What are you currently reading?

[avatar! | 1,819]

2 minutes ago, Tabonga said:

Heh - Natty Bumppo rules! There was an earlier filming (actually more than one but this is the best - there was even a tv series in 1957 - pretty low budget but did have Lon Chaney Jr. as Chingachgook) done in 1937.  While not as polished (for obvious reasons) as the later effort it was still very well done.

 

I wish Criterion would remaster and release these films! Otherwise, they're hard to find. Now, some of them you can find on amazon, but the quality is typically terrible.

[Tabonga | 2,324]

12 minutes ago, avatar! said:

I wish Criterion would remaster and release these films! Otherwise, they're hard to find. Now, some of them you can find on amazon, but the quality is typically terrible.

I think a lot of that stuff rolled into public domain so anyone can sell copies of whatever quality.

If you are interested in frontier films these are two of the better ones out there:

This is sorta a frontier movie - set at a time/place when the frontier really wasn't there geographically yet.

 

[Tabonga | 2,324]

Here is another one - I often forget about it. But really well done.

 

[fcgamer | 4,729]

I browsed through these again tonight and gave some of the articles another read in memory of poor Michelle (rip) and poor Mr C, who's in the deep shit now.

[fcgamer | 4,729]

Otherwise, I've been reading the manga at home, and this novel at work.

[T-Pac | 7,560]

Finished reading A Tale of Two Cities (1859) by Charles Dickens.

Spoiler

This is a highly symbolic, theatrical take on the French Revolution, where Dickens’ language makes for uniquely poetic passages, but has the side effect of dehumanizing crucial moments of the story. Readers can feel distanced from the more visceral events by his telling them through personified concepts rather than his characters. That being said, this augmented lens by which he presents the Revolution is an effective translation of its horrific, confused fervor. The people themselves, like Dickens’ writing, lose their humanity for the sake of muddled ideals, and even the principal characters are symbolic of larger components within the revolutionary landscape (Darnay as the blameless victims of an uncompromising holocaust, Lorry as the self-preserving establishments floundering around national allegiances, Madame Defarge as the ruthless conviction blinding a revolutionary tide, etc.)

The novel’s emphasis on characters as symbols also demystifies the want of dimension in several key players. Lucie, for example, feels underdeveloped in her plight as an English woman dragged by familial bonds into the French tempest - but is perfectly whole and defined as a grounding force to which those in dire straits (like her father and Carton) cling for sanity. Likewise, the plethora of Jacques(s) lend to the namelessness of the new-order frenzy where individuals dissolve in subservience to the ideological tenets of their cause.

It’s this highly representative element that redeems the story from its own superficiality. And while I still take umbrage at its more contrived plot twists, viewing the work as more of an allegory helps smooth out these narrative failings. I see the novel as Dickens’ representation of the ever-revolving, Aristotelian vehicle of governance - discontentedly switching gears from system to system, with broken brakes and a bloody windshield, only to end back at first, having learned nothing and arrived nowhere. But as Dickens appeals ultimately to the altruistic intentions of individuals within this horrific scheme, he shows that there’s still good to be found in the midst of tragedy.

[T-Pac]

[Code Monkey | 2,011]

On 11/23/2019 at 7:18 PM, trj22487 said:

I picked up this locally a few days ago for something to skim through while I got my brakes changed today. I'd never heard of these guys on social media or seen what they do before,
two brothers who spent their childhood allowances on nothing but baseball cards only to grow up and find them all mostly worthless, so they drew all over them, but I was really struggling to hold back hard laughter in a packed, quiet waiting room today. Some of these are absolutely hysterical, and they are all 100% done with sharpie. A lot of them are way more impressive than I expected, and there are a few football/basketball/wrestling ones thrown in there.

How do you draw blue and white and yellow with a Sharpie?

[Code Monkey | 2,011]

I'm currently reading this. A movie was made based on this book, it starred Jim Carrey. It's basically about a con man that found very creative ways to continuously get out of prison.

[Gloves | 11,795]

3 minutes ago, Code Monkey said:

How do you draw blue and white and yellow with a Sharpie?

Sharpies come in a ton of colours.

[MrWunderful | 2,927]

[Reed Rothchild | 9,549]

I read (listened to) Dresden 5 and 6, and Lisey's Story by Stephen King.  I have 3 King books left.

[Tabonga | 2,324]

I got Dead Mountain (Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child) in the mail yesterday.  

I am about 1/3 of the way in and as usual the authors spin a good tale.  It is really interesting in that it is a loose take on the Dyatlov Pass incident from 1959.

[nrslam | 476]

3 hours ago, Tabonga said:

I got Dead Mountain (Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child) in the mail yesterday.  

I am about 1/3 of the way in and as usual the authors spin a good tale.  It is really interesting in that it is a loose take on the Dyatlov Pass incident from 1959.

Always happy for a new Preston & Child, but they left me hanging with Cabinet of Dr Leng and I wish they'd finished that story first. Harrumph!

[Tabonga | 2,324]

10 minutes ago, nrslam said:

Always happy for a new Preston & Child, but they left me hanging with Cabinet of Dr Leng and I wish they'd finished that story first. Harrumph!as C

   it is frustrating - but this series is pretty good too.  I think my favorite of the Pendergast series was Cabinet of Curiosities.

[T-Pac | 7,560]

Finished reading Sister Carrie (1900) by Theodore Dreiser.

Spoiler

At its core, Sister Carrie is a novel about the transience of fortune. Dreiser explores the concept through three principal characters, who each mingle in complicated relationships and find themselves drastically trading stations on the social ladder. Carrie, a rural migrant into the burgeoning city of Chicago (and later New York), emerges from the clutches of poverty into financial security through morally-taxing relationships, then ultimately finds stardom and success as a Broadway actress. Conversely, Hurstwood (a high-standing manager and once the pinnacle of Carrie’s infatuation), falls into extreme poverty by a series of missteps perpetuated from an ill-conceived theft and subsequent flight from his secure, rich life in Chicago. The proposition of regaining his status from scratch in a new city proves too much for a man so complacent in his old fortune - and his motivation atrophies to the effect of driving away Carrie and leaving him destitute to the point of homelessness, starvation, and ultimately suicide. Meanwhile, the well-off salesman Drouet (Carrie’s first benefactor and tenuous love) has the most peculiar trajectory in that his comfortable social standing and empty, pleasure-seeking mindset perpetuates unchanged through the entire novel.

Instinct and rationality play against each other to the detriment of security for these protagonists. As Dreiser speculates directly in the book - the evolutionary failing of humanity is that we have too much sense to trust instinct, and too much instinct to submit to sense. This idea unveils itself through Hurstwood’s life-altering theft from his Chicago employers, and Carrie’s propensity to be taken with impressive, rich city lifestyles. Yet as she climbs higher and higher toward those ideals, her desires climb in tandem, leaving her longing just as unrealized as before. Dreiser dictates her folly in a conversation with the novel’s most sage character, Ames, at the end of the story. He precipitates an epiphany in Carrie that no one is ever truly fulfilled in their desires, but anyone can find satisfaction independent of worldly acclaim by using their gifts (in Carrie’s case, acting) to their full potential. The reader is never humored to see the lasting result of this idea in Carrie’s future life and career, but it succinctly pins down a major theme within Dreiser’s work.

I was slow to take to Sister Carrie, restrained by the many contrived character motivations and Dreiser’s propensity to psychoanalyze them in direct (and slightly patronizing) interjections into the narrative. But once the arcs of each principal character came full-circle (for better or worse) in the final chapters, I saw my investment in the novel as time well-spent. And I’ll take its message to heart - that I don’t dwell on the ever-moving goalposts of material wants, and make the best of my strengths to the tune of generosity rather than seeking acclaim and satisfaction through others.

[T-Pac]

[T-Pac | 7,560]

Finished reading Silas Marner (1861) by George Eliot.

Spoiler

Silas Marner is the story of a high born family and a reclusive weaver, and the colorful overlap of their lives in the old English town of Raveloe.

As a young man in a religious order, Silas Marner is framed for a crime his best friend committed - and he runs away to live in seclusion as a weaver on the outskirts of a rustic, insular village. The community there views him with trepidation as a miserly outsider, since he largely keeps to himself and finds joy only in his hoard of gold. It is his only consolation after the betrayal robbed him of his brotherhood, his fiancee, and his faith.That is, until his money is stolen and he becomes the foster father of Eppie, an orphan who seeks refuge from a snowstorm in his home at the stone pits (where her mother died of an opium overdose). In his new function as a caretaker, Silas turns to the Raveloe townspeople in an effort to raise Eppie well, subsequently indoctrinating himself into the community, their faith, and a new lease on life. Fifteen years later, Silas is approached by Godfrey Cass, a Raveloe nobleman who seeks to bring Eppie into his family so she may live in gentility. Cass reveals himself as her biological father, who kept this tie a secret for 18 years that he might hide the shame of his ill-fated first marriage and maintain his reputation. Now as circumstances have brought his past to light, he desires to do right by his daughter and provide for her. However, Eppie refuses to part with her beloved foster father, and they continue to live by their meager means as happy Raveloe townspeople, while Cass contents himself by becoming landlord and benefactor to Silas, Eppie, and her new husband.

Silas Marner is cited for its fairytale parallels, which hold true in the setting and happenstance nature of the plot. Even the homespun dialect of the Raveloe villagers gives a folk charm to the work. However, George Eliot’s broadly omniscient narration illuminates all the character’s thoughts and internal motivations in a way that brings depth to the story beyond the scope of a mere fairytale. The dimensionality of Godfrey Cass in particular would be lost without a glimpse into his inner struggle between deceit and duty with regard to Eppie’s upbringing.

The novel is also much like a parable, which concerns losing what you want to find what you need. Marner embraces his new fortune in spite of being wronged, and he lets go of the grudges and frustrations of his betrayal and robbery even without closure. He is content to know that he can’t change the past, and he wouldn’t know the joys he has now if not for the ill circumstances that shaped his life. This sentiment is voiced in the story by Eppie’s godmother Dolly Winthrop, who maintains that God’s plan for us is in our best interest - even if it may seem like we’ve been abandoned or mistreated, it’s all a means to finding our way in the end.

And likewise, Godfrey Cass learns to accept the grief of his abandoned responsibility and take this pain as a type of penance. In this way, he embraces lost opportunity as a means to grow, and as a lesson against running from what’s right until it’s too late to make amends. And he, too, sees that he may not have one of the greatest joys of his life, Nancy, without having walked the road that became his greatest source of grief and regret. Acceptance is his solace, even without the easing influence of restitution.

Silas Marner was a great read. I’m slightly bitter for having most of the plot details spoiled in the introduction to the Everyman’s Library edition, but that didn’t detract from the story’s charm and I’m glad I finished it out anyway.

 

[Daniel_Doyce | 475]

11 hours ago, T-Pac said:

Finished reading Silas Marner (1861) by George Eliot.

  Reveal hidden contents

Silas Marner is the story of a high born family and a reclusive weaver, and the colorful overlap of their lives in the old English town of Raveloe.

As a young man in a religious order, Silas Marner is framed for a crime his best friend committed - and he runs away to live in seclusion as a weaver on the outskirts of a rustic, insular village. The community there views him with trepidation as a miserly outsider, since he largely keeps to himself and finds joy only in his hoard of gold. It is his only consolation after the betrayal robbed him of his brotherhood, his fiancee, and his faith.That is, until his money is stolen and he becomes the foster father of Eppie, an orphan who seeks refuge from a snowstorm in his home at the stone pits (where her mother died of an opium overdose). In his new function as a caretaker, Silas turns to the Raveloe townspeople in an effort to raise Eppie well, subsequently indoctrinating himself into the community, their faith, and a new lease on life. Fifteen years later, Silas is approached by Godfrey Cass, a Raveloe nobleman who seeks to bring Eppie into his family so she may live in gentility. Cass reveals himself as her biological father, who kept this tie a secret for 18 years that he might hide the shame of his ill-fated first marriage and maintain his reputation. Now as circumstances have brought his past to light, he desires to do right by his daughter and provide for her. However, Eppie refuses to part with her beloved foster father, and they continue to live by their meager means as happy Raveloe townspeople, while Cass contents himself by becoming landlord and benefactor to Silas, Eppie, and her new husband.

Silas Marner is cited for its fairytale parallels, which hold true in the setting and happenstance nature of the plot. Even the homespun dialect of the Raveloe villagers gives a folk charm to the work. However, George Eliot’s broadly omniscient narration illuminates all the character’s thoughts and internal motivations in a way that brings depth to the story beyond the scope of a mere fairytale. The dimensionality of Godfrey Cass in particular would be lost without a glimpse into his inner struggle between deceit and duty with regard to Eppie’s upbringing.

The novel is also much like a parable, which concerns losing what you want to find what you need. Marner embraces his new fortune in spite of being wronged, and he lets go of the grudges and frustrations of his betrayal and robbery even without closure. He is content to know that he can’t change the past, and he wouldn’t know the joys he has now if not for the ill circumstances that shaped his life. This sentiment is voiced in the story by Eppie’s godmother Dolly Winthrop, who maintains that God’s plan for us is in our best interest - even if it may seem like we’ve been abandoned or mistreated, it’s all a means to finding our way in the end.

And likewise, Godfrey Cass learns to accept the grief of his abandoned responsibility and take this pain as a type of penance. In this way, he embraces lost opportunity as a means to grow, and as a lesson against running from what’s right until it’s too late to make amends. And he, too, sees that he may not have one of the greatest joys of his life, Nancy, without having walked the road that became his greatest source of grief and regret. Acceptance is his solace, even without the easing influence of restitution.

Silas Marner was a great read. I’m slightly bitter for having most of the plot details spoiled in the introduction to the Everyman’s Library edition, but that didn’t detract from the story’s charm and I’m glad I finished it out anyway.

 

George Eliot rules. I saw a BBC miniseries of it too.

Middlemarch is probably her best work, although Silas Marner is up there.

Sister Carrie and An American Tragedy are great turn of the century classics.

[T-Pac | 7,560]

9 hours ago, Daniel_Doyce said:

George Eliot rules. I saw a BBC miniseries of it too.

Middlemarch is probably her best work, although Silas Marner is up there.

Sister Carrie and An American Tragedy are great turn of the century classics.

It's all new to me - I just grab stuff from the classics section of my library, but I haven't been disappointed yet!

I'll have to try Middlemarch and An American Tragedy - I definitely like turn of the century novels (Sinclair Lewis books in particular).

[T-Pac]

[avatar! | 1,819]

5 hours ago, T-Pac said:

It's all new to me - I just grab stuff from the classics section of my library, but I haven't been disappointed yet!

I'll have to try Middlemarch and An American Tragedy - I definitely like turn of the century novels (Sinclair Lewis books in particular).

[T-Pac]

I'm a big big fan of classics -- from antiquity to modern! If you enjoy Sinclair Lewis I highly recommend Thornton Wilder. Many people, such as the acclaimed playright Edward Albee consider "Our Town" the greatest American play ever written. Definitely, worth reading, and watching!

[T-Pac | 7,560]

18 hours ago, avatar! said:

I'm a big big fan of classics -- from antiquity to modern! If you enjoy Sinclair Lewis I highly recommend Thornton Wilder. Many people, such as the acclaimed playright Edward Albee consider "Our Town" the greatest American play ever written. Definitely, worth reading, and watching!

Sounds like another one for my list of books to keep an eye out for!

I hope my library has all of these. If not, my sister might. She's an english major with shelves and shelves of novels haha.

[T-Pac]

[avatar! | 1,819]

Just finished a classic --- okay, how about a little trivia? I'll give some clues, and let's see who can guess what book I just finished! I'll start with some less obvious clues, and then will add some "more obvious" hints

Less Obvious

1)Considered one of the most influential American novels, and in fact in 2019 the BBC listed as one of the 100 "most inspiring" novels of all time.

2)The book was banned (especially when it came out) due to gang violence, drinking and smoking, family dysfunction.

3)Since its debut, the book has sold more than 15 million copies and is often on school reading lists.

4)When released, there were few "young adult" novels, in fact the YA genre did not exist. This book helped shape the entire genre.

More Obvious

5)The novel was written by a young woman at a time when women were expected to be housewives and really not much more.

6)It was published in 1967, when the author had turned 18.

7)The characters in the book shocked adults, who believed teenagers should just be "good kids". But her novel was "realistic" and "gritty" and a hit among young adults.

8)In 1983 Francis Ford Coppola adapted the book to the big screen.

 

[Renmauzo | 1,202]

7 minutes ago, avatar! said:

Just finished a classic --- okay, how about a little trivia? I'll give some clues, and let's see who can guess what book I just finished! I'll start with some less obvious clues, and then will add some "more obvious" hints

Less Obvious

1)Considered one of the most influential American novels, and in fact in 2019 the BBC listed as one of the 100 "most inspiring" novels of all time.

2)The book was banned (especially when it came out) due to gang violence, drinking and smoking, family dysfunction.

3)Since its debut, the book has sold more than 15 million copies and is often on school reading lists.

4)When released, there were few "young adult" novels, in fact the YA genre did not exist. This book helped shape the entire genre.

More Obvious

5)The novel was written by a young woman at a time when women were expected to be housewives and really not much more.

6)It was published in 1967, when the author had turned 18.

7)The characters in the book shocked adults, who believed teenagers should just be "good kids". But her novel was "realistic" and "gritty" and a hit among young adults.

8)In 1983 Francis Ford Coppola adapted the book to the big screen.

 

Not going to cheat by looking it up, but the only one that comes to mind that I've read is The Outsiders; is that it? That was a GREAT book!

[Reed Rothchild | 9,549]

Yeah, Coppola and 1983 seals it.  Didn't realize Hinton was a woman.

[avatar! | 1,819]

19 minutes ago, Renmauzo said:

Not going to cheat by looking it up, but the only one that comes to mind that I've read is The Outsiders; is that it? That was a GREAT book!

You got it

I'm a bit ashamed it took me so long to read this book (I'm not exactly a teen anymore) but it was a quick and wonderful read. Really made me feel I was part of The Greasers and I got an interesting insight into life in 1967 at Tulsa, Oklahoma!

[avatar! | 1,819]

56 minutes ago, Reed Rothchild said:

Yeah, Coppola and 1983 seals it.  Didn't realize Hinton was a woman.

Susan Hinton. Her publisher suggested she go by "S.E. Hinton" back then, since they were worried people would shun the book since it was written by a woman.