(no subject)

[cherry]

I'm baaaaaack. Miss me?

No? Didn't think so.

Okay. Now that that's cleared up... You people write too bloody much. ::G:: I still have a couple of pages to sort through, and I missed most of the things I'd have liked to comment on, or they've gotten so many replies that my wading in at this point would be kind of ridiculous.

Went up to the lake for the Canada Day long weekend, and a bit more. Was the only person who actually went in the water because my brother can barely swim a stroke, my mom and dad hate the water, and my sister is always afraid of wrecking her hair and makeup.

I've got my summer reading list now. I've read 'Animal Farm', because it only took about an hour. I was hoping for a nice story about animals taking over a farm and learning to work together.

Well. I shouldn't have expected that from an AP English course, should I? It's about dictatorship, willful blindness, and pigs who learn to walk on their hind legs (whose leader is a boar ever so subtly named 'Napoleon'). The ending, which is supposed to have shock value, is woefully apparent from quite a ways back.

Not that it's not a good book. It is. It's very well written, and there's a reason it's a classic. It's just not my cup of tea.

Comments

[cgilmore.livejournal.com]

Welcome back! And don't be silly, of course we all missed you.

As for Animal Farm... I'm assuming you've pretty well figured it out by now, but George Orwell wrote as political commentary more than storytelling. See, to me, the biggest problem with going back and reading books that were revolutionary when they came out is that, for the most part, they're just not revolutionary any more. Once you strip away the trappings of "Oh, this was the first book to say 'X'" or "Oh, it's so-n-so, he's a famous author" the book has to stand on its own merits. Neither Animal Farm nor 1984 really did much for me other than contributing a phrase or two to the common vocabulary. ("Big Brother is watching.")

I'm not surprised to see it on the reading list for an English class, though - it has been for many, many years.

The Brothers Karamazov, though, that was a book to sink your teeth in... Having blown off the chapter by chapter reading assignments, I ended up reading the entire book the day before the final test. By the time I finished it (after a 30-ish hour reading marathon), I was thoroughly delusional and carrying on conversations with several of the main characters. They helped me ace the exam, though, so I guess it all worked out. Ah, the joys of Russian literature...

[cherryice.livejournal.com]

As for Animal Farm... I'm assuming you've pretty well figured it out by now, but George Orwell wrote as political commentary more than storytelling. See, to me, the biggest problem with going back and reading books that were revolutionary when they came out is that, for the most part, they're just not revolutionary any more. Once you strip away the trappings of "Oh, this was the first book to say 'X'" or "Oh, it's so-n-so, he's a famous author" the book has to stand on its own merits. Neither Animal Farm nor 1984 really did much for me other than contributing a phrase or two to the common vocabulary. ("Big Brother is watching.")

See, I'm strange that way. I like my stories to be... Well, stories. Political commentary, I'd rather read in an article.

And as for cramming all of your work into one day... I tend to do that, too. ::G:: The odds were looking good that I'd have to read all of my AP list the week before school started. So I decided that that wouldn't be the most fun possible.

Eh, I've one done, anyways.

[darkmark.livejournal.com]

I'll be the dissenter here. I liked both 1984 and Animal Farm. Remember, George Orwell was writing from the standpoint of a guy who'd lived through Stalin's time, who had seen the Spanish Civil War go bad, and all that, and I still think his story of Winston Smith and Big Brother is one helluva tale.

You might try Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury if you want a better-written sort of dystopia. But if you want a story of animals working together to improve things on a farm and getting into some hairy adventures, try the Freddy the Pig books, which I doted on in my childhood. They're pretty darned good, even if they are in the children's section.

[cherryice.livejournal.com]

I'll be the dissenter here. I liked both 1984 and Animal Farm. Remember, George Orwell was writing from the standpoint of a guy who'd lived through Stalin's time, who had seen the Spanish Civil War go bad, and all that, and I still think his story of Winston Smith and Big Brother is one helluva tale.

Hmm. As I said, I can appreciate the story on its merits, it's just not the kind I usually enjoy. I've been meaning to pick up 1984 for comparison purposes, though.

You might try Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury if you want a better-written sort of dystopia. But if you want a story of animals working together to improve things on a farm and getting into some hairy adventures, try the Freddy the Pig books, which I doted on in my childhood. They're pretty darned good, even if they are in the children's section.

Gah... You know, I think I tried to read that once. Fahrenheit 421, that is. But it was many years ago, which for me means back in elementary, I just could get into it. I'll have to give it another shot. And I've never yet turned down a book just because it was in the children's section. I'm odd that way. ::G::

Thanks.