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 Posted: Wed Jan 21, 2009 12:14 am
Torzeh Matasoga Spenelli I always forget to underline book titles. I'm surprised that everyone has. Well, I have not read a book... in a long time. I have time.. but I fill my free time completely up with the internet. I've went from bookworm to computer nerd. I used to have a book in progress at all times. When I was about to finish a book, I'd go get another in fear that I would finish the book and have no other book available. I'm not sure what happened to me. I can't remember the last book I read, honestly. sad Actually, we all used quotes. Sara went in and edited. Heh, I hadn't even noticed.... Funny, the only reason I even remembered was because I saw the other titles underlined ^_^;
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Posted: Wed Jan 21, 2009 11:03 am
Yes, please underline book titles. Quotes are for short story titles and short poems. Long poems are to be italicized. I'm rather surprised people have difficulty remembering which to use. ^^;
I'm glad that people are finally posting, as I was beginning to think that everyone online was poorly read. I don't know how many of you use Facebook, but they have a wonderful application called "Visual Bookshelf," which I have been using to find all of the books I read back in elementary and high school. Of course, I'm adding everything I'm currently reading as well. It's a work in progress, though.
To Kat: If you are interested in the debate on religious philosophy and want something straightforward to read, rather than find yourself mired in convoluted philosophical inquiries, you may want to pick up Sam Harris' Letter to a Christan Nation.
To Mr. Mule (I don't know your real name): When I was small, I had quite a penchant for mythology, but I read neither The Poetic Edda nor The Prose Edda. As for Asian religion and spirituality, I think my insane professor on the subject killed any interest I may have had, especially after spending a week on Chinese sexual alchemy.
To Those Who No Longer Read: Go to a local library. Go to a free book bin if your neighbourhood has one. Borrow from a friend. Just go read a book for leisure.
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Posted: Wed Jan 21, 2009 11:18 am
tinuviel_nyx To Mr. Mule (I don't know your real name): When I was small, I had quite a penchant for mythology, but I read neither The Poetic Edda nor The Prose Edda. As for Asian religion and spirituality, I think my insane professor on the subject killed any interest I may have had, especially after spending a week on Chinese sexual alchemy. Well, to clarify my name for you- mostly to avoid being called "Mr. Mule" for the rest of the time I'm here- it's James. Most people on Gaia call me either Eliae, Darr or typo the first part of my username and call me Elise. I'm debating on editing part of my profile to say 'Eliae "Elise" Darr' because of how common that particular typo is.
Ah, I can see how something like that would cause an issue with the spirituality of earlier Eastern cultures. I doubt that I'd want to spend such a length of time on sexual alchemy myself- especially since I see little use for something like that. However, it is a very small portion of their spiritual beliefs.
As for the Eddas, I do strongly recommend you getting you hands on a copy of them, though they may be difficult to find. I still have to get my hands on a copy of The Poetic Edda that contains specifically the Lays of the Heroes, as my copy only contains the Introduction (as written by Bellows himself) and the Lays of the Gods. I do plan on investing in a copy of the Heroes soon, though. Though it is the least-important of the Eddas, it is still a part of them, and one that I intend to read.
All told, though, the Eddas consist of 34 poems in The Poetic Edda and an additional four parts contained only in The Prose Edda. I have yet to complete the first of the Eddas, but it is something that I look forward to doing soon.
I will also note that there is a (relatively) brief summary of Norse Cosmology and how they relate to the human body in my thread within the Philosophy subforum. For those of you interested in learning a little more about it, please read it. I split it up for the sake of allowing the less die-hard readers an opportunity to take breaks at regular intervals, as it is a lot of information to consume at once.
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Posted: Wed Jan 21, 2009 11:27 am
I never said that sexual alchemy was a major part of any belief system, merely that my professor spent a week on it. The entire semester was Asian religion, so I'm rather familiar with what is and is not common and what is somewhat esoteric. The professor was a total nut, so he liked to spend more time on the weird stuff.
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Posted: Wed Jan 21, 2009 11:31 am
tinuviel_nyx I never said that sexual alchemy was a major part of any belief system, merely that my professor spent a week on it. The entire semester was Asian religion, so I'm rather familiar with what is and is not common and what is somewhat esoteric. The professor was a total nut, so he liked to spend more time on the weird stuff. Well, I do apologize for making is sound like that was what you had said; that was more me stating something obvious yet again. However, if your professor for that semester was as nutty as you're saying he was, then it must have been a major part of his beliefs. A week is a very long time to stick to a topic like that, especially when it bears such little prevalence to anyone.
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Posted: Wed Jan 21, 2009 1:16 pm
I read only sparsely when it comes to novels, this is not due to a lack of want or ability, it is only that I find very few books any more that I would consider worthwhile. I have read many of the classics, and enjoyed many a tale spun by the old masters, I have been intrigued by a few modern novels here and there but these are far more rare. I mostly read non-fiction now, books about religion, philosophy and anything else that catches my fancy. Currently I'm reading up on house construction and design, I'm trying to design my dreamhouse.
I would however like to name a series of more modern novels that caught my interest back in the early years of high school. They are a series of young adult fantasy novels called The Chronicles of Prydain. It remains to this day my favorite book series, also the movie The Black Cauldron came from these novels so if you have seen that you can judge the type of series it is. My favorite book out of that series was Taran Wanderer.
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Posted: Wed Jan 21, 2009 2:17 pm
Considering how much the film adaptation veers from the book, I would not even mention The Black Cauldron film. The animation is decent, but every time I watch it, I'm just reminded of how much they got wrong. So many characters are left out (Gwydion, Adaon, etc.) or altered (Fflewddur & Doli)! Not to mention that despite Taran making a point of chastising Eilowny for making Hen's eyes blue on a banner she was making in book four (I think), Disney still made her eyes blue! Anyone who has read all of the books should probably avoid the film.
The books themselves are quite good for children's literature, as even now I can still read them and find myself entertained. I first read them in either third or fourth grade after finishing the Narnia books, and I think I've read them two other times the whole way through.
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Posted: Thu Jan 22, 2009 1:44 am
It's nice to see someone else who has read them. I usually can't find anyone who even knows what they are, which is too bad since they are very good books.
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Posted: Thu Jan 22, 2009 11:10 am
To Zac: You know I've read them because you had said previously that you had only read the fourth book, and I chided you and said to go back and read the whole series. I take it that you have?
My Update: I finished The Princess and the Goblin last night, as it was a piece of children's literature and did not take long to read. I find it very disappointing that while Alice, Oz, and Peter Pan are household names, very few people remember any of George MacDonald's characters, despite his being so popular in the same era.
He wrote the story as though he was telling it in the oral tradition, occasionally elaborating upon points or being interrupted by a child to whom he was telling the story. I don't see that being done very often, so I found it to be clever.
The story is relatively simple, but it conveys its themes without preaching, as some earlier didactic stories did (Little Goody Two Shoes, anyone?). As in many children's stories, home and away are major themes. The home here is the above-ground world and the away is the goblin world. For Curdie, this is broken down further into home being his mining community and away being the royal palace. In the end, when offered a position with the royal guard, he turns it down to remain home with his family.
The other major theme presented here is belief. Irene's great-great-grandmother only appears to those who believe she is present, and as such, Irene is frequently accused of lying. It is her strong belief, however, both in her grandmother and in her principles that ultimately save Curdie.
Anyone with an interest in Victorian and Edwardian children's literature would do well to pick up this book, though sadly, the story does not come to an end here. One will have to read The Princess and Curdie for the true ending, which I shall have to procure.
My next book is The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge, a children's classic published shortly after WWII. After this, I shall be returning to standard literature.
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Posted: Thu Jan 22, 2009 7:01 pm
I must try that Facebook app. Sounds interesting.
I was wrong though, I do remember my last book. Kind of..
I bought it at the library for like 25 cents. The title was something along the lines of "Taking over the Universe" or something like that.. I don't want to underline it though, because I don't know if I'm right or not.. but I remember the author having a trick last name.. kind of like Topsy Krets. I can't remember the name, though. The book is here, somewhere. It was dry and made no sense. I'm not sure if it was a real story. Most of the text was e-mails sent to some guy and he ranted about stuff that I didn't understand. It was really strange.
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Posted: Fri Jan 23, 2009 3:39 pm
tinuviel_nyx To Zac: You know I've read them because you had said previously that you had only read the fourth book, and I chided you and said to go back and read the whole series. I take it that you have? I had forgotten that, sorry, and yes I have finished all but the last one which I have yet to acquire.
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Posted: Sun Jan 25, 2009 10:21 am
Go to the library. Or, if your store has this policy, check the book out. I know at our store employees could borrow books.
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Posted: Sun Jan 25, 2009 1:32 pm
Hmm... One thing that I forgot to bring up in my recent reads, though, was a little booklet that one of my friends is loaning me. It's titled Valknutr: 9 Lays of Power, and is about the Odinnic symbol known as the "valknut"- if you want a reference image, take a look at my background, which is currently posted in my art thread. It's the triple-triangle in the upper-left and lower-right corners of the image.
Essentially, the booklet discusses some of the importance of the symbol to those following the "Left-Hand Path" of Nordic culture and some of the various aspects of it, including the meaning of each of the nine points and the numerology behind it. However, as I don't exactly recall a decent amount of what lay within the pages, I'll be re-reading it soon to help ensure that I get as much out of it as I can.
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Posted: Mon Jan 26, 2009 11:49 am
I finished The Little White Horse last night, and I found it to be an utterly delightful book. Despite Goudge having written it in the 1940s, it reads just like a late Victorian or Edwardian children's book in terms of style, and her writing is quite lyric. The general plot reminded me considerably of Frances Hodgson Burnett's The Secret Garden, in that an orphaned young girl goes to live with her only relation in a mysterious manor in the English countryside and somehow brings happiness to everyone again. Aside from that basic plot, everything else is quite different, as this is much closer to being a fairy tale than Burnett's work.
Tonight I expect to start my next book, The Once and Future King by T.H. White.
EDIT: Oh, and I've been wondering...since everyone's tastes are so varied, would it be helpful if we all posted a list of things we've read, both required novels for school and those for leisure? Do let me know.
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Posted: Tue Jan 27, 2009 3:09 am
I think that's a good idea, Sara. That way we can make recommendations and such ^_^ And get a better feel of everyone's tastes
As for that book you recommended, I've got a copy on hold at Border's. ^_^ Just waiting for pay day so I can buy it.
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