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UKL Literature Society (UKL E/LitSoc)

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Reply 220

Acid_Rain

legalbeagle

any hardcore hardy fans?
I love him!

He's great for passing the time on long train journeys :biggrin:

Far from the Madding Crowd is my favourite of his novels.

Reply 221

Lil !*!

I'm distantly related to Thomas Hardy if thats of any intrest....

Reply 222

Everdawn

look what happens when I get bored of my Litertuer assignment, I start taking the mickey out of it! :rolleyes:

I wrote this a minute ago, i think i need to take a break...

My first impression of Kill Bill was that it was a cheesy rip-off of little Japan karate movies thrown into a blender with the likes of a dirt-cheap pirate copy of Legally Blonde 2 imported from Saigon.

my oh my...

Reply 223

Specialheffa

symun

Has anybody here read any Yann Martel? 'Life of Pi' being the most obvious, but 'Self' being worth note as well. Strange, graphic book, which fullfilled all my expectations from the hazy reviews i'd read.

At the moment i'm reading 'Brave New World' by Huxley. It seems somehow more modern than i expected it to be considering when it was wirtten. A pleasant surprise. The actual novel itself seems to be a little slow starting.

Anywho, enough of that. Lets go back further... does anyone like Milton? Book IX, 'Paradise Lost' - the joy of my AS level English.

Further... Old English literature? Beowulf, Sir Gawain etc. The roots of the language!

I loved Brave New World, preferred it to 1984.. superb writing, some what simplistic but the change in narratives is perfectly apt to the conformist atmosphere presented in the book...

Reply 224

Specialheffa

Been on holiday and managed to finish Toni Morrison's - Beloved and read in its superb entirety Mikhail Bulgakov's The Master and The Margarita....

WHAT A FANTASTIC BOOK!! Could not put it down, and now on the charge for his other works....
Also about to read, Kafka - The Trial and Steppenwolf

Reply 225

drago di giada

Oh hey guess what.. Brideshead finally came in! bad part.. I can't go get it until friday. :frown:

Oh well.
Sad thing here... I've never heard of over half the authors you're talking about here.. :eek:

And I thought I was a bookworm.. I think I've some reading I need to do.
Oh, I just started a new book, its called "See No Evil" its about a retired CIA agent and how the whitehouse thwarted the CIA's efforts to stop 911, and after it happened, to catch those responsible for it. GOOOOOD book.
Another thing, those of you who've read "Pride and Prejudice" how did you like it?

Reply 226

Specialheffa

drago di giada

Oh hey guess what.. Brideshead finally came in! bad part.. I can't go get it until friday. :frown:

Oh well.
Sad thing here... I've never heard of over half the authors you're talking about here.. :eek:

I really enjoyed P&P - my first book of Jane Austen. I had not read alot of this period, but found it incredibly moving and the characters superbly developed.... will read Bronte - Wuthering Heights.

Reply 227

drago di giada

Specialheffa

I really enjoyed P&P - my first book of Jane Austen. I had not read alot of this period, but found it incredibly moving and the characters superbly developed.... will read Bronte - Wuthering Heights.

Have you read "Animal Farm?" if so, could you possibly explain to me the reason everyone loves it so much? From what I've heard of it, its quite... I don't remember the words exactly, but something along the lines of barbaric.. or.. um.. extremely sad. One or the other, I haven't read it yet, and I'm debating on whether or not I want to.

Reply 228

Specialheffa

drago di giada

Yep i have read it.. i wouldn't call it barbaric.. sad- possibly since it is a critique of society and the power bases/governments..

Written as a allegory/critique (fuelled by Orwell's own disillusionment) of Soviet/Communist governments, the story is quite ingenious.
I think any book is worth reading, even if it turns out not so good.. least you can then have an opinion on it, which subsequently will enhance further reading.

But in short, i enjoyed the book and it was a very perceptive of the manipulation to gain power, and the lengths to go to maintain it and of course totalitarianism- even if it means sacrificing your own people (or pigs in this case!)...

Read it... (it is not a major favourite of mine, i just to advise to read it, although i would not advocate it to be a supreme great)...

Reply 229

grace

Specialheffa

I loved beloved...i read it years ago, but i remember being enthralled. The trial is good, but i still don't think you can beat the all-time Kafka classic Metamorphosis...and as far as Steppenwolf goes, it's a book which seriously altered the way i view the world. Brilliant, amazing, 5 stars etc etc. If you can, get the penguin edition which has a forward by Hesse himself; just the forward is enough to send shivers down your spine! Let me know how you liked it!

Reply 230

drago di giada

Specialheffa

Read it... (it is not a major favourite of mine, i just to advise to read it, although i would not advocate it to be a supreme great)...

I'll keep that in mind. Right now I'm waiting on Brideshead Revisited. I was told it was excellent and I "must read it." So.. once I can pick that one up, and read it.. I'll be sure to get Animal Farm. Although I'm definitly not a big fan of communism.
If you haven't read A Farewell to Arms.. I highly suggest reading it. Oh.. also Of Mice and Men.
If you're into plays.. The Glass Menagerie was an excellent play, heehee.. :redface:

I even cried.. :redface:

Reply 231

Specialheffa

drago di giada

I even cried.. :redface:

Of Mice and Men - very good book. However, i believe Grapes of Wrath is much superior and deeper: extremely moving.
Glass Menagerie i studied for AS and did enjoy it very much, although i preferred a Streetcar Named Desire, again really developed structure and characters.
Also, if that American Dream era is interesting to you, then the next step i would say is the Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? by Albee. A step forward from the American Dream.

Reply 232

grace

Specialheffa

Also, if that American Dream era is interesting to you, then the next step i would say is the Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? by Albee. A step forward from the American Dream.

i saw the play of that...it was soooo bad. Much better as a book!

Reply 233

Specialheffa

grace

i saw the play of that...it was soooo bad. Much better as a book!

Did you see the version at the National Theatre, with Glenn Close as Blanche? If it's that one i'm surprised, i quite enjoyed although i was critical of some OTT acting (Miss Close)...

Great inventive staging...

Reply 234

Acid_Rain

Specialheffa

I went to see that & thought the production was really good. My only problem was that Glenn Close was just too old to play Blanche... the character is supposed to be in her early thirties and she's 50+ I think.

Reply 235

grace

Specialheffa

no, i saw the Court Theatre's production of it whilst i was in New Zealand...shame it was so bad really, i really enjoyed the book

Reply 236

Specialheffa

Acid_Rain

Exactly. Plus on the night we went, the actress playing Stella was not the first choice, it was her stand in; and you could definitiely see her lack of confidence, especially up against Glenn Close.

Reply 237

Everdawn

ok im really tearing my hair out here.

Can anyone recommend any modern theorists on:
Postmodernism
feminists >> Ive already done Kristevas theory of Abjection and Simone de Beauviour's The Second Sex...

IM really desparate,

im aplying them to Kill Bill and Medea, odd mix I know. But hey.

Reply 238

Weejimmie

drago di giada

I'll be sure to get Animal Farm. Although I'm definitly not a big fan of communism.

Nor was Orwell. actually, Orwell's essays are his best work- get a selection of them.

Reply 239

Weejimmie

Everdawn

Desperate? You're doolally!

im aplying them to Kill Bill and Medea, odd mix I know. But hey.

de Beauvoir wasn't a postmodernist anyway. About her only virtue. Read Sokal & Bricmont: Impostures Intellectuelles. Saves you bothering with most pm.