Restricted Section: Term XXVI - Read, Reading, To Read

[sanalith.livejournal.com]

Activity: Read, Reading, To Read
Points: 10 points for your initial comment, 2 points for every substantial response, max 30 points
Deadline: August 30 @ 11:59PM UTC (Timezone Converter)

Details: Since this will be my only activity of Term XXVI, I wanted to both do something relatively simple AND take the opportunity to get to know you guy, so we're going to have a discussion post about our recent reading habits. For your initial comment, write at least 150 words talking about books you've recently read, are currently reading, and/or what you plan to read next. You can talk about any aspect of the books you wish, but some ideas would be why you selected the books, what you liked/didn't like about them, whether you'd recommend them to others, etc. For your responses, you'll need to write at least 50 words. Make sure you're saying something more than, "I read that book and liked/hated it!" Try to open a dialogue about what was good or bad, or even why you chose NOT to read it. Anything goes, as long as there's substance to it.

If you have any questions, direct them to the appropriate thread. As always, don't forget to sign each comment with your name/house or a sigtag.

Also, do remember that I wiped the roster clean, so if you have bonus items, make sure you register them HERE as soon as possible to earn your extra points. I won't be giving grace periods, so please double-check that you're good to go!

Comments

[passerine.livejournal.com]

Just finished (for the millionth, bajillionth time) "Howl" by Allen Ginsberg. I first read it in Intro to Poetry in university and I was the only one in the class who didn't hate it. I'm really fond of the Beats in general, but particularly Ginsberg. His energy is something that really resonates with me, and his seeming inability to end a sentence reminds me of myself (I have so many words to make up this thought I have and this thought is really damn important so I'm not sure where to stop - I really want you to get the point I'm trying to make here!). What I like about "Howl" is how blunt and descriptive it is; Ginsberg describes the "best minds of [his] generation", his close friends and other artists in his community, in the longest section of the poem, and goes into detail about their sexual debauchery, drug use, and experiences in mental institutions. I keep coming back to "Howl" when I feel disillusionment with the world - technology, greed, money, etc. - because it goes deeply into the same kinds of things, but it ends on a positive, hopeful note. It just gets me in a way that no poetry has before or since.

I'm just about to start reading "Veronika Decides to Die" by Paulo Coehlo. I'd already be reading it but it's taking forever to make it to the hold shelf at my library. A lot of my friends are really big Coehlo fans and have recommended him to me for the longest time, but for some unknown reason, I've never bothered to check out any of his work... until now, of course. A complete stranger on the internet recommended it to me and I looked it up - the synopsis was so interesting that I couldn't pass it up. I'm really interested in works that focus on psychological and emotional issues, and this seems perfect for that.

As for books I want to read in the future... "Last Exit To Brooklyn" by Hubert Selby Jr. I don't really know much about the writing style or anything, but it sounds totally interesting. Again, another book about people with flaws and how they go about their lives. The reason I haven't picked this one up yet is because I'm afraid of how life-ruining it might be. Based on the summary, it's hard to see how this could have anything resembling a happy ending, and I have to go into those kind of stories prepared for that (I'm secretly very emotional, you see).

Julia // Slytherin

[bowl-of-glow.livejournal.com]

Someone gave me Like the Flowing River by Coelho a few years ago, saying it was such a great book and I would certainly like it. I couldn’t even finish it, and it was during a phase in which I read pretty much everything and would finish a book even if I didn’t like it all that much! I can’t even remember why, it just… wasn’t doing it for me. I haven’t read anything else by Coelho since then. Maybe I would appreciate him a bit more now, I don’t know. He just seems a bit… pretentious? It’s a feeling I can’t quite shake off.

(Totally off topic, but have you been resorted? I thought you were in Gryffindor? But I do get confused at times, if you've Always been a snake just ignore me!)

Giulia | Ravenclaw | #02

[passerine.livejournal.com]

I'll definitely keep that in mind about Coehlo. Hopefully it was just the one book because this one sounds interesting.

And yep, my appeal went through last week. You aren't imagining things, lol.

[queer-theory.livejournal.com]

I'd love to know what you end up thinking of Veronika Decides To Die. I've only seen the film, and I came away from that unable to decide whether or not I liked it. I've considered reading the book, but I wonder if it would leave me with the same strange feeling.

Heather/Hufflepuff/5

[passerine.livejournal.com]

I didn't know it was a film!

I'll definitely make a post about it when I finally do get around to reading it. Is it alright to send a friend request?

[queer-theory.livejournal.com]

It's totally alright. I'll friend you back too. :D

The film stars Sarah Michelle Gellar and David Thewlis (Thewlis being the reason I wanted to see it).

[passerine.livejournal.com]

Okay, maybe I'll bump it up on my reading list and then watch the film. Interesting.... very interesting.

[erzsebet.livejournal.com]

You know, I've owned Veronika Decides to Die for over a year, on the recommendation of a friend, and I still don't think I've finished it. The synopsis is definitely interesting, though. I had bought it for a long bus ride (like, full 24 hours Dx) and ended up reading about halfway through, sleeping the rest of the time, and forgetting it since. When you finish you should let me know if it's worth re-reading/finishing. XD

Liz | Gryffindor

[evening12]

Howl is one of my favourite poems! Okay, I don't read that much poetry but that's still fine. I like it best when it's read out loud though. I rarely like anything to be read out loud but for some reason it works very well with this poem. I also first learned of it in university, in my Intro to English class. Our prof read the poem and it just felt good. I didn't catch on to what mots of it was about but just the tempo of it felt good.

Martine//claw

[passerine.livejournal.com]

You should look up Ginsberg's own reading of it. He has a really long breath so it sounds a lot more natural when he reads it versus when my prof (who had a shorter breath) read it to us. It was a game changer for me - the emotions and power that you've read in the words come out so much more out loud, and especially when Ginsberg is the one saying them (in my opinion, of course).

Julia // Slytherin

[evening12]

*nods nods* I lucked out. My professor read it the way it was meant to be read. With those long endless sentences all in one breath.



Martine//claw

[wasureneba.livejournal.com]

There are people who don't like Howl? :( :( It's such a gorgeous, gorgeous piece of work. I tend to dislike the Beats, for a very long list of reasons, but I really enjoy Ginsberg.

Anieclaw

[passerine.livejournal.com]

It seems most people dislike the Beats, but I'm really fond of them. I understand why people don't like them, though, and I think the criticisms are valid (of course, most of the criticisms I hear are, "Julia, you only like them because you're a hipster" and I don't think that's a very valid one, personally).

I kind of got into the Beats in the same way Ginsberg found himself there (this is incredibly loose and really reaching, I'll admit). In the same poetry class I mentioned before, we read A LOT of Whitman and I fell in love with him another one everyone else hated maybe I am a hipster I also like Dickens sooooo. From there, I got really, really into Ginsberg and Kerouac, and others slowly started to endear themselves to me and now I just love them all for different reasons.

Julia // Slytherin

[wasureneba.livejournal.com]

Ha, that's so odd to me -- I grew up in a place where everyone loved the Beats, like Kerouac was this god. And since I now live in the SF Bay area, there's definitely a ton of Beats lover. (Calling the hipster argument not a very valid one is being kind to it, I think. The criticisms about sexism and misogyny are the ones that affect me, and they're the reasons why I tend not to enjoy the Beats as much.)

I like what I've read of Whitman; Dickens is good when I'm in the mood for long-windedness.

Anieclaw

[passerine.livejournal.com]

Those things actually bother me a lot too, and I'm not entirely sure why I'm able to look past them. I don't think "yes, these are the best ideas and I am very socially inspired by them", but I like the style in general and a lot of other ideas they present (like homosexuality, alternate views of "the Human Condition", etc).

I can definitely imagine a lot of Beat lovers in SF. Not so much here in Toronto (not that there aren't any, but I guess they're kind of passe for the English major douchebags at UofT - they also thought Sylvia Plath was overrated). Honestly, a lot of it I think has to do with the attitude here in Toronto. This city so desperately wants to be world-class and the next NYC, so people here roll their eyes at "the classics", etc and uggghhh how am I the hipster one in that situation? lol

I had another point but I totally lost it, sorry, haha.

Julia // Slytherin