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What are you reading Chapter 4

#1,721
Boogiepop said:
It is indeed a mess. The '"author" just spewed...and apparently admitted privately that he really didn't know what the point of the book was. (Check the Wiki article.)

The book was obviously neither proofed nor line edited: numerous spelling errors in the omnicient narrator sections, sentences that lose their way after a pair of em dashes, interpolated, 40 page, "plot" critical footnotes that have obviously been crammed in after the fact, and on and on.

But literary critics love this stuff because they find it "meaningful" and can write papers and articles about it.

It's not how well you write; it's who you know and who you can snow.

B.
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Your assessment is exactly why I always had a rough time getting anywhere in college as an English major. "New" ideas about things were unfashionable, regardless of how sensible those arguments were. Everyone just wanted to parrot the professor's ideas, and in the case of books like that, nobody wanted to disagree. I was one of the few who actually went against the grain. Don't know what the problem was, I got fine grades! My professors (most at least) always seemed to think my writing and all of that was fine, and I could always back up my claims. There was one exception - one of my teachers was very much into this "odd" stuff - and seeing as I had her for three classes that semester, I figured I'd better make sure I stayed in the clear.
 
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#1,722
41xMzJiPRNL._SY291_BO1,204,203,200_QL40_FMwebp_.jpg
 
#1,723
kleinenenten said:
Your assessment is exactly why I always had a rough time getting anywhere in college as an English major. "New" ideas about things were unfashionable, regardless of how sensible those arguments were. Everyone just wanted to parrot the professor's ideas, and in the case of books like that, nobody wanted to disagree. I was one of the few who actually went against the grain. Don't know what the problem was, I got fine grades! My professors (most at least) always seemed to think my writing and all of that was fine, and I could always back up my claims. There was one exception - one of my teachers was very much into this "odd" stuff - and seeing as I had her for three classes that semester, I figured I'd better make sure I stayed in the clear.
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I read it twice, first to get the (absurd) lay of the land, second to glory in all the mistakes I was finding. (1200 pages, and not once did Wallace spell "aikido" right. Sheesh.)

B.
 
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#1,725
Boogiepop said:
I read it twice, first to get the (absurd) lay of the land, second to glory in all the mistakes I was finding. (1200 pages, and not once did Wallace spell "aikido" right. Sheesh.)

B.
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Never read that specific work, but I once had to swallow a professor basing her claims on what Beowulf was about using European beliefs of almost 500 years later. Because nothing had changed in 500 years... According to her, Beowulf was all about nascent sexuality or something. Which I'm not against in principle, but when she goes out and spends plenty of time in class bashing her husband, then does the same via the text, it's hard to take her assessment of the text seriously. Put me off the text for years, until I decided to read it again when Tolkien's translation came out (HUGE Tolkien fan here). Now I've read a few translations, and think it's a great read.
 
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#1,727
Boogiepop said:
Apologies to all for taking this thread off the rails.

B.
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No worries. I enjoy hearing people trash that steaming pile of incoherent diarrhea, especially after reading a few reviews extolling its pure genius.
 
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#1,733
As usual, I'm reading several books at once; three that I've read several times before, and one that I have not. Although, it's one of a series about the same protagonists - that I have read before...
- Moonraker by Ian Fleming. The movie has a rocket, and the same name; otherwise there's very little resemblance to the book. I have the whole James Bond series in a set that duplicates the original publisher's books; down to the original dust jackets, and the "10s. 6p." price on the flyleaf. Some of it takes place in parts of London and the East coast of England that I'm familiar with - which is nice; and, of course, 007 saves England in the nick of time...
- Cugel's Saga by Jack Vance. The longest of his Dying Earth stories, the protagonist (who is no better than he has to be) is magically transported halfway round an Earth that, millions (maybe billions) of years in the future, is now Moonless, and spending it's last days under a dying red Sun. This is a world where mathematics-based magic actually works, and people live in mortal danger from the strange malevolent creatures that now share Earth with them. With no magic of his own, Cugel has only his wits and guile to return to his own land and take his revenge on Ioconnu, the Laughing Wizard - and see who gets the last laugh...
- Vol. 2 (of 3) of stories from John Campbell's Astounding Stories magazine; where the Founding Fathers of science fiction and horror became the Founding fathers... Some are kind of silly; some are trite; some are very Buck Rogers-ish; but these stories are where it all began...
- Wrath Of Poseidon by Clive Cussler and Robin Burcell. Another of a series about Sam and Remi Fargo; a husband and wife team of treasure hunters hunters. Typical Clive Cussler novel, but... hey; haven't read this one before, and I find that Clive's books make for great Porcelain Throne reading...:whistle:
 
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#1,735
Eli_Kyiv said:
A habit of Porcelain Throne reading costed me an $2K surgery two years ago, and 20 years of inconveniences before that. Just saying.
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Yeah, I know. But, at my age, it's taking a little longer than it used to, to leave the throne. However, I've never been in the habit of lingering any longer than necessary - which is why, at 2-4 pages at a time, Wrath Of Poseidon is taking a very long time to read...:whistle:
 
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#1,739
I’m reading The Handmaid’s Tale.

There’s no quotation marks for dialogue. It’s not spaced out either. It’s all just one paragraph after another with or without dialogue.

Well, someone'll think twice before blowing up this house, anyways, said Cora. All the same, said Rita. She worked hard. That was a bad death. I can think of worse, said Cora. At least it was quick.

That’s how the whole book is. It’s a strange way to write. It’s not distracting but it’s weird.
 
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