Let him do his thing, and then you get him out. No messing with him for laughs.

Mal ,'Ariel'


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."


megan walker - Feb 08, 2013 2:37:15 pm PST #20385 of 28352
"What kind of magical sunshine and lollipop world do you live in? Because you need to be medicated."-SFist

This must have some debate-worthy items on it

I don't understand why a German novel that I've never heard of (WG Sebald: Vertigo, 1990) is on that list. Did it have some impact on Anglo-American lit?


Amy - Feb 08, 2013 6:56:14 pm PST #20386 of 28352
Because books.

Just started Gone Girl -- maybe four chapters in -- and I love it. She's an incredible writer. I'm a little wary about hating the plot of it toward the end, because there was a pretty divisive twist, right?

a German novel that I've never heard of (WG Sebald: Vertigo, 1990)

I didn't even know it was German, just that I'd never heard of it, and didn't care enough to click. I didn't disagree with a whole lot of, though, so maybe it was important?

I do think choosing just fifty anything from the whole history of literate is tough, and she might have been better off choosing only books, or only cultural events.


megan walker - Feb 08, 2013 7:07:00 pm PST #20387 of 28352
"What kind of magical sunshine and lollipop world do you live in? Because you need to be medicated."-SFist

I'm a little wary about hating the plot of it toward the end, because there was a pretty divisive twist, right?

To say the least .

I didn't even know it was German, just that I'd never heard of it, and didn't care enough to click. I didn't disagree with a whole lot of, though, so maybe it was important?

Yeah, given this

an attempt to identify some of the hinge moments in our literature – a composite of significant events, notable poems, plays, and novels, plus influential deaths

it's actually a pretty good list, but I think I'd like to see at least a small attempt to explain why a book is a turning point.

Even as little as "The Moonstone": First detective novel, "Life of Johnson": The epitome of biography, etc.


Ginger - Feb 08, 2013 7:23:49 pm PST #20388 of 28352
"It didn't taste good. It tasted soooo horrible. It tasted like....a vodka martini." - Matilda

This must have some debate-worthy items on it

It's not a bad list, but it's really incomplete without "The Murders in the Rue Morgue," the first detective story, and something by Wells and/or Verne for SF. "The Song of the Shirt" is one of the first well-known works about the treatment of the working poor, but I would have gone with Dickens. I think it also needs Little Women as a milestone in realistic literature for young people; and Penguin paperbacks, which made literature much more widely available.


le nubian - Feb 08, 2013 7:24:37 pm PST #20389 of 28352
"And to be clear, I am the hell. And the high water."

Amy,

I don't know what to say without spoiling. I will just say that the book is a trip and a half. I truly disliked the ending and I think megan liked it.


megan walker - Feb 08, 2013 8:00:30 pm PST #20390 of 28352
"What kind of magical sunshine and lollipop world do you live in? Because you need to be medicated."-SFist

I think megan liked it.

I'm not sure liked is the right word, but I thought it was the perfect ending, the one that made the most sense.


meara - Feb 08, 2013 8:15:47 pm PST #20391 of 28352

Ok, in my hunt for a good iPad ebook reader, I joined goodreads. And uploaded all my books. Oddly, their app has a reader that you can download and read books in, but you can't seem to add your own books to. I also downloaded another free app, to try. Will let you know if its good.


le nubian - Feb 08, 2013 10:33:17 pm PST #20392 of 28352
"And to be clear, I am the hell. And the high water."

meara, have you tried Readmill app?


Fred Pete - Feb 11, 2013 4:15:17 am PST #20393 of 28352
Ann, that's a ferret.

"The Song of the Shirt" is one of the first well-known works about the treatment of the working poor, but I would have gone with Dickens.

Thanks for the explanation, Ginger. Although I'd argue that Elizabeth Gaskell was better than Dickens in her literary treatment of the working poor, Dickens was first.


Consuela - Feb 11, 2013 8:11:17 am PST #20394 of 28352
We are Buffistas. This isn't our first apocalypse. -- Pix

So read Maire Brennan's A Natural History of Dragons this weekend. And I enjoyed it! Although it wasn't long enough.

You know those tales of the late-Victorian age, of robust elderly ladies who march out into the wilderness and have great adventures, ignoring propriety because they have both funds and experience? This book is about the creation of one of those fierce old biddies, starting at age 11 with her attempt to dissect a dead bird.

One could bill this as Jane Austen with Dragons: a loose alternate universe in which country names and maps are different but the social context is much the same as our early 1800s, except for the fact that dragons exist and our heroine is utterly fascinated by them. Except she is a well-bred young lady and such interests are considered far too outre and inappropriate. She finds a way, anyway, via some supportive family members and an advantageous marriage.

It's clearly the first of a series, and my major complaint is that the next one isn't in my hands right now, darn it.

I'm a bit disappointed I was so busy yesterday, because Brennan was doing a signing at Borderlands in SF and it would have been fun to meet her. Ah, well. Perhaps another time.