Philotic Web

I read The Road on the plane back from Vancouver - it was dark, I couldn't sleep and I'd eaten something that disagreed with me vigorously. It did not help.

I think is on the reading list in my English class. Maybe I'll read it too.

Going to have to read the Greek play Antigone for school... though I still am trying to relate it to Ender's Game in every possible way.

Yay! you should have been in my English class last year. Half the class had read Ender's Game, so we had fun with all of the required reading books. =]

100 Bullets is a great comic. A great noir setting, interweaving plots, characters that develop in ways you might like or ways you might dislike, but at least can approve of them being the right ways. If I had money I would buy all 13 volumes, but instead had to settle for digital copies. It's going on my list, though...

Invisible Man for school.

H.G. Wells or Ellison? (I think it's Ralph Waldo Ellison.., right?)

If you get annoyed by people who don't see the obvious before their eyes.. Ellison's book will not be fun for you. =[ I hated it, especially the narrator. Though it's really interesting what he does with color and the dreams. If you are reading Ellison, pay particular attention to the scene in the paint factory and the way color is used. It's pretty cool. The depth of it reminded me a lot of Fitzgerald's use of color in Gatsby. Still, good luck with that book!

I just finished Hamlet for English. Hopefully starting Ender in Exile soon! That or the Niels Bohr biography I just picked up! And I need to pick up a book for my spring thesis. =[

Ralph Ellison.

Finished it already. Ending left much to be desired, similar to my first time reading Brave New World.

Book was most interesting at the beginning, but then got boring, but then got interesting. Still don't understand how he's an "Invisible Man", when he was making public speeches and swaying the public.

Ummm, paint factory. I remember some question on a quiz about it....forgot the meaning...knew it before.

I'm currently reading the biography Elizabeth, the Struggle for the Throne. Its actually quite interesting and very well written. I'm not really a fan of biographies, but the manner in which this one is written makes it seem as though it is a regular fiction book.

I'm also reading the newly released Death Note; L, Change the World. I'm on the first few pages of it but, so far, it's great! Just like the previous one: Death Note, Another Note. I know many people may not like anime very much, but these two are great, thought-provoking novels.

I hope to finish both these novels before exam time where I'll be too busy to continue reading them.

Er, some semblance of spoilers for Invisible Man follows...

Well, think about it, the narrator (notice he's not ever given a name) is always a pawn in others' plots. Forgive me if any of my references are incorrect, it's been about 8 months since I read it. But he won that diploma to go to an all black college, where he would make the white men proud (God, my memory is awful). The white man, founder of the college (name escapes me) was using the narrator to further cement his success. Whatever success the narrator achieved would only be so the white man could add another name to the list of the people (group, not individuals) he was helping. The president of the college just used the narrator as a scape goat and a way to keep himself above the other black people. The paint factory guy also used the narrator as a scape goat when the paint was improperly mixed due to his own incompetence in training. The doctors in the hospital used him as an experimental test subject. Um.. the society, whatever it was called, that was promoting socialism, if I remember correctly, used him completely. All of those public speeches he made, he was just a pawn, a black face to garner the support of the black community he resided in. He wasn't a person, he was an icon to gain support for the society. To the white wives that he slept with, he was just a way for them to do their part for the society. He was the white man's wife's black barbarian, who could fulfill her rape fantasies. He was nameless. He was invisible even to the people who used him. People didn't see him; they only saw how they could use him. He was never a person, always a pawn.

Also, the paint factory scene is really cool! You should read it again, I swear it's worth it. It's awesome because what makes the paint white? The black drops put in it. What pushes whites to the highest point in society in this book? Their dominance over the black society (as seen at the end). But what causes the white to become grey? The black paint thinner. And why does the white man get mad at the black narrator, when it was his own incompetence that caused the grey paint? And why does he pass the grey paint through inspection? Why does the society let some blacks rise above the rest, into the white society? What keeps the black society content in its place surrounded and overpowered by whites? Mixing black and white... Sorry, I wish it were more fresh on my mind, but it's just so interesting!

He may have been a pawn, but imo that doesn't make him invisible.
I mean, a lot of people knew him.

He had to disguise himself in order to go around public, without being harassed by Ras(the black nationalist or whatever)'s goons.
Despite the fact he was an icon, he had pretty big influences on Harlem.

Other than the idea of "invisible hand pulling the strings", I can't consider anyone invisible, if they can affect such dramatic change on a society.

Hmmm, sounds interesting. You really liked the book?

Oh, god, no. I hated that book with a passion. I think the narrator is one of the least intelligent people I have ever heard of, which was admittedly necessary for the message of the book, but he was so unintelligent.. I couldn't stand that book. I hate it when people can't see what's before their own eyes. And it was so obvious.. Just, ick. Hated it.

Hey hey, at least it wasn't as bad as Jane Eyre and A Tale Of Two Cities.
Worst books I've ever had to read for school.

Personally, I think Invisible Man was okay.

Aww, I haven't read A Tale of Two Cities, but I have read Great Expectations, and I really enjoyed Dickens's style of writing..

I just don't like characters that are so clueless.. though I think the dramatic irony in Invisible Man probably was the guiding force in conveying its message, I guess.

...

-_-

Well, you're just lucky that you didn't have to read Tale of Two Cities.
Your old english teacher deserves a hug for that.

So.. I guess you hated Oedipus then?
lol

Um.. Oedipus... I read that not three months ago.. All I remember is learning about the Oedipus syndrome that occurs in young boys.. Man. I really don't even remember that play, so I guess I didn't not like it nor did I like it, nor did it really leave any impression on me at all?

...Also, I just looked over at my desk and Invisible Man is sitting on it... Flipping through it, I found a page where I drew a Battle Room scene across the entire page with my highlighter... And another with a golden snitch on it.. Definitely not one of my favorite books...

Currently Reading: The Magicians by Lev Grossman

Think Harry Potter, mix in a ton of Narnia, and then toss in real world problems, issues, sex, alcohol, intrigue, betrayal, and darkness. Definitely an adult novel.

It's very good so far (about 2/3rd the way through).

Just Read: The Black Magician Trilogy by Trudi Canavan

A slum girl by the name of Sonea comes to realize she is gifted with magicial potential and is hunted by the Magician's Guild.

Also very good, though I was completely disappointed by how anti-climactic the ending was. Two and change of novels worth of buildup, and the finale was finished in a matter of a few pages. Bah!

Currently Reading: The Magicians by Lev Grossman

Think Harry Potter, mix in a ton of Narnia, and then toss in real world problems, issues, sex, alcohol, intrigue, betrayal, and darkness. Definitely an adult novel.

It's very good so far (about 2/3rd the way through).

I'm glad to hear it. I'm trying to finish a book that isn't bad but isn't really anything special either and have The Magicians on standby.

I rather liked that one (the Magicians)! I had heard mixed reviews (and strongly disliked his previous book for being uninspired "pseudo-academic on an adventure" formula) so I wasn't expecting much, but I read it in one sitting (well, on an airplane, but still!).

I read Stone by Adam Roberts yesterday, which was interesting even if I didn't love it. Now to finish Anathem FINALLY. I'm also reading 2666 though I am trying to finish the books I am in the middle of in order of how close I am to the end. I also just updated my library holds queue for inspiration, haha. I am also plotting a day trip in the next few weeks to Portland for a particular bookstore, which is pretty up there in terms of geek.

I started reading the Terry Goodkind, "Sword of Truth" novels... I picked up the first one (I'd read it years ago) and started again and have been flying through them. I'm half way through the fourth book in the series, "The Temple of Winds" and loving them... I've heard it goes downhill, but I've yet to reach that point. They're not great pieces of literature by any stretch of the imagination, but I am greatly enjoying them.

Salaam

GE ~Charles Dickens
CotM, again.
The difference between a man & a woman ~Theo Lang
Triss, as light reading ~Brian Jacques

Just finished EG & EiE

About to start Catch 22 & CotM

The Magicians:


*********Possible Spoliers***********

I just finished this book, having spent all morning in bed reading. I spent most of yesterday in the chair up front doing the same. To digress for a moment, this book had some excellent vocabulary (or I'm stupid, either or) and I read it with M-W open and at my fingertips. But that's not why it took me so long to read it; I started last Tuesday, for reference. It was an emotionally charged book, for me at any rate. It hit on so many things I felt, thought, wished I felt or thought, or plain wished...it was so unfair, so heart-wrenching and in the wake of the past few days, I probably took it more personally or harder than your average reader and thus had to put it down and take breaks from it quite often.

Quentin, whether through actual or forced reminders, made me think of Brat. The physical description (body type), the way he thought was how I imagine it sounds in Brat's head, the way he spoke, and the way he acted. The only difference I could find, which I guess I should point out is a huge f'ing difference and so maybe they were forced reminders afterall, is that Quentin was fueled by his feelings of being lost and not knowing how/where to find happiness. I know, that doesn't seem relevant but that is what I carried with me while reading; this character, in my mind and from my vantage point, is a paper version of a digital version of an oddly, unjustly important person in my life.

So when I got to page 228 -dreaded, f****** page 228- it felt like someone had started to squeeze my heart and by page 237, it was as though someone had thrown my heart in garbage compactor 3263827, right alongside Luke, Han, Chewbacca, and Leia, only my heart never made it out. *smooooosh* How could he do those things? Drugs, mess with other girls and then end up sleeping with one of their own group members? I could more easily forgive him for having a hand in the death of a classmate than I could for him changing so drastically once in NY. Or was it a case of me not seeing the signs, that he had been changing and heading that way all along? To make matters worse, Alice had to go and die saving him.

I loved this book; it was well written, intriguing, had lots of fun shout-outs to all sorts of nerdy things (SW, HP, LotR, etc)...but I walked away from it feeling wounded and cried on more than one occasion.

ETA: I didn't ever see myself as any of the characters; not Janet, Alice, Anais, etc. If that makes the aforementioned reminder any less creepy.





I now have the next two in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series to get through and 1984.

I KNOW, RIGHT?!

Great book none the less.
Arctic Fox Sex.


Currently reading Mistborn. Almost done with it. Totally and completely unique magic system in this book. Really enjoying it.

I'm reading Peter and the Starcatchers.

And no, I did not pick it up for the name. It was a Christmas gift.

Though the Peter in the book rocks too.

The next thing I'm probably going to read for fun is Relativity and Quantum Mechanics: Principles of Modern Physics by Paul Fleisher. A short 64 page book, but I need an introduction to quantum physics. Can't go from Calculus I and high school chemistry straight to the Schrodinger equation. Also, can't find anything else that might relate to quantum physics at my school library, and I don't want to walk to the county library in sub-zero temperatures!

Started to read Antigone by Sophocles for school. Already found one relation to Ender's Game.

Had to read the manual for my Gigabyte GA-MA770T-UD3P rev. 1.0 motherboard, because I needed to do a BIOS flash and I didn't want to screw it up. If I botched it, I would have bricked my PC.

I'm planning to read the next EG comic, Ender's Game: Command School 5.

Arctic Fox Sex.

That was surprisingly...powerful. I felt like I was cheering on a football team when he started to smell the scent. I was practically jumping up and down in my seat, mentally screaming: I know who he smells!! I KNOW WHO HE SMELLS!! GO GET HER!!

(And now I have the Hillshire Farms [go meat!] commercial stuck in my head. You interpret that however you wish.)

Yeah. I'm special.

Mistborn 1: Great book. Easily in the top 5 all time.
Mistborn 2: Good, but not as good as book 1.
Mistborn 3: AMAZING. Easily the best end to a trilogy I've ever read.

Highly recommend the Mistborn trilogy.

currently reading: love is a mix tape by rob sheffield

Just finished "The Pearl".

Even old books can have surprise endings...

Started and finished "The Great Gatsby" on Thursday. Back to "The Sword of Truth" novels... lol. On book 5, "Soul of the Fire" now.

Salaam

Tolkien and the Silmarillion by Clyde Kilby

it's a very slim volume that was written by a friend (Kilby) that helped Tolkien organize and narratavize the Silmarillion for publication, since Tolkien died before it was finished, Kilby published this, which is really a series of sketchs of Tolkien and conversations with him, as a way to give fans a greater insight into Middle Earth, Tolkien's mind, beliefs and creative process--and to give some hints on Silmarillion since he'd read it in unorganized manuscript and he never believed the book would be publishable.

I picked it up when I cleaned out a Joplin Used Book Store's ancillary Tolkien section. All vintage books of the kind I used when I wrote my fifth grade research project on the man, when there was only one biography written on him (or at least only one available through our library or ILL), and a search of lexus nexus on Tolkien brought up a grand total of six articles (I'm serious), so for me, rereading these is like a trip back in time to being eleven and doing my first biographic research.

I really want to find the article/interview with Tolkien where he said the purpose of Lord of the Rings was "To catch a breath, a beat, a lifting of the heart, and to have the fun of playing a linguistic game." I have it sourced in my paper, but that's buried in boxes of aged schoolwork that my mom keeps threatening to throw away. :-p

I also remember the days when only a used bookstore carried a hardcover Tolkien (they had two, then then new Alan Lee illustrations) and a single volume LOTR. and at a regular bookstore there were only two-four entries under Tolkien's name in the sci-fi fantasy section, a single copy each of Hobbit, and each of the LOTR entries (sometimes they wouldn't have all four, and there'd only be one or two in stock), a single MMPB copy of each in the black, ugly early nineties covers. A ritzy bookstore probably had a boxed set of all four in paperback. I had two sets, my mom's PBs from the seventies, and a PB set with Tolkien's illustrations on the cover we picked up at a garage sale (FOTR didn't have a cover, iirc, in the latter set). My mom also had a first edition of the silmarillion in good condition that I promptly tore up by carrying it around in my backpack for three months in fifth grade while I was trying really hard to read it (way above my abilities even then, though I made quite a slog through most of it).

I'm currently reading "The Road", and it's just, I guess scary. It's uncomfortable to read but hard to put down. I normally read before I go to sleep, and this isn't a book I really even want to read at night.

Book 6 of Sword of Truth, "Faith of the Fallen". About 450 pages into it now, took some time for the story to get going (as they all do), but as it's essentially the middle of the series, it felt like Goodkind was taking a deep breath (in a narrative form) before gearing up for the 2nd half of the series.

Salaam

The Qu'ran