Mal: He calls back, you keep them occupied. Wash: What do I do, shadow puppets?

'The Message'


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."


Strix - Jul 26, 2010 5:50:43 am PDT #11781 of 28343
A dress should be tight enough to show you're a woman but loose enough to flee from zombies. — Ginger

You should totally let erinaceous know. It would be cool, from an etymological point of view, to actually have a verbal ground zero to trace it from, like over a ten year or 20 year period.


sumi - Jul 26, 2010 6:14:36 am PDT #11782 of 28343
Art Crawl!!!

Yes, you totally should. (Wouldn't erinaceous know anyway?)


Jesse - Jul 26, 2010 7:18:48 am PDT #11783 of 28343
Sometimes I trip on how happy we could be.

Got the book, Dawn! Thanks!!


Kate P. - Jul 26, 2010 8:30:32 am PDT #11784 of 28343
That's the pain / That cuts a straight line down through the heart / We call it love

Has anyone here read Beatrice and Virgil by Yann Martel? I just finished reading it and thought it was well written and interesting, but I noticed there were strong opinions in both directions on amazon.com.

My coworkers and I read it a few months ago and blogged/podcasted a bit about it here, though none of us had a very positive opinion about it. I think it certainly succeeded in arousing an emotional reaction, but I really didn't like how it was done.


DawnK - Jul 26, 2010 10:36:10 am PDT #11785 of 28343
giraffe mode

Got the book, Dawn! Thanks!!

Wow that was fast, I mailed it on Friday - Go USPS! Enjoy!


DavidS - Jul 26, 2010 1:32:11 pm PDT #11786 of 28343
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."

Yes, you totally should. (Wouldn't erinaceous know anyway?)

It is listed on Wordnik, but it doesn't have any cites.


sj - Jul 26, 2010 3:54:42 pm PDT #11787 of 28343
"There are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea."

My coworkers and I read it a few months ago and blogged/podcasted a bit about it here, though none of us had a very positive opinion about it. I think it certainly succeeded in arousing an emotional reaction, but I really didn't like how it was done.

I thought it was done very well, but I did figure out pretty early where they were headed with it.


Frankenbuddha - Jul 27, 2010 3:38:29 am PDT #11788 of 28343
"We are the Goon Squad and we're coming to town...Beep! Beep!" - David Bowie, "Fashion"

Speaking of erinaceous, she makes a passing Buffy reference in her most recent Sunday Globe column: [link]


Laga - Jul 29, 2010 11:18:37 am PDT #11789 of 28343
You should know I'm a big deal in the Resistance.

On my way to the SF rack I stopped by Classics and ended up grabbing a copy of Moby Dick. I can't recall who recommended it here (there were a few of you) but wow were you right. I think Ishmael is a bit of a bulshitter (especially when he says Linnaeus is wrong and a whale is definitely a fish!) but the way he tells the story is mighty engaging. Even when he stops in the middle of the action to give us his BS taxonomy or to tell a side tale about another ship's encounter with Moby Dick. I'm so happy to be enthralled by this 150-year-old book.

On my way home from checking it out I stopped at the 99cent store where the owner is stereotypically blond and perky. She asked what I was reading and when I told her she said excitedly, "oh that's a great book!"

A couple days ago I stopped in again and told her how much I was enjoying it. I mentioned I was 1/2 way through and still no whale had entered the narrative. She said, "oh don't expect them to show up any time soon."

I have finally gotten to the part with whales but anyway, thanks again buffistas, I'm so glad I didn't dismiss this book for being an antique.


Connie Neil - Jul 29, 2010 1:29:37 pm PDT #11790 of 28343
brillig

It's always kind of mindboggling to realize that some classic books are classics for a reason. I stayed up late reading "Odysseus" because I loved how Penelope was bamboozling her suitors. And of course, Jane Eyre had me riveted.