no its not
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Post by seobrien on Oct 8, 2015 13:23:03 GMT
Decided to tackle the Game of Thrones/ASOIF series. Trying to finish all 5 before next March. Just finished book 2. Though not Faulkner or Hemingway, they're a pretty great read. Martin is a very good writer and I enjoy elaborate universes. I also like trying to find his hidden pop culture references (Grateful Dead, Bill Belichik, 3 Stooges, among others).
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Post by bookboy007 on Oct 8, 2015 18:30:19 GMT
just finished the 50 Shades trilogy...gonna use it for a class I am designing. Weird, read the whole shot in a day, they just don't write em like they used to. Dickens must be spinning in his grave You...wah...uh... I feel like you should be punished for a) reading that and b) perpetuating it by having students buy it. But if you read the books, punishment might be just your thing, and that would be weird.... At least, that's what I've heard.
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Post by Fletcher on Oct 8, 2015 19:12:06 GMT
It's not easy to teach with a ball-gag in his mouth.
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Post by jmwalters on Oct 8, 2015 20:04:39 GMT
It's not easy to teach with a ball-gag in his mouth. pulp fiction style?
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Post by bookboy007 on Oct 8, 2015 20:24:56 GMT
It's not easy to teach with a ball-gag in his mouth. ..but he makes it look easy?
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Post by UtahGetMeTwo on Oct 9, 2015 2:34:03 GMT
It's not easy to teach with a ball-gag in his mouth. pulp fiction style? Wake the Gimp!
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Post by Deleted on Oct 9, 2015 2:42:30 GMT
I'm still trying to wrap up "All the King's Men." At 600 plus pages, it's the longest book I've read in years.
Shorts-
"The Lame Shall Enter First" ****1/2 Flannery O'Connor
"Cat in the Rain" **** Hemingway
"When We Were Nearly Young" Mavis Gallant ****
"Miss Lora" Junot Diaz ****
"The Pura Principle" JD *****
"Death Beyond Constant Love" Gabriel Garcia Marquez ***
"The Comforts of Home" Flannery O'Connor ****
"Vespa" Tim Parks- in this week's New Yorker. ***1/2
I've been taking a closer look at Flannery O'Connor. I have her collected stories, but I only read the highlights that everybody's read. I don't think I've read a short story writer that can hold my attention from start to finish quite like she does. She was a master of the short story in it's own contained form. The conflicts/characters/events are the perfect size for the length of a short story. Raymond Carver was a master of that, too. I was never left wanting more from his characters, or thought they were complex enough to be in novels.
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Post by jmwalters on Oct 9, 2015 13:12:04 GMT
Decided to tackle the Game of Thrones/ASOIF series. Trying to finish all 5 before next March. Just finished book 2. Though not Faulkner or Hemingway, they're a pretty great read. Martin is a very good writer and I enjoy elaborate universes. I also like trying to find his hidden pop culture references (Grateful Dead, Bill Belichik, 3 Stooges, among others). Never read the books but I hear the tv series was actually quite faithful to the written mythology.....until this past season where they apparently took some major left turns. But as someone who only watches the show I wouldn't know that personally
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Post by jmwalters on Oct 9, 2015 13:12:49 GMT
It's not easy to teach with a ball-gag in his mouth. you know come to think of it that actually gives me some good ideas for the class when it will be up and running in the winter....
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Post by bookboy007 on Oct 9, 2015 17:49:20 GMT
I'm still trying to wrap up "All the King's Men." At 600 plus pages, it's the longest book I've read in years. Shorts- "The Lame Shall Enter First" ****1/2 Flannery O'Connor "Cat in the Rain" **** Hemingway "When We Were Nearly Young" Mavis Gallant **** "Miss Lora" Junot Diaz **** "The Pura Principle" JD ***** "Death Beyond Constant Love" Gabriel Garcia Marquez *** "The Comforts of Home" Flannery O'Connor **** "Vespa" Tim Parks- in this week's New Yorker. ***1/2 I've been taking a closer look at Flannery O'Connor. I have her collected stories, but I only read the highlights that everybody's read. I don't think I've read a short story writer that can hold my attention from start to finish quite like she does. She was a master of the short story in it's own contained form. The conflicts/characters/events are the perfect size for the length of a short story. Raymond Carver was a master of that, too. I was never left wanting more from his characters, or thought they were complex enough to be in novels. It's not her best, but "Parker's Back" is one of the less-read O'Connors that still affects me. Not the best Gallant.
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Post by bookboy007 on Oct 9, 2015 17:50:21 GMT
I'm still trying to wrap up "All the King's Men." At 600 plus pages, it's the longest book I've read in years. Shorts- "The Lame Shall Enter First" ****1/2 Flannery O'Connor "Cat in the Rain" **** Hemingway "When We Were Nearly Young" Mavis Gallant **** "Miss Lora" Junot Diaz **** "The Pura Principle" JD ***** "Death Beyond Constant Love" Gabriel Garcia Marquez *** "The Comforts of Home" Flannery O'Connor **** "Vespa" Tim Parks- in this week's New Yorker. ***1/2 I've been taking a closer look at Flannery O'Connor. I have her collected stories, but I only read the highlights that everybody's read. I don't think I've read a short story writer that can hold my attention from start to finish quite like she does. She was a master of the short story in it's own contained form. The conflicts/characters/events are the perfect size for the length of a short story. Raymond Carver was a master of that, too. I was never left wanting more from his characters, or thought they were complex enough to be in novels. Parks I can take or leave. I read a few of his novels about a decade ago but nothing really grabbed me.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 9, 2015 20:21:06 GMT
I'm still trying to wrap up "All the King's Men." At 600 plus pages, it's the longest book I've read in years. Shorts- "The Lame Shall Enter First" ****1/2 Flannery O'Connor "Cat in the Rain" **** Hemingway "When We Were Nearly Young" Mavis Gallant **** "Miss Lora" Junot Diaz **** "The Pura Principle" JD ***** "Death Beyond Constant Love" Gabriel Garcia Marquez *** "The Comforts of Home" Flannery O'Connor **** "Vespa" Tim Parks- in this week's New Yorker. ***1/2 I've been taking a closer look at Flannery O'Connor. I have her collected stories, but I only read the highlights that everybody's read. I don't think I've read a short story writer that can hold my attention from start to finish quite like she does. She was a master of the short story in it's own contained form. The conflicts/characters/events are the perfect size for the length of a short story. Raymond Carver was a master of that, too. I was never left wanting more from his characters, or thought they were complex enough to be in novels. It's not her best, but "Parker's Back" is one of the less-read O'Connors that still affects me. Not the best Gallant. Which are the best from her?
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Post by bookboy007 on Oct 9, 2015 21:22:24 GMT
It's not her best, but "Parker's Back" is one of the less-read O'Connors that still affects me. Not the best Gallant. Which are the best from her? The Moslem Wife. The Pegnitz Junction. Ernst in Civilian Clothes. Gabriel Baum, 1935-( ), Speck's Idea, The Fenton Child, The Latehomecomer, In Transit, The End of the World and the Henri Grippes stories, though those are more funny than art in the way the others are. Her Linnet Muir stories are very good stories, but a bit too much in Alice Munro's world if not in any way her style or sensibility. Or a French version of it, anyway.
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Post by UtahGetMeTwo on Oct 10, 2015 14:10:57 GMT
Here you go everyone, the sequel to last house on the left.
Don't forget to pick up this dandy!
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Post by Deleted on Oct 20, 2015 2:03:59 GMT
I finally finished "All the King's Men" after five weeks. I read the last 100 pages yesterday and early tonight. There were some slow passages when ten pages seemed like three days' reading. In particular, there was an annoying 'story in a story' (and fucking oh my head I hate those) that ate up 75 pages and served no purpose to advance the narrative. I swear it was referenced in the last three pages to pass an editor.
Overall, it was a four star read. Less Jack Burden and more Willie Stark could have made a more entertaining read, and it's my own prejudice; I hardly think a novel warrants more that 400 pages and ATKM was 665.
I moved onto "Our Man in Havana" by Graham Greene which is an absolute blast thus far.
For shorts, I picked up an Andre Dubus collection for three dollars at the book store. Great stuff. A local guy (Haverhill) too.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 7, 2015 1:08:57 GMT
Finished "Our Man in Havana," now reading more Bascombe in "Independence Day."
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Post by Deleted on Dec 3, 2015 18:46:18 GMT
Finished "Our Man in Havana," now reading more Bascombe in "Independence Day." Finished Independence Day earlier in the week, and now reading "Savages" by Don Winslow, a three day read compared to the three weeks of "Independence Day." Anybody home?!
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Post by walktheline on Dec 5, 2015 2:37:19 GMT
I finally finished "All the King's Men" after five weeks. I read the last 100 pages yesterday and early tonight. There were some slow passages when ten pages seemed like three days' reading. In particular, there was an annoying 'story in a story' (and fucking oh my head I hate those) that ate up 75 pages and served no purpose to advance the narrative. I swear it was referenced in the last three pages to pass an editor. Overall, it was a four star read. Less Jack Burden and more Willie Stark could have made a more entertaining read, and it's my own prejudice; I hardly think a novel warrants more that 400 pages and ATKM was 665. I moved onto "Our Man in Havana" by Graham Greene which is an absolute blast thus far. For shorts, I picked up an Andre Dubus collection for three dollars at the book store. Great stuff. A local guy (Haverhill) too. I read Our Man in Havana long ago. I recently read Double Cross about the MI6 and some of their successful double agents and still didn't make the connection that Greene was MI6 during the war and that the main character in Havana was based on Garbo (the double agent not Greta) until I googled Graham Greene. Now I'm thinking I should give Our Man a reread.
I met Andre Dubus at a charity event a couple years back. He was the keynote speaker. Interesting guy and a terrific speaker. I may have The Cage Keeper somewhere. I think my father-in-law may have "borrowed" it. We pilfer each others books which is a great way to read stuff neither of us would typically pick up for ourselves. I borrowed Fordlandia from him only to find out it was my book originally and I hadn't read it before he took it.
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