4 posts tagged “books”

 - I really want to discuss my TOTAL SUCKING regarding my multiple football pools, but I'm tired of staring at the computer. I fear my seasonal obsession with the NFL may be sending my 4 readers running!

- Good news is: Done 18 and 9 hole leagues stats, (ugh pretty much).

- Going to watch DVR'd Big Brother finale.

- Going to read 'The Broker' by John Grisham... again...

- Not going to eat chips. Not going to eat chips, Not going to eat chips. Not going to eat chips.

- Feel like playing Dance Dance Revolution, but I also feel lazy.

- I still love the Browns

- I have a pooch free day tomorrow so I shall endeavor to clean the house.

- Laugh of the day: My mom informed me this morning that she forgot to buy celery for the church coffee hour. Why celery I asked? She spreads Cheez Whiz on it, and that is an appetizer. How 1978! You gotta love that woman!

According to the 'Modern Library' anyway...

I started last year to try to read, in my lifetime, this list of 100 classic novels. I have heard so many people rant and rave about some of these books, I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. I find that so many people don't have an opinion for themselves and simply repeat what they believe to be intelligent. I don't want to be one of those people, (not that I would ever purport intelligence...) so anyway, here's the list and some comments about some of the books that I've read... PLEASE REMEMBER: It's pretty rare I don't understand a novel, and this is just my opinion... if you're going to argue a book with me, just make sure it's not something that you read on Wikipedia or the like. Be original, develop your own thoughts...

1. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald - this book was pretty good, as easy read. My personal list would not have it as #1
2. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger - this one was okay. I can't believe that it was a required read in some highschools. I don't get the people that carry it around with them, and NO, I'm not 'missing' anything...
3. The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
4. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee - Awesome, Awesome, Awesome! My favorite book of all time! I loved the language, the perspective, everything!
5. The Color Purple by Alice Walker
6. Ulysses by James Joyce
7. Beloved by Toni Morrison- this book was better than I expected, I don't think it would be in my top 20, but it was good, but disturbing.  
8. The Lord of the Flies by William Golding- also disturbing, but really interesting 
9. 1984 by George Orwell- good book, I have to re-read it, as I read it in highschool, but I remember it was awesome, and it stuck with me for years.  
10. The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner
11. Lolita by Vladmir Nabokov
12. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck - I loved this book. I read it in highschool, and it really moved me, I like John Steinbeck... 
13. Charlotte's Web by E.B. White
14. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce - It took me awhile to get into the writing style in this book, but once I was reading, I found it interesting, although not on the top of my list.. 
15. Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
16. Brave New World by Aldous Huxley - Another highschool read. Not as good as 1984, but as disturbing,,, 
17. Animal Farm by George Orwell - I loved this book. It was my favorite of the highschool reads of this genre 
18. The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
19. As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
20. A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway - I was really disappointed with this book. I have no idea the attraction of it. Overrated.  
21. Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
22. Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne - I loved this book. I adore AA Milne's children's writings. Not so much his adult poetry... 
23. Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
24. Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
25. Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison
26. Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell - My second favorite of all time. I hope to see the movie soon... 
27. Native Son by Richard Wright
28. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest by Ken Kesey
29. Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
30. For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway
31. On the Road by Jack Kerouac
32. The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
33. The Call of the Wild by Jack London
34. To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
35. Portrait of a Lady by Henry James
36. Go Tell it on the Mountain by James Baldwin
37. The World According to Garp by John Irving
38. All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren
39. A Room with a View by E.M. Forster
40. The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien - I have about 50 pages left in the third book. I just can't stand the continual geographical descriptions! So dense and unnecessary! 
41. Schindler's List by Thomas Keneally
42. The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
43. The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand - I read this book about 14 years ago and I loved it! I recently saw the movie, and it just kind of missed the point... 
44. Finnegans Wake by James Joyce
45. The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
46. Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
47. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum
48. Lady Chatterley's Lover by D.H. Lawrence - this book was pretty good. A little annoying, but not bad.  
49. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
50. The Awakening by Kate Chopin
51. My Antonia by Willa Cather
52. Howards End by E.M. Forster
53. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
54. Franny and Zooey by J.D. Salinger
55. The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie - I positively hated this book until about the last 50 pages. This was the most painful work of fiction I've ever read. I think Mr Rushdie is a wackadoo, and trying very hard to be... I don't know, but not who I want to be... 
56. Jazz by Toni Morrison - Awesome! I found the language a little hard to read at first, it's kind of like slam! poetry, but I loved the diction and the story. 
57. Sophie's Choice by William Styron
58. Absalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner
59. A Passage to India by E.M. Forster
60. Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton
61. A Good Man Is Hard to Find by Flannery O'Connor
62. Tender Is the Night by F. Scott Fitzgerald
63. Orlando by Virginia Woolf
64. Sons and Lovers by D.H. Lawrence - This book was pretty good. I sometimes hate his character's. So selfish! 
65. Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe
66. Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
67. A Separate Peace by John Knowles
68. Light in August by William Faulkner
69. The Wings of the Dove by Henry James
70. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
71. Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
72. A Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
73. Naked Lunch by William S. Burroughs
74. Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh
75. Women in Love by D.H. Lawrence
76. Look Homeward, Angel by Thomas Wolfe
77. In Our Time by Ernest Hemingway
78. The Autobiography of Alice B. Tokias by Gertrude Stein
79. The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett
80. The Naked and the Dead by Norman Mailer
81. Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys
82. White Noise by Don DeLillo
83. O Pioneers! by Willa Cather
84. Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller
85. The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells
86. Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad
87. The Bostonians by Henry James
88. An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser
89. Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather
90. The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame - I loved this book! Very cute, very clever, awesome! 
91. This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald
92. Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand - very good, but not nearly as compelling as The Fountainhead.  
93. The French Lieutenant's Woman by John Fowles
94. Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis
95. Kim by Rudyard Kipling
96. The Beautiful and the Damned by F. Scott Fitzgerald
97. Rabbit, Run by John Updike
98. Where Angels Fear to Tread by E.M. Forster
99. Main Street by Sinclair Lewis
100. Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie

I have some really good ones left on the list that I'm excited about reading... the local library simply doesn't have some of the titles, and I lose patience when ordering! I'll get back on the classics in a month or so...

When I was surfing around reading the reviews for the books, there was one site where people could post their comments.

I can't believe the stupid, ignorant people that are out there, possibly thinking themselves 'intelligent' simply because they read the NY Times book section. Perhaps they don't think that they are smart, but I doubt it.

Here are some comments I found utterly beyond ignorant...

Theresa said: "I am so disappointed, the book is not true to actual printed accounts from "Gone with the Wind" I doubt the bozo even read the book."

I say: Theresa you are probably correct. It is entirely conceivable that the estate authorized this novel despite the fact that the author didn't read it. You calling him a 'bozo' is genius. You should write a book yourself. Call it 'Ignorant'. What exactly are 'actual printed accounts'? Do you mean the book itself? You do realize that it was fiction? I think you are an idiot.

GWTW wrote: I wish Margaret Mitchell was still alive to stop people from writing horrible sequels. after Ripley's Scarlett, all the characters got mixed up in my head.

I say: I'm sure that's not all that's mixed up in your head darling. How about giving her estate some credit? Could they possibly be the authoritative voice of what constitutes a good sequel? Are you more confused? Hey, if you're commenting on a book review, try learning capitalization. Did you bother to read this book, or are you too confused?

Kendra wrote:  oh man! This is sad. I'm a HUGE GWTW fan, I've read it 3 times, and I even read Ripley's Scarlett, which sucked as a sequel to my favorite piece of literature of all time. Yet, I was so excited to hear there was a new "sequel" coming out. I read the first chapter in an Atlanta newspaper, liked the first bit, but thought McCaig's writing was sorely lacking in the imagery that made Mitchell's novel so engrossing. But, being the sucker for GWTW that I am, I'll read it anyway.

I say: Dear Kendra, I must first start by stating that the initial part of your little rant lacks creativity and words with more than 2 syllables, then I notice the line I underscored... well let's just say that if you wrote a book, you could title it, 'Plagiarism', or perhaps a nice article titled, 'Completely unoriginal ways to describe thoughts that aren't my own'. I would normally criticize you for judging an entire book by reading the first chapter from a newspaper, but I instead am going to judge you by your little comment above, and say that you are indeed, an idiot.

I could go on and on, but basically my point is this: This is not 'Gone With The Wind Part 2'. This is not a continuation of 'Scarlett'. This is a book about Rhett Butler. I think that few books ever written can compare to GWTW, and thinking that this sequel could measure up is like improving upon perfection. It's entertaining, it's engrossing and captivating To Me, so Suck It literary snobs and parrots alike. 

Polly wants his own opinion! (Sometimes it's too difficult though, so they use others...)  

I just finished yesterday a new (er) book, I think it was released in November called, 'Rhett Butler's People'. Unless you're living in a snow cave on the polar cap, you may know that Rhett was an incredibly significant character in Gone With The Wind.

This was book was apparently authorized by Margaret Mitchell's family to be authored by a person they respected as an authoritative Civil War fictionalist, (if that's not a word, it should be...)

After I read it, I looked up a bunch of reviews and they can pretty much Suck It. Mostly they discussed they 'social commentary' the author imposed on the reader, the lack of continuity with the novel, 'Scarlett' (authorized but by a different author I believe in the 80's...), etc. It really sounded like all the reviews were actually written by the same person, or perhaps only one person read it and had an original opinion and others decided to expound on, (steal) their thoughts.

Regardless, what do you expect? It's not as great as the original, but if you desire to be transported to the South during the Cival War, and hear about Rhett's amazing life, and all the other characters from GWTW, then you would love this book.

I did, I loved it!

Rhett Butler's People

Donald McCaig