morning star shine, the earth says hello!

babypinkcandygirl · Post by **babypinkcandygirl** » 06 Sep 2007, 23:22

this is my 3rd attempt at an intro (i keep knocking wrong button i think...unless they all end up coming up at once and i end up looking like a right plonker) anyway im 25 and from england,i read anything and everything-at least 3 books a week or i go insane-and theres not much i wont consider. im currently in the middle of a literature degree and enjoying all the classics but im prone to reading really trashy novels as and when the mood takes me. oh and i love reading cook books in bed.

my favourite book ever is bill bryson's notes from a small island (mainly cos of the bit where he unknowingly walks around dover with underpants on his head, but i like his portrait of grumpy old english people too. they really are like that!) oh and i cried at the end of the lord of the rings trilogy..theres 203 hours im never gonna get back! seriously just watch the films people...

oh and people keep telling me to read norman mailer so does anybody know a good place to start? xx

sleepydumpling · Post by **sleepydumpling** » 07 Sep 2007, 02:35

Welcome!!

I haven't read that Bryson yet, but I do love his work.

Sofia · Post by **Sofia** » 07 Sep 2007, 13:43

hello there!

awelker · Post by **awelker** » 07 Sep 2007, 14:02

Hello and Welcome!

babypinkcandygirl · Post by **babypinkcandygirl** » 07 Sep 2007, 18:44

i think bryson is amazing! if youve ever been to england you'll just get what he means when he describes us. i would definitely start with notes from a small island (but then i am english!) my first was the book he wrote about his trekl along the apalachian trail (did i spell that right? i guess its pretty famous in america?) it was surprisingly good.

im definitely gonna read notes from down under next though, i cant wait.

sleepydumpling · Post by **sleepydumpling** » 07 Sep 2007, 22:48

A Walk in the Woods was the first book of his I have read too. Down Under (sometimes known as A Sunburnt Country) is brilliant, though he's a little harsh on Queensland!

I am about to take an 11 week trip in the US and Canada, and one of the books I'm taking is I'm A Stranger Here Myself. I have an autographed copy of The Thunderbolt Kid, I met Bill earlier this year when he was out here promoting it.

Dori · Post by **Dori** » 09 Sep 2007, 10:36

babypinkcandygirl wrote:oh and i cried at the end of the lord of the rings trilogy..theres 203 hours im never gonna get back! seriously just watch the films people...

It's never enough to just watch the films. The book is always better.

Welcome

.

sleepydumpling · Post by **sleepydumpling** » 09 Sep 2007, 12:32

Actually I found the books SOOOOO hard to read. The movies in this case made it all much more palatable. Sometimes a good director does just get it right.

babypinkcandygirl · Post by **babypinkcandygirl** » 10 Sep 2007, 06:42

i agree, its was pretty much this happened and then that happened and then another thing happened... it was so frustrating!! to be honest it put me off the genre for life so if anyone has any recommendations to restore my faith in be my guest

awelker · Post by **awelker** » 10 Sep 2007, 09:16

I to hated the LOTR series. It took me over a month to read the first on of the series and I dreaded it. But i just wouldn't stop. I am the type of person that once i start a book I am going to finish it. So I did finish it but i will probably never pick the books up ever agian. I hated them with a burning passion.

sleepydumpling · Post by **sleepydumpling** » 11 Sep 2007, 02:20

I didn't so much hate them as simply find them so wordy and difficult to read that I couldn't actually get caught up in the story and enjoy them. I think the story is very, very good, it just gets far too wordy and that diminishes the joy of the tale, you know?

awelker · Post by **awelker** » 11 Sep 2007, 14:31

i get what you are saying but i hate them. I can't help it. Just not my forte.

Dori · Post by **Dori** » 11 Sep 2007, 17:36

sleepydumpling wrote:I didn't so much hate them as simply find them so wordy and difficult to read that I couldn't actually get caught up in the story and enjoy them. I think the story is very, very good, it just gets far too wordy and that diminishes the joy of the tale, you know?

He was a university professor. I prefer wordy to over-simplified any day! Besides, his other works, mainly those regarding the History of Middle-Earth, are more "wordy" than LoTR. I believe watching the movie first diminishes more from the tale than it's verboseness.

sleepydumpling · Post by **sleepydumpling** » 12 Sep 2007, 02:32

I've read a lot of work by university professors that is much lovelier of language than Tolkien.

Simplicity can be a thing of beauty, and it's actually a lot harder to achieve well than a lot of florid language. Some of the most joyous books I've read have had the most uncluttered, flowing language that seems incredibly simple, but it's a skill to create that illusion. Tim Winton springs to mind. As does Frank McCourt. Both make you feel like you are just sitting being told stories in person with their writing, because they are so effortless and flowing to read, yet there is a very detailed and subtle skill to their work.

Wordy and florid language does not necessarily equal good writing.