Xander: Hey, Red. What you got in the basket, little girl? Buffy: Weapons.

Xander/Buffy ,'Help'


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."


Ginger - Jul 02, 2004 12:44:58 pm PDT #4392 of 10002
"It didn't taste good. It tasted soooo horrible. It tasted like....a vodka martini." - Matilda

Dracula is a classic, Jilli.


P.M. Marc - Jul 02, 2004 12:46:49 pm PDT #4393 of 10002
So come, my friends, be not afraid/We are so lightly here/It is in love that we are made; In love we disappear

(No really, I'm *trying* to get out of my "All Vampires, All The Time!" phase. It's just sort of my default setting.)

I've got loads of stuff I view as vastly entertaining that happen to also be a part of that pesky Western Canon.

To narrow things down, as I expand my pushing from comics to books, how do you feel about plays? Translated works? Short stories?

Also, would you be interested in some books on lit crit? Because I've got those, too! And a huge section on religious studies! You could borrow my copy of Biblical Exegesis in the Apostolic Period!


erikaj - Jul 02, 2004 12:49:24 pm PDT #4394 of 10002
Always Anti-fascist!

I can see why...I really can. That one I liked more after seeing the film, heresy of heresies. But I think Tom makes the whole book worth it anyway. "The Bell Jar"? Not sure if it's a classic or not...I'd say yes, but who the hell am I? But it's dark and stuff.


Alicia K - Jul 02, 2004 12:50:09 pm PDT #4395 of 10002
Uncertainty could be our guiding light.

Another semi-lurker, semi-poster popping in. I tend to be a non-thinker when it comes to books as well. Sometimes I enjoy listening (or reading) to people who delve deeper, but sometimes I prefer to just like the book on that surface level.

Also am woefully underread in the classics region. My two favorite "classics" are Grapes of Wrath and To Kill a Mockingbird. Have never read Wuthering Heights or Moby Dick, but both sit on my bookshelves with every intent of being read.

This has been a very interesting scroll-through today. Usually I do a lot of skimming in the thread because there are many discussions about books I have no interest in (usually in the sci-fi/fantasy genres).


Atropa - Jul 02, 2004 12:52:30 pm PDT #4396 of 10002
The artist formerly associated with cupcakes.

Dracula is a classic, Jilli.

Damn right it is.

To narrow things down, as I expand my pushing from comics to books, how do you feel about plays? Translated works? Short stories?

I'm good with all of those.

Also, would you be interested in some books on lit crit? Because I've got those, too!

How 'bout whatever ONE book on lit crit you think is best.

And a huge section on religious studies! You could borrow my copy of Biblical Exegesis in the Apostolic Period!

(starts shuffling away from the manic woman)

Er, sure! If you think it would entertain me ...


P.M. Marc - Jul 02, 2004 12:54:59 pm PDT #4397 of 10002
So come, my friends, be not afraid/We are so lightly here/It is in love that we are made; In love we disappear

Er, sure! If you think it would entertain me ...

Err... I'd have to bring you up to speed on Pre and Post-Christis canon, wouldn't I?


Aims - Jul 02, 2004 12:56:04 pm PDT #4398 of 10002
Shit's all sorts of different now.

Boy, that Christis...what a pain in the ass and BOOOORRRING!!!!!

snerk.


Atropa - Jul 02, 2004 12:59:53 pm PDT #4399 of 10002
The artist formerly associated with cupcakes.

Err... I'd have to bring you up to speed on Pre and Post-Christis canon, wouldn't I?

Yes, yes you would. If it will be as entertaining as the "Hand wave-y hand wave-y! Hypertime hypertime!" discussion, then I'm all for it.


DavidS - Jul 02, 2004 1:06:48 pm PDT #4400 of 10002
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."

If you're going to make a statement like this, for the love of Mike, separate your two points. Inline comments about specific works, which happens anytime there's a focused discussion about anything from cars to grammar to cheese (like: swiss; hate: brie, which is raunch) != a dislike of critical discussion, so while both may have been stated, conflating them just makes you seem like you're lecturing people about the wrongness of personal tastes, be that your intent or no.

If the only response to a larger, running detailed conversation is a series of snipes then it has a killing effect. Swiss hate and brie love don't pop up in a conversation of the cheese-making techniques of Switzerland and France. It pops up in what to have for lunch conversations. Which I suppose is one of the things that has come up here - this thread is more about what to read next.

A point made upthread is worth remaking: literary fiction as a whole, as a "genre" gets slammed in this thread in a way that would not be tolerated if somebody waltzed in and said Romance readers are idiots. (Not to pick on her, particularly since she's been very honest and self-reflective in this discussion, but Susan did this a lot.)

I don't need or want to hash it out any longer. But while I've changed my mind about some things, I certainly haven't been convinced by the umpteen posts here that people aren't defensive or feel insecure about literary criticism (several people have copped to that). Similarly, I'm still sure that there's an overriding distrust of academic criticism, that it kills appreciation or the joy of reading; that very little in-depth discussion of literature happens here (nobody has disputed that); and that the thread has a populist slant and a bias against academics.

I have changed my mind about a few things though. I do think the lack of a focused subject dissuades longer, active discussions. And I do think that's an argument for some kind of reading club.


Abby - Jul 02, 2004 1:12:57 pm PDT #4401 of 10002

Wow, that was a lot of posts.

I'm really just posting to say

To narrow things down, as I expand my pushing from comics to books, how do you feel about plays? Translated works? Short stories?

Also, would you be interested in some books on lit crit? Because I've got those, too! And a huge section on religious studies! You could borrow my copy of Biblical Exegesis in the Apostolic Period!

Can I go to Plei's house and just wallow in the books? Or Ginger's. Or any Buffistas with massive bookcases (huge ... tracts of books?). I really love books. I haven't read anywhere near enough. Depending on mood, I can go into a bookstore and almost cry, just because there are all the books, and I know I'll never read them all, and I'll probably just go home and watch tv anyway, and there are all these worlds that I just won't get to know! I then I switch to happy, because, books!

I find some of my favourite books are books about books.

Um, so, yay books!