I've just finished Misery by Stephen King. It was very well-written but a bit too depressing for my tastes. I'm currently reading Forever Odd by Dean Koontz. It's great so far.

Bookwyrm wrote:
I finished reading The Great Gatsby tonight. It was the first of the books I'm reading for American Lit. I liked it, but the end is just so crushingly depressing. Is that typical of the modern American classics?

It would be more accurate to describe it as being typical of "The Lost Generation" style of writing. TLG was a group of ex-pats who were disillusioned with World War I's promise to be "the war to end all wars" when the signs were becoming clear that the world would go to war again. The glitter and glamor of the Roaring Twenties did not comfort them, as they saw it as both decadent and desperate. to some extent they seemed to be unable to make sense of a world that didn't meet its doomsday end in WWI. A lot of TLG moved to Paris and spent their days writing excellent but profoundly dark literature.

By the way, the Robert Redford version of Gatsby demolishes Gatsby's first meeting with his beloved. While the cinematography is beautiful, there's no mistaking that it's the elegant Redford and not the bumbling Gatsby in that scene.

You might like Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea better. Without giving away story spoilers, the title character makes multiple promises to God, and then changes his terms as the story progresses.

I really really want to read A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle. Has anyone else read it and what do you think of it?

I probably read A Wrinkle in Time too late in my life (I read it last year - was 25). It was an enjoyable work but not ground-breaking as many have claimed. That said, it's much better than The Great Gatsby. Also, the book inspired elements of LOST.

I read A Wrinkle in Time probably about five years ago. I don't remember much besides the fact tha I really enjoyed it, but don't watch the movie, it's a horrific retelling...

'Horrific' as in badly done or really creepy?

ToM, I read The Old Man and the Sea in high school and hated it. We're reading Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises right now. I'm not sure why I like it, considering most of the characters are jerks, but it's enjoyable. The funny thing is, all the girls in the class adored The Great Gatsby, but dislike or outright hate The Sun Also Rises. The guys are the reverse of that. I think I'm the only one who liked Gatsby.

'Horrific' as in badly done or really creepy?

both. The graphics were the worst ones I've ever seen, and they didn't keep alot of the story and added scenes they didn't really need to...

I haven't read The Old Man and the Sea but I did see the "Osacar-winning" movie recently. I didn't like the story line at all. And the ending was terrible. It seemed like the whole thing had no purpose...

I read A Wrinkle In Time for the first time in the 8th grade for my English class. I have read it a couple more times since then- one of them for a Children's (or was it Young Adult) Literature Class in library school, and another one for fun. I have booktalked it a few times during the Great American Teach-In.

Finally read Forest Born! I liked the protagonist. Some parts were hilarious. One small thing I did NOT like and the book could have been just as good without it. But otherwise still love the author and her books.

I reading a book called Ice right now. I really like the plot but there is some mild-swearing and the main character has taken the Lord's name in vain three time so far...

Warrior4Jesus: I've read A Wrinkle in Time also. I thought it was pretty good, though a little hard to follow.
Has any one else read Les Miserables? I finished it yesterday, and would like some other opinions.. I thought it was okay, but again, a little hard to follow.

I just read A Wrinkle In Time yesterday. It was okay. It's not the type of fantasy that I really like. i.e: Chronicles of Narnia, LotR, and a couple others I can't think of the titles to right now. I love fantasy but lately, everything I've been reading in that area has been sadly dissapointing and/or lacking. I've also recently read Boxen and Out of the Silent Planet and was not impressed with either.

I just finished a book called Ice. It had a really good story line but had a few minor problems with it so I don't know if I'd reccomend it to anyone... I tried to get The Fellowship of the Ring of the library again but accidentally got The Return of the King . I got an audiobook version of Persuasion out of the library though b/c it's been hard for me to get reading time in lately (I'd rather be on the comp ) so I hope I can listen to it in the car or while putting my little sister to bed and such..btw I can't read in the car b/c I get car sick. It's like the worst thing in the world b/c we're in the car like 6 hours a week ...at least...

It's possible that he's revised his work since then, but he was most certainly finished with the book when he spoke at the conference, and was looking for a publisher at the time. I probably have been too hard on Ward in the past—I don't doubt that their are some vestiges of the medieval cosmology in the Chronicles, as it was definitely an interest of Lewis', but that it represents some sort of "secret code" and that each of the books parallel a specific planet is taking it a bit far, IMHO.

I don't think that Ward is trying to convince anyone that Lewis had this grand plan all mapped out and that every single thing in every Chronicle points to a specific planet. Calling it "the secret code" is perhaps a little self-indulgent. However, I think he has discovered something that's been overlooked. The evidence he provides certainly suggests that each book points to a medieval planet, though it is not directly parallel.

I'm thinking that I need to read Lewis' science fiction books now, though!

Last time I was in the library I was able to get my mitts on Percy Jackson and the Battle of the Labyrinth. I really enjoyed this one! Rising_Star, Nico is brilliant. Poor, sweet, rather tortured boy that he is. There was some brilliant Annabeth/Percy angst, and I laughed so hard at the last couple of chapters that my flatmates must have really wondered what was going on. The final book is now reserved, but there are 5 others in the queue ...

Good grief, the book thread has slowed way down.

Started reading Unseen Academicals yesterday. So far it's an interesting mix of spoofing football and its culture as well as Romeo and Juliet, the fashion industry, and possibly the story of Cinderella. It's part of the Wizards sub-series, so all the familiar characters are back, with a few new additions. Enjoying it so far.