Google tells me today is Howard Carter's 138th birthday, which makes me want to read some Amelia Peabody in celebration. (Which is why I posted this in Literary and not Natter.)
A year and a half ago, I could have eviscerated him with my thoughts. Now I can barely hurt his feelings. Things used to be so much simpler.
Anya ,'Dirty Girls'
Literary Buffistas 3: Don't Parse the Blurb, Dear.
There's more to life than watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer! No. Really, there is! Honestly! Here's a place for Buffistas to come and discuss what it is they're reading, their favorite authors and poets. "Geez. Crack a book sometime."
Steph L. - May 09, 2012 4:34:38 am PDT #18620 of 28574
this mess was yours / now your mess is mine
Ginger - May 09, 2012 5:02:45 am PDT #18621 of 28574
"It didn't taste good. It tasted soooo horrible. It tasted like....a vodka martini." - Matilda
I didn't even know where to start on the "we are all doomed because people are reading The Hunger Games instead of Plato in the original Greek" crowd.
erikaj - May 09, 2012 6:48:35 am PDT #18622 of 28574
"already on the kiss-cam with Karl Marx"-
I think they are all like Gordon Pratt in Homicide: Big Fakes. Too bad they all don't get busted by Frank Pembleton, who reads Latin and Greek and still enjoys a good taunt-fest.
Strix - May 09, 2012 7:21:29 am PDT #18623 of 28574
A dress should be tight enough to show you're a woman but loose enough to flee from zombies. — Ginger
I didn't even know where to start on the "we are all doomed because people are reading The Hunger Games instead of Plato in the original Greek" crowd.
Pish and tosh. I read The Satyricon in Latin and it's basically 50 Shades of Grey from the Roman era. Does this make me a better person? Bullshit.
Ivory tower types who sneer at genre lit are one of the reasons I didn't pursue a Ph.D in Lit. Besides the fact that the market for English profs sucks ass, and I'd probably have to move to Nome to get a uni job.
Matt the Bruins fan - May 09, 2012 8:05:29 am PDT #18624 of 28574
You have to remember that being a 5-time Olympic medalist means Hilary Knight has been playing hockey at an elite level at least 16 years. It's impossible for her to be a teenage girl less than 16 years old, thus the President's complete lack of interest.
As much as I snark about Twilight, the bottom line is that ANYTHING that fosters a love of reading in the public is of the good. Far better that they be reading lowbrow literature for entertainment and thereby putting their imaginations to work rather than playing video games or sitting mesmerized by the TV.
Calli - May 09, 2012 10:00:43 am PDT #18625 of 28574
I must obey the inscrutable exhortations of my soul—Calvin and Hobbs
Fish is an overpaid dolt, and my English profs at UNC use to delight in mocking his pretentious ass.
Strix - May 09, 2012 10:11:05 am PDT #18626 of 28574
A dress should be tight enough to show you're a woman but loose enough to flee from zombies. — Ginger
Word, Matt...
Consuela - May 09, 2012 1:24:05 pm PDT #18627 of 28574
We are Buffistas. This isn't our first apocalypse. -- Pix
Kat - May 09, 2012 4:31:40 pm PDT #18628 of 28574
"I keep to a strict diet of ill-advised enthusiasm and heartfelt regret." Leigh Bardugo
Calli, I really liked Fish's article. My students have difficulty learning the difference between analysis and summary. What is cool in that piece is how much he touches on without really summarizing the plot at all. A great sample for those who are beginning literary analysis.
Amy - May 09, 2012 4:48:34 pm PDT #18629 of 28574
Because books.
I liked what he had to say, too. I hadn't seriously thought about authenticity as a theme, but it really makes sense.