shukriyya Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 Oops. I remember you telling me that before! Well, Mink River is set in Oregon, so that's why I was thinking America.... Lol. And, yeah, I kind of figured quite a few of my suggestions might not be your style.... :unsure: And yet I love that you stepped up and offered Stacia-inspired reading. It's the Stacia part that's important :D Didn't we toy with the idea of each reading something the other wouldn't read awhile back? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacia Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 I've always wanted to visit Mesa Verde! I've been to Gila National Monument many times. But to get the full Cather effect, you have to visit an inhabited Pueblo - Acoma or Isleta, for instance. Mesa Verde is gorgeous. And I saw the most spectacular double-rainbow when I was there. I've never seen anything like it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacia Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 MitGoGaE looks intereting though would it be considered a classic? No, not a classic. Just fun/interesting reading, imo. And yet I love that you stepped up and offered Stacia-inspired reading. It's the Stacia part that's important :D Didn't we toy with the idea of each reading something the other wouldn't read awhile back? Lol. Well you know I'll recommend the ones with funky-ness. ;) These were just the American funky-ness books.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacia Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 Let me think on the Canadian authors. We've got some great writers! :thumbup: Pssst..... Brian Doyle. ;) :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane in NC Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 Canadian authors? Robertson Davies, Michael Ondaatje and Alice Munro spring to mind immediately. But what about the 19th century, she asks? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacia Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 For Canadians, eh... Agreeing with Michael Ondaatje (at least for The Cat's Table; although The English Patient was lovely as far as writing, I disliked the story & characters). Loved Patrick deWitt's The Sisters Brothers too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mumto2 Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 Oy, lots of Jack London naysayers here and this is a book on the list for our homeschool Lit course this year :ohmy: I read it so long ago I can't remember it...which doesn't weigh heavily in its favor. :toetap05: Huck Finn, I've not read. MitGoGaE looks intereting though would it be considered a classic? We all hated Call of the Wild, we actually quit using a literature program because dd disliked that book so much. Didn't like the program much anyway so it was a great excuse to shelve it. ;) MitGoGaE may not be considereda classic yet, although it has appeared on a few of our infamous lists so it might be considered one by some expert out there. It does give a great view of a part of uniquely American southern culture. Good storyline. I don't think I even set it down the first time I read it. I will admit to having some strong friend connections to Savannah along with having visited there several times. Those may have made the book more meaningful. I wonder when a book becomes a classic? Midnight... has been around 20 plus years and is still appearing on lists. I think it was on one of the 100 must reads. If you think about it many of the "classics" I read in high school were 20 plus years old. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shukriyya Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 We all hated Call of the Wild, we actually quit using a literature program because dd disliked that book so much. Didn't like the program much anyway so it was a great excuse to shelve it. ;) MitGoGaE may not be considereda classic yet, although it has appeared on a few of our infamous lists so it might be considered one by some expert out there. It does give a great view of a part of uniquely American southern culture. Good storyline. I don't think I even set it down the first time I read it. I will admit to having some strong friend connections to Savannah along with having visited there several times. Those may have made the book more meaningful. I wonder when a book becomes a classic? Midnight... has been around 20 plus years and is still appearing on lists. I think it was on one of the 100 must reads. If you think about it many of the "classics" I read in high school were 20 plus years old. We're probably using the same lit program you were but I daren't ask because the school year is nigh upon us and I need for it to work. It's very pedestrian but for various reasons that feels called for this semester. If you tell me what it was you used I'll be doing this... :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shukriyya Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 Canadian authors? Robertson Davies, Michael Ondaatje and Alice Munro spring to mind immediately. But what about the 19th century, she asks? Yes, yes, yes on Robertson Davies. His Deptford Trilogy (Fifth Business, The Manticore and World of Wonders) is fantastic. Yes, on the others. And the Queen, Margaret Laurence. As well as Gabrielle Roy, The Tin Flute is wonderful. Then there's Mordecai Richler, Stephen Leacock (a Twain-like author) Margaret Atwood, Leonard Cohen, Carol Shields (amercian-born canadian), Farley Mowat, L.M. Montgomery, Timothy Findley, Yves Theriault, Anne Hebert, Antonine Maillet, Catherine Parr Traill, Susanna Moodie though the latter two were British they adopted Canada in the early 1800s and wrote of their backwoods experiences as pioneers. They are standard in any Canadian lit course. Okay, that's a start for Pam and Jane, who asked :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alice Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 I haven't actually been posting on this thread much this year, but I lurk to look at books. And since I'm posting...I'm currently reading This is the Story of a Happy Marriage by Ann Patchett which is a collection of her non-fiction essays. It's really excellent so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pam in CT Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 #myhusbandrelates Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie_0801 Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 As if we Americans ever agree on anything so well that you Aussies couldn't comment and find someone to agree with you. :) I've been around here long enough to have well developed talking to Americans manners. Not allowed. You have to give an opinion. Here I'll make it easy for you if you're concerned your negative opinion is going to make us dislike you. I will make a blanket silly/slightly offensive statement about Australians and you can respond with a witty criticism of an American author whom I find to be an odd duck. "Paul Hogan is the best Australian actor ever and I think Rosie should name her pet Kangaroo after him." Now you should feel free to give us an honest opinion of BaT. :001_cool: Of course he is! Crocodile Dundee is a classic! :smilielol5: :smilielol5: :smilielol5: (If you want to be offensive, you should have said Steve Irwin.) Ok then. 'A Christmas Memory' was predictable but at least it deserved to have been written. 'Breakfast at Tiffany's' was insipid rubbish on par with 'The Great Gatsby' in that both feature characters who aren't even worth the effort of disliking. My personal suspicion is they both sold so well because toilet paper hadn't been invented yet and people preferred to save their newspapers for a higher purpose. I like 'Prince and the Pauper' but I think you have to be American to appreciate the Yankee in King Arthur's Court. Or maybe I read an abridged version that left out all the good bits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie_0801 Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 Let me think on the Canadian authors. We've got some great writers! :thumbup: You've got some wonderful authors of wildlife stories. I found a collection of excerpts and short stories featuring the Canadian Wilderness in my house last year and read them to dd. I'm not usually a fan of short stories either. http://www.amazon.com/Best-Canadian-Animal-Stories-Storytellers-ebook/dp/B00AGVNI16/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1408575806&sr=8-2&keywords=canadian+animal+stories Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Violet Crown Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 Oh how could I have forgotten Henry James? He still counts as American. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Violet Crown Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 I wonder when a book becomes a classic? First, it has to have been written in Greek or Latin. And I don't mean Kazantzakis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie_0801 Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 Books can be classics if they were written by Russians now deceased too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aggieamy Posted August 20, 2014 Share Posted August 20, 2014 I've been around here long enough to have well developed talking to Americans manners. Of course he is! Crocodile Dundee is a classic! :smilielol5: :smilielol5: :smilielol5: (If you want to be offensive, you should have said Steve Irwin.) Ok then. 'A Christmas Memory' was predictable but at least it deserved to have been written. 'Breakfast at Tiffany's' was insipid rubbish on par with 'The Great Gatsby' in that both feature characters who aren't even worth the effort of disliking. My personal suspicion is they both sold so well because toilet paper hadn't been invented yet and people preferred to save their newspapers for a higher purpose. I like 'Prince and the Pauper' but I think you have to be American to appreciate the Yankee in King Arthur's Court. Or maybe I read an abridged version that left out all the good bits. That's an awesome review. *snort* Thank you for giving a heartfelt review. :hurray: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-M- Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 Late again. *wry grin* Well, hello, BaWers. I've finished sixty-two books so far this year (list below). Right now, I am reading Greenblatt's Will in the World and Hill's Howards End Is on the Landing and gearing up for a reread of King Lear. (That one requires a bit of stretching and deep breathing beforehand, no?) I've also begun the Lydia Davis translation of Proust's Swann's Way. (Related... a line from Bechdel's graphic memoir Fun Home: "It's said, after all, that people reach middle age the day they realize they're never going to read Remembrance of Things Past.") ■LITSTART: Strategies for Adult Learners and ESL Tutors (Patricia Frey; 1999. 246 pages. Non-fiction.)■The Good Girl (Mary Kubica; 2014. 352 pages. Fiction.)■Snowpiercer, Vol. 1: The Escape (Jacques Lob (Le Transperceneige, 1999); 2014. 110 pages. Graphic fiction.)■Eleanor and Park (Rainbow Rowell; 2013. 336 pages. Fiction.)■Brave New World (Aldous Huxley (1932); 2006 ed. 288 pages. Fiction.) *■What the Best College Teachers Do (Ken Bain; 2004. 207 pages. Non-fiction.)■Big Little Lies (Liane Moriarty; 2014. 480 pages. Fiction.)■Shakespeare: The World as a Stage (Bill Bryson; 2013. 208 pages. Non-fiction.)■Monument 14 (Emmy Laybourne; 2013. 352 pages. Fiction.)■Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking (Susan Cain; 2012. 352 pages. Non-fiction.)■The Three (Sarah Lotz; 2014. 480 pages. Fiction.)■A Season of Gifts (Richard Peck; 2009. 176 pages. Fiction.)■Landline (Rainbow Rowell; 2013. 320 pages. Fiction.)■Predictive Analytics: The Power to Predict Who Will Click, Buy, Lie, or Die (Eric Siegel ; 2013. 320 pages. Non-fiction.)■Big Data: A Revolution That Will Transform How We Live, Work, and Think (Viktor Mayer-Schönberger and Kenneth Cukier; 2013. 256 pages. Non-fiction.)■Magritte: The Mystery of the Ordinary, 1926-1938 (The Museum of Modern Art, New York; 2013. 256 pages. Non-fiction.)■Magritte (Marcel Paquet; 2012. 96 pages. Non-fiction.)■Kandinsky (Hajo Duchting; 2012. 96 pages. Non-fiction.)■In the Basement of the Ivory Tower: Confessions of an Accidental Academic (Professor X; 2011. 288 pages. Non-fiction.)■Antony and Cleopatra (William Shakespeare (1606); Folger ed. 2005. 336 pages. Drama.)■The Girl with All the Gifts (M.R. Cary; 2014. 416 pages. Fiction.)■Python for Informatics: Exploring Information (Charles R. Severance; 2013. 244 pages. Non-fiction.)■The Stranger (Albert Camus (1942); 1989 edition. 123 pages. Fiction.) *■Jane Eyre (Charlotte Brontë (1847); 2005 B&N edition. 592 pages. Fiction.) *■The Fever (Meg Abbott; 2014. 320 pages. Fiction.)■Burial Rites (Hannah Kent; 2013. 336 pages. Fiction.)■The Other Side of Sadness (George A. Bonanno; 2010. 240 pages. Non-fiction.)■The Blue Fox (Sjón; 2013. 128 pages. Fiction.)■The Dance of Death (August Strindberg (Conor McPherson, trans.); 1900 (2012). Drama.)■We Were Liars (E. Lockhart; 2014. 240 pages. Fiction.)■The Detainee (Peter Liney; 2014. 352 pages. Fiction.)■Annihilation (Jeff VanderMeer; 2014. 208 pages. Fiction.)■All’s Well That Ends Well (William Shakespeare (1604); Folger ed. 2006. 336 pages. Drama.)■Soft Apocalypse (Will McIntosh; 2011. 239 pages. Fiction.)■One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich (Alexander Sozhenitsyn; 1962/2009. 208 pages. Fiction.) *■Masterpiece Comics (R. Sikoryak; 2009. 64 pages. Fiction.)■Infected (Scott Sigler; 2008. 384 pages. Fiction.)■Veronica Mars: The Thousand-Dollar Tan Line (Rob Thomas and Jennifer Graham; 2014. 336 pages. Fiction.)■Running Wild (J.G. Ballard; 1989. 116 pages. Fiction.)■The How and the Why (Sarah Treem; 2013. Drama.)■Blood Will Out: The True Story of a Murder, a Mystery, and a Masquerade (Walter Kirn; 2014. 272 pages. Non-fiction.)■Dope (Sara Gran; 2007. 256 pages. Fiction.)■People Who Eat Darkness: The True Story of a Young Woman Who Vanished from the Streets of Tokyo (Richard Lloyd Parry; 2012. 464 pages. Non-fiction.)■The Troop (Nick Cutter; 2014. 368 pages. Fiction.)■The Mayo Clinic Diet (2012. 254 pages. Non-fiction.)■This Is Where I Leave You (Jonathan Trooper; 2009. 352 pages. Fiction.)■Of Mice and Men (John Steinbeck; 1937. 112 pages. Fiction.) *■Gideon’s Knot (Johanna Adams; DPS new acquisition / unbound. Drama.)■The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2013 (ed. Siddhartha Mukherjee; 2013. 368 pages. Non-fiction.)■Lexicon (Max Barry; Folger ed. 2013. 400 pages. Fiction.)■The Circle (Dave Eggers; 2013. 504 pages. Fiction.)■The Good Sister (Drusilla Campbell; 2010. 352 pages. Fiction.)■The Two Gentlemen of Verona (William Shakespeare (1589); Folger ed. 2006. 304 pages. Drama.) *■Hedda Gabler (Henrik Ibsen; 1890. Drama.) *■Labor Day (Joyce Maynard; 2009. 256 pages. Fiction.)■The Living (Matt De La Peña; 2013. 320 pages. Fiction.)■Henry V (William Shakespeare (1599); Folger ed. 2004. 294 pages. Drama.) *■Henry IV, Part II (William Shakespeare (1599); Folger ed. 2006. 400 pages. Drama.) *■Henry IV, Part I (William Shakespeare (1597); Folger ed. 2005. 336 pages. Drama.) *■The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (L. Frank Baum; 1895 / 2008. 224 pages. Juvenile fiction.)■Cartwheel (Jennifer duBois; 2013. 384 pages. Fiction.)■The Wicked Girls (Alex Marwood; 2013. 384 pages. Fiction.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Violet Crown Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 Regarding Mark Twain.... Dh, who is a more avid Twain reader than I, recommends the lesser-read short fiction pieces "The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg" and "Captain Stormfield's Visit to Heaven." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacia Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacia Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacia Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 Crocodile Dundee is a classic! :smilielol5: :smilielol5: :smilielol5: You know when I said I could never be a domestic goddess? I think it's partly because I have cooking skills like Paul Hogan... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacia Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 Hard books for hard times: literary experimentation gains popularity Thought this was an interesting article. I liked it especially because I tend to enjoy modern &/or experimental literature. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shukriyya Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 Hey, gals! We were talking home library photos last week, right? I've got a photo of mine now... (see end of post) My home library... :leaving: :lol: And to continue my library theme... A well-stocked library: Dangers of being a cat-owner with a library like mine: When reading runs dry: I can even share my library books of Capote & Fitzgerald if you want me to stop by... Sincerely, the BaW pariah :o ;) :p Stacia, you dork. I love you :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shukriyya Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 Enjoying this article by author Rebecca Solnit who says, in this lyrical meditation on desire and distance and the color blue... "The blue of distance comes with time, with the discovery of melancholy, of loss, the texture of longing, of the complexity of the terrain we traverse, and with the years of travel. If sorrow and beauty are all tied up together, then perhaps maturity brings with it not … abstraction, but an aesthetic sense that partially redeems the losses time brings and finds beauty in the faraway. [...] Some things we have only as long as they remain lost, some things are not lost only so long as they are distant." And earlier... "We treat desire as a problem to be solved, address what desire is for and focus on that something and how to acquire it rather than on the nature and the sensation of desire, though often it is the distance between us and the object of desire that fills the space in between with the blue of longing. I wonder sometimes whether with a slight adjustment of perspective it could be cherished as a sensation on its own terms, since it is as inherent to the human condition as blue is to distance? If you can look across the distance without wanting to close it up, if you can own your longing in the same way that you own the beauty of that blue that can never be possessed? For something of this longing will, like the blue of distance, only be relocated, not assuaged, by acquisition and arrival, just as the mountains cease to be blue when you arrive among them and the blue instead tints the next beyond. Somewhere in this is the mystery of why tragedies are more beautiful than comedies and why we take a huge pleasure in the sadness of certain songs and stories. Something is always far away." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 My book group meets tomorrow, and we'll be discussing Ape House: A Novel by Sara Gruen which I finished earlier today. It was an enjoyable read. "The wildly entertaining new novel from the bestselling author of Water for Elephants. Isabel Duncan, a scientist at the Great Ape Language Lab, doesn't understand people, but apes she gets—especially the bonobos Sam, Bonzi, Lola, Mbongo, Jelani, and Makena, who are capable of reason and communication through American Sign Language. Isabel feels more comfortable in their world than she's ever felt among humans—until she meets John Thigpen, a very married reporter writing a human interest feature. But when an explosion rocks the lab, John's piece turns into the story of a lifetime—and Isabel must connect with her own kind to save her family of apes from a new form of human exploitation." Regards, Kareni Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JennW in SoCal Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 [edited out photos -- but it was brilliant!] You just had to roll with it, eh Stacia?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mumto2 Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 First, it has to have been written in Greek or Latin. And I don't mean Kazantzakis. Books can be classics if they were written by Russians now deceased too. :lol: I can't say anymore, I really should try to go back to sleep. Love the books Stacia! :lol: Thanks for the laughs everyone, regarding the Booker Prize 2011, maybe readability should be hoped for. I started reading and linking that topic and people were so not happy. I have never read any of the books for that year. Makes me tempted but I know I can't handle much more than Flufferton Abbey right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shukriyya Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 :lol: I can't say anymore, I really should try to go back to sleep. Love the books Stacia! :lol: Thanks for the laughs everyone, regarding the Booker Prize 2011, maybe readability should be hoped for. I started reading and linking that topic and people were so not happy. I have never read any of the books for that year. Makes me tempted but I know I can't handle much more than Flufferton Abbey right now. That was my first thought, what is Mumto2 doing up at this hour?! Happy Dreaming... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JennW in SoCal Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 I have to report on a spell of wonderful books: Finished this week, and highly recommended: Gaudy Night by Dorothy Sayers, a delicious reread. A very quotable book, and thanks to this nice blog entry with translations of all the Latin, Greek and French sprinkled in the novel, I now understand the lovely ending dialog. Don't read the blog post if you haven't read the book -- it does contain spoilers! "Placetne, magistra?" "Placet" Krakatoa: The Day the Earth Blew Up by Simon Winchester. Fabulous audiobook. Enthralling. Am half way through and loving: I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith, another good audiobook. My 3 hours of driving today slipped by painlessly. Dear Committee Members by Julie Schumacher is as funny as advertised. As I'm emptying books shelves I am finding lots of titles I want to reread or finally read. I'll have to post a photo later of the stacks I created of all (well most of) my books. It's pretty impressive, but on the Eliana scale (where her library is a 10) my stack maybe would only get a 2. :laugh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacia Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 As I'm emptying books shelves I am finding lots of titles I want to reread or finally read. I'll have to post a photo later of the stacks I created of all (well most of) my books. It's pretty impressive, but on the Eliana scale (where her library is a 10) my stack maybe would only get a 2. :laugh: ??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shukriyya Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 ??? (Ok, ok. I'm stopping! I promise! :laugh: ) Why stop now, you're...on...a............ :smilielol5: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mumto2 Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 :lol: That pyramid took tons of patience! Have given up on the sleep front. Watching telly....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin M Posted August 21, 2014 Author Share Posted August 21, 2014 Boy, turn my back for two minutes and ya'll dip into the blackberry wine and raid the toilet paper closet. Hmmm! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aggieamy Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 Stacia - you aren't trapped in the loo and are in desperate need of anything are you? Those aren't secret messages or pleas for help, right? Late again. *wry grin* Well, hello, BaWers. I've finished sixty-two books so far this year (list below). Right now, I am reading Greenblatt's Will in the World and Hill's Howards End Is on the Landing and gearing up for a reread of King Lear. (That one requires a bit of stretching and deep breathing beforehand, no?) I've also begun the Lydia Davis translation of Proust's Swann's Way. (Related... a line from Bechdel's graphic memoir Fun Home: "It's said, after all, that people reach middle age the day they realize they're never going to read Remembrance of Things Past.") Late again? What have you been doing with your time?!?! :laugh: I love your lists. Each time you post it I will read the whole thing. What did you think of Snowpiercer? You know when I said I could never be a domestic goddess? I think it's partly because I have cooking skills like Paul Hogan... ;) I kinda think Paul Hogan is cute. I might not now if I saw a current picture but circa 1980something he was. Wonder if he's ever worn a kilt? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aggieamy Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 FYI - my confession of having a crush on Paul Hogan does NOT leave the thread. DH is not a jealous man but there's no need to provoke him. It's bad enough he knows of my secret passionate love for James Herriot. *sigh* If only we weren't kept apart by my horrible allergic tendencies towards large farm animals ... and the fact that he was 65 the year I was born. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie_0801 Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 Stacia - you aren't trapped in the loo and are in desperate need of anything are you? Those aren't secret messages or pleas for help, right? I got trapped in the loo at work once. Lucky I had nail clippers in my pocket so I could prise the door open or I'd have had to call the old Italian guy who worked out the back for help. How embarrassing would that have been? !! I'd have never heard the end of it. I kinda think Paul Hogan is cute. I might not now if I saw a current picture but circa 1980something he was. Wonder if he's ever worn a kilt? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_%26_Boots And no. Real Australian men don't wear kilts. They wear stubby shorts. (Actually, that's not Real Men at all, that's Men Old Enough To Be Your Dad because no one younger than that would wear stubby shorts.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aggieamy Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 Turns out Paul Hogan is older than my dad. I wouldn't have recognized him in this picture. I should stop developing crushes on people old enough to be my grandfather. *sigh* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mumto2 Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 Thanks to google and Rosie I now know what stubby shorts arehttp://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=stubby+shorts. Thinking of Paul Hogan now in stubby shorts not a good thought. :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onceuponatime Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 Books can be classics if they were written by Russians now deceased too. Can I disagree with this, or is it tongue in cheek? I haven't met a deceased Russian author I liked, yet. I keep trying, hoping that I just haven't found the right one. It doesn't help that I've become so prejudiced I feel the gloom and depression of a Russian winter the minute I open one of their books. Existential angst irritates me. I guess the definition of classic doesn't depend on me, but I wish it did. :laugh: I read Call of the Wild in high school and enjoyed it, but I liked raw wilderness survival stories then. At that time, I also took everything I read at face value and didn't explore the implications too deeply. Whenever I've assigned it to my kids, they heartily disliked it. In fact they all have different reading tastes than mine, go figure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane in NC Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 FYI - my confession of having a crush on Paul Hogan does NOT leave the thread. DH is not a jealous man but there's no need to provoke him. It's bad enough he knows of my secret passionate love for James Herriot. Amy, that's not the info we're sharing with him when we really have the goods! BaWers, in another thread Amy wrote that her supposed book club is reading "My Man in Havana". While her fellow book club members may be reading the Graham Greene classic Our Man in Havana, what is Amy up to? I want to know just who Amy's man in Havana is! We'll be watching you from the bar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacia Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 I think Amy is taking Paul to Havana. After all, his stubby shorts are right for the climate. Remember, if you start hyperventilating, Amy, get a paper bag... :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie_0801 Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 Can I disagree with this, or is it tongue in cheek? I haven't met a deceased Russian author I liked, yet. I keep trying, hoping that I just haven't found the right one. It doesn't help that I've become so prejudiced I feel the gloom and depression of a Russian winter the minute I open one of their books. Existential angst irritates me. I guess the definition of classic doesn't depend on me, but I wish it did. :laugh: What has *liking* a book got to do with anything? :confused1: The dead Russian fellas books are classics because they are heavy enough to beat a wolf to death with and keep a fire burning until morning, should you get stuck out on the steppes one winters night. Good heavens! That is a terrible pic. It looks like Olivia Newton John is laughing at the queen for checking out Mr Hogan's biceps. :rofl: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stacia Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 What has *liking* a book got to do with anything? :confused1: The dead Russian fellas books are classics because they are heavy enough to beat a wolf to death with and keep a fire burning until morning, should you get stuck out on the steppes one winters night. Speaking of that, one of my PaperbackSwap books came in yesterday: Chekhov's Sakhalin Island. It's about an inch & a half thick. Maybe I could take out a killer bunny with it, not so sure about a wolf.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shukriyya Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 I'm reading this thread from bed as the day begins to unfold itself across the sky...the so-appallingly-bad-it's-good picture of Paul Hogan and the Queen juxtaposed with Rosie's tangible images of hearty nights spent on a winter steppe...well I believe I've fallen down a rabbit hole in an alternate universe where toilet paper rolls serve their purpose as art...or maybe I'm still dreaming... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shukriyya Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 I read Call of the Wild in high school and enjoyed it, but I liked raw wilderness survival stories then. At that time, I also took everything I read at face value and didn't explore the implications too deeply. Whenever I've assigned it to my kids, they heartily disliked it. In fact they all have different reading tastes than mine, go figure. Now I'm really intrigued and will be eager to see how both ds and I feel about 'Call of the Wild'. Why does everyone dislike it so? I'm wondering how much will come back to me as I reread it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aggieamy Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 Amy, that's not the info we're sharing with him when we really have the goods! BaWers, in another thread Amy wrote that her supposed book club is reading "My Man in Havana". While her fellow book club members may be reading the Graham Greene classic Our Man in Havana, what is Amy up to? I want to know just who Amy's man in Havana is! We'll be watching you from the bar. :lol: :lol: :lol: I tried explaining this thread to my DH but I couldn't. Too many layers of awesome and funny going on at once. I think Amy is taking Paul to Havana. After all, his stubby shorts are right for the climate. (Looks like you've got some competition from the queen, Amy!) What I want to know is why didn't anyone let poor Paul Hogan know that Buckingham had a dress code?!?! The guy to his right is in a tux and ONJ is in an evening gown. Boy, I bet he was embarrassed all night. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Onceuponatime Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 What has *liking* a book got to do with anything? :confused1: The dead Russian fellas books are classics because they are heavy enough to beat a wolf to death with and keep a fire burning until morning, should you get stuck out on the steppes one winters Okay, maybe *like* is too strong. Perhaps I ask too much. I just want to feel as though I've benefitted in some way from reading them. I don't, unless I count cultivating personal virtues like long suffering, perserverence under trial, tolerance, willingness to give someone the benefit of the doubt, again and again and again...... Martyrdom should only be necessary under extreme situations, and only for causes that will promote the universal well being of mankind. Maybe I should stock up on dead Russian fellas. This winter promises to be another cold one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 You guys crack me up. Embarrassed to say I am still in Great Expectations....just haven't devoted a ton of time to reading lately. I did check and it is #49 for the year, so I was excited about that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aggieamy Posted August 21, 2014 Share Posted August 21, 2014 I finished another Sebastian St. Cyr mystery last night. I think this is #4 in the series Where Serpents Sleep. It was wonderful. My favorite of the whole series so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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