tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343238.post4196145519498158033..comments2023-10-11T09:22:33.136-04:00Comments on Paperback Writer: The Never-Read LibraryUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger50125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343238.post-26050255312733814532013-03-31T15:27:25.680-04:002013-03-31T15:27:25.680-04:00I was reading adult books from the time I was 10, ...I was reading adult books from the time I was 10, back in the '60s, everything from literary works to James Bond, with science fiction like The Martian Chronicles thrown in for good measure. My parents didn't care what I read. I read Jane Eyre that year on my own. A few years later, I read it again as a 7th grade assignment. So when, junior year in high school, my English teacher assigned Jane Eyre, I'd had enough, despite loving the book. I told her I'd read it twice already, so she asked me if I'd ever read Thomas Hardy. When I said no, she assigned me to read and compare Far From the Madding Crowd and Return of the Native. I loved them so much that I went on and read The Mayor of Casterbridge and Tess of the D'Urbervilles on my own. I got bogged down in Jude the Obscure and never finished it. I keep meaning to go back and read it. Years later, I saw the movie Tess, which I loved, too.<br /><br />I have hundreds of books at home waiting to be read, of all genres, including a number of Russian classics. I really want to get to them, but their size is daunting. Plus, I just started Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series, which should keep me busy for quite a while. But I do want to read all the unread books I have. I just keep buying more, so that is likely an impossible goal to achieve. :)ShellyShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14183404615688013084noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343238.post-60808788400784322912013-03-17T16:13:18.277-04:002013-03-17T16:13:18.277-04:00I never could get into Caldwell at all, much to my...I never could get into Caldwell at all, much to my grandmother's disappointment. She was an intellectual into politics and other things that never appealed to me, however, and I think we just processed too differently.<br /><br />I may have to give Mary Stewart a try once I finish up all these classics I've never read (adding her to the list.) the authorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03220786472896283714noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343238.post-40046859632011727572013-03-17T16:00:06.035-04:002013-03-17T16:00:06.035-04:00I've watched various incarnations of The Chris...I've watched various incarnations of The Christmas Carol but never actually read the book, Anon. I liked the Bill Murray movie. :)<br /><br />I am determined to read Tess no matter what. The order has shipped so I should be able to take it with me this weekend when I go out of town for a couple days.the authorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03220786472896283714noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343238.post-35641393486996512522013-03-17T15:58:27.776-04:002013-03-17T15:58:27.776-04:00My grandmother so wanted me to get into her Civil ...My grandmother so wanted me to get into her Civil War books, Shawna, and I pretended to read those but just skimmed enough so that I could hold a conversation with her. I've always felt guilty for not loving them the way she did, but when I shut down my never-read library all those books will be staying on the shelves.<br /><br />All of my teachers were happy to see me move on to another class and I'm sure never spoke of me without spitting or swearing, but then, I probably deserved it.<br />the authorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03220786472896283714noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343238.post-49940043382222358712013-03-17T15:53:55.628-04:002013-03-17T15:53:55.628-04:00Part of my problem is I've always had issues w...Part of my problem is I've always had issues with authority figures, too. Someone who tells me I have to do something might be able in a position to force me to do it, but I lose all respect for them. I think mutual respect has to be part of the equation.the authorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03220786472896283714noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343238.post-11366802665140400992013-03-17T15:51:39.962-04:002013-03-17T15:51:39.962-04:00Isn't it funny how great teachers can motivate...Isn't it funny how great teachers can motivate us to want to read, and not so great teachers have the exact opposite effect? I had a bad run of English teachers in HS, too.the authorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03220786472896283714noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343238.post-33527951117582241412013-03-17T15:50:14.787-04:002013-03-17T15:50:14.787-04:00Is GWTW considered a classic yet? I don't rec...Is GWTW considered a classic yet? I don't recall the kids ever being assigned the book.the authorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03220786472896283714noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343238.post-32654063845600408732013-03-17T15:49:26.712-04:002013-03-17T15:49:26.712-04:00Faulkner is pretty dreadful; I think he was intoxi...Faulkner is pretty dreadful; I think he was intoxicated every time he sat down to write, and to me he could never get a handle on his vision of the story well enough to communicate it effectively to anyone else who wasn't in his head. Like Harper Lee he's one of those Southern heirloom writers we're taught to stand in awe of, so I've read just about everything he wrote. I mostly feel sorry for him; at times he seemed to have an amazing vision but he fought the words too much. <br /><br />You're much more practical than I am. I think I give myself reader guilt complexes. :)the authorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03220786472896283714noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343238.post-80395306787148456472013-03-17T15:41:14.941-04:002013-03-17T15:41:14.941-04:00I read the cover copy on Slaughterhouse Five at th...I read the cover copy on Slaughterhouse Five at the library and then very carefully put it back on the shelf; just the copy was enough to turn me off. I wish I'd done the same with a couple others people told me were amazing and turned out to be just the opposite.<br /><br />Never read Upton Sinclair, never tempted.<br /><br /><br /><br />the authorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03220786472896283714noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343238.post-841564566816357192013-03-17T15:38:35.104-04:002013-03-17T15:38:35.104-04:00I read the Hobbit in high school (voluntarily) and...I read the Hobbit in high school (voluntarily) and yawned through it. Never bothered with any other Tolkien. I did watch the first three movies to prescreen them for my kids, and liked all the neat special effects. the authorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03220786472896283714noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343238.post-5826576204982241022013-03-17T15:36:50.334-04:002013-03-17T15:36:50.334-04:00I think I gave it one or two tries myself. The fo...I think I gave it one or two tries myself. The fourteenth century was not a good era for easy reads, G.the authorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03220786472896283714noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343238.post-33157667002016864142013-03-17T15:35:40.980-04:002013-03-17T15:35:40.980-04:00I still try to read Ulysses once a year, Melisa. ...I still try to read Ulysses once a year, Melisa. I usually get about 20-50 pages in before I give up.<br /><br />You'd have a rant buddy here on Lord of the Flies; that one disgusted me beyond belief. the authorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03220786472896283714noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343238.post-34604392443518467062013-03-17T15:33:53.298-04:002013-03-17T15:33:53.298-04:00I still have nausea from Billy Budd, forty years l...I still have nausea from Billy Budd, forty years later. Post Melville Stress Disorder, I think.the authorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03220786472896283714noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343238.post-39128540328745952642013-03-17T15:32:58.266-04:002013-03-17T15:32:58.266-04:00It would be interesting to do a study on how the c...It would be interesting to do a study on how the classics resonate emotionally (if at all) with modern teens. My college kid actually liked Catcher in the Rye, which rather stunned me.<br /><br />Middlemarch is one of the books I keep promising myself I'm going to read someday. Must add that one to the list.the authorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03220786472896283714noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343238.post-73327453205461724382013-03-17T15:31:09.214-04:002013-03-17T15:31:09.214-04:00I missed Animal Farm; they didn't start assign...I missed Animal Farm; they didn't start assigning that one until after I graduated. I remember my younger sister banging her head into a wall while trying to read it, which kept me far far away.<br /><br />I admit, I've read a couple of Hemingway's short stories but none of his novels. It creeped me out to learn he killed himself a couple days before I was born, so I've avoided him. the authorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03220786472896283714noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343238.post-46392892742880543652013-03-17T15:30:45.892-04:002013-03-17T15:30:45.892-04:00I did try Caldwell. Couldn't get past the firs...I did try Caldwell. Couldn't get past the first few pages of the one I tried so that was it. I love Mary Stewart's fantasy stuff like the Merlin books. I'm not as big on her other things, but it might have been the frame of mind I was in when I was reading them. I still read the Merlin stuff occasionally.nightsmusichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05984119792540771870noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343238.post-7028062109433624882013-03-17T15:28:18.877-04:002013-03-17T15:28:18.877-04:00Excellent link, Susanne, thanks!Excellent link, Susanne, thanks!the authorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03220786472896283714noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343238.post-54432463086259525842013-03-17T15:28:02.287-04:002013-03-17T15:28:02.287-04:00I never did try Mary Stewart. Did you ever read T...I never did try Mary Stewart. Did you ever read Taylor Caldwell, Theo? My grandmother loved her, but I had a hard time getting into her books.the authorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03220786472896283714noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343238.post-82223230648272016782013-03-17T15:26:24.556-04:002013-03-17T15:26:24.556-04:00Whoa, that's a lot of reading to demand of a k...Whoa, that's a lot of reading to demand of a kid in so short a time. Our teachers gave us two weeks to a month to read our assigned books, and even then I thought that was too fast.the authorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03220786472896283714noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343238.post-76704588450670192762013-03-17T15:25:14.114-04:002013-03-17T15:25:14.114-04:00It's not going to be fun, but it'll be goo...It's not going to be fun, but it'll be good for me. <br /><br />I don't know anyone who hated Jane Eyre, do you?the authorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03220786472896283714noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343238.post-8539392909445963872013-03-17T15:23:47.755-04:002013-03-17T15:23:47.755-04:00A fellow poetry lover! I adored poetry in high sc...A fellow poetry lover! I adored poetry in high school; I couldn't get enough of it -- very well suited to me and my teen angsty years. Except Robert Burns. Burns was my poetic Moriarity, I couldn't stand him.the authorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03220786472896283714noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343238.post-51207534224488422252013-03-17T15:21:47.649-04:002013-03-17T15:21:47.649-04:00I do wonder if my new goal is just a big waste of ...I do wonder if my new goal is just a big waste of time, but I'm hoping I'll find a few jewels in among the swine. And maybe finally get over the mental scars left by high school compulsory reading.the authorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03220786472896283714noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343238.post-64383294397670145692013-03-17T15:19:10.054-04:002013-03-17T15:19:10.054-04:00You get two brownie points for watching Tess, Lynn...You get two brownie points for watching Tess, Lynn. :) I couldn't stand Catcher in the Rye; after everyone going on and on about how great that book was I was expecting so much more. It's the reason I never read Catch-22; the titles are too similar, lol.<br /><br /> the authorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03220786472896283714noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343238.post-72870640098524060552013-03-17T15:16:27.041-04:002013-03-17T15:16:27.041-04:00You are very well read. I loved the Count of Mont...You are very well read. I loved the Count of Monte Cristo; that is one of my favorite much-read classics. But I won't tell anyone you haven't read Harper Lee, Fran. We're all guilty of not having read something everyone else in the world has. For example, I've never read a single book by Agatha Christie. :) the authorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03220786472896283714noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8343238.post-13595261071871943972013-03-17T15:08:26.554-04:002013-03-17T15:08:26.554-04:00I had a lot of mixed feelings about The Martian Ch...I had a lot of mixed feelings about The Martian Chronicles, Raine. I really love Mr. Ray's writing; for me he was such a good technical fit that reading his work was effortless. What he chose to write about and how he told his stories didn't always make me happy, though. Sometimes -- no, to be honest, very often -- I wanted to argue with his books. And that's all I'll say about that to avoid spoilers, except this: I think the Chronicles are worth a read. :)the authorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03220786472896283714noreply@blogger.com