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what was the last book you've read?
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| lovefootball) | Date: Friday, 25.02.2011, 14:45 | Message # 16 |
 Dean
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| Really? Which of his poems do you like most? I don't know why, I've never been able to read his works. They seem to me...well, a bit strained. These poems just can't evoke any response from me, I don't feel them.
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| Nadya | Date: Tuesday, 01.03.2011, 11:19 | Message # 17 |
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| I've read a novel "The Little Lady of the Big House" by Jack London recently. The story concerns a love triangle. To tell the truth I find american literature rather specific but I liked this book especially tragic and surprise ending.
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| lovefootball) | Date: Saturday, 12.03.2011, 21:04 | Message # 18 |
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Dean
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| In what sense do you find it specific? Are there any features that seem to you strange, odd or on the contrary necessary and unusual? By the way, what do you think about love triangles in literature? Sometimes I feel that this theme is exhausted and interepreted in all possible ways not only in books but in films,songs,at the theatre...But maybe I'm wrong and there's enough space for further developments?
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| Nekavaen | Date: Sunday, 13.03.2011, 22:47 | Message # 19 |
 Head teacher
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| Maybe the types of such triangles are becoming more and more unpredictable and complicated. For example, love triangles consisting of three people have always been relevant. But today it often happens so that not a human becomes an obstacle for happy romantic relationships, but work or a hobby. Time is becoming the most precious resource for a modern man or woman. We often have to choose between a dinner with a boyfriend or a wife and a business meeting or a football match of the favorite team. A lot of films are shot about such problems nowadays and many books are written. Of course, there have always been people who can't combine taking care of close people and working or having fun. But today we face such situations more commonly than, let’s say, 100 years ago just because now both men and women have more opportunities for getting education and building personal career and more joyful “temptations” are waiting for them.
It is not human to be without shame and without desire. (Ursula K. Le Guin)
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| lovefootball) | Date: Monday, 14.03.2011, 21:16 | Message # 20 |
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Dean
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| Oh, of course! To tell the truth, I'm not overjoyed at such films. They're simply identical like stamps. I mean these typical American melodramas with the happy end when the main character leaves his job and decides to stay with his family. I was always interested, how would his family live further without any bread and butter...) H'm, I think there can be another intrigue: fancy a love triangle consisting of a man, a woman and....another man!
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| Nekavaen | Date: Tuesday, 22.03.2011, 23:07 | Message # 21 |
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| The last book I’ve read was “The Catcher in the Rye”. That was fantastic! It’s book about a guy who’s young and solitary. He has a lot of problems – with studies, with girls, with the family. He’s not like the others and that’s why it’s hard for him to find his place in this world.
It’s a serious story about the process of becoming adult. I do like the main hero because he’s kind and crazy. He’s too nonchalant and reckless sometimes, but I remember myself 3 years ago…
Also I’ve read it in the original and became a bit more versed in American English slang. Last week my English teacher asked me to start reading “Alice in Wonderland”. I’ve heard many times it’s the most genius fairy-tale ever written… Well, many men, many minds. After fairy-tales by Oscar Wilde, who’s one of my favorite authors, I can’t enjoy “Alice”. It’s just a stream of consciousness, a scope of strange images that are absurd and not connected with each other. Maybe I’m not intelligent enough but I’m sure this book has no idea.
It is not human to be without shame and without desire. (Ursula K. Le Guin)
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| lovefootball) | Date: Friday, 25.03.2011, 18:42 | Message # 22 |
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Dean
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| Maybe, you'll change your mind after analysing it thoroughly? You say, the images in the book aren't connected,but do people in real life interact with each other closely? I mean not industrial relations but personal ones. It's a matter of argument anyway. And Alice... she's in quest of answers to numerous questions.
What is your favourite tale? H'm, I think Wilde just can't be compared with any other authors. I can't even call his works fairy tales in the proper sense of the word) But I do like him too, though I feel some gloom (among other impressions) after reading his tales.
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| Nekavaen | Date: Sunday, 27.03.2011, 00:47 | Message # 23 |
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| Speaking about Oscar Wilde, my favorite fairy-tale is “The Nightingale and the Rose”. I also like “The Birthday of the Infanta”, “The Fisherman and His Soul”, “The Happy Prince” and “The Selfish Giant”. I like stories that are able to do three things at once:
1)touch people and affect their feelings;
2)force us to think;
3)make the readers imagine themselves in the same situation. I’m sure Wilde’s works can be interesting for both children and grown-ups. They are a bit sad and even cruel – yes, it’s true. But that’s because behind allegories and metaphors we are supposed to see the truth of life.
It is not human to be without shame and without desire. (Ursula K. Le Guin)
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| Rina | Date: Sunday, 27.03.2011, 00:51 | Message # 24 |
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| Quote (Nekavaen) Last week my English teacher asked me to start reading “Alice in Wonderland”. I’ve heard many times it’s the most genius fairy-tale ever written… Well, many men, many minds. After fairy-tales by Oscar Wilde, who’s one of my favorite authors, I can’t enjoy “Alice”. It’s just a stream of consciousness, a scope of strange images that are absurd and not connected with each other. Maybe I’m not intelligent enough but I’m sure this book has no idea. Oh, “Alice...” isn't as simple as it can seem to be. The book gave birth to hundreds of movies, other stories, it inspires artists and writers, musicians and directors. Why? Because it's not just a silly book for children. Actually, I adore “Alice...”, for me it is an interminable source of original ideas and inspiration.
Speaking about the author's style I can't but mention innumerable allusions to English folklore (“Twinkle, twinkle little bat”), perfect puns (word play), a great deal of portmanteau words, etc. The book looses ¾ of its charm if you read it in translation((( BTW, I don't even mention hundreds of phrases from the book that are used as quotes by people all over the world (“We're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad”).
The whole idea is quite obvious – it's a book about one's self-discovery and identity crisis, about the finding your own way and your own place in this crazy world. One can find a lot of hidden messages if one reads attentively:
- no matter how others treat you, stay true,
- everything changes, you change, life itself is a permanent change,
- keep on going, do not stay calm,
- curiosity is a way to learn the world,
- etc., etc., etc.
The book is absurd but it is charming because of the very absurdity. Btw, the truth is always hidden in the chaos, isn't it?
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| olga | Date: Thursday, 19.05.2011, 00:07 | Message # 25 |
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| The last I've read was "Gone with the wind". For me it was one of the most wonderful books of the American literature. This book mixes different genres and shows us different historical events. More than that, it shows different views on some situations. The main character is a usual woman with her problems. But her main trait of character is "a strong spirit" or something like that. This book has helped me to make my conclusions how to act in different situations.
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| Former-Teacher | Date: Thursday, 19.05.2011, 09:10 | Message # 26 |
 Dean
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| Quote (olga) This book has helped me to make my conclusions how to act in different situations.
Oh! Please, be more considerate of other people unlike Scarlet O'Hara! Honestly, the book is really great!
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| olga | Date: Thursday, 19.05.2011, 20:43 | Message # 27 |
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| Sorry if I wasn't right in your oppinion. I told my view and you know once I had a dipression ad it was reallly difficult for me. So the book (and of course Scarlett in her way) helped me to feel better, I mean in moral. More than that I've always admired of Scarlett's character. And I think it's clear that I treat her kindly
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| Luck | Date: Tuesday, 07.06.2011, 21:32 | Message # 28 |
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| Oh, I read "Gone with the wind" when I was only 13. But I loved the book a lot. Though now I think I should read it once again because there were probably things and problems that I simply could not understand because of my age.
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| Rina | Date: Wednesday, 08.06.2011, 01:08 | Message # 29 |
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| I read it when I was too young for it, too... And I do believe that I wasn't able to understand the social problems the book deals with. But I don't think that I would like to read it nowadays, once again - Now I prefer other kinds of literature and I'm afraid of being disappointed in the book I liked so much
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| Nadya | Date: Wednesday, 08.06.2011, 13:45 | Message # 30 |
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| The first book which really impressed me was "Sannikov Land" by V.Obruchev. I read it when I was 9. This book is about the expedition dedicated to the searches of legendary "Sannikov Land" behind the Polar circle. I was keen on such adventure stories. But now I read classical literature and at the moment, I'm reading "The Quiet Don" by M. Sholokhov and I like it.
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