Oxford 2011 Freshers Chat Thread

The best thing about the reading list is that it's proved to me that my sterling work ethic is still alive and well. "I really want some reading! Oh, here's the list... euuuughhh, reading. I'll do it tomorrow."

Weirdly, avoiding reading has thrown me into gardening which seems to be a thing amongst Oxford offer holders now? I dug up my potatoes two days ago and have been spending time looking at them admiringly, trying to avoid the inevitable moment when my father says, "Are you going to cook those or what?"

Did anyone else get a letter from Oxford saying they're going to receive the Eliahou Dangoor Scholarship?

Did anyone else get a letter from Oxford saying they're going to receive the Eliahou Dangoor Scholarship?

How much I read depends entirely on the average paragraph length of the book concerned. The one I'm getting through at the moment has ridiculously long paragraphs and my mind tells me "It's not worth the effort". If there were many little paragraphs it would trick me into thinking I was doing less work

"Scholars will be expected to write a report about their academic and social activities, and achievements at the University"

Sounds like forced employment to me.

I have rejected a book called The Two Cities because it's not about two cities... it's a filthy metaphor and metaphors have no place in History >=( ...it also happens to be the longest book on the list, which I'm sure has nothing to do with my dislike I'll probably be regretting my decision to spend my summer watching Harry Potter repeats and reading 1930s detective fiction come October...

I know what you mean, I discovered at A level that I can easily read huge quantities of short paragraphs and bullet points... Unfortunately, the further I go through, the fewer bullet points appear. One day, I'll write an Irish history textbook with bullet points... one day!

"Scholars will be expected to write a report about their academic and social activities, and achievements at the University"

Sounds like forced employment to me.

Completely off-topic:

I'm already starting to get withdrawal symptoms in advance of the fact that there's nowhere in Oxford to buy new comics. I am seriously considering a monthly day trip to central London to go to Orbital comics (and maybe whilst there visit FP, Gosh, and Comicana as well).

Completely off-topic:

I'm already starting to get withdrawal symptoms in advance of the fact that there's nowhere in Oxford to buy new comics. I am seriously considering a monthly day trip to central London to go to Orbital comics (and maybe whilst there visit FP, Gosh, and Comicana as well).

Do comics have ISBN or ISSNs? If so, pretty sure the Bodleian will be getting a copy.

Good question! The issue is less about access to comics, though (ebay ftw), and more about actually going to the comics shop and buying them. For the right person (me), there's a rare joy in being in a decent comics shop and just browsing (and leaving having spent way more than intended).

Did anyone else get a letter from Oxford saying they're going to receive the Eliahou Dangoor Scholarship?

I guess so. Googling suggests there's a second-hand bookshop that has comics, but it looks like it only has second-hand comics. I'm sure there's a comics society to join, though.

Yeah, I've had an email conversation with the owner of that second-hand place a few months ago, in which he confirmed that there's nowhere to buy new comics in Oxford. I hope there's a society!