What are you reading?
From recollection, books and short stories on the English syllabus in Ireland include classics like Steinbecks' The Pearl, The Great Gatsby, Lord of the Flies, Animal Farm, Pride and Prejudice, Persuasion, Silas Marner, The Old Man of the Sea and many others, alongside other more contemporary works like Maurice Walsh's Blackcock's Feather and some of Roddy Doyles work. Surely something in there interests you? Or is it simply that you don't want to read anything you "have to".Crucifer wrote:We have English too, bt. But I can't stand it, because we have to read boring rubbish with no plot, and random things like shopping lists thrown in for no apparent reason. And we have to study at least one Irish poet, who are mostly just whinge bags.
For the Irish poet, I can recommend Patrick Kavanagh who's far from a "whinge bag". But then I don't find many of them to be whinge bags. Again, is it just a case that you dislike whatever you're told is good?
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- Deluded Simpleton
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Yes, Alatar, we require all of the above at some point, but there are also a few that I consider highly flawed . . . though current or historical opinion redeems them in some eyes. The Joy Luck Club is not to my taste nor to that of most teens, especially boys. Frankenstein has a very small audience, I not in it.
When I rule the world (well, my English Dept., which may be never) things will change. "In Cold Blood," "Farewell, My Lovely," and "God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater." Among others.
When I rule the world (well, my English Dept., which may be never) things will change. "In Cold Blood," "Farewell, My Lovely," and "God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater." Among others.
- Primula Baggins
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There are five Earthsea books, but I think the first three stand alone as the story of Ged. I love the fourth, Tehanu, but more on its own terms than as a continuation of the first three. It's more adult and unbending, and has a lot of anger in it. It's also maybe my favorite of all of Le Guin's books.
The fifth book, The Other Wind, felt slight by comparison, not nearly as powerful as Tehanu. It just doesn't feel "essential" to me.
The fifth book, The Other Wind, felt slight by comparison, not nearly as powerful as Tehanu. It just doesn't feel "essential" to me.
“There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
- truehobbit
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w00t - someone who knows the stories! I'm impressed, vison.vison wrote:Hey, truehobbit, I haven't thought of Don Camillo for years and years! I read a couple of them long ago and really enjoyed them. In English, of course.
I'm reading it in German, which is of course a translation, too, so we're on the same level here.
If you can get your hands on one of the old movies with Fernandel, that's worth watching, too (although I don't know how they fare in translation, or even what they sound like in the original, if it's subtitled).
I read Pilgrim's Progress out of curiosity sometime halfway through Uni - I don't remember why I became interested, but I really liked it.
but being a cheerful hobbit he had not needed hope, as long as despair could be postponed.
- WampusCat
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I stand corrected! I had no idea there were more than three of the Earthsea books. There were three on my shelf, therefore it must be a trilogy. It's been a long time since I read them. Perhaps back then there wasn't a fourth or fifth.
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I started reading The Killer Angels today. I've wanted to for a long time. And I'm unashamed to admit that I started wanting to after I saw the movie Gettysburg which is based on The Killer Angels. I'm very much enjoying it so far! I've always liked American Civil War history.
"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived." - HDT
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That does sound interesting, Elsha!
Wampus, I highly recommend Tehanu if you haven't read it. It's Tehanu's life when she's almost our age, and what happens to Ged after . . . the events of the end of the last book. (Tehanu is Tenar, the same as the girl who . . . was in the tombs of the Undergods. Trying to avoid spoilers here.) It's beautifully written and angry all at the same time. Yet not unhappy; just honest.
Wampus, I highly recommend Tehanu if you haven't read it. It's Tehanu's life when she's almost our age, and what happens to Ged after . . . the events of the end of the last book. (Tehanu is Tenar, the same as the girl who . . . was in the tombs of the Undergods. Trying to avoid spoilers here.) It's beautifully written and angry all at the same time. Yet not unhappy; just honest.
“There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
I just bought The Pursuit of HappYness by Chris Gardner at a second hand shop (never bought my books new, ever!) and the cashier goes "I can't believe there is actually a book about this movie!" Duh!!! (I also bought the Da Vinci Code: The Illustrated Version for only $5.00 in mint condition retails at $38.00.) I haven't watched the movie yet, but I haven't been to the movies for years now. I find it's a total waste of my time, nothing good out there, IMHO.
“Lawyers are the only persons in whom ignorance of the law is not punished.” - Jeremy Bentham (1748 - 1832)
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I read that to my son, before the movie came out, which is actually based upon two books - Killer Angels and, um, The Sixth of Maine or something like that. K.A. was the better book, but I wouldn't recommend anything else by Shaara or his son (I read them, too).elfshadow wrote:I started reading The Killer Angels today. I've wanted to for a long time. And I'm unashamed to admit that I started wanting to after I saw the movie Gettysburg which is based on The Killer Angels. I'm very much enjoying it so far! I've always liked American Civil War history.
If you want something really bizarre, read The Guns of the South, by Harry Turtledove, an alternate history in which time travelers introduce a little advanced technology into the Civil War and really muck up the timeline.
I've read quite a few war novels, not because I like war novels, but because my son did, and I read books to him well into his elementary school years (including LOTR, of course). It was more a case of sharing aloud, because he could have read them by himself, but enjoyed the ritual.
I went by the "Summer reading list" table at the local Barnes and Nobles the other day, and mentally preened when I realized I'd read almost all of them. The few that I hadn't, I bought.
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- Deluded Simpleton
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Currently reading "Deception Point". I read Da Vinci Code when it came out, and enjoyed it thoroughly (so sue me). Angels and Demons I found to be complete rubbish. It was like a first draft of DVC but without any of the drive. Digital Fortress I was strongly warned against by a few people cause its based on computers and given that I know a fair bit about them I was told it would just bug me. Actually I quite enjoyed it. Most of the "science" was fuzzy and vague, but not in a bad way. I approached it with the same attitude I have to "Phase coil inverters" and "plasma generators" and "warp nacelles" in Trek. I just let it wash over me.
Deception point is good so far, but not the page turner that DVC was.
Deception point is good so far, but not the page turner that DVC was.
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- WampusCat
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"The Guns of the South"! That's it! narya, I heard about that book years ago, probably on NPR, and thought it sounded fascinating. But I promptly forgot the name and never took the time to search for it properly. I figured I'd run across it eventually. And I did!
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