Did you read them on Spring Break as part of school, or on your own?
Back in the dark ages when I was in school, we never, ever, ever had to read anything when we were on vacation, although we read one book a year as "outside reading" which meant that we chose 1 of 3 or 4 books, and then took a test when we were done reading. I think vacation reading is weird, even though I read like a maniac on vacation. I feel like perhaps it would have made me want to read LESS.
I didn't actually ask for the long story, erika! Maybe we'll be safe.
Did you read them on Spring Break as part of school, or on your own?
On my own. Kind of a "Why the hell haven't I read these books for school?" binge. Oh, I also read
Brave New World
after
1984.
I ended up writing my senior thesis on dehumanization in dystopian societies in the two books, so I got more bang for my intellectual buck.
Sometimes you don't have to ask. But I'm not putting the cinnamon out, just in case.
No one authorized the cinnamon, that's for sure.
I see the whole sick crew is here, then.
Wikipedia told me something I'd never gotten out of Oedipa Maas's name: It's a mispronunciation of "Sam Spade" backwards.
Some people think it's good. But not, apparently,if it shreds your mouth.
(Sorry. Tangent. But that happens to be some of the first symbolism I ever really liked. And you do have a way of fucking declaiming sometimes. You know it's true. But maybe if I had an expertise deeper than looking at at bloody crime photos, I could do it, too.)
But you can just not read them, right?
You'd think. But I have this terrible problem with books ending. I get locked into some Newtonian inertia - the reader in motion stays in motion - and before I know it I've read the first page of questions. They are usually annoying enough to jolt me out of the inertia.
In books without questions I read the acknowledgements, about the author, any adverts, and the back cover blurb.
Tolkein earned my undying love (in so many ways) with those meaty appendices.
In casual reading news, I just this instant finished
The Chinatown Death Cloud Peril.
It's basically one big in-joke about the pulps and pulp writers. The author has some great ideas, but the prose doesn't fly.
what the hell is the point of The Crying of Lot 49 ?
It's to provide Corwood's next band a bunch of songs by The Paranoids.
Honestly, Cor, doing a gig of nothing but Pynchon songs would pack a house in Austin.
In books without questions I read the acknowledgements, about the author, any adverts, and the back cover blurb.
What? No love for
Notes About The Typeface?