This one too is a little bulky, trying to lighten a bit. It was started by grasstains.

Just thought I'd throw this out there to give each of us, mainly me, a chance to talk about ourselves.

What book are you reading currently?
What book did you just finish?
What book will you read next?


I'm currently reading Dracula by Bram Stoker. I read it a long time ago but I'm trying to really get into the Halloween spirit this year by scarying myself and this is doing the trick! I consider this pure gothic horror at its best. I love his descriptive style and the plot is wondrous so far. I finished this morning reading Communion by Whitley Strieber which I picked up and could not put down, love aliens. It was definitely food for thought. I was also well into Mary Shelly's Frankenstein which I finished this afternoon. I considered it more of a tale of victorian macabre as opposed to out and out horror. I did love her premise and plot and her style was great in this one as well. I found one flaw in the tale that was difficult to overcome. It was the fact that the monster gained so much knowledge and fluidity of speech just from eaves dropping on a blind man and his family. He should have gone out and split the atom instead of a killing spree. The yellow eyes did scare me pretty well though. The whole arctic scenario was superb I thought. There was a profound undercurrent of sadness and melancholy running through the whole tale, and Shelly's life too in time. Next, I will finish The Count Of Monte Cristo.....I hope.

Reading: "The Night Country" by Stewart O'Nan (dedicated to RB, by the way).

Just finished: "Twilight Zone Scripts & Stories" by George Clayton Johnson. George said RB was one of his teachers back when he was writing these stories, and he would send them to him to critique. You can really see the Bradbury influence in these short, tight, simply written stories. Good, good.

Will next read: God - who knows? One of the multitudinous tomes piled up like in Burgess Meredith's stacks in "Time Enough at Last"! Will there ever really be time enough!?

Just finished: Betty Zane, by Zane Grey.

Currently reading: David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens.

"The Essential Calvin and Hobbes"

Running from Safety, Richard Bach
October Sky, Homer Hickman
Angela's Ashes, Frank McCourt
-------
Just finished Frankenstein, Mary Shelley
Big Fish, Daniel Wallace
Dandelion Wine & Illustrated Man, Mr. B
(Never enough time to read when teaching - papers, papers, ...)

BrII: Nice! Sad to say, but most youth today don't know Calvin and Hobbes (too may i-Pods and microchips). Our young boys love to sit in a big chair with one of us and flip from episode to episode. Amazing imagination on Waterson's part. It makes one feel like a kid again, a la RB: the bumps, scrapes, fears, joys, thrills, fevers, et al. With ironies and parallels that are so thought provoking and rib tickling. Ah, Spaceman Spiff -
http://web.mac.com/tigershark/iWeb/spacemanspiff/School/School.html

This message has been edited. Last edited by: fjp451,

quote:

Originally posted by fjp451:
Big Fish, Daniel Wallace

How did you find the book with regards to the film? My opinion is that, while a fine little novel, the film improved upon the book in this case. Tim Burton, a very Bradburian director. He should direct something; perhaps a live-action "Halloween Tree" or something very like it.

Burton stayed true to the novel, which is a quick unit (assigned as a 5 day read). Seniors liked it a great deal, and the movie now being viewed is both entertaining and thought provoking on different levels.

I plan to read something else by Mr. Wallace.

Farewell Summer (but of course) did anyone notice the typo in Chapter 34 page 176 where it says Braling when I'm pretty sure he meant Bleak. It's a conversation between Bleak and Quartermain, and on one of Bleak's responses it has the name Braling instead.

I subscribe to Easton Press, specifically exact reproductions of First Editions. Along with the subscription, you get a little booklet detailing what mistakes to look for in the first editions, corrected in second printings of first editions, or second editions. Someone needs to flag this for Harper-Collins. If there is one error, there is probably another somewhere within the pages as well. Good catch!

I did not notice that! I think it was the ghost of Braling...

ticktickticktick

quote:

Originally posted by fanboy:
...where it says Braling when I'm pretty sure he meant Bleak...

This sounds like the classic slip-up in The Martian Chronicles where a character is called Biggs most of the time, but Gibbs on one occasion (or vice versa). I think that error persisted for about 30 years before somebody corrected it in the later editions!

Heh, maybe we should just make it a little competition then, and see if the Braling/Bleak error can last longer than the Biggs/Gibbs error. It's a little surprising, I would think someone would catch it, I mean, besides me. It must have been proofread a few times. Oh, well, I do love the cute little flaws....

Being an habitual proofreader, I discovered some typos in "Cat's Pajamas" which I posted, now in the archives (q.v.).

Hello to all you very close readers! Thanks for your keen eyes. I've forwarded along your observations to the book's US editor.

And... Happy Halloween (one day early)!