That's one of my all-time favorite books. Of course it's slow; Dostoevsky is always slow. However, I suggest reading it again. No, scratch that. Read The Legend of the Grand Inquisitor again. It's Dostoevsky's crowning achievement in denouncing Russian communists, and very prophetic. Then go read the story right before that about the peasant boy torn apart by dogs. If you like that, go back and read the book because it has gems of ideas buried in a narrative that is on its face somewhat trivial.
Regarding Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code, I know it has become standard fare in the realm of hyperbole to say "one dimensional characters," but technically his characters (or anyone else's) are "two dimensional" if you are trying to put them down.
Regarding Dan Brown's Da Vinci Code, I know it has become standard fare in the realm of hyperbole to say "one dimensional characters," but technically his characters (or anyone else's) are "two dimensional" if you are trying to put them down.
This is the part I don't understand. I was being nice when I said they had any dimension at all. but that's only since the plot elements they are can be more or less upset. Can't see that they have any other
"People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world" - Calvin.
So...what books DON'T you like?
06/09/2009 04:57:28 AM
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I have a couple I really disliked
06/09/2009 05:28:38 AM
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Some examples
07/09/2009 08:25:37 PM
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You think Battlefield Earth is bad, try reading his Mission Earth series. *NM*
08/09/2009 02:09:22 AM
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I read those in high school. I liked them. Stupid comic escapism. *NM*
08/09/2009 02:18:31 AM
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I read them when I was in high school too...at least the first 3 or 4
08/09/2009 02:47:12 AM
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Re: I read them when I was in high school too...at least the first 3 or 4
08/09/2009 04:18:07 PM
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Re: I read them when I was in high school too...at least the first 3 or 4
08/09/2009 06:26:00 PM
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No, thanks. I think all my masochism got spent on Terry Goodkind *NM*
08/09/2009 07:25:41 PM
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Political polemics, for one. Utopian novels, for another.
06/09/2009 05:29:54 AM
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I don't have enough hours in the day to detail this or something even worse
06/09/2009 05:45:35 AM
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Oh, a lot of things. But I wonder.
06/09/2009 07:00:34 AM
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Re: Oh, a lot of things. But I wonder.
06/09/2009 07:05:51 AM
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Oh plenty
06/09/2009 09:37:23 AM
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I hated Wuthering Heights more than Jane Eyre, but I hated Jane Eyre, too. *NM*
06/09/2009 02:54:49 PM
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I like all books I have ever read.
06/09/2009 12:09:51 PM
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You hated The Brothers Karamazov?
06/09/2009 02:59:16 PM
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Umm, yeah.
06/09/2009 03:28:30 PM
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Canterbury Tales by Chaucer. In Ye Olde English, it's harder to translate than ancient Greek. *NM*
06/09/2009 05:07:49 PM
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The Canterbury Tales are not Old English. They are Middle English.
06/09/2009 05:59:59 PM
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Indeed, translating old english, and reading middle english are very very different
06/09/2009 07:11:13 PM
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As I'm translating some ancient Greek right now, I call bullshit on that. *NM*
06/09/2009 08:45:46 PM
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I was going to, but I felt I had already been pedantic enough. *NM*
07/09/2009 02:34:04 AM
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The Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M. Auel
06/09/2009 05:58:39 PM
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Catcher in the Rye and Heart of Darkness, among the "classics." *NM*
06/09/2009 08:15:12 PM
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Vellum by Hal Duncan and The Years of Rice and Salt by Kim Stanley Robinson
06/09/2009 08:16:12 PM
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Dubliners and A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
06/09/2009 08:24:07 PM
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I liked a Portrait of the Artist, personally, though the (lack of real) punctuation grated *NM*
07/09/2009 12:18:50 AM
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I didn't mind Portrait of the Artist as a Young Dog...I mean Man
07/09/2009 02:40:14 AM
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What?
06/09/2009 08:28:17 PM
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Oh, and maybe it was lost on me, but I never got much joy out of War and Peace
07/09/2009 12:22:48 AM
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Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norell.
07/09/2009 12:54:41 AM
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Don't flame me for saying it....
07/09/2009 04:49:40 AM
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One last one: Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley *NM*
07/09/2009 07:44:48 AM
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Have you ever seen the mini-series?
07/09/2009 05:42:45 PM
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Never have I seen such good acting in such a dreadful movie/mini-series.
07/09/2009 05:44:47 PM
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I love really really bad TV movies sometimes....they make for lots of laughter
07/09/2009 06:06:38 PM
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Actually, you might like it. As in, think it's good.
07/09/2009 06:11:14 PM
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I had a couple of issues with the book that I could easily see being removed from the movie
07/09/2009 07:01:40 PM
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A Confederacy of Dunces.
08/09/2009 06:13:59 AM
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Crap. That's two people now.
09/09/2009 01:42:40 AM
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Hitchickers guide to the galaxy and The Good earth by Pearl S. Buck
09/09/2009 01:07:01 AM
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