Books for thought

new

2006-09-21T22:51:06Z

Name: Belinda
Age: 17
Favorite author: Vladimir Nobakov, Franz Kafka
Favorite book: Lolita
Last book read: Misery by Stephen King

List of books

2006-06-25T13:21:34Z

Hi
I have an idea: everyone may write the list of books he/she considers really worth reading,e.g.the book has changed your life or made you do something which appeared right in the end instead of doing something wrong,the language was stunning or you just enjoyed it reading really much.
the idea is not new and might have appeared in this community - then sorry.

I'm writing my list:

1.Franz Kafka "Das Schloss", "Der Prozess", "Ein Landarzt", "Ein Traum", "Der Nachhauseweg","Der plötzliche Spaziergang"
2.Douglas Coupland "Life after God"
3.Julio Cortazar "Divertimento", "Final del Juego", "El Examen"
4.Oscar Wilde "The Happy Prince"
5.Eric Emmanuel Schmitt "The sect of the Egoists", "Oscar et la dame rose"
6.Alessandro Baricco "OceanoMare"
7.Milorad Pavić "Landscape painted with Tea", "The inverted Glove", "Snail of Glass","Writing Box"
8.Elder Edda
9.Sei Shōnagon "The Pillow Book"
10.Andrej Platonov "Fro", "The third son", "The Fierce and Beautiful World"
11.Aleksandr Sergeevich Pushkin "The Stone Guest"
12.Boris Pasternak " Doctor Zhivago"
13.Venedict Erofeev "Moscow-Petushki", "Walpurgis Night, or the Steps of the Commander"
14.Fedor Mikhailovich Dostoevski "Crime and punishment", "The Idiot".

So these I recommend.

Russian authors

2006-06-19T11:05:36Z

Hi,
I'm Russian and it's really interesting for me if someone enjoys reading Russian authors.
What would you say of Russian literature on the whole?

___books @ 2006-02-22T13:32:00

2006-02-22T18:33:50Z

This community is just a tad dead, I think. Well, I just joined and I just finished Veronika Decides to Die.. Has anyone read it?

A question about one of the last Bradbury's stories

2005-11-23T13:53:21Z

I'm terribly sorry for my bad English.
Could you please give me a name of the Ray Bradbury's story where there is a girl (or a woman perhaps) called Reil[l]y.
I think this story could me included in "One More for the Road"(2002) or "The Cat's Pajamas"(2004).

Reviving Ophelia

2005-09-23T22:07:54Z

I just finished reading Reviving Ophelia by Mary Pipher, which I found to be a very interesting book. I have two main issues with it.

1) The Hamlet reference in the title is just badly-done. Ophelia killed herself because her father was murdered by her lover, and not because of pressure to conform. And Ophelia's not an adolescent.

2) It seems to be that her sample group was fairly flawed, as she only used her patients as the basis for her book. Teens who go to a psychiatrist generally will, on average, have more issues than teens who don't.

However, it raised a lot of interesting points, like the frightening lack of respect for female sexual boundaries, the effect of the media and double-standards, among other things. It made me think.

Anyone else read it and care to discuss?

(and if anyone would care to know, I'm now reading French Women Don't Get Fat by Mireille Guiliano. I generally don't read this much nonfiction, but for some reason I am now...)

___books @ 2005-09-11T00:08:00

2005-09-11T04:08:53Z

I just found this community- don't know if it's alive or not but I thought I'd give it a try.

I love to read, and wish I had more time to do so. Right now I'm reading The Eternal Frontier by Tim Flannery. It's for class, but it's a good read.

I want to start reading things like Voltaire, but I don't know where to start. Any ideas?

Hello

2005-09-11T01:36:15Z

I'm a self-proclaimed book-nerd and have been one since second grade. I work in a library as well. Currently, I'm reading some short stories by Guy de Maupassant in the original French, which is hard, and then resting my brains with the works of Voltaire. Candide and Zadig amuse me (an optimist in a horrible world, and a pessimist in a perfect one, respectively)

`Ello All

2005-07-19T09:07:22Z

Well I`m new and I wanted to introduce myself. I have always loved reading, which I have to owe to my mom because she made the rule of no tv on week days when I was young. Hmm well the most recent book I have read was Lullaby by Chuck Palanuick, I don`t really hate any books I just dislike a few. I read any kind of book that I think looks interesting I don`t care about what age its for, there should be no age limit on books...

___books @ 2005-06-05T19:21:00

2005-06-05T23:23:24Z

This isn't exactly book related, but it has to do with words.

What are some bands that you listen to that have great lyrics? I personally like Ani Difranco and Neutral Milk Hotel lyric-wise. Some of the stuff that they write just blows me away.

the new guy

2005-06-03T23:09:22Z

hola. i'm the new guy. just thought i'd say hi, and say that the first book to really get me into reading larger, more grown up books (i was a kid at the time, gimmee a break) was watership down. i really dug the idea of the rabbits having their own religion.

the most important book that i have read so far (most life changing): 1984

and my suggestion of a fun book to read: bunny modern (it's all about the drug snorting ninja nannies from the future baby!)

anyway. hi! this should make finding a new book easier.

Hello there

2005-05-21T02:23:06Z

This is required for a school project. If you would please fill out the following information however you find convenient and post it in a comment to this entry.

Also, if you know anybody else who has read the book “The Importance of Being Earnest” by Oscar Wilde who wouldn’t mind taking this survey, please pass it on.

THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST SURVEY

When did you last read this play: _______________
You read this play for:
School Entertainment Other: _________________

What themes and concepts did you learn about?
Upper class lifestyle Beauty Society
Love Other: _________________________________

How does this play rank among the other plays/literature you’ve read?
It top notch It’s mediocre It’s low quality

Are there many books you can list that are better than this play? Yes No
Are there many books you can list that are worse than this play? Yes No

Give this book a grade: A B C D F

How well did Wilde develop the following aspects of his play? Circle according to your opinion. 1 = unappealing. 2 = no opinion. 3 = excellently done.

1 2 3 Jack Worthing [ Earnest Worthing in the city ]
1 2 3 Algernon Moncrieff [ Jack’s best friend, enjoys eating ]
1 2 3 Gwendolen [ The woman Jack loves ]
1 2 3 Cecily [Jack’s ward ]
1 2 3 Lady Bracknell [ Gweldolen’s strict mother ]

1 2 3 Setting [19th century London ]
1 2 3 Content [Did the content appeal to you?]
1 2 3 Oscar Wilde’s witty writing style

Your personal comments: _________________________________
Name: ________________________ Age: ____ Grade: ___
English class (if applicable): ________________________

read this

2005-05-05T22:49:17Z

peter kuper adapted franz kafka's the metamorphosis

it's quite good. very graphic and imaginative, and very expressive and dark.

(it's a graphic novel version of the novella)

i found it in the comic books section of chapters

___books @ 2005-04-04T23:52:00

2005-04-04T22:37:26Z

Has anybody read the Jenna Jameson book? I heard about it today and got really interested. They say it's quite catchy besides the sex scenes and explicit stories, it's got some thrilling twist and gives us th reasons why she started doing this and eventually became a porn actress. I'm not really addicted to this kind of stuff, I've never even seen movies with her but I know she's a legend just like Ron Jeremy, what y'all think about it?

___books @ 2005-04-04T15:35:00

2005-04-04T19:36:19Z

Hey guys. I'm not good at promoting communities, mostly because I get angry when I see ads all over the place encouraging random people to join. But it would be cool if you actively posted in here, so that people would realize this community is just new, not dead. Thank ya's.

These are always fun...

2005-03-27T16:42:02Z

1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of this sentence in a comment to this post.
5. Don't search for the "coolest" book you can find. Do what's actually closest.

___books @ 2005-03-17T21:20:00

2005-03-18T22:22:34Z

yay! a place with 4 of my interests- poe, dickinson, steinbeck, and poetry. i love to read and write, but of course reading is always more fun. what are some of everyones favorite books? like a top five or ten would be nice. im just curious. these are not carved in stone but for now i am going to say mine are:

the grapes of wrath, steinbeck
the giver, lois lowry
the brian books (hatchet), gary paulsen
the "wrinkle in time" series, madeleine l'engle

um...there are a lot more i just cant think. well, respond- i want to know.

First topic.. hopefully more to come

2005-03-12T21:36:30Z

Well, I guess someone needs to start, so I will. My favorite books are Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov and The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath. I've become recently obsessed with reading, as well as spending my money at Barnes and Noble. I'm about to real Pale Fire by Nabokov, and I'm currently reading Plath's journals. Another favorite of mine is The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde.