Jinjer 31: Books, Books, and More Books

[acheronbeach]

On 9/23/2017 at 2:38 PM, Ais said:

@BlessaYourHeart it's 21 years since we were forced to dissect "...my father the digger..." for English literature and the thought of it still makes me rage. It's quite similar to how most people feel about Shakespeare, in that being forced to appreciate it at 15/16 has turned me against it forever. I really should give it another go after all this time, it's not often that someone of that Calibre exists in both your county and your lifetime but the scars just run too deep lol

We all have our own.  I loathe what I call "Canadian Old Lady Literature."  Margaret Laurence is the epitome, but Margaret Atwood has some of it as well.  The plot goes like this:  Young girl is born in rural Canada and is just too smart to fit in her hometown and is an outcast and there is lots of misogyny everywhere; then she flees to university, usually in Toronto where she does a lot of moping, fucking, and making art.  There's usually a backroom abortion somewhere in there, too.  

In Liberal GTA high school, we read a LOT of Canadian Old Lady Literature.  It's not the best choice for a bunch of millennial teens.  

[SapphireSlytherin]

1 hour ago, Exposedknees said:

Since we are still on books. Has anyone read the new Ken Follett in the Kingsbridge series; A Column of Fire?

Not yet - but on my list. Pillars of the Earth is my all-time favorite book, and I buy copies of it at thrift stores to give away to people who've not read it.

[nickelodeon]

On 9/24/2017 at 3:27 PM, Thorns said:

So do I  Any recommodations? 

If you like regency novels like Austen's, you might enjoy Frances Burney! She specializes in super-long, witty high-society romances like Cecilia and Camilla. But if you're in the mood for something shorter, I recommend the recently-rediscovered 1808 novel The Woman of Colour (whose author is still sadly unknown.) Similar in plot to Austen and Burney, but with a biracial heroine.

[Palimpsest]

On 9/24/2017 at 3:40 PM, Lurky said:

I'd read each poem out loud a couple of times, or even better, heard someone else read it. Diving straight into analysis ruined poems for me.

Good idea.  In my day we called that Practical Criticism and it put me off poetry for good.  Compare and contrast two anonymous poems and decide which is better and why.  I was lucky.  In my finals we got Shakespeare's 71st sonnet (No longer mourn for me when I am dead) and Christina Rossetti (Remember me when I am gone away).  Even for Shakespeare haters it was a no-brainer.

Probably an apocryphal story but I'll tell it anyway.  A rumor went around that one year the Exam Board had assigned a very obscure Thomas Hardy love poem and love poem by Barbara Cartland to compare and contrast.

Essay after essay came in proving that the best of Barbara Cartland was better than the worst of Thomas Hardy.  The examiners went into a total panic but had to pass them anyway because the rationales were so good.

 

 

[geergirl]

1 hour ago, acheronbeach said:

We all have our own.  I loathe what I call "Canadian Old Lady Literature."  Margaret Laurence is the epitome, but Margaret Atwood has some of it as well.  The plot goes like this:  Young girl is born in rural Canada and is just too smart to fit in her hometown and is an outcast and there is lots of misogyny everywhere; then she flees to university, usually in Toronto where she does a lot of moping, fucking, and making art.  There's usually a backroom abortion somewhere in there, too.  

In Liberal GTA high school, we read a LOT of Canadian Old Lady Literature.  It's not the best choice for a bunch of millennial teens.  

Yes!!!  I had to look it up to be sure but the worst book I remember from high school was written by Margaret Laurence.  The Stone Angel.  Interestingly, we never did read any Atwood.  My high school was pretty terrible though so it's entirely possible it was in the curriculum and we just never read it.

[sta_sha]

11 minutes ago, geergirl said:

The Stone Angel

Still the absolute worst book I have ever read. 

[Carm_88]

1 hour ago, geergirl said:

Yes!!!  I had to look it up to be sure but the worst book I remember from high school was written by Margaret Laurence.  The Stone Angel.  Interestingly, we never did read any Atwood.

We didn't read any Atwood either but we did Newfoundland themed books. I see your The Stone Angel and raise you Baltimore's Mansion. Ugh so much catfuckery about Confederation. Sacred Jesus, what a boring book. 

On the other hand we read Random Passage by Bernice Morgan, No Man's Land by Kevin Major (Fictional account about The Battle of the Somme and the bravery of The Royal Newfoundland Regiment), Death on the Ice (Seal hunting and the SS Newfoundland Disaster of 1914). I kinda liked that we focused on us!  

[geergirl]

14 minutes ago, Carm_88 said:

We didn't read any Atwood either but we did Newfoundland themed books. I see your The Stone Angel and raise you Baltimore's Mansion. Ugh so much catfuckery about Confederation. Sacred Jesus, what a boring book. 

On the other hand we read Random Passage by Bernice Morgan, No Man's Land by Kevin Major (Fictional account about The Battle of the Somme and the bravery of The Royal Newfoundland Regiment), Death on the Ice (Seal hunting and the SS Newfoundland Disaster of 1914). I kinda liked that we focused on us!  

Now I'm curious about Baltimore's Mansion.  But in a morbid sort of way.  What could be worse than The Stone Angel?!  FWIW, your terrible book has a better ranking on goodreads.  And I now completely doubt the validity of goodreads ratings because they were both reasonably well liked (3.69 and 3.78).  Maybe Laurence wouldn't seem so bad now at 30 something but I'm not inclined to find out.

[Carm_88]

8 minutes ago, geergirl said:

Now I'm curious about Baltimore's Mansion.  But in a morbid sort of way.  What could be worse than The Stone Angel?!  FWIW, your terrible book has a better ranking on goodreads.  And I now completely doubt the validity of goodreads ratings because they were both reasonably well liked (3.69 and 3.78).  Maybe Laurence wouldn't seem so bad now at 30 something but I'm not inclined to find out.

I read The Diviners in university. It was pretty awful. So I can imagine that The Stone Angel was equally bad. 

[acheronbeach]

3 hours ago, Carm_88 said:

On the other hand we read Random Passage by Bernice Morgan, No Man's Land by Kevin Major (Fictional account about The Battle of the Somme and the bravery of The Royal Newfoundland Regiment), Death on the Ice (Seal hunting and the SS Newfoundland Disaster of 1914). I kinda liked that we focused on us!  

I have you all beat.  Within my high school English classes between ages 15 to 16, I had to read The Stone Angel AND The Diviners by Margaret Laurence, PLUS Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood.  All of them are perfect examples of entitled, useless old white lady novels.  

I was horrified by The Diviners, even as a virginal, sheltered sixteen year old.  The main character - educated, well-off, married, and full of her own importance as an unrecognized ARTISTE - revenge fucks the impoverished, uneducated and marginalized Aboriginal man she knew as a kid (described as like "spawning salmon" BAARF).  This is portrayed as some kind of feminist, earth-mothery sort of action on her part.  

I've hated English teachers ever since.  

[PennySycamore]

@nausicaa,  I haven't tackled the MLA list yet. but I did seriously consider reading through the Pulitzer Prize novels list once.

Seeing your post reminded me that Nausicaa is playing again on Wednesday at my local Fathom events venue.  The subtitled version was tonight.  Drat!  I thought it was tomorrow.

[SapphireSlytherin]

On 9/24/2017 at 3:23 PM, AprilQuilt said:

I hope you enjoy it! And don't end up on a forum one day moaning about the deadly book some weirdo recommended...

I'm enchanted! I have it on my phone and my computer so I can read it when/wherever. When I should really be studying for that blasted test...

[Exposedknees]

7 hours ago, SapphireSlytherin said:

Not yet - but on my list. Pillars of the Earth is my all-time favorite book, and I buy copies of it at thrift stores to give away to people who've not read it.

I just ordered it off Amazon anyway. I love Pillars, liked World Without End and hope to enjoy this 3rd one. I will report back.... 

[elliha]

Worst book in school was "Nu var det 1914" (rough translation Now it's 1914") by Eyvind Johnson. I am a strong reader and still it felt like I had been sitting there reading this relatively short book since 1914. He was awarded the Nobel Prize and I grew up near where he grew up so I guess the teachers felt it was important for us to read his book because of that. 

[theotherelise]

It wasn't a single worst book in my high school career, but the combined ennui and nihilism that resulted from reading these assigned books within a four month span was rough as a senior already feeling jaded and reckless:

• The Stranger - Albert Camus
• Metamorphosis - Franz Kafka
• A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man - James Joyce
• As I Lay Dying - William Faulkner
• Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger

[front hugs > duggs]

@theotherelise freshman year of high school we read several short stories of Kafka's, and that was an intense intro to high school for me (along with Shakespeare). I also feel like I could have done without the Poe and Hawthorne short stories as well my sophomore year (Fall of the House of Usher, Masque of the Red Death, Rappaccini's Daughter, The Minister's Black Veil, The Birth-Mark, etc.)

[momofsquid]

Thanks guys, I'm the Canadian literature discussion has me reliving high school trauma from the '70s. I too had to read The Stone Angel and The Diviners. I really tried to like them. My best friend at the time adored them but I just couldn't see it. For me, though, the most cruel Canlit torture in high school was The Watch That Ends The Night by Hugh MacLennan. I don't believe I ever made it through to the end. Again, the friend loved it. 

[Carm_88]

12 hours ago, acheronbeach said:

I have you all beat.  Within my high school English classes between ages 15 to 16, I had to read The Stone Angel AND The Diviners by Margaret Laurence, PLUS Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood.  All of them are perfect examples of entitled, useless old white lady novels.  

Ugh I had to read The Diviners and Cat's Eye in university. *shudder* Cat's Eye is awful. We also had to read, hmmm, As for Me and My House by Sinclair Ross; another awful book.  

[singsingsing]

Did any other Canadians here have to read From Bruised Fell? That was one weird book!

[elliha]

2 hours ago, Carm_88 said:

Ugh I had to read The Diviners and Cat's Eye in university. *shudder* Cat's Eye is awful. We also had to read, hmmm, As for Me and My House by Sinclair Ross; another awful book.  

I read Cat's Eye at the university. I thought it was OK but it must have been very forgettable because I can't remember a single thing from that book now. 

[nausicaa]

14 hours ago, PennySycamore said:

Seeing your post reminded me that Nausicaa is playing again on Wednesday at my local Fathom events venue.  The subtitled version was tonight.  Drat!  I thought it was tomorrow.

Confession time-- I've never seen that Nausicaa anime. I picked my name because she's my favorite character in The Odyssey. And in Greek her name means "Burner of Ships" which is badass. 

[tabitha2]

If any here have an interest in  Woman's History or Woman's literature, particularly Journals, Diaries , ETC.  I want to recommend the Memoirs  of Lady HyeGyong.  In the early 19th century She was the daughter of A minor aristocractic Family who was chosen at 9 to marry the crown prince of Korea and eventually saw her young husband go mad, start murdering people and be forced to commit suicide by his father the King plus her family disgraced because of political intrigue. The Diary is her way of setting the story straight and pleading with her son the king to clear her family's name.

[GotCaughtDancing]

All this talk of books had me rummaging through boxes and pulling some faves out. I also pulled some audio books to listen to while I edit.  It's one thing when listening to a novel or a series, but never ever subject yourself to Robert Frost reading Robert Frost. I enjoyed reading Frost when I was younger, but this mess was akin to having your drunk grampa tell boring nonsensical stories at a family gathering. lol

[AprilQuilt]

21 hours ago, SapphireSlytherin said:

I'm enchanted! I have it on my phone and my computer so I can read it when/wherever. When I should really be studying for that blasted test...

Ah, so glad! But I plead ignorance on the test... I hope it's at least a profitable procrastination.

7 hours ago, nausicaa said:

Confession time-- I've never seen that Nausicaa anime. I picked my name because she's my favorite character in The Odyssey. And in Greek her name means "Burner of Ships" which is badass. 

HEART Nausicaa! I never dare hope nowadays that the Odyssey character is the one anybody's referring to. I'm dorkily thrilled that you've taken your name from her.

[SapphireSlytherin]

wrong thread!