Time for another "what book are you reading?" thread...

[JerseyRED]

The Pale Blue Eye by Louis Bayard

I've read the Advance Reader's Edition and highly recommend it!

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0060733977/104-0139295-2027168?v=glance&n=283155

 

[Feraud]

I haven't seen the movie Gigli, with reading the previews to it, I knew it had to be horrible...pretty much everyone was saying how awful it was, or just plain saying, "Don't watch it!" ...there was even a short article on that movie on how many times the F word was used, it was quite a bit

I rarely say "don't see this film!" There is always cable t.v. to see the bad stuff. Film is subjective and you might end up liking it. More importantly, one must view bad films in order to have a perspective on what makes a great film!
The same idea holds true for books. Nothing makes a book great like having read horrible ones!

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Gigli is not much like Gigi, I gather

 

[Feraud]

Gigli is not much like Gigi, I gather

I haven't seen Gigi but to recommend Gigli is a good way to lose friends..

 

[Jake Sullivan]

I finished the play Cyrano De Bergerac by Rostand. I have read it 5-6 times,
I like the sarcasm and wit. I am taking a break from books over the summer since fall will be a texts ( starting on my batchelors yahoo:eusa_doh: )

 

[Baron Kurtz]

The same idea holds true for books. Nothing makes a book great like having read horrible ones!

You got it. Da Vinci Code movie comes out soon right?

Can't be worse than the book ...

bk

 

[mysterygal]

to watch a bad movie, does make one appreciate the good one's more (though I am still very careful to what I subject myself to) but a book, to me, that's different, I have no interest reading a bad book, books to me, are for my total enjoyment, it is what I read when I've got a free minute and before bed...I guess also, with movies, if it is bad, you've only spent maybe 2hrs on it, with a book, it may take me a week or two to finish it, that's way too much time invested into something that I'm not getting anything out of

 

[Jake Sullivan]

to watch a bad movie, does make one appreciate the good one's more (though I am still very careful to what I subject myself to) but a book, to me, that's different, I have no interest reading a bad book, books to me, are for my total enjoyment, it is what I read when I've got a free minute and before bed...I guess also, with movies, if it is bad, you've only spent maybe 2hrs on it, with a book, it may take me a week or two to finish it, that's way too much time invested into something that I'm not getting anything out of

I agree MG (movie. you say oh well....a book you are left feeling disguted that it never got any better)

 

[Baron Kurtz]

But how do you know in advance that the book is going to be bad? Therefore, isn't it impossible to avoid bad books?

bk

 

[Marc Chevalier]

I agree MG (movie. you say oh well....a book you are left feeling disguted that it never got any better)

"Disgutted": When you're so disgusted, you feel you've been gutted.

 

[Feraud]

But how do you know in advance that the book is going to be bad? Therefore, isn't it impossible to avoid bad books?

bk

It is impossible! There is a slight chance a book will improve after a first impression. I always read 'em to the end thinking "it's going to get better, it's going to get better!" lol Sadly I have read a lot of clunkers..

 

[jamespowers]

But how do you know in advance that the book is going to be bad? Therefore, isn't it impossible to avoid bad books?

bk

Believe me, after the first few pages, you know that it is going to be a snore.:eusa_booh

Regards,

J

 

[Daisy Buchanan]

I haven't seen the movie Gigli, with reading the previews to it, I knew it had to be horrible...pretty much everyone was saying how awful it was, or just plain saying, "Don't watch it!" ...there was even a short article on that movie on how many times the F word was used, it was quite a bit

Oh my, don't waste your time! I watched about 5 minutes of it because it was on cable, and wow was it terrible. It might have been worse for me because I have a genuine disdain for both J. Lo and Afleck, the two of them are probably the most horrible actors and people in Hollywood. But then again, I'm not a star struck fan of any famous person, mostly because their public behavior is so deplorable.

As for books, Hemingway Jones just gave me "Vile Bodies" by Evelyn Waugh. It's a fun read, full of British sayings that I'm sure to add to my vernacular, as I noticed HJ started speaking quite funny after he read it. I really enjoyed the movie version "Bright Young Things". I highly reccommend it. Emily Mortimer is just stunning in 30's 40's style clothing and her hair is just perfect. The costumes are incredible for everyone from the woman's day dresses to the mens evening wear. This movie does make me sad though, because it really reminds me that I was born during the wrong era! Well, it gets my two thumbs way up, and they have been playing it a lot on both RetroPlex and Showtime. So if you have a couple of hours and want to watch a delight to both the eyes and ears, sit down and really watch this movie. Oh, and look for lots of hidden "funny items" that are thrown in to many of the scenes.

 

["Doc" Devereux]

But how do you know in advance that the book is going to be bad? Therefore, isn't it impossible to avoid bad books?

bk

I go for the 'Page 127' test. If page 127 makes me want to keep reading into 128 I figure it's worth a try. If page 127 bores me, the book goes back on the shelf.

 

[mysterygal]

Believe me, after the first few pages, you know that it is going to be a snore.:eusa_booh

Regards,

J

agree! there may have been one book that I have read out of the many that had started slow and became a good book, but, the first few pages is the real tester for me as well, if the author can't grab your attention during the first few pages, it's highly unlikely he'll keep it until the end

 

[scotrace]

.

I should have dumped out of The English Patient at page 8. Now near the end, I feel obligated to plod on. If only the book had come packaged with a morphine vial.
When one writes of. One should use. Let us say complete.
Sentences.

It has a few gems. "He was disassembled by her."
A fine romance, talked to death.

I did like the movie. As Peterman says in the episode of Seinfeld:
"I hope you're watching the clothes, Elaine, because I can't take my eyes off the passion!"
For me it was the reverse.

 

[mysterygal]

I feel the same way about movies sometimes as well, even though it hasn't really gotten anywhere, when I've invested so much time into it, I feel somewhat obligated just to finish it

 

[Baron Kurtz]

For example ... Would this put you off at first glance, and the book would be back on the shelf? I was hooked.


That was when i saw the Pendulum.

The sphere, hanging from a long wire set into the ceiling of the choir, swayed back and forth with isochronal majesty.

I knew - but anyone could have sensed it in the magic of that serene breathing - that the period was governed by the square root of the length of the wire and by Pi, that number which, however irrational to sublunar minds, through a higher rationality binds the circumference and diameter of all possible circles. The time it took the sphere to swing from end to end was determined by an arcane conspiracy between the most timeless of measures: the singularity of the point of suspension, the duality of the plane's dimensions, the triadic beginning of Pi, the secret quadratic nature of the root, and the unnumbered perfection of the circle itself

bk

 

[scotrace]

New thread

Bad Book - Better Movie?
Now Playing in the Observation Bar.

 

[Feraud]

If only the book had come packaged with a morphine vial.

lol lol lol that is funny!

Your comment about complete sentences reminds me of a particular book I read. It is called White Jazz by James Ellroy. That book was truly a chore and a half!! Talk about lack of complete sentence. His writing reminds me of how young children write stories. It is all incomplete sentences and half thougths. There is barely a complete sentence in that monstrosity. Yuck!