tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2395090220691101609.post4112383469764877115..comments2023-06-08T01:26:04.133-07:00Comments on A Fiercer Delight and a Fiercer Discontent: 2011 A Year in Books: Part 1 – Narrativestanfordhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07591716618038804118noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2395090220691101609.post-50729671472573322322012-01-01T19:15:40.288-08:002012-01-01T19:15:40.288-08:00Stan, your blog gives me life, makes my life more ...Stan, your blog gives me life, makes my life more delightful. <br />Neil R.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2395090220691101609.post-49023124908160823112011-12-28T23:05:49.705-08:002011-12-28T23:05:49.705-08:00I had forgotten that you do this year end post. I...I had forgotten that you do this year end post. I love the idea and I loved reading the first installment. I wish I had been more forward thinking so I could do something similar instead of letting 2011's books slip away from me.<br /><br />I never mind the length of your posts, but it does make it difficult for me to synthesize my comments.<br /><br />I did the same thing with Death of a Salesmen, but it was/is combined with Our Town. Ah... sophomore English.You with ushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13974032220176603544noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2395090220691101609.post-13488114697139486032011-12-26T12:52:40.429-08:002011-12-26T12:52:40.429-08:00Last year I read both Brave New World and 1854 (in...Last year I read both Brave New World and 1854 (in that order). I too felt that the premise of Brave New World was more believable than that of 1854. Which made me have a hard time swallowing the ending of 1854. I never truly agreed with 1854's premise, and without that the ending felt forced and contrived.Jansenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12613945695969726977noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2395090220691101609.post-180393866161954632011-12-24T06:25:08.690-08:002011-12-24T06:25:08.690-08:00I was just gearing up to make a similar, though as...I was just gearing up to make a similar, though assuredly much less impressive, year end count down post. I hadn't read some of these, and I;ll have to check them out. I had a similar reaction to Hunger Games. I found it derivative, making somewhat of a Mary Sue of the main character, etc, but still found it really really engaging. It doesn't touch some of my favorites (The Dark is Rising series, which to me sets the bar for that genre of literature, being Harry Potter's older, better written relative of a series) but it was definitely a great start to a series, regardless. I as actually a little disappointed with Never Let Me Go...not because it wasn't a beautifully shot film, far beyond much of the rest of the year's work...but because the essence of the book relies so much on Ishguro's "things left unsaid" sort of writing style...I liked the movie, but it came out pretty early on with the "hey, we're organ farms" realization. It was much more shrouded and effective in the book. Still great taken in and of itself. Ishiguro is hard to translate well to film in my head. I have mixed feelings about Babbit too...though I like that there's no tragic ending. To me it underscores the irrelevance of his crisis...that the world gives no attention to his personal dillema..for it to be transformative, it would have to be potent enough for Babbit, but when the world fails to notice, he eases back into ignorant bliss again. Does't make for as interesting a story, but somehow rings more honest to me, though I don't know as that's what the author intended. <br />Great post as usual!Justin Bowerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11918590992060850747noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2395090220691101609.post-40218430519169949072011-12-23T20:49:41.620-08:002011-12-23T20:49:41.620-08:00We have some overlap this year!
I was looking th...We have some overlap this year! <br /><br />I was looking through my notes for my list this year (I'll post on January 1, like I always do) and saw that I also read "The Lost City of Z", and found it really engaging. We don't really have adventurer/explorers in quite the same sense that the people in this book were anymore, and some of the things they did (vanishing for 3-5 years to hike a river with the complete consent of your wife?) seem unimaginable in modern times. Also, I just like archeology.<br /><br />I didn't reread Gatsby this year, but probably will again in 2012 to prepare for the new movie. It's one of my favorite books in the world, because it is a novel of terrible longing. Everyone in Gatsby wants an idealized version of something that doesn't actually exist or that they can't have, and everything that follows is a natural consequence of that. I'm so glad you liked it, even if you liked one of his other books more.<br /><br />I haven't seen the movie, but I read "Never Let Me Go" this year, and the affect was similar to what you describe. Days and even weeks afterward I still felt both touched and heartbroken.<br /><br />Also, I won't say I'll never read "Babbit" again, but I can't imagine at this moment a reason why I would ever want to.Joelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16401310219858196387noreply@blogger.com