[R-dog]

Right now, I'm reading this really dumb book called Their Eyes Were Watching God. It's painful to read. Actual excerpt from the book:

Quote

"Ah ain't never heard nobody say he stole nothin'"

And the entire book is written like that. My brain... is... liquefying...

[Moonear]

Besides textbooks you mean? Well, we'va had some good and some bad books. For good books, we read Nothing Bu the Truth this year and it was pretty good. Bad includes Our Town (which is the worst book I've ever read) and The House of Dies Drear.

[Folcon]

R-dog, on Nov 18 2007, 07:12 PM, said:

Right now, I'm reading this really dumb book called Their Eyes Were Watching God. It's painful to read. Actual excerpt from the book:

And the entire book is written like that. My brain... is... liquefying...

I read that book in HS. You do know that Zora Neal-hurstian (sp?) is the authorand is African American right? And she wrote the book useing the Southern African American accent. She wrote in the same way that people from South-central FL spoke at the time. Yes it can be hard to read, I never really finished the book, but it was educational. i liked Lord of the Flies better though.

[Toasty]

How to kill a mocking bird = phail. And so does the old man and the sea.

[Folcon]

What's sad is, some of the best books I've read for school, are from elementery school. And I still have them. What can I say, Hatchet and My Side of the Mountian are great books. So is the book Rocket Boys, also know as October Sky.

[TheEnglishman]

We did Lord of the Flies as well. I thought it was alright, but I preferred the Spire, which is also by William Golding.

[Caael]

Lotf is crap. It's so unreal, it makes Salvador Dali look real.

The Tom Clancy novels are very, very good. I strongly recommend them.

[Laharl]

Earth Dude, on Nov 19 2007, 04:30 PM, said:

The Tom Clancy novels are very, very good. I strongly recommend them.

if you like sickening large amounts of american pie

my course had me constantly reading to get ideas and like, something i interpreted as read as much manga as you can, best part was i actually got praised for doing so :o

[TheEnglishman]

Earth Dude, on Nov 19 2007, 04:30 PM, said:

Lotf is crap. It's so unreal, it makes Salvador Dali look real.

The Tom Clancy novels are very, very good. I strongly recommend them.

I don't Lord of the Flies is meant to be based on a realistic idea. It's like saying that Lost is real. :o
I've read Rainbow Six and I think it's pretty good.

[Golden Legacy]

R-dog, on Nov 18 2007, 08:12 PM, said:

Right now, I'm reading this really dumb book called Their Eyes Were Watching God. It's painful to read. Actual excerpt from the book:

And the entire book is written like that. My brain... is... liquefying...

Zora Neal Hurston's style is tough to read, I could never get into it myself.

escout, on Nov 18 2007, 11:46 PM, said:

I read that book in HS. You do know that Zora Neal-hurstian (sp?) is the authorand is African American right? And she wrote the book useing the Southern African American accent. She wrote in the same way that people from South-central FL spoke at the time. Yes it can be hard to read, I never really finished the book, but it was educational. i liked Lord of the Flies better though.

Lord of the Flies, great book, some important themes of morality and living there.

Dude of Wind, on Nov 19 2007, 12:09 AM, said:

How to kill a mocking bird = phail. And so does the old man and the sea.

To Kill A Mockingbird? I wish we had read that in school, I read it on my own and absolutely loved it.

Although, my favorite book we read in school was The Picture of Dorian Grey - great plot, really sucks you in, and the ending still creeps me out to this day.

[Folcon]

Ain't that the one about the guy who

Spoiler

makes a deal with the devil and has his soul put in a painting so he will never age while the painting will. And in time he goes nuts and hides the painting in the attic but latter burns it and dies after living something like 200 years or so?

Got it in one. [spoiler tags everything] - GL

[R-dog]

escout, on Nov 18 2007, 10:46 PM, said:

I read that book in HS. You do know that Zora Neal Hurston is the author and is African American right? And she wrote the book using the Southern African American accent. She wrote in the same way that people from South-central FL spoke at the time. Yes it can be hard to read, I never really finished the book, but it was educational. i liked Lord of the Flies better though.

True, but the other book I read over the summer, Black Boy, is also written by an African-American (Richard Wright). He uses only a little dialect and still gets the same feel. I just find it unnecessary to spell 'catch' as 'ketch' or 'the' as 'de'.

[Quacnar]

ihatekraden, on Nov 18 2007, 10:35 PM, said:

Besides textbooks you mean? Well, we'va had some good and some bad books. For good books, we read Nothing Bu the Truth this year and it was pretty good. Bad includes Our Town (which is the worst book I've ever read) and The House of Dies Drear.

Dr. Panneni and Phillip suck. The house of dies drear was too hard to follow, personally.

[Eugine]

R-Dog, it's use to capture the actual 'feel' of the language. Most Caribbean people speak exactly like the quote you posted. My Island isn't that bad though =)

And Toasty, To Kill A Mocking Bird was brilliant. How could you not like that book?

[Folcon]

.eugine, on Nov 19 2007, 07:34 PM, said:

And Toasty, To Kill A Mocking Bird was brilliant. How could you not like that book?

i found it to be an okay book, but I thought it was kinda dull. But then, I prefer to read sci-fi and manga, you know, stuff that ain't possible or is just pure fiction that is way out there. And survival stories like Hatchet, by Gary Paulson, or Robinson Crousoe, or the Mysterious Island.

[My Best Wishes]

escout, on Nov 19 2007, 03:14 PM, said:

What's sad is, some of the best books I've read for school, are from elementery school. And I still have them. What can I say, Hatchet and My Side of the Mountian are great books. So is the book Rocket Boys, also know as October Sky.

Hatchet was one of the best books ever, I was thrilled to study that at school. Holes was also awesome.

TKAMB was dreadful! Man the eassy's we had to write on that trash, I think I did the worst on that book then any other school book, mark wise.
This year we did Animal Farm, I really liked it, the parralles Orwell made to real life and people were just amazing. And we are doing Brave New World, I hate it so fricken much, Gattaca is mad though. That's our film.

[Sea of Time]

Holes and Hatchet were great books, I definitely agree with you escout. But the reading level was a little low and I probably would be bored if I went back and read them now.

Our class just finished The Catcher In The Rye which was a book you had to understand to like. If you can change your perspective and follow the storyline even though not much happens, you can find yourself enjoying the book more than you might have if you expect some cataclysmic event to happen.

Anyway, this week we enter the fantastic world of Shakespeare once again with Hamlet. We act everything out, which is pretty fun especially in my small class (14 students). So I'm definitely looking forward to doing this before Christmas Break.

[Folcon]

Sea of Time, on Nov 20 2007, 01:22 PM, said:

Our class just finished The Catcher In The Rye which was a book you had to understand to like. If you can change your perspective and follow the storyline even though not much happens, you can find yourself enjoying the book more than you might have if you expect some cataclysmic event to happen.

Anyway, this week we enter the fantastic world of Shakespeare once again with Hamlet. We act everything out, which is pretty fun especially in my small class (14 students). So I'm definitely looking forward to doing this before Christmas Break.

I found Catcher in The Rye to be boring. But I had to do a project on the damn thing and analize all the themes and stuff in it. I hate doing that with a book because it takes away from the enjoyment. In the end, I just picked up the audio book and listened to it.

As for Shakespeare and Hamlet, have fun. I hate studing plays.

[Moonear]

I didn't like "The Pearl" by John Steinbeck, however I enjoyed Of Mice and Men.

[R-dog]

I remember doing Of Mice and Men in eighth grade. I think the only reason I enjoyed it was because I had a crazy literature group.

We presented a puppet-show summary of it to the class. Oh, and it was a musical, too.
Good times, good times...

[Ironsight]

I get to read parts of The Odyssey. Obviously, the school cuts most of it out, but its still a good story.

[Eugine]

I had to read The Slave Dancer in my literature class. I never finished the book...

[Folcon]

Great Expectations did not live up to its name.

[Someone Else]

I loved Holes, but we didn't finish it in school. I remember picking it up while I was home and tore right through it from where we stopped at school.

Of Mice and Men was okay, and To Kill a Mocking Bird was okay too. Didn't really like The Pearl.

[My Best Wishes]

Sea of Time, on Nov 21 2007, 05:22 AM, said:

Anyway, this week we enter the fantastic world of Shakespeare once again with Hamlet. We act everything out, which is pretty fun especially in my small class (14 students). So I'm definitely looking forward to doing this before Christmas Break.

Yea I did Hamlet as well last semester, same as Animal Farm. I don't think Shakesphere is really that bad, the book/play/moive had heaps of Motiffs and stuff going for it, it was great to study.

[R-dog]

The next book I'm going to read is Lord of the Flies. I read it a few years ago, but I'm interested in learning the symbolism.

We're going to have to read a play sometime and the class gets a choice of 2. We're going to have a vote soon. It'll be either Death of a Salesman or Raisin in the Sun. Where should I place my vote?

[Moonear]

The Lord of the Flies was a really great book, I enjoyed reading it outside of school. Right now, we're reading a book called Anthem by Ayn Rand. it's really creepy and I think the book was meant to creep people out with their weird dystopian ways.

[TheEnglishman]

We read Lord of the Flies too. It's a good book. For us

Spoiler

Piggy's death

was a real spoiler.

[gsninja]

I hated Lord of the Flies. When

Spoiler

Piggy died

, I was happy. That was the one part of the book I enjoyed.

[Saturos S.]

Sea of Time, on Nov 20 2007, 07:22 PM, said:

Holes and Hatchet were great books, I definitely agree with you escout. But the reading level was a little low and I probably would be bored if I went back and read them now.

Wind Dude, on Nov 21 2007, 02:15 AM, said:

I loved Holes, but we didn't finish it in school. I remember picking it up while I was home and tore right through it from where we stopped at school.

Ooo, I like that book. Holes that is, had to read that for my english class.

We should be doing shakespeare next semester.

[TheEnglishman]

I did Holes a few years ago. It's not bad and I like the links to past and present. I prefered the book to the film we had to watch.

[Moonear]

Me111, on Dec 13 2007, 04:56 PM, said:

I did Holes

ROFL!!! [/immaturity]
Now that I've gotten that out of my system, Holes was a fantastic book. I read that on my own time and it i one of the few books that I think was made into a good movie.

[Ironsight]

Holes was great. The movie was...ok

[Caael]

Inside the Cage is a very good novel. I'm not going to explain the plot, because it's intricate and I wouldn't want to ruin it, but I would highly recommend it.

[Lightning Star]

The books we have/had to read this year have been alright, surprisingly.

First we had The Scarlet Letter, followed by The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (we just finished that), and then we're going to read The Great Gatsby.

Over the summer we had to read an American Classic; I chose to read To Kill a Mockingbird. (One, I read it once already, and Two, I really liked it.)

The Scarlett Letter was alright. I thought it was pretty dull and slow at some points, but it was cool in a supernatural sense.

I fell in LOVE with Huck Finn. The book never got boring and throughly amused me with Huck's antics and naiveness.

That's not all we've read, but a majority of our readings were excerpts from stories in our American Lit. book.

And then, of course, I've had to read my AP US History book, which is just SO interesting e.e I think I've fallen asleep reading it twice now.

[Folcon]

I found that my AP US History book was kinda boring too, except for the chapters covering the wars. But all that stuff about the great depression and big business, and reconstruction was so boring. But I still think the best parts in the book were the coverage of colonial America.

As for those other books;

To Kill a Mockingbird - boring to me, liked by other people in the class.

Scarlet Letter - Very dull. I just could not get into the story.

The Great Gatsby - It was alright, but I found the Cliff Notes version sufficeint.

Adventures of Huck Finn - that story was win. Same goes for Tom Saywer. Its a pitty that they were pulled from some school libraries because people didn't like the language or the layed back natured of Tom and Huck.

[Drizzy Drake]

I've been forced to read alot of ****ty books for school, but this year I've been forced to read two really good books. To Kill A Mocking Bird and Monster.

[kate]

what grade are u in? just wondering.

i've been forced to read

life of pi (awesome)

perfume (awesome)

in cold blood (never actually read it...don't tell my teacher)

death and the maiden (weeeird)

cyrano de bergerac (teh awesome)

aaand random shakespeare.

course i'm doing my extended essay on atonement which is now a movie with kiera knightley. i'm afraid to watch it cuz movies are never very good compared to books.

[Moonear]

Monster by Walter Dean Myers? That was a really great book.
I just finished reading Kite Runner, which was amazing. Khaled Hosseini is such a great writer.

[Quacnar]

ihatekraden, on Dec 28 2007, 10:34 PM, said:

Monster by Walter Dean Myers? That was a really great book.
I just finished reading Kite Runner, which was amazing. Khaled Hosseini is such a great writer.

Are you going to see the movie? I did and it was pretty good.

[Caael]

Again, Rainbow 6 by Tom Clancy is a very good book. Its written in a unique style which isnt exactly professional, but its different. The plot is amazing as well.

[Moonear]

killercoz, on Dec 29 2007, 02:08 AM, said:

Are you going to see the movie? I did and it was pretty good.

Yeah, I'm planning to see it soon. You should read the book, it was fantastic. I started to read A Thousand Splendid Suns by the same author, and I don't think that it's as good.

[Drizzy Drake]

ihatekraden, on Dec 28 2007, 10:34 PM, said:

Monster by Walter Dean Myers? That was a really great book.

That would be the one. I really love the way it's written, with the whole movie script and all.

[Lightning Star]

@Kate: I read Cyrano last year! That was so awesome. Inscest! Yes! XDD

For our final we had to do a parody of one of the books we read, and so my friends and I mixed Julius Caesar, Cyrano, and Freud all in one skit. It was so full of innuendos and probably one of the best finals I've ever taken :lol:

[Golden Legacy]

escout, on Dec 15 2007, 03:13 AM, said:

I found that my AP US History book was kinda boring too, except for the chapters covering the wars. But all that stuff about the great depression and big business, and reconstruction was so boring. But I still think the best parts in the book were the coverage of colonial America.

As for those other books;

To Kill a Mockingbird - boring to me, liked by other people in the class.

Scarlet Letter - Very dull. I just could not get into the story.

The Great Gatsby - It was alright, but I found the Cliff Notes version sufficeint.

Adventures of Huck Finn - that story was win. Same goes for Tom Saywer. Its a pitty that they were pulled from some school libraries because people didn't like the language or the layed back natured of Tom and Huck.

All great books. I would add The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde as a high recommendation, it is by far my favorite novel that I've ever read in school.

[Kuchiyose]

The books I have to read are law books (my god so many cases) but really interesting not something I wouldn't consider unless you want to learn law (legislation law and Statutory interpretation and precedent the book I'm reading is based on).

hey Kate, the book 'Perfume' is that based on a man who kills women for their scent and makes a perfume which basically is the most strongest weapon/item in the world since it can make everyone happy or something on the lines of that? Reason why I ask is because my mum has the DVD perfume and I watch it, I was rather amazed and disturbed. :lol:

[kate]

yes! That is the one movie that I find actually portrays the book pretty well. However the one problem was they changed it somewhat to make it more 'hollywood'. The movie has many critics who say they can't portray scent on the screen as well as in writing but I think they did it well. You should still read the book though, it was incredibly written. Though I suppose it'd be kind of boring now that you know the end

[Drizzy Drake]

Lord Of The Rings was one of the best book adaptations on screen. Say what you want about Jesus, Randal, but don't diss the rings.

[kate]

See I made the mistake of watching the movies before reading the books. No motivation when you do that. Honestly I couldn't get through the first 50 pages. He describes things over and over again. I think we figured out what the leaf looked like the first time :lol:

[Drizzy Drake]

Ya the LOTR takes a while to get into, but after it does they are great books. But remember he didn't jsut make 3 books. He created a whole world. Starting in the 20's no less, in the freaking trenches. :lol:

[Sea of Time]

There's no doubt that one of the greatest minds of the 20th century was J.R.R. Tolkien. Not only did he write one of the most well-known trilogies in human history (which spawned what will go down as three of the best movies of our generation), but he also created an entire world on which was the basis for many other stories. It's all very cool if you think about it.

[Drizzy Drake]

Sea of Time, on Jan 14 2008, 06:42 PM, said:

There's no doubt that one of the greatest minds of the 20th century was J.R.R. Tolkien. Not only did he write one of the most well-known trilogies in human history (which spawned what will go down as three of the best movies of our generation), but he also created an entire world on which was the basis for many other stories. It's all very cool if you think about it.

Second most bought and read book of the twentieth centurary. First: The Bible.

Preatty good if you think about it. But yes, he not only created three books, but over ten THOUSANDS years of history, over 5 FULL languages, and much, much more. Plus he fought in World War 1, which is where he wrote the very first words in the history of Middle-Earth, in the trenches.

[Sea of Time]

Not only that, he was also close friends with C.S. Lewis who created another highly successful series, The Chronicles of Narnia. While this series is decidedly more child-oriented, it is still very interesting to see the Christian parallels in the imaginary world of "Narnia".

[Drizzy Drake]

Ya I think they went to college together, and they both encouraged each other to write. They are definetly the two best fantasy writers of the twentieth centuary, if not all time.

[Sea of Time]

You can't even compare the grandeur of those two series to fantasy novels today. I mean, His Dark Materials and Harry Potter are solid books that many people can enjoy, but they are not nearly as epic as Chronicles or LotR. I hope that if I have kids, I can make sure they read these books and learn through them like I did.

[Drizzy Drake]

I like haveing an original copy of LOTR, and a second printing of the whole CON. Just adds to the nostalgia. I have amsot all his books, from his full novels, to his History of Middle Earth books, to his short stories. I got his newest book for christmas, Sons Of Hurin. Very good.