Jinjer 31: Books, Books, and More Books

[HermioneSparrow]

On 20/9/2017 at 0:49 PM, SamiKatz said:

One of my favourite authors is Gabriel Garcia Marquez, but 100 Years of Solitude is the most problematic book for me.  Not because I don't enjoy the story/writing, but I find if I put it down at all I lose track of who is who!  When a book starts with a family tree, you know there might be trouble ahead.

As an aside, I would like to learn to read Spanish so I could read Marquez and Allende in their native languages

I'm a Gabo fan! He's THE best, probably have read all of his books. I'm re-reading Love in the time of Cholera that someone gift it to me and haven't read it since I was 14 for school purposes, I'm starting so we'll see how that goes lol. My favorite of his is The Incredible Sad Tale of Innocent Eréndira and her Soulless Grandmother, if you haven't... go read it, it's heartbreaking. Gabo is a lil confusing though, I'm latin so at school almost all of his books were a requirement, 100 years of solitude gave me nightmares at first then loved it but it was a while before I liked it. Allende's Paula and The House of the Spirits are fantastic, there's a ton of Latin American authors I can recommend.

I need English Classics recommendations, I'm a huge fan of Jane Austen and Dickens but yesterday I felt like a loser watching Anne with an E and haven't read Anne of Green Gables so I'm gonna do that in the next couple of days. I have read a lot of English literature classics though.

[JillyO]

The Anne of Green Gables books were some of the first books I read in English, when I was about 11 or so. We'd taken a family vacation to Nova Scotia and PEI and visitied some of the landmarks in PEI. After that, I just HAD to read about Anne. I devoured those books (even though I'd only been learning English for about two years at that point).

[Smeloise]

While we're on the subject, if you're a Hamlet fan I feel it's important that you watch this:

 (as a side note I was lucky enough to see Paapa Essiedu as Hamlet and he was truly excellent - count me on the team of Shakespeare needs to be seen rather than read)

[motelmum]

oh come on Australia, he is my prince. 


 

[SamiKatz]

13 hours ago, HermioneSparrow said:

Allende's Paula and The House of the Spirits are fantastic, there's a ton of Latin American authors I can recommend.

I need English Classics recommendations, I'm a huge fan of Jane Austen and Dickens but yesterday I felt like a loser watching Anne with an E and haven't read Anne of Green Gables so I'm gonna do that in the next couple of days. I have read a lot of English literature classics though.

I would love some Latin author recommendations!

One of my absolute favourite authors is John Irving, A Prayer for Owen Meany is in my top five books.  I also mentioned Carl Haaisen earlier, he writes mystery stories based in Florida (usually), that are very funny.  Definitely not classics, but really fun.

 

[Smeloise]

@motelmum sorry, here's a lower quality version not from the bbc hope it works:

 

[motelmum]

ooh thanks @Smeloise that worked brilliantly. Didn't realise it had Tim in it, love him.

[WiseGirl]

Wonderful book suggestions to add to my never ending list. A very short list of some of my favorites.

Childhood favorite book: Little Women, Trixie Belden series

Recent favorite book: The Lilac Girls

Some classics: Jane Eyre, Wuthering Heights, Pride and Prejudice 

Dislike greatly: Lord of the Flies

Teenage books/series like: Speak, Harry Potter series

Suffered through because of teenage child: The Twilight series (no, just no)

[xlurker]

Books!  Love books--read so many...Twain, Shakespear, Hemmiingway (NOT my favorite) Little Women, Secret Garden--the dreaded Moby Dick.  Gotta say...loathed Wuthering Heights and the Grapes of Wrath, and tried so many times to read War and Peace and Anna Karenina.  I just can't get past the confusing Russian names--I read the words but can never keep straight who is who and give up every time.

The Lurkerlings also love to read, and their end of the school year treat for good reports was always a trip to Barnes and Noble   Lurkerling #2 has recently started reading fairy tales--but the originals, not the Disney versions and loves classic mythology of all types.   Yup, science major college grad.  I must've done something right

[FleeJanaFree]

I'm just going to take this valuable opportunity to remind everyone goodwill locations/other thrift stores all over the country list books on eBay. Average price? $4, and that includes shipping. Search the book title, click buy it now, and sort lowest price first. If the book is at least a year old, youll probably save a good amount vs what you'd pay at Barnes and noble. 

I got a leatherbound collection of Dickens for $4. You can also find 'collections ' for kids, typically about six stories in one- Dora the explorer, Daniel tiger, little critter, dr Seuss, Eloise, etc.

[VeryNikeSeamstress]

I just made my second attempt at thi week's episode, but got distracted by pole videos and my long distance girlfriend.

i skipped ahead to the coffee cup scene. Yeah, Jeremy's passive aggressive comments and tone to Jinger were hella triggering for me. I was in a 6.5 year relationship with somebody who would act like that when he was upset with me. Over the course of the time we were together, it evolved from passive aggressive remarks, to insults, to verbally abusive trades accompanied by threats, to wall punching and cops showing up.

I'm not speculating about how their relationship is, or what Jeremy's really like, but this scene brought up some serious ick feelings. If he were my boyfriend/partner, I'd be seeing red flags. Then again, I'm a worldy hussy who's given too many pieces of her heart to idiots, not a fresh faced fundie bride.

Thankfully heart pieces can be regenerated to be stronger and healthier than before. The scars add character, and serve as important reminders..

[shiverful]

I love Austen, but I hate the way that her stories are interpreted in popular culture, such as the more recent movies and TV series. Even the book covers suggests that her stories are purely romantic and about fragile women searching for love. And while it's true that most of her stories ends with the female protagonist finding love, I feel like the critical, ironic and humorous parts of her work is overlooked. Her writing is clever and her dialogues are full of double meanings that disappears in most adoptions. 

[Jannah]

Really enjoying the book discussion!!

In my senior year, we had to come up with a thesis (think bachelor thesis but just a little shorter). My topic was the influence of chick lit on society during Austen's time and today. I compared Pride and Prejudice and Emma to two books by the British author Katie Fforde (anyone know her? I don't think I've seen her name mentioned in the thread).

In short, my findings were that Austen's novels might actually have contributed to the rise of feminism as she was one of the first authors to create strong female characters (like Lizzie Bennet not accepting her "fate" as a women to get married at the first opportunity) - furthermore, chick lit is often a kind of overlooked or ridiculed genre (said to focus only on romance, pink book covers etc.), but some chick lit novels are very relatable to many modern women (as they depict struggles like juggling family life and a job, dating problems etc.) and thus may encourage and empower women.

For me, I often forget the historical context books were written in and just enjoy reading.. but I miss a lot of really interesting information that would enhance my reading experience so to speak.

[BlessaYourHeart]

11 hours ago, WiseGirl said:

 

Dislike greatly: Lord of the Flies

 

I despised doing Lord of the Flies in school! It was sooo boring for a teenage girl! 

[HarleyQuinn]

Lord of the Flies was awful. The only thing I hated reading more than that in school was The Scarlet Letter. 

[nickelodeon]

There haven't been a lot of poets on people's book lists so far - I rec Emily Dickinson, Anne Carson, Frank O'Hara, Audre Lorde, and Richard Siken.

[louisa05]

2 hours ago, HarleyQuinn said:

Lord of the Flies was awful. The only thing I hated reading more than that in school was The Scarlet Letter. 

I had to teach Lord of the Flies one year. I hated it. The kids hated it. Fortunately, we were in the midst of redoing our literature curriculum and ditched it. 

I also taught The Scarlet Letter one year. I hated it as a high school junior and found it very intriguing four years later as a college junior. I don't think that it is a book that most teens are ready to grasp and probably does not belong in American Lit curriculum on the high school level. (And if you thought it was the best book ever when you were 14 or whatever, please note that I said most, not all). 

I do not like the Brontes or Dickens (and you can't discuss authors paid by the word without Dickens...). Love Austen. Can't get through any Russian lit. I love Shakespeare and have since 8th grade when we listened to The Merchant of Venice on audio and read along in class (and that is a play I'd rank pretty low on his list). The only Steinbeck I ever liked was Cannery Row. I love Willa Cather (a lit major requirement in this state--one of my professors referred to her as "Aunt Willa" being a bit snarky about how revered she is here), but she is another author that is a bit difficult for most high schoolers. I never read her until college which was possibly better. Of course, here the books chosen for school are usually either O! Pioneers or My Antonia (the Nebraska novels) and some of her other works would likely appeal more to teens. 

My favorite lit to teach besides Shakespeare was always To Kill a Mockingbird. And the vast majority of my students enjoyed that book. We added The House on Mango Street to the tenth grade course at my last school and kids like that, too. Someone earlier in the thread mentioned A Raisin in the Sun as a "not classic" they liked. Many schools are teaching it now as well. We added that as well along with Lee and Cisneros--trying to make that course have a more multi-cultural focus in our very white school. 

[Bad Wolf]

I think I'm the only person here who liked Lord of the Flies. Maybe like is the wrong word, but it made me think. I was 11, and it wasn't required reading.

[calimojo]

4 minutes ago, Bad Wolf said:

I think I'm the only person here who liked Lord of the Flies. Maybe like is the wrong word, but it made me think. I was 11, and it wasn't required reading.

I felt the same way.  It was thought provoking and scary in its way it made me look at humanity.

[JermajestyDuggar]

The funny part about comparing the fundies to Austen characters is that I would bet 1 million internet dollars the girls are allowed to read Jane Austen books. And they probably think they are Elizabeth Bennett or Fanny Price but we all know that isn't true at all. 

[Carm_88]

I hated Shakespeare; it didn't matter in what form it was shown to me, I hated it. Read it, watch the play, watch a movie, nope never. After I completed Macbeth, my final bit of Shakespeare in grade 12, I swore I would never have anything to do with Shakespeare again. I haven't touched him since, it was an option in University and I avoid him, bird course or not. 

[Exposedknees]

1 hour ago, Bad Wolf said:

I think I'm the only person here who liked Lord of the Flies. Maybe like is the wrong word, but it made me think. I was 11, and it wasn't required reading.

I kind of enjoy the psychology of it....I heard that they're making an all female movie version of LOTF.  I don't see how that will work since women rarely sodomize things and would probably be more collaborative in a survivor situation.

Besides haven't they seen Mean Girls or Heathers? Anyway here's an article about it....

https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2017/08/lord-of-the-flies-female-remake

 

[allthegoodnamesrgone]

2 hours ago, Bad Wolf said:

I think I'm the only person here who liked Lord of the Flies. Maybe like is the wrong word, but it made me think. I was 11, and it wasn't required reading.

I liked Lord of the Flies too. I read it in 9th grade, I was raised in a very conservative house, book exploration was not encouraged.  I hid my copy of Catcher in the Rye, once I saw the 1st swear word, I was pretty sure my mom would, yank the book out of my hands and make a stink about it.  Never mid that she cussed like nobodys business, but those books aren't appropriate. 

[TheOneAndOnly]

My inner raging book nerd is forcing me to remind everyone that Lord of the Flies was inspired by novel The Coral Island by R M Ballantyne. 

[FleeJanaFree]

43 minutes ago, allthegoodnamesrgone said:

I liked Lord of the Flies too. I read it in 9th grade, I was raised in a very conservative house, book exploration was not encouraged.  I hid my copy of Catcher in the Rye, once I saw the 1st swear word, I was pretty sure my mom would, yank the book out of my hands and make a stink about it.  Never mid that she cussed like nobodys business, but those books aren't appropriate. 

This reminded me of a great post I saw on reddit. The son's bedroom was in the basement. Near his bedroom was a tall bookcase. His mom told him he was welcomed to read anything but the top shelf. Now that he was spending more time in an undersupervised location of the house, his mom was 'trusting him' to stay away from those books. Of course, he filched them immediately to read in secret, had to know what the fuss was about.  Only as an adult, he realized he played right into his moms hands. She made him want to read challenging books that would make him think.

i thought it was fabulous, I intend to do the same if I have kids.