[quote]postholedigger wrote:
…I can’t stand Shakespeare though.[/quote]
Heathen![/quote]
…I know I’m probably a douche for not liking his stuff. But I think he’s a douche so we’re even :)[/quote]
LOL - no you’re not a douche. I just think that people generally hate on Willy S. for the wrong reasons -namely, looking at people reciting his dialogue to show how intelligent and well read they are and judging the material through them.
I used to despise Shakepeare, but got a handle on the language through Kenneth Branagh’s movies and Lawrence Fishburne as Othello. From there, I read about Shakepeare’s education which was totally insane.
If you know what you’re reading, his plays have far more to offer than any other writer in history. [/quote]
i thihk there’s a different angle to this. Shakespeare has to be studied - you can’t just pick it up and read it and get it, unless you think like he does or you know the Elizabethan idiom.
And when I say studied, not necessarily for years and years. A good book with explanatory footnotes is handy, and knowledge of the period is pretty handy too.
i don’t exactly take the Big Will to bed with me, but when I pick it up I’m generally lost in it for awhile.
the poetry I think is easier to get into simply because it’s short, but footnotes are needed there too.
Big Will is like wine or cheese or avocadoes - it’s a cultivated taste, something you make an effort to appreciate, even if you don’t favour it for bedtime reading. If you want to make the effort, great. If you don’t, well, the reading world is a big place.
Mostly non fiction touching on personal development, success theory, anthropology - basically what makes humans who they are and what makes us tick? I enjoyed Malcolm Gladwell’s books a great deal.
I used to read mostly fantasy books in the fiction category but that’s over 10 to 12 years ago (Brooks, Eddings, Salvatore, Fiest etc).
Actually I’m really interested in crime fiction/detective type stories - if anyone has recommended authors that would be great and would be happy to add that to my library of books.
I’d like to start a campaign to read some of world’s great books, collect, read and keep them for my kids (future).
[quote]Brother Chris wrote:
For reading, the authors Hayek, Lord Acton, and Faulkner are some of my favorites. Hayek’s writing is not always liked because of the content, however his writing style is very easy for me to read, which sometimes in Economics the authors are too much worried about sounding smart instead of writing about the message. Faulkner for some reason always has a thousand editorial mistakes in his books, but beside that I like his writing.[/quote]
You might be confusing Faulkner’s editorial mistakes with his stream-of-consciousness writing style that he utilizes sometimes. In this style, grammatical accuracy is not important and is mostly cast aside in order to add to the impression that the words are a direct representation of the mind’s thought patterns.[/quote]
Spelling mistakes, not the grammar. Just things that the editor should have taken care of. The grammar thing, I get that time and again myself. I chalk it up to some people just do not know proper English (Southern). I can read Faulkner’s stuff better than I can most other folks because I can actually hear him speaking in my head, like he’s telling a story right in my presence. Other people try too damn hard to sound smart, and it disturbs my concentration trying to figure out what they are talking about.
I also have to suffice this last message with the fact I enjoy other people as well, like Mark Twain, I have read a little Hemingway, I haven’t been hooked yet on him though. Maybe someone can prescribe some beginner stuff of his. W. Shakespeare I can dig every once and awhile, trying to get deeper into his writing.
[quote]postholedigger wrote:
…I can’t stand Shakespeare though.[/quote]
Heathen![/quote]
…I know I’m probably a douche for not liking his stuff. But I think he’s a douche so we’re even :)[/quote]
LOL - no you’re not a douche. I just think that people generally hate on Willy S. for the wrong reasons -namely, looking at people reciting his dialogue to show how intelligent and well read they are and judging the material through them.
I used to despise Shakepeare, but got a handle on the language through Kenneth Branagh’s movies and Lawrence Fishburne as Othello. From there, I read about Shakepeare’s education which was totally insane.
If you know what you’re reading, his plays have far more to offer than any other writer in history. [/quote]
Ive read Macbeth(and I think Hamlet also), can you give an example? [/quote]
Willy contributed more phrases and sayings to the English language than any other individual.
Random quote “As dead as a door nail” was used in King Henry VI. It later appeared in a little-known novel called A Christmas Carol, written by some dude called Charles Dickens.
Shakepeare also used the rules of ancient Greek rhetoric (a major part of his education) to shape his dramatic scenes: the same rules that internet warriors use to win arguments, but rarely apply them properly.[/quote]
I have read a bit about Hemingway, but the only thing by him I have read is Moveable Feast, about his time in France as a writer. (good beginner stuff).
I loved it, partly because it was NF (or supposed to be), the way it was written and because of some of his insights on a writer’s life. Also, oddly enough, because of the way he described his betrayal of his wife.
His Farewell to Arms is one of the greats, as is the Old Man and the Sea.
Don’t know much about the others, but his writing has always been described as very strong.
i thihk there’s a different angle to this. Shakespeare has to be studied - you can’t just pick it up and read it and get it, unless you think like he does or you know the Elizabethan idiom.
And when I say studied, not necessarily for years and years. A good book with explanatory footnotes is handy, and knowledge of the period is pretty handy too.
i don’t exactly take the Big Will to bed with me, but when I pick it up I’m generally lost in it for awhile.
the poetry I think is easier to get into simply because it’s short, but footnotes are needed there too.
Big Will is like wine or cheese or avocadoes - it’s a cultivated taste, something you make an effort to appreciate, even if you don’t favour it for bedtime reading. If you want to make the effort, great. If you don’t, well, the reading world is a big place.
[/quote]
I agree, and that’s what I was trying to get across when I explained how I got a feel of his language initially through movies. It’s a lot quicker and easier to immerse yourself in the language by watching decent, familiar actors perform it (not the stereotypical hammy thesps, who do more harm than good to the public perception of Shakespeare).
Seeing the dialogue recited in the appropriate setting and with the appropriate physical actions makes a world of difference to understanding it.
I have read a bit about Hemingway, but the only thing by him I have read is Moveable Feast, about his time in France as a writer. (good beginner stuff).
I loved it, partly because it was NF (or supposed to be), the way it was written and because of some of his insights on a writer’s life. Also, oddly enough, because of the way he described his betrayal of his wife.
His Farewell to Arms is one of the greats, as is the Old Man and the Sea.
Don’t know much about the others, but his writing has always been described as very strong.[/quote]
You should check out Death in the Afternoon and the Sun Also Rises for a couple books about bullfighting in all its glory. DITA is a non-fictional account of bullfighting in Pamplona (basically Hemingway drunk as shit pontificating on the subject) and TSAR is a fictional love story of sorts set in Pamplona during the Festival de San Fermin.
Bullshit. You can’t read your own name. On a related note, can you make me one of those cool avatars? One where I’m skydiving with a shitload of cash? Please?
Stephen King, Tom Clancey, John Grisham, William Harris, Larry Niven, Orson Scott Card, Robert Heinlein, Frank Herbert, John Case, J.R.R. Tolkien, Robert Lundlum, Clive Cussler. I like fiction, but do read some non-fiction as well, been interested in history lately. The Benjamin Franklin bio, history of Europe. Can’t seem to be able to read the Communist manifesto, it doesn’t read that well. Used to read a lot of science fact, Stephen Hawking, lectures by Richard Feynman. I’ve been trying to get back into writing lately, haven’t done much since high school.