Personally, I got no beef with Mickey Mouse, and all other wizards I will have to take on a case-by-case basis.
On another tack, O ye romance readers, how many of you read Sir Walter Scott or Alexandre Dumas? And can you express why you do/don't?
Spike? It's you. It's really you! My therapist thought I was holding on to false hope, but…I knew you'd come back. You're like…you're like Gandalf the White, resurrected from the pit of the Balrog, more beautiful than ever. Oh…he's alive Frodo. He's alive.
Andrew ,'Damage'
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."
Nutty - Nov 11, 2005 8:22:18 am PST #9445 of 10002
"Mister Spock is on his fanny, sir. Reports heavy damage."
Connie Neil - Nov 11, 2005 8:23:49 am PST #9446 of 10002
brillig
The only Dumas I've read is Count of Monte Cristo. I cherish my unabridged copy that was stolen for my from my old high school's library. Edmund Dantes (the Count) gets tiresome, but the rest of the characters are fascinating.
edit: Oh, and I've read Ivanhoe. the unabridged was a whole lot more interesting than the abridged I got in school. The Ivanhoe characters were a tad more three-dimensional than the Monte Cristo characters.
I haven't read the other stories by either of them.
Sophia Brooks - Nov 11, 2005 8:29:06 am PST #9447 of 10002
Cats to become a rabbit should gather immediately now here
Nutty- I responded it movies, but I generally find I can't read Dumas or Scott. Especially Scott. I think because of the generally floweryness and density. Same thing with Henry James, actually. I must have tried to read Portrait of a Lady 15 billion times. I am not sure why, as I can read Thomas Hardy, who many people find really tough going.
flea - Nov 11, 2005 8:31:20 am PST #9448 of 10002
information libertarian
I have read Monte Cristo, as you know, and I would hardly classify it as romance, at least in the modern sense that I think you were using in "ye romance readers" above. I'd call it, um, melodrama?
Nutty - Nov 11, 2005 8:36:52 am PST #9449 of 10002
"Mister Spock is on his fanny, sir. Reports heavy damage."
Okay, The Count of Monte Cristo is actually a swashbuckling melodrama. But with a big romantic element, what with Young Morrel and Valentine Wossname. I mean, okay, 1500 pages, so a lot happens, but...?
How about The Three Musketeers?
Susan W. - Nov 11, 2005 9:30:02 am PST #9450 of 10002
The wide universe is the ocean I travel, and the earth is my blue boat home
O ye romance readers, how many of you read Sir Walter Scott or Alexandre Dumas? And can you express why you do/don't?
I haven't, but not for any deeper reason than "haven't gotten around to it yet."
ION, I've become convinced I really need to give Dorothy Dunnett a second try. I attempted the first Lymond book years ago and never got past the first chapter. Any advice?
flea - Nov 11, 2005 9:53:47 am PST #9451 of 10002
information libertarian
I haven't read Three Musketeers, but isn't it about, um, men? Also, doesn't it swash and buckle. One of the defining characteristics of a modern romance is it's about a woman and a man (or, to not exclude homosexual romance, about a bonded romantic pair), not four guys who are buddies and one of them has a girlfriend.
DavidS - Nov 11, 2005 9:55:39 am PST #9452 of 10002
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."
not four guys who are buddies and one of them has a girlfriend.
There's an ex-girlfriend too. She's evil and kills the girlfriend. Then she herself is killed. So by the end of the book? NSM with the women messing up the menage a quatre.
Connie Neil - Nov 11, 2005 9:57:36 am PST #9453 of 10002
brillig
Older definitions of "romance" re: books seems to tend to something more adventurous than stories about everyday life. Such as when people talk about living in a more "romantic" era. I think it's a somewhat more intellectually acceptable term than melodrama.
Connie Neil - Nov 11, 2005 9:57:40 am PST #9454 of 10002
brillig
So nice I said it twice.