The thing that most surprised me was how funny parts of it are.
Yup. That was quite a shock to me, to be amused by this Big Important Book.
Old trusty soda machine. I push you for root beer, you give me Coke.
Willow ,'End of Days'
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."
-t - May 13, 2010 7:30:56 pm PDT #11423 of 28344
I am a woman of various inclinations and only some of the time are they to burn everything down in frustration
Kat - May 13, 2010 7:33:06 pm PDT #11424 of 28344
"I keep to a strict diet of ill-advised enthusiasm and heartfelt regret." Leigh Bardugo
The flip side to that is I had expected Don Quixote to be funny and it simply wasn't. It was the equivalent of watch from the hall. That book just made me so angry and so sad.
DavidS - May 13, 2010 7:35:48 pm PDT #11425 of 28344
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."
I'll just stake my claim here on, The Point of the Tangents: What Melville wants to do is immerse you as deeply into the world and culture of whaling as he experienced it. So that the metaphors of whaling have a deeper resonance. What it all means to you is roughly what it would mean to a whaler of that era. The facts, the industrial grind of it, the lore all factor in.
Why is this important? Melville exploits one of the distinguishing traits of the novel - it's length. And one of the things you can do with that length is convey a great depth of knowledge. And he leverages that to make the story payoff in a way that a shorter story can't.
It's not unlike the Long Con narrative strategy used by Simon. There's much immersion so that the action rings louder. With Simon you know how the drug business works, so you understand what ever gesture and betrayal really means.
Plus, in Moby Dick there's all kinds of slash and Ahab is AWESOME and the action scenes at the end are thrilling. Plus also he throws a random play into the middle of it. With lots of rich, Shakespearean language.
megan walker - May 13, 2010 7:36:10 pm PDT #11426 of 28344
"What kind of magical sunshine and lollipop world do you live in? Because you need to be medicated."-SFist
I only made 250 pages until it was due back at the library. It was okay, but I can see how it would get very repetitive. I'll finish it for my quest book.
ETA: Don Quixote. Not Moby Dick. 'Cause Moby Dick is awesomecakes.
megan walker - May 13, 2010 7:41:21 pm PDT #11427 of 28344
"What kind of magical sunshine and lollipop world do you live in? Because you need to be medicated."-SFist
So I'm probably going to re-read it after I read "Catching Fire". Much looking forward to that. Loved it. SO awesome.
I liked it, but not as much as The Hunger Games. I felt it was more of a placeholder in the trilogy, setting up the final novel and not a complete story unto itself.
Hayden - May 13, 2010 7:41:46 pm PDT #11428 of 28344
aka "The artist formerly known as Corwood Industries."
Moby Dick is David Simon's favorite novel
I share this with the man. Plus The Wild Bunch. And yet I doubt I could converse intelligently with the guy.
meara - May 13, 2010 8:11:05 pm PDT #11429 of 28344
I liked it, but not as much as The Hunger Games. I felt it was more of a placeholder in the trilogy, setting up the final novel and not a complete story unto itself.
Ooh, dang. Cause I loved Hunger Games. Is the third one out yet? Or announced? I should go look for that so I'm on the library list ASAP even if it isn't...
megan walker - May 13, 2010 8:17:06 pm PDT #11430 of 28344
"What kind of magical sunshine and lollipop world do you live in? Because you need to be medicated."-SFist
I think it is September. It's not in the SF library catalog yet.
meara - May 13, 2010 8:28:37 pm PDT #11431 of 28344
I'm 191st on the list in Seattle. :) What can I say? We're a literate town, that likes to use the online catalog.
Frankenbuddha - May 14, 2010 3:40:20 am PDT #11432 of 28344
"We are the Goon Squad and we're coming to town...Beep! Beep!" - David Bowie, "Fashion"
Okay, I adored it at the time. But it's been 20 years.
Wolfing good book!
ION, I've started Warren Ellis's Crooked Little Vein. It's hilarious so far, but so very, very wrong. WE is a sick, twisted fuck. I mean, really, Godzilla Bukkake in the first 40 pages? WTF?
Whitefonted because 1) might be a plot point and A) really disturbing (though hilarious in a sick way).