Reading for English //rant

[ríomhaire]

I liked Othello and last year we read the Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime (it's crap) and we'll be reading Life of Pi soon. Both books released in the last few years.

 

[Sulkdodds]

I liked Dog in the Nighttime myself. Perhaps it's just because it's by the guy who did Agent Zed and the Penguin From Mars.

'It was on a winters night a travellor?'

Is that the one that begins "You are about to read Fred Wotsit's new novel If Upon A Winter's Night A Traveller"?

Really I feel I should be doing a science degree or something, but I just found it so much easier to right down any old shit and get a gold star in the Englishes. I'm only really still at Uni because of the people I've met and the extra-curricular stuff I've got involved in (the newspaper, the musical). But then, these are the things that will ultimately differentiate me from others with the same education, so it's not so bad that I'm clinging onto them.

Makes sense. I had the happy fate of getting the best marks at the subjects I really enjoy. Also, I'm going to stalk you now.

 

[Solaris]

Dog in the Nighttime was excellent; very well told. The Life of Pi is absolute brilliance, I thoroughly enjoyed it.
The twist at the end is amazing, you can think about it for such a long time.
And yes Sulks, that is the book, it's amazing, I never finished it, read about 70%, but each chapter starts out pretty boring, then it drew me in that when we went on to the next story I really wanted the other chapter to finish. The author was a genuis.

 

[xcellerate]

I guess I'm just an idiot then. I read to be entertained, not to marvel at somebody's control of the language.

 

[Dekstar]

I guess I'm just an idiot then. I read to be entertained, not to marvel at somebody's control of the language.

QFE.
And really, no one deliberately sets out a plan for reccurring minor themes, they just come up because the novel is so damn long.

 

[Hullu]

It's good to get some historical perspective on things. And reading old novels gives you a more vivid idea of the world of that time than regular history books. And if you've really done your homework in this area, you can go and have intelligent snobbish lit discussions with others of your kind. And pretend there is no life outside literature theories. human life and culture is a sociological construction.

 

[Sulkdodds]

I guess I'm just an idiot then. I read to be entertained, not to marvel at somebody's control of the language.

But having 'total command of your craft' means making an entertaining story too.

Shakespeare hasn't survived only because of his themes. He's survived because he's entertaining. Same goes for Dickens or Hemingway (or at least, I think so).

 

[kirovman]

My favourite book is Classical Electrodynamics Third Ed. by J.D. Jackson.

 

[tehsolace]

Kinda hard to refer to many large recent events without first understanding the past and where it all comes from.


FOR EXAMPLE
(With regards to American history) The civil rights movement in the 1960's was about segregation and equality. It would be pretty difficult to understand these concepts and why we had segregation without first understanding about slavery in the 1700's and 1800's. And understanding most things in that time would require some background knowledge about the North and the South colonies that started America. And that, of course, would require knowledge about the discovery of America and how it developed into colonies.

That right there is over 500 years of history to learn, just to explain the situation about something as recent as 40 years ago.

 

[Angry Lawyer]

we'll be reading Life of Pi soon.

Holy shit there's a book about Pi? D:

I love reading, and I do enjoy the classics, but I hate breaking down literature. It's like having a favourite toy that you're told to disassemble. Once you've done it, you know how it works, but you've ruined something you loved by doing it.

-Angry Lawyer

 

[Ennui]

I love reading, and I do enjoy the classics, but I hate breaking down literature. It's like having a favourite toy that you're told to disassemble. Once you've done it, you know how it works, but you've ruined something you loved by doing it.

-Angry Lawyer

I agree in some cases. In others, I don't. It really depends on the book, and if there was a specific message the author wanted you to take from it.

 

[Angry Lawyer]

When I write, it's more of a "Fighting with swords rocks!" message than anything.

-Angry Lawyer