The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

Just finished book 6 of the Chronicles of Narnia. The end of this one is so heavily Jesus based that's it's hard to hide. For most of the series one can kind of keep the religious theme in the back of the mind and just read for the benefit of the story but not so much this time. Two more to go!

Satan Book

FINALLY!!!
Learned that cancer SUCKS and I really need to take the time to read the Bible

Grace, I miss you!

So I'm sick I know, surprise surprise and I'm incredibly bored. Still not allowed to do anything... and still feel kinda like butt! well, not exactly true... feel lots better but still SUPER snuffly and coughy.... and has coffee!!!! hahaha... sorry sounds funny if you say it out loud... anywho... Almost done with Satanic Verses.... Haven't got a CLUE what's going on!!!! I need to read this book like 5 million times in addition to the Bible and the Koran before it can even make a dent in my brain. I think Rushdie had many crucially important points that he wanted this book to make but I don't think they ever left his brain. I feel like 98% of what he says is as allusion but he's the only one who knows what it's alluding to! oy! Anyway... gonna have Ma go in search of Everything is Illuminated here soon... hopefully I'll finish Narnia before she finds it... maybe I'll spend today reading... could prolly finish Satan book and maybe two Narnia's... dunno... Might go sit in a camp chair in the backyard and read just to get out of the house. After Narnia and in addition to Illuminated, I think I'm going to read either The Thorn Birds of the Grapes of Wrath... Then again maybe something super random and silly like everything else I read hehe. I'm Dying to get back to Emerson! Only reading I get done there though is required so *shrug*

When are the apartment ladies moving in?

Tardy

Fellow bibliophiles!

I was so excited to write on this blog and then promptly forgot to check it.  My past month has been incredibly intense (my parents opened an art gallery).  Combined with an internship I'm doing, I work a whopping seven days a week - full days.  This is uncool only because it cuts into my reading time and decimates my beach time.  I JUST finished East of Eden, and ladies, I must admit, the ending is a knock-out.  I finished it gape-mouthed on the train from Chicago to Michigan.  What Steinbeck lacks in syntactical brilliance he far, FAR makes up for in character development.  Lee is one of my favorite literary characters ever.  

The top 10 question is difficult, and one I need my complete book shelf in front of me to decide.  Here's one and two:

1) Vonnegut

2) Twain

I will throw it back out to you guys because I'm curious.  Also, what are you reading right now? I just started The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James.  Talk about syntactical brilliance.  And! I know this isn't a book, but I just saw Being John Malkovitch for the first time tonight, and I can't believe it.  It is the first role in which he hasn't played himself, and he only did  it for two scenes.  Amazing!  Seriously though, that movie is boss.

Series?

Arielle, what are you reading? Who's it by? What's it about?

Why do we even pick a book then?

I swear, I think this whole trying to get everyone to read the same book is much harder than I would have imagined. I think I'm just going to read the books on the list Grace provided on facebook in whatever order I decide, and then no matter what people decide to read eventually, I'll have read it and can discuss it. In the meantime, I'll stick with Everything is Illuminated and Life of Pi to start. Although I may break from our list to go read some more Dostoyevsky and Hemingway. I've been meaning to get back to my favorites for a while now, so that may be next.

As for my brief escape, I was in Milwaukee over the weekend to see my cousin graduate high school. It was a pretty good time, aside from the planes both being at ridiculous hours of morning and preventing sleep from happening. But I learned more about beer than I ever knew before, so that's something.

And I have another escape planned! I am returning to Boston for the second week of July, and then, barring any unforeseen events, making my way up to Maine to be killed in some ridiculous plan that Kailey has lined up. All told, that's going to be a like a full two week freedom from NJ. And after that I get to go to Bermuda in August. :)

Um...

Yeah, I think Anne and Kailey are the only ones reading Satanic Verses. I'm just enjoying my other series too much and I still have 10 books to read for that series...I will read it though...maybe after I finish the book I'm on. Anne, where did you get to go to flee from Jersey?

First Take

So I've reached the all-important 100-page mark in Everything is Illuminated (ok so I made up that important part, but it means I'm well into the book), and I gotta say I'm more into it than Satanic Verses by a long shot. Once I got past the early chapters and learned the slightly confusing path the book was taking, I read a whole lot in a short period of time. Granted that short period of time was on a plane when they weren't letting me use my iPod, but still, the point stands. I like this book much better. Even the length. Satanic Verses was just too long. And as of this point, I'm assuming I'm still the only one reading this book. I figure I'm going to finish it in the next few days, and then probably start Life of Pi to continue crossing books off my list. Though, I will take a break to watch the movie of Everything is Illuminated, seeing as that was what prompted me to choose this book in the first place. In the meantime I'm off to play videogames...

Oy!

Sooo I only have two books left in Narnia, though the entire series probably would have taken two sittings if I actually had time to read, and have finally made a bit more progress in Satanic Verses than a chapter. I think I will finish both by the end of the week and just move on to Everything is Illuminated. Is Anne the only one who has started that one?

Oops.

My bad. Totally forgot about the blog for a little bit. Heh.

Hey! I read a book. Finished Catch-22 last week. That book went from entertaining to disturbing very fast. Also, not since reading Johnny Got His Gun have I been so blatantly hit over the head with the whole "War is bad" bit. All that being said though, that book is damned easy to get through. Didn't feel at all like a 450-page book. And certainly was a quicker read than Satanic Verses.

As for the whole Caspian reverse-order thing, I would have to re-read the book to seriously talk about it. In the movie the order seemed to make sense, so I don't think it took away from the movie by reversing the order. But if I ever get around to re-reading Narnia I will see if I can't figure it out.

And finally - I had a lot to catch up with here, geez - I have gotten through two whole chapters in Everything Is Illuminated. I had to go find the book first (good thing my brother works for Barnes & Noble - employee discounts are excellent), and I haven't done a lot of reading since then. I'll bring it on the plane with me this weekend and see if I can't get through a good part of it. (I'm beginning to feel like I'm going to finish the list before anyone else even gets through Satanic Verses.)

Yay!

Keeeeeeeith!!!!

Comment on Caspian

I saw the movie, but I haven't read the books. That is interesting that they reversed the order. I always wonder why when making a book into a movie, they make some of the decisions that they do, especially becuase a lot of the time, I don't agree with them. At some point (hopefully second semester) I'm going to take a screenwriting class on adapting books into movies, so that might give me some insight.

Bad with titles!

Hey I read a chapter in Satanic Verses!

HEY!
Someone read something!

I'll talk about mine...
It's always interesting to me the way elements of books are changed to make their movies. I guess I had forgotten the order of events when I saw Prince Caspian for the first time (I think Anne's the only one who's seen it so she may be the only one who cares hehe). But the entire beginning of the movie that's all to do with the Talmorenes and Caspian and such is not how it is in the book. The book begins with the four kids being dragged back to Narnia. The strange thing is both parts, the Caspian and the kids sections, are in the book they're just reversed. makes no sense! Well it kinda does... It really does seem like a more thematic course of events, and seems to make sense that it would be reversed... I just can't explain why... tres bizarre.

Top ten... That's interesting...
I think I have a bunch that would be floating around somewhere in there but I certainly can't pick out a number 1. Also, I think all of mine are playwrights, go figure. I love Stoppard, O'neil, Chekhov, T. Willaims, Giraudoux (even though he's French), Shakespeare of course. And I'm sure there are many more if I really thought it through. I actually think Hemingway would be up there somewhere on my list too... love him...

Now I'm going to be spending endless hours trying to figure out a top ten list! oy!

OH! I love William Carlos Williams! He is a poet but whatev.