Deb is me -- I love Wharton (The Age of Innocence is one of my favorite books) but Ethan Frome, to be blunt, sucked. On the other hand, I loved Bartleby. Something very endearing about him.
Early: Where'd she go? Simon: I can't keep track of her when she's not incorporeally possessing a space ship. Don't look at me.
'Objects In Space'
We're Literary 2: To Read Makes Our Speaking English Good
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."
Amy - May 28, 2004 7:00:46 am PDT #2962 of 10002
Because books.
Consuela - May 28, 2004 7:19:26 am PDT #2963 of 10002
We are Buffistas. This isn't our first apocalypse. -- Pix
My sister loves Ethan Frome. Loves loves loves. Of course, she also adores Henry James.
I suspect sometimes that we are not actually related, our identical eyes and voices notwithstanding.
Katerina Bee - May 28, 2004 7:58:17 am PDT #2964 of 10002
Herding cats for fun
Re: Life of Pi, thanks to Hil and Megan for articulating the feeling the book left me with. I preferred one version over the other, and I do think 'twas the point. I really did enjoy the bit about Pi's triple religion. It seemed such a Buffista approach to understanding the spiritual.
Ginger - May 28, 2004 8:13:18 am PDT #2965 of 10002
"It didn't taste good. It tasted soooo horrible. It tasted like....a vodka martini." - Matilda
I am not certain that someone who loves Ethan Frome and Henry James could be the same species as I am.
Java cat - May 28, 2004 8:13:48 am PDT #2966 of 10002
Not javachik
I've never been able to get through Walden. It has the Sominex effect on me. I guess I should work, huh. I miss dropping in on Buffistas and hanging out, then going to visit Van Gogh or Renoir. sigh.
deborah grabien - May 28, 2004 8:18:12 am PDT #2967 of 10002
It really doesn't matter. It's just an opinion. Don't worry about it. Not worth the hassle.
I did love The Turn of the Screw. But then again, I'm all for ghost stories.
Calli - May 28, 2004 9:23:49 am PDT #2968 of 10002
I must obey the inscrutable exhortations of my soul—Calvin and Hobbs
I love Henry James. When I want to immerse myself in beautiful prose for hours and hours he's just the ticket. Ethan Frome, never appealed. I've been around a bunch of depressed people stuck in a cold climate. Don't need to read about it, thanks.
erikaj - May 28, 2004 10:31:49 am PDT #2969 of 10002
Always Anti-fascist!
Ethan Frome is no "Age of Innocence". But I'm afraid these days I'm too impatient for the 19th century thing...it's me, I know. But I've got "Kavalier and Klay" coming soon...
Frankenbuddha - May 28, 2004 7:01:08 pm PDT #2970 of 10002
"We are the Goon Squad and we're coming to town...Beep! Beep!" - David Bowie, "Fashion"
So, I've almost finished a re-read of Pynchon's Vineland, which, while not his best book, is criminally underrated. Although it's his most linear book (despite the fact that it switches back-and-forth through time and across perspectives with slippery ease), it's a dead-on prescient parody of Ashcroft's concepts of justice and a sharp look at the fascism of desire and the legacy of the 1960s.
Oh completely. Not deep, but much witty breadth. And after the WAIT (I should have made that 28 type or something), what could have lived up to the exectations it built up? And, as Angus' and your posts pointed out, fucking hysterically funny. Pynchon's always had his funny bits and pieces, but this was practically a standup act about the sixties and seventies. In some ways, he was sending himself up without getting explicit about it.
And just randome details: I mean, the Japanese insurance investigator and the assassain who came to love him? Great stuff!
sj - May 28, 2004 7:15:19 pm PDT #2971 of 10002
"There are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea."
I love Henry James, Ethan Frome, and Bartleby. I usually like what others consider boring or slow or too depressing.