lys wrote...

Do you object to their literary presence through moral grounds?

yeah kinda. I hardly know what to believe. In LOTR it's not bothering me too too much but I don't think I could get through something like Harry Potter.

Silvertongue: yeah that's kind of what I'm trying to do (think of him as an angel).

ww: it's not that I don't like him I just don't like that he's a wizard.

AitB: I've only read one book by Dekker, but it was excellent. Thr3e is thrilling, surprising, and exciting. I enjoyed it very much. I think it would probably be a good introduction to him as a writer.

Booky: There were only five wizards or Maia? I didn't know that. I thought there were more. My reading of The Silmarillion was not that attentive.

Thanks Ly and ww for the heads up on Lawhead. I'll keep the book on my shelf, but it probably won't be a priority.

ww: Yes, it does. Sutcliff actually states that as her reason for altering the legend in the introduction. She claimed it made the legend more powerful. I suppose it does.

Maddy: I have only read The Thief and I am no where near as big a fan of it as everyone else who has read it. I thought it was good, but not amazing. I want to read the other titles, but it's not a priority. So I may agree heartily with your friend. Who knows?

I've read The Eyre Affair and the second book in the series... and they're witty and fun and a little bit off-the-wall-random. It reminded me of Douglas Adams, if Douglas Adams had wanted to write about classic books and time travel. I don't see how anyone could compare it to The Thief, though, because it'd be like comparing goulash and apple pie...

Kate: There were five wizards: white, grey, brown and two blue who disappeared in the East. I've read the first three of Lawhead's Arthur books, and I liked them. But I never was strongly motivated to go out and read the other two after that.

*waits impatiently with interest to hear what ww thinks of Wren to the Rescue*

Bookwyrm,
I enjoyed the Abarat books (I've only read the first two). They're very odd, colourful and extremely imaginative. Not your standard fantasy at all.
A bit darker and more psychological than much Young Adult fiction too.
Give them a go and tell us what you think.

220chrisTian, I'll have to check that version out. Thanks for the recommendation! I hope you're able to read Monte Cristo soon; I think it's as good as The Three Musketeers, if not a bit better.

lysander,

7chronicles: Undine is a book I've heard of, but never read. It sounds like quite an interesting story! I thought it came with a sequel or something like, called Sintram? Maybe not.

Aitb, my sister just started reading Dekker, and she began with the Lost Books. I don't know if they're his best work, but as Warrior 4 Jesus mentioned, they feed right into the Circle Trilogy. My sister really found them to be a good introduction into the bulk of Dekker's work. Hope you enjoy whatever you end up choosing!

MissAdventure, I'm so glad to hear you enjoyed Les Mis! Did you have a favorite part of the book?

I'm about halfway through The Idiot and loving it so far.

Oh, there were a lot more Maiar than just the five Istari. I don't think Tolkien ever gives a number, but it would seem there were dozens, maybe even hundreds.

I haven't had as much time to read as I'd like. Over Fall Break I was hoping to get Lawhead's Byzantium read, but I don't feel very motivated. I've only been moderately impressed in the past with what Lawhead writes, and I'm getting the same feeling this time around. Although I love the period, the writing style and characters just aren't working. Anyone here who has read this, does it stand out at all among the author's works? Is there any particular reason I should persevere?

I'm not sure if I mentioned this, but I finished Kalevala. I don't know if it was the translation or not, but I was disappointed, especially after hearing that Tolkien really loved it. A few of the characters were interesting, but overall it just didn't grab me and quickly became repetitive. Someone in my creative writing group also happens to have read it ( ), and she agreed with me. Not the best epic I've read, certainly.

I've been translating a few pages of the Luttrell Psalter. The first two or pages I worked on were incredibly easy, but then I started running into bumps on the third. They work off of a different Vulgate than Jerome's, and it's hard to find translations online of the much-closer Clementine Vulgate. I ran into some tough wording on that one, and, having taken Latin for only one college year, I am having some difficulty working it out. But some of those Latin passages are absolutely beautiful, such as Psalm 41. Here's the Psalter text with my translation. It's meant to be line-to-line accurate rather than perfect English. Any Latin scholars here can tell me how I did.

Psalter Text
[…]confitebor illi: salutare uultus mei
et deus meus.
Ad me ipsum anima mea turba[-]
ta est: propterea memor ero tui de
terra iordanis. Et hermonium a mon[-]
te modico.
Abyssus abyssum inuocat: in uo[-]
ce catharactarum tuarum.
Omnia excelsa tua et fludus tui:
super me transierunt.
In die mandauit dominus inferi
cordiam fuam: et nocte canticum eius.
Apud me oracio deo uite mee: di[-]
cam deo susceptor meus es.

Translation
…I will confess to him, to save my face
and my God.
Toward me my spirit itself
was disturbed, therefore I will remember you from
the land of the Jordan. And Hermon from
the small mountain.
The deep invokes the deep in the voice
of your cataracts.
All your heights and your floods
have gone over me.
In the daytime the Lord entrusted to the lesser one
his heart, and at night his song.
Near me is the song to the God of my life,
I will say to God, “You are my helper.”

Anyone read his Majesty's Dragon? I'm thinking of starting it. I need something else other than Terry Pratchett

I Love His Majesty's Dragon and the whole Temeraire series by Naomi Novik, for me their easily in my top ten books! The six book is due out next year so if you wanted to start now depending how fast you read you could read the first five books before the new one comes out.

Question- I've heard alot about Ted Dekker's writing,

His books are what got me started in crime/thriller/mysteries. My personal favorite of his was Thr3e. Got me into stuff by Dan Brown, Dennis Lehane, and Michael Crichton to name a few. Frank Peretti had some good stuff too, although he tended to get a little 'preachy'. Monstar was my favorite of his.

So far, I would have to say that His Majesty's Dragon is my favourite of the Temeraire series, and book four is my least favourite. But it's a very intriguing storyline and I think you'll like it, Ranger.

comparing goulash and apple pie...

I love it!

BellaNotFromTwilight: I read Thr3e first, and didn't like it as much as any of the other... three I read. I would say, read Blessed Child. That one is so beautiful.

So... all of my Amazon purchases have arrived, except for The Count of Monte Cristo, Locked Rooms and Open Doors, and Belles on Their Toes. Mansfield Park came today. They've all been really wonderful books... no disappointments!

(Post on Baby Boat: http://thereisbeautiful.blogspot.com/20 ... -boat.html)

Once I've gotten around to taking pictures of all of the books, I can show them to anyone who cares...

Although, I have had some difficulty assimilating all of the new books into my collection. They just don't fit... don't seem like they are mine, part of me... don't fit well into the color scheme... &c. &c. &c. But I think it's a matter of time, since they are all really nice books.

Today I finished Helen Keller's The Story of My Life. I've been reading it for a long time, and was glad to finally finish it. I really liked the first part (Helen's account of her life, written while she was in college) and the last part (mostly Annie Sullivan's letters, describing Helen's training), but the middle part bogged me down (Helen's letters to various people). A very good book on a very fascinating person, on the whole, though. Especially since I know the manual alphabet(sie).

And... *drum roll* I'm finally reading The Fellowship of the Ring! I've been meaning to read LotR for ages, but have never gotten around to it/truly interested in it until now. I'm liking it a lot, for the sort of thing it is, but I'm wishing it was a little faster! There are so many other books I really want to read, but (Destined won't let me) I can't until I finish this....

Someone envied me, because of this:

I said I'd show them, and then went sky-diving over the edge of the earth.

Wow, I guess I'll read the Temeraire series after all... seems a lot of people like it. Thanks guys!

Mel: You have all the answers to my questions! Thanks for the info. I think the Thursday Next series is steadily creeping closer to the top of my list, but I have to finish the vast quantity of books I'm reading for school and pleasure first.

I finished Frankenstein yesterday. This was the first time I've read 2 books by the same author for school (other than Shakespeare) and it was really interesting. I found the themes between the books very similar and I came to really enjoy Mary Shelley's writing style. She even did a good amount of surprising this book! I knew that

We're starting Frederick Douglass now.

A catch-up post, but all too brief, I'm afraid ...

Page 18: *really appreciates Elizabeth Elliot's writings* ... although I haven't read anything for some years now, aside from Through Gates of Splendor and Shadow of the Almighty. I remember Let Me Be a Woman made a big impact on me as an older teen. Also Passion and Purity.

On another note, I remember getting choked up over the ending of A Tale of Two Cities.

Page 21: I haven't yet read The Discarded Image. Interesting that you like it the best of Lewis' non-fiction, GB. A Grief Observed is a favourite of mine, as well.

*loves The Screwtape Letters also, and is expecting the FotF radio drama to be arriving in her mailbox any day now*

In regards to Gandalf/the name 'wizard'/the Maiar, Tolkien says that the number of the Maiar is not known to the Elves, but there seemed to be a goodly number. Even Sauron was a Maiar! And I love how JRR said that "[Olórin] was the friend of all the Children of Ilúvatar, and took pity on their sorrows". There is such great comfort in the very name 'Gandalf' because of what he represents. I wish I could find the letter where Tolkien says that the Maiar are more angelic representations *nods to Silvertongue's friend* than what we think of as 'wizards', and yet he felt that using the word 'angel' in The Lord of the Rings for Gandalf would give somewhat the wrong impression too. Neither, alone, is ideal, it sounds like. So ... how do you view Gandalf? (Btw, we could always—and probably should—continue this discussion over on the Tolkien thread. )

Page 23: Betsie, I remember reading Helen Keller's autobiography years ago and loving it! I wonder where my copy has disappeared to ...

And I'm thrilled you're reading The Fellowship of the Ring!! Hmm, Destined won't let you read anything else until you finish it ... and neither will we.

Oooh, Kate, I truly enjoyed Frederick Douglass' Narrative Life. He is a person of whom it can truly be said "he did what he could with the time that was given him."