The Literary Society

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  1. Obsidian's Avatar
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    Re: The Literary Society
    (Original post by Skaði)
    Hi :hi: Newbie to this thread.

    I just finished reading Love in the Time of Cholera, and just like with One Hundred Years of Solitude, was blown away by how well Gabriel García Márquez writes. The way he describes Colombia...:heart:




    I read my first Margaret Atwood novel the other week, when I was recovering from surgery: The Year of the Flood. I keep meaning to read A Handmaid's Tale, as everyone keeps recommending it and I love her writing style. My library doesn't have it, though...:unimpressed:
    Welcome to the thread
  2. KingMessi's Avatar
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    Re: The Literary Society
    (Original post by Skaði)
    Hi :hi: Newbie to this thread.

    I just finished reading Love in the Time of Cholera, and just like with One Hundred Years of Solitude, was blown away by how well Gabriel García Márquez writes. The way he describes Colombia...:heart:




    I read my first Margaret Atwood novel the other week, when I was recovering from surgery: The Year of the Flood. I keep meaning to read A Handmaid's Tale, as everyone keeps recommending it and I love her writing style. My library doesn't have it, though...:unimpressed:
    Hi...

    You should read 'Oryx and Crake'. It's superior to 'The Year of the Flood' by some way.
  3. Skaði's Avatar
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    Re: The Literary Society
    (Original post by Abiraleft)
    :hi: Welcome!

    Marquez. :love:
    I'm looking into more books of his, though I don't think any can ever top One Hundred Years of Solitude.

    (Original post by Obsidian)
    Welcome to the thread
    Thank you! This seems like my kind of thread; I'm so glad there's a society!

    (Original post by KingMessi)
    Hi...

    You should read 'Oryx and Crake'. It's superior to 'The Year of the Flood' by some way.
    Yes, I've heard that, too. Some of the same characters are in it, is that right? I really like Margaret Atwood's characters, so I can't wait to read more of her books
  4. KingMessi's Avatar
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    Re: The Literary Society
    (Original post by Skaði)
    I'm looking into more books of his, though I don't think any can ever top One Hundred Years of Solitude.



    Thank you! This seems like my kind of thread; I'm so glad there's a society!



    Yes, I've heard that, too. Some of the same characters are in it, is that right? I really like Margaret Atwood's characters, so I can't wait to read more of her books
    Yes; 'Oryx and Crake' is actually the precursor to 'The Year of the Flood'.

    Oh, and 'The Handmaid's Tale' is better than both of the aforementioned books.
  5. Obsidian's Avatar
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    Re: The Literary Society
    Bought Carol Ann Duffy's 'The World's Wife' today
    Cannot resist bookshops
  6. Demon_AS's Avatar
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    Re: The Literary Society
    (Original post by Obsidian)
    Bought Carol Ann Duffy's 'The World's Wife' today
    Cannot resist bookshops
    Ha, I actually quite liked that particular collection.

    Mrs. Sisyphus, as I recall, made me laugh.
  7. Obsidian's Avatar
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    Re: The Literary Society
    (Original post by Demon_AS)
    Ha, I actually quite liked that particular collection.

    Mrs. Sisyphus, as I recall, made me laugh.
    I studied 'Anne Hathaway' and 'Salome' as part of my GCSE and I read 'Queen Herod' yesterday.
    Looks like Mrs. Sisyphus is next on my list then Seems like a book I'd love to bring with me to Uni (if I get the grades )
  8. Demon_AS's Avatar
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    Re: The Literary Society
    (Original post by Obsidian)
    I studied 'Anne Hathaway' and 'Salome' as part of my GCSE and I read 'Queen Herod' yesterday.
    Looks like Mrs. Sisyphus is next on my list then Seems like a book I'd love to bring with me to Uni (if I get the grades )
    Salome was excellent. I don't recall Anne Hathaway all that much - but I remember some clever metaphors relating to language.

    I enjoyed most of the poems, to be honest. The tongue-in-cheek stab at male dominance was cleverly done.
  9. Obsidian's Avatar
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    Re: The Literary Society
    (Original post by Demon_AS)
    Salome was excellent. I don't recall Anne Hathaway all that much - but I remember some clever metaphors relating to language.

    I enjoyed most of the poems, to be honest. The tongue-in-cheek stab at male dominance was cleverly done.
    It is a really good idea and she exploits it well.
  10. Norfolkadam's Avatar
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    • Location: Bristol.
    Re: The Literary Society
    Just bought The Children of Men by P.D. James in the £2 bookshop. Excited to start it on the bus home!
  11. Abiraleft's Avatar
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    Re: The Literary Society
    (Original post by Skaði)
    I'm looking into more books of his, though I don't think any can ever top One Hundred Years of Solitude.
    Sorry really should have replied to this earlier. You should try Chronicle of a Death Foretold. It's probably my favourite book by him. :yep: One Hundred Years of Solitude is also - well, pretty much perfect but the former is also incredibly well-crafted.

    Have you read much other magic realism? I just need to go an finish off Isabel Allende's House of the Spirits, but I remember not being too impressed. It was fairly good and enjoyable, but I really didn't feel it went any way towards fulfilling all the hype around it. Not a patch on Marquez, certainly.
  12. Obsidian's Avatar
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    Re: The Literary Society
    I am half-way through Kazuo Ishiguro's 'The Unconsoled'. A very strange book, interesting plot and it definitely looks like the mystery will not be cleared up until the very end.
  13. Norfolkadam's Avatar
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    • Location: Bristol.
    Re: The Literary Society
    Wow finished The Children of Men walking down the street under my umbrella on the way home. I had to know how it finishes and it was either that or staying on the bus all the way to UWE.

    What a great book, I loved how the dystopian elements weren't hammed up and how it was all quite believable and balanced. The movie looks to be much more violent and extreme.
  14. Joist's Avatar
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    Re: The Literary Society
    Hey guys, first post in this thread.

    Just finished my English Lit degree the other week! Currently reading the prose edition of The Odyssey with a view to re-reading Ulysses afterwards; we had a whole module on Joyce this year and the man is just a total, one-off genius. Went to Dublin with a couple of mates a few months ago and recreated the Ulysses journeys, and joined a reading of 'The Dead' in Sweeney's which was great. Obviously bought some lemon soap.

    Anyway, besides that, being able to read for pleasure now, my to-read list is as long as my arm. I've started Fitzgerald's This Side of Paradise as well. Pretty high on the to-read list are some Murakami and some David Mitchell, the latter I've studied a little this year and really enjoyed but by many accounts, he is in many respects inferior to Murakami. There's easily 20 books that I'm equally as excited about reading, but have no idea how to choose where to start. Ulysses will take most of the summer though I imagine.
  15. weenomz's Avatar
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    Re: The Literary Society
    Hi everyone, as you can probably tell, I'm new to this thread, (only joined the society 10 minutes ago, and hope I am allowed in lol).

    I absolutely love Literature, and I am currently going into my final year (eek!) of my undergraduate degree - BA Hons English with Education.

    I have been a "bookworm" for as long as I can remember, and some of my favourite authors include:

    -Jane Austen (classic)
    -The Bronte Sisters (again, classic)
    -Nicholas Sparks
    -JK Rowling (love the HP books!)
    -Suzanne Collins
    -Daphne Du Maurier (in particular, Rebecca)
    -Trisha Ashley
    -Bram Stoker (Dracula)
    -Katie Fforde
    -Jane Costello
    -Jodi Picoult
    -Dorothy Koomson
    and many, many, many more! (Too many to list!)

    Oh, and I am currently reading Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen.


  16. KingMessi's Avatar
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    Re: The Literary Society
    (Original post by weenomz)
    Hi everyone, as you can probably tell, I'm new to this thread, (only joined the society 10 minutes ago, and hope I am allowed in lol).

    I absolutely love Literature, and I am currently going into my final year (eek!) of my undergraduate degree - BA Hons English with Education.

    I have been a "bookworm" for as long as I can remember, and some of my favourite authors include:

    -Jane Austen (classic)
    -The Bronte Sisters (again, classic)
    -Nicholas Sparks
    -JK Rowling (love the HP books!)
    -Suzanne Collins
    -Daphne Du Maurier (in particular, Rebecca)
    -Trisha Ashley
    -Bram Stoker (Dracula)
    -Katie Fforde
    -Jane Costello
    -Jodi Picoult
    -Dorothy Koomson
    and many, many, many more! (Too many to list!)

    Oh, and I am currently reading Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen.


    Hi.

    How are you finding 'Sense and Sensibility'? That, and 'Mansfield Park' are the only two Austen novels I haven't read thus far. I appreciate Austen's technical writing abilities but find her novels rather conservative and dull. I've been listening to all of the HP books on audiobook over the last fortnight for nostalgia's sake - begun 'Order of the Phoenix' this evening. :love:

    What did you think of 'The Hunger Games'?

    I haven't read 'Dracula', but it's high up my list...
  17. weenomz's Avatar
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    • Location: N.I.
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    Hi

    So far, I love Sense and Sensibility . Hated Mansfield Park - studied it for A level, and just found it so dull!

    Loved The Hunger Games - read all three in a day and a half lol

    Dracula is good - don't be put off if you find the beginning a tad boring - it soon gets better
  18. Obsidian's Avatar
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    Re: The Literary Society
    Just finished 'The Unconsoled' by Kazuo Ishiguro. Well, that was weird but interesting! It is certainly different from anything I have read before.
  19. Abiraleft's Avatar
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    Re: The Literary Society
    (Original post by Obsidian)
    Just finished 'The Unconsoled' by Kazuo Ishiguro. Well, that was weird but interesting! It is certainly different from anything I have read before.
    Been meaning to read Ishiguro for a while now. Have you read any of his other stuff? I've got A Pale View of The Hills and Nocturnes.
  20. Obsidian's Avatar
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    Re: The Literary Society
    (Original post by Abiraleft)
    Been meaning to read Ishiguro for a while now. Have you read any of his other stuff? I've got A Pale View of The Hills and Nocturnes.
    I have read 'Never Let Me Go' and bought 'The Unconsoled' from a charity shop - probably wouldn't have picked it up otherwise! He has a certain style but reading up on 'The Unconsoled', it is different from his other works.
    I believe that 'A Pale View of The Hills' was his first novel but I'm not entirely sure Certainly give him a go :cool:
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