tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9071145879112688737.post4641099781290704916..comments2023-05-30T11:01:35.048+01:00Comments on The Gym Isn't Working: ConfessionalLothhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15949068764211292370noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9071145879112688737.post-25417571140218978112009-02-11T16:29:00.000+00:002009-02-11T16:29:00.000+00:00My usual late arrival on posts but I appreciate th...My usual late arrival on posts but I appreciate the mention. Would it actually be possible not to have seen at least a snippet of The Wizard of Oz? To be fair you'd need to have been living in a shoebox.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9071145879112688737.post-58953965950420007882009-02-03T12:13:00.000+00:002009-02-03T12:13:00.000+00:00Catch 22 = brilliant. It's not tough-going, and it...Catch 22 = brilliant. It's not tough-going, and it's really funny.<BR/><BR/>Going through the BBC's top 100, there are a lot I haven't read, including (but not all of them, by any stretch):<BR/>The Lord of the Rings trilogy<BR/>The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy<BR/>1984<BR/>The Wind in the Willows (MUST read this soon)<BR/>Tess Of The D'Urbervilles<BR/>Middlemarch<BR/>Treasure Island<BR/>Ulysses<BR/> and many, many more.<BR/><BR/>I am a disgrace.<BR/><BR/>The link, if anyone wants to join me in feeling thoroughly ashamed:<BR/>http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/bigread/top100.shtmlAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9071145879112688737.post-14199484025598569102009-01-29T22:42:00.000+00:002009-01-29T22:42:00.000+00:00Ah now, Jeffrey Archer ... Kane and Abel was brill...Ah now, Jeffrey Archer ... Kane and Abel was brilliant! I'm sorry, but it was, and I am not afraid to admit it. I've read it at least ten times! <BR/><BR/>But as for stuff I feel I "should" read? Hmmmmm. I've never read any Walter Scott. Or RSL. Treasure Island just never appealed somehow. Burns? Nah. I'm a Gael, and reading Scots language just doesn't appeal to me somehow. <BR/><BR/>I've got a pile of Russian novels my mother read when she was in hospital expecting either me or my brother, can't remember whom, and I keep meaning to make a start on them. Solzhenitsyn, Sholokov, Dostoyevski ... I WILL read them, because I think they look great, it's just ... I never get round to it. Anna Karenina and Dr Zhivago are in that collection too, awaiting. <BR/><BR/>But oh you should read Catch 22! For one thing, you'll learn what the "real" Catch 22 situation is. And it's NOT the way people commonly describe it. I see it in the bookcase opposite as I type this and am tempted to dig it out again!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9071145879112688737.post-41931788934471549652009-01-21T01:14:00.000+00:002009-01-21T01:14:00.000+00:00I've read pretty much everything and totally indis...I've read pretty much everything and totally indiscriminately. As a teenager I fluctuated between DH Lawrence and Harlequin romances; Somerset Maugham and Micky Spillane. So I think I've covered all the biggies except War and Peace. I don't feel a bit guilty about not having read that. And you shouldn't feel guilty about not having read stuff either. Reading what you want, not what you think you should read. (But Catch-22 IS really good - the rest you mention I wouldn't bother with... except maybe Burns. For Shakespeare, go watch a play. That's how it was meant to be enjoyed)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9071145879112688737.post-8903313721394165252009-01-19T21:10:00.000+00:002009-01-19T21:10:00.000+00:00There's lots of classics I haven't read, but the o...There's lots of classics I haven't read, but the one I really regret is Moby Dick. <BR/><BR/>I love any movie adaptation of it, and I once started to read it, but, well, it's a little on the dry side, you know? <BR/><BR/>I'm sure I'll pick it up again one day. Sometimes you just have to be at the right point in your life to read certain books.SeaShorehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07199274251777490294noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9071145879112688737.post-53966908370747806872009-01-19T14:35:00.000+00:002009-01-19T14:35:00.000+00:00There's a "1000 Books You Must Read" series going ...There's a "1000 Books You Must Read" series going on in the Guardian this week. I read the first two segments over the weekend and felt almost sick with guilt at the gaps in my reading.<BR/><BR/>I have no trouble reading new stuff, but the oldies just scare me. I haven't read any George Elliot, much to my mother's annoyance, or James Joyce, and I think Dickens is long-winded. Anna Karenina has been sitting on my shelf for years now and is still unopened.<BR/><BR/>The Great Gatsby is one of my favourites though, start with that one!!<BR/><BR/>TA xPennyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13140441387378978556noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9071145879112688737.post-3330955578999201842009-01-19T14:22:00.000+00:002009-01-19T14:22:00.000+00:00I'm having a poll over on www.dackelprincess.comPl...I'm having a poll over on www.dackelprincess.com<BR/>Please come and vote! I need your opinion on this!!!<BR/>MaribethMaribethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17435726542598515305noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9071145879112688737.post-22424000850699808892009-01-19T11:07:00.000+00:002009-01-19T11:07:00.000+00:00If I write sweary words in your comments will that...If I write sweary words in your comments will that get you into trouble with your new employers? ;o)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9071145879112688737.post-82710458203621825292009-01-18T00:04:00.000+00:002009-01-18T00:04:00.000+00:00All the Brontes. Seen the tv adaptations, read lot...All the Brontes. Seen the tv adaptations, read lots of books about the Brontes, know the stories but... just never fancied the books much. Must do though. Call myself an English teacher?<BR/><BR/>I love "Gatsby", though. And you should read Norman MacCaig if no other poet.Pam https://www.blogger.com/profile/12641269043817163165noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9071145879112688737.post-20948516324045328332009-01-17T23:06:00.000+00:002009-01-17T23:06:00.000+00:00One of my majors was English/American Literature w...One of my majors was English/American Literature way back when, and I did not enjoy James Joyce. Nope. Not for me.<BR/><BR/>Always rather enjoyed F Scott Fitzgerald's books and short stories, though, so you might consider giving <I>Gatsby</I> a go one of these days. One of my favorite short stories was <I>The Diamond as Big as the Ritz</I>.<BR/><BR/>Anyway, I just finished <I>The Time Traveller's Wife</I>, which a lot of people had recommended to me.... rather enjoyed it. And I'm now reading a chick lit, well, because I can. :-)ewe are herehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13339650361453626546noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9071145879112688737.post-70720918904894429312009-01-17T21:53:00.000+00:002009-01-17T21:53:00.000+00:00I'm ashamed to admit this, but Catcher in the Rye ...I'm ashamed to admit this, but Catcher in the Rye and On the Road. Worse, I totally nod and play along pretending that I have because I'm too embarrassed say I haven't...Cave Cookinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09908010407837751832noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9071145879112688737.post-11582395603764417232009-01-17T20:40:00.000+00:002009-01-17T20:40:00.000+00:00Heh - it seems your commenters so far have a bit o...Heh - it seems your commenters so far have a bit of an overlap in the books they haven't read!Khttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14530845147391401083noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9071145879112688737.post-44165720063751358162009-01-17T20:39:00.000+00:002009-01-17T20:39:00.000+00:00OK!I will start off by saying I haven't read Catch...OK!<BR/><BR/>I will start off by saying I haven't read <I>Catch-22</I> or any Scott or Joyce* either.<BR/><BR/>What else? I have not read <I>David Copperfield</I>. Or <I>Anna Karenina</I> (or any Russian fiction to speak of). Or <I>The Life of Pi</I>, or <I>Cloud Atlas</I>, or <I>Midnight's Children</I>, or indeed anything that's won the Booker Prize (with four exceptions.<BR/><BR/>All of these are books I would probably enjoy - I just haven't got to them. I don't dislike modern literary fiction, but I tend to get recommendations for far more SF and fantasy books, and my reading gets skewed in that direction, interspersed with re-readings of old favourites. (Such as <I>Treasure Island</I>, indeed.)<BR/><BR/>I <I>have</I> read everything confirmed to be written by Shakespeare, and I think I agree with you on the whole - plays are meant for performing, and I'm not so keen on the poetry (or <I>Hamlet</I> for that matter).<BR/><BR/>*Other than a short story from <I>Dubliners</I>.Khttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14530845147391401083noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9071145879112688737.post-86319793252532159572009-01-17T20:32:00.000+00:002009-01-17T20:32:00.000+00:00Hmmm, I haven't read any of those you mention. I a...Hmmm, I haven't read any of those you mention. I also haven't read Little Women, or anything by Charles Dickens. I am familiar with his work though, thanks to the wonders of television LOL! <BR/><BR/>There's loads. I'm a big reader, but not necessarily a very high quality one!Wendyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04710705314805601363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9071145879112688737.post-25264811704888561412009-01-17T20:30:00.000+00:002009-01-17T20:30:00.000+00:00Anything by James Joyce. And me an English major....Anything by James Joyce. And me an English major. Every time I start I get totally bogged and quit in frustration. We need an anti Joyce club, maybe.<BR/>Thoreau. Never got around to it.<BR/>Tolstoy. See comments on Joyce.<BR/>The Life of Pi. Got it for Christmas, started it, went to sleep. Several times.<BR/>Some of Atwood. I like some of her stuff and other pieces just leave me cold.<BR/>This list could be a lot longer, but I think protective amnesia is setting in.MARY Ghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13178370815712313585noreply@blogger.com