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Really, you'd be surprised (but maybe, then again, not so surprised) at how "verbally challenged" a lot of people are, comprehensive reading being in steep decline, in no small part due to the ascendency of "tech".
I daresay there are not a few folks that despite being otherwise intelligent would have trouble recognizing (never mind "deciphering") the whimsical compounding of two prosaic words.
There is a mention of Tolkien inside on a specific point, so we can name it "Tolkien related" but it's not about that. This is inspired by the same sources as LOTR and inspired by LOTR. Some claims go much further.
This is the first part. If somebody is familiar with this and knows where can we get numbers 2, 3, and 4, PM me. I read the second part many years ago but would like to read it again. Can find it nowhere.
Warning, not for children's eyes. And warning, titles like "October 30." or "October 30. in Minsk" ARE NOT the second part. They are just different names for the first part.
It's been a while since anyone's responded, but I really like this thread, so I'll go next.
I'm currently reading Descartes' Meditation on First Philosophy like the philosophy nerd I am. I also realized that the whole idea of nothing being new (i.e. everything "new" we come up with/imagine is just a rearrangement of different parts of things that were before) has a very Ent-like vibe to it. Does anyone else see that?
A 2022 German book about the current Freemasons, Rosicrucianists, Kabbalists and some smaller, obscurer orders like modern Druids. Some history on the first two, and that there's a lot of wild, and wildly off, speculation about them. Nowadays percolating around the Internet, natch, especially on sites by nutter conspiracy theorists.
Orwell's 1984, started it a few days ago when I encountered its world map which was very intriguing.
About halfway in now and the current 'subplot' is taking a bit too long as far as I'm concerned. Part One was exquisite though.
Playing Atomic Heart at the same time which is also an alt history work, set in the soviet union however. But it's only helped in appreciating the story through different mediums.
I've always liked reading about communism so getting to somewhat delve deeper into the idea (however much is possible through non fiction) is still pretty pleasing.
Currently reading Jon Krakauer's Into the Wild, since I'm also teaching it to 2 of my classes. I'm fascinated by the story of Chris McCandless and there are some things I admire, but I mostly think he was an overly prideful fool. Then again, aren't we all to some extent?
Anyway, the writing is very engaging and it is giving me the travel bug big time (my wife and I both love to travel and be outdoors, and we went out west for some awesome excursions a few years ago, but have been limited the past few years with our small children). Now I'm going to start looking at flights (sadly, "tramping" around and hitchhiking like Chris McCandless in the story isn't practical with the kids) and hope to go do some more exploring this summer!
In my literature class we’re reading “Great Expectations”, which I personally think is a real pain to read, but that could also be because the teacher is giving us a bunch of quizzes and in class essays on it which is very stressful. The start of it was…interesting to say the least but I must say, it is getting better as we go along into it so that’s good. Maybe it’s not so bad after all.
I had that assigned too, lo these many years ago. I'm not sure why that one has stuck in high school curricula for so long. I'd have thought David Copperfield more suitable -- but what do I know?
I went on a Dickens tear a few years ago, and enjoyed him then much more than I recall having done in school. I haven't gotten back around to GE again yet, though.
I had that assigned too, lo these many years ago. I'm not sure why that one has stuck in high school curricula for so long. I'd have thought David Copperfield more suitable -- but what do I know?
I went on a Dickens tear a few years ago, and enjoyed him then much more than I recall having done in school. I haven't gotten back around to GE again yet, though.
I'm not sure how any Dickens still makes it into high school curriculum (at least in the US, but I can see why it's historically important to keep in the UK curriculum). I love his work myself, but the thought of dragging my current teenage students (even the extremely motivated ones) through Dickens sounds terrible and would probably suck the joy out of it for me.
À propos of Charles Dickens, his "A Tale of Two Cities" may be the only English-language book to surpass LoTR in sales. However, the total book sales statistics seem to have notorious difficulties in producing reliable numbers, at least for older books. LoTR, with so many people apparently (and unnecessarily) confused between "trilogy" and "single book" (it's the latter, stupids!), seems to provide special problems for such "statisticians".
I enjoyed Dickens as a kid ( a bit of an outlier), but I didn't have to read it for school until I hit college (I was homeschooled and my mom was gracious and I didn't read very many books on assignment. I read a lot by myself).
Right now I'm starting the 2nd book in The Wheel of Time series. Definitely enjoyed the first one and I'm excited to be exploring another well vetted fantasy world for the first time. I couldn't help but make a ton of comparisons between WOT and LOTR. There were so many things that felt similar.
Right now I'm starting the 2nd book in The Wheel of Time series. Definitely enjoyed the first one and I'm excited to be exploring another well vetted fantasy world for the first time. I couldn't help but make a ton of comparisons between WOT and LOTR. There were so many things that felt similar.
I had the same thing happen when I read through em last year although I was kind of looking for it after I kept reading it was very lotr inspired during Amazon's WoT show's pre-release marketing.
Most of the similarities stopped for me after the first book, it really came into its own during the second book and onwards.
Anyway, enjoy!! Tarmon Gai'don comes!!
I had the same thing happen when I read through em last year although I was kind of looking for it after I kept reading it was very lotr inspired during Amazon's WoT show's pre-release marketing.
Most of the similarities stopped for me after the first book, it really came into its own during the second book and onwards.
Anyway, enjoy!! Tarmon Gai'don comes!!
What a coincident l also started re-read Wot book 2 for the umpteenth time. Also rereading sillmarrillion and children of Hurin, also notes from my travels by Angelina Jolie and the original Amazing spiderman omnibus.
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte.
About three quarters of the way through it.
My God, but Arthur Huntingdon is a first class rake, a most profligate villain!