Saturday, March 30, 2013

THE BEST OF MARCH

KAFKA - THE METAMORPHOSIS

"I THOUGHT THE BUG WAS SCARY BUT WHY HE DIE

WHY

A APPLE? HE 2 BIG MANG. 2 DIE TO APPLE"


PARMENIDES - FRAGMENTS

"Paramenides wanted to one up Heraclitus.

Unfortunately he was an idiot.

Heraclitus said 'You can't step in the same river twice.'
..because the river is always changing so it's not the same river.

Paramenides said 'You can't step in the same river once'
..because Paramenides was an idiot.

He later came up with philosophical gems like 'Motion is impossible'.
& his student Zeno was made famous by essentially (and erroneously) stating that an infinite series could not resolve to a finite solution. I.e. you can never get to a doorway because you will infinitely have to cover half the remaining distance.

So as far a I can tell his big contribution was to delay the development of Calculus for 2100 years."


HENRY JAMES - DAISY MILLER

"DAISY MILLER is part of my 'appetizer' book series for my pre-IB kids in 2011 ... it is the kind of 'girl book' I am loathe to teach...."

"From a historical perspective it's one of the very first novels written."

"If we search someone to blame for the death of 'innocent' Daisy, i think she herself is the one to blame ... You thought you were more intelligent than Mrs. Walker. Girl, you should have listened to her advises. You were so arrogant and you thought you were a wise guy. You found yourself in the astonishing life of Europe. Travelling around the Europe didn’t improve your knowledge but your arrogance in society. You deserve death…
:)"


SHAKESPEARE - RICHARD II

"Did they pronounce words back in Elizabethan England very differently than they do now? Nowadays, Shakespeare's stuff just doesn't sound like poetry. And what's the deal with 'art', 'thou', etc. ? It's still understandable, but very annoying. Couldn't they translate it into modern English? There is no rhythm to be broken anyhow.
I actually think Shakespeare worship is perpetuated much like the myth about Emperor's clothes.
Don't you think it's a bit symtomatic that the earliest English author of any significance also happens, by pure accident, no else, to be the greatest author and poet of all times and languages? Huh?"


HOMER - ODYSSEY

"I felt like I was reading an older, less interesting adult version of Percy Jackson."


ORWELL - ANIMAL FARM

"Recommend to?

old people who like nothing but boredom in there life. who don't actually want anything but a boring book of poos"

"I didnt really like this book very much i didnt like how it said that animals could talk and that the became like humans, i didnt like the way that it said that the animals could learn to read and write, i didnt like how it said they could learn to fire a gun, i dint like how it said that the animals could chase off the humans, overall it was an absolutely terrible book and obviously made no sense, it just made no sense"

"This book totally skews production ag. If you beleive that all farms are the same as this, you need to become more educated"

"the book is so boring i almost fell asleep reading it. george orwell must be old. i do not recommend this book to anyone.. try watching tv instead."

Thursday, March 28, 2013

George Orwell - Animal Farm V

"Getting educated, not only in politics, otherwise you might find your self with less food, sent off to a butcher shops, and/or under the rule of pigs."


"Wow! George Orwell had to be one very unhappy hopeless man."


"hmmm...this could be applied to many situations...thinking gay marriage??"


"It's suppose to have a good message about dictatorships and other types of government . . . but really, it's just about pigs who seem like they're high on drugs."


"A hard read, no doubt."


"Just another reason why I hate the French."


"Ugh, politics."


"Who'd have thought animals could take over?"


"I can't stand anything to do with animals. I understand that it is supposed to parallel communism but I couldn't get past the talking animals."


"We all know this is a take off the Russian revolution - because we were told. In truth it's about pigs and horses and was not a good story at that."


"But pigs cannot milk cows!!"


"talking animals! utterly ridiculous.. Orwell can suck my balls"


"I cant like the book cause most of what he tried to talk abt The Soviet union is not true. He has successfully pointed one or two points where Communism got wrong when it was implemented, but overall he tried to picture Stalin and other Party members to be evil."


"Animal Farm has an important moral to it. This book has taught me the lesson of respect and as well the power that is overwhelm in the book leads up to bad cosequences."


"I taught this book to my tuition kid. He couldn't understand how pigs could stand on two feet. I couldn't understand how they could talk at all."


"I know it is a classic but it is a hard read. I would suggest watching the cartoon (but not with your kids) and then calling it good."


"As if I'm not already disgusted with the behavior of some really screwed up people, this book gave those behaviors to innocent animals!"


"commentary on society is quite an interesting one...why is it that the pigs end up being top shelf anyways? and why is it that humans are the standard on the evolutionary ladder?"


"The whole time I just kept thinking that I could only handle reading one book about talking animals and I had already done Charlotte's Web."


"Mr.Orwell, if you're reading this, I am not trying to be mean. I thought the book was terrible ... It is about a group of animals taking over a farm and pigs end up becoming the leader and (convienently) found books which helped them speak :O."

Monday, March 25, 2013

George Orwell - Animal Farm IV

"horrendus
the the book was in a disgusting"


"Did Al Gore direct this? I was just you know, curious because the animals are talking and stuff and they even have like, this hierarchy of power and things don't make sense like that. This is an anti goverment film but all I hear is Total arin ism which gets to be useful when instilled in the drinking water of places like Africa. Well we gave them animals to eat and they just turned them loose in fields and never fed them and they died. This book is co-written I think by Gore and Moore, but who knows I mean anymore you cannot figure out who is who, but I am Cathy and I escaped from Taurine and this is my review of Animal Farm. Oh, and even if you give a pig pickles it will still attack you if it is hungry!"


"Animals Can't Talk!
This book is terrible, I mean, I know it was written like ages ago like in the 50's when movies were all about giants ants and stuff, but none of the animals on this farm were even radioactive or giant or anything, so who cares? They just kind of fight amongst themselves and that's it! The whole book!"


"The only animal is George Orwell!
Of all the things I have ever read! What a terrible and unrealistic story. I mean, how can animals talk? I have a parrot that talks but not in complete sentences."


"Animals building a mill,reading and writing, walking on two legs and wearing human clothes really creeped me out and turned me off..."


"Our world is dominated by the human race; there is no way around that. Have you ever wondered what would happen if one day we were overthrown? If animals drove us out and took over our lives? Luckily this hasn't happened yet"


"It was a quick read - only three hours at most - yet after I was done, I felt a horrid feeling in the pit of my stomache, as if I could feel every light bulb in the world as it popped and died."


"I kept thinking 'These people obviously cannot see, pigs and men look very different.'"


"I didn't like the concept of animals driving humans off of the farm. Really, the idea itself could be considered strangely humorous, but Orwell went a little too far with having the creatures actually combat the farmers and come out victor."


"I learned that some people are ignorant and they don't care about the nature of farm animals. They'll take over anything to get more land."


"Animal Farm and America are kind of the same because of the communism and things that happen. Like the respect around the U.S. Animal farm was not like anu other farm, it all changed once Old Major had delivered his speech, kind of like when Martin Luther King delivered his. The animals were not in charge of the farm, changing like when the blacks were equal in the U.S."


"I didn't really enjoy this book because it dealt with too many realistic problems such as government and society."


"I hated this book. People say it's because i didn't understand the concept but i did. I just didn't like how animals drank tea and used guns and then became humans ... i just didn't like in general, unlike Lauren Kate's Fallen i wasn't draw in. In Fallen i was falling of my seat, is it going to be daniel or Cam, please cam. CAM! CAM! CAM!!! but in Animal Farm i it was, oh your doing that, okay."


"The book was based off true events, I get that, but pigs aren't smart. Pigs cant talk."


"Talking animals...honestly. Wouldn't the neighbors find it strange that animals were writing rules on the barn, and even talking to them? A normal human reaction would be to freak out and wonder why the heck a PIG was talking to you discussing business."

Saturday, March 23, 2013

George Orwell - Animal Farm III

"Fart farm
This book is disgraceful! It is the worst book ever! It really stinks! All it has is animals that run around and say 'Comrade!'
Good grief!"


"All this book is about a pig that starts to act like a human."


"The book ANIMAL FARM was a deceitful and untrue book. It was full of lies implying that socialism was wrong to the reader who didn't read meaning into George Orwell's book. Some people may say that the book was a great acheivement and made us get rid of communism and socialism, but they may have also watched the movie. The movie ANIMAL FARM made the book seem 100 times better than it actually was. There may be people in the world who have absolutely no taste, and have a great love for the book Animal Farm, but if you have any sense you will do anything to get out of reading the book, including burning the book."


"This book totally skews production ag. If you beleive that all farms are the same as this, you need to become more educated"


"I LITERALLY CRIED BECAUSE IT WAS SO BORING !!!!!!"


"i guess i'll never be a fan of social commentary that believes the worst of humanity"


"For all of you out there that see this book as a classic, I'm sorry, but it was the most incoherent gibberish I have ever read in my life. I was forced to read it for an english class, and I found it nearly impossible to finish. It drags on and I don't think it sets a good example."


"I wish everyone in this book died cause I didn't care one bit about any of the characters! Orwell didn't make this novel interesting and it seems like a first grader could read this book and like it because everyone at that age thinks that animals fighting is fun. However, I had to read this book in high school and why would I care about this ridiculous nonsense anymore? How dumb did Orwell think I was! I don't get why this book was even published! I advise you not to read this book you will certainly waste your time unless if you're into the silly plots that would never exist in the 21st century"


"This book was written by a insane man named George Orwell, who hated society, and displayed that by bashing humanity, and making people look like lower lifeforms than animals ... Throught this entire book, he constantly tries to show that humans are sick people, that will corrupt no matter what happens. To be honest I think this man is crazy and needs to be locked up."


"This book sucks so bad I couldn't even get through it. I quit reading it before chapter three. I would not recommend this book to anyone you will waste your time and in the end or whenever you throw it away you'll be asking yourself who would write a book with talking animals?"


"Its is so annoying to see liberals writing books in politics, and i dont care who they attack- Liberals hate everybody else. Stupid guy had to express his feelings and whine about Russia. Okay Russia was bad, but this is just annoying. I didnt learn anything new, and even if i did i probably wouldnt care. A kid who reads this is going to be shocked at what he reads, no magic, just boring old crap."


"i love animals and if you like animals this book is not for you. at first i thought it was going to be great but then it turned into a huge discrace. i would not reckomend this book to anyone that doesn't want to be sad or depressed"


"the book is so boring i almost fell asleep reading it. george orwell must be old. i do not recommend this book to anyone.. try watching tv instead."


"no one wants to hear about pigs taking over a farm and then wearing human clothes and beimg in their house. I just dont understand the point of this book"


"I can't stand this kind of unrealistic plot, (whose ever heard of pigs giving lectures about politics)."

Thursday, March 21, 2013

George Orwell - Animal Farm II

"I skipped the introduction and writing at the begining of the book because I hate history."


"I don't care for books with talking animals. That may sound like a terrible reason to dislike a book but if an author is trying to make an emotional connection to the reader this way, I won't be won over."


"I thought it was cruel and senseless to put the animals in as juxtaposition to the human plight. They are nothing like us and wouldn't be so stupid. It warped the entire concept."


"In my opinion its sick and twisted and very upsetting . I would not recommend this to any animal lover ."


"The improbability of it all bothers me. Pigs learning to write and milking cows? Farmers run off their land never to return because of an animal uprising? Doesn't the guy own a gun? I mean, seriously."


"I suppose it's OK if you're into boring books-this would definitely be the right book for you! ... a bunch of talking animals built a windmill and harvested crops-SOMEHOW-so unrealistic!"


"Pigs talking is stupid. I know,they are personified and supposed to be real historical figures. I don't care. It's still ridiculous."


"i did not like it becuase it was boring and becuase it was about pigs.Pigs that come alive which was so wired to me. I condider you to not read this book it will make no sense."


"I did not under stand this book. I was very upset and appaled! Why would pigs be in charge of a hole farm?!?"


"Animals believe in change. We cannot control them. All societies will eventually fall."


"The sheep characters lack substance and the pigs are hard to relate to."


"I hate Pigs now. HATE THEM"


"I didnt really like this book very much i didnt like how it said that animals could talk and that the became like humans, i didnt like the way that it said that the animals could learn to read and write, i didnt like how it said they could learn to fire a gun, i dint like how it said that the animals could chase off the humans, overall it was an absolutely terrible book and obviously made no sense, it just made no sense"


"it was bad animals do not talk"


"I HATE pigs. Hate. Hate them.

I am pretty sure that this book did that to me.

Since I am a HUGE tree/animal hugger.

But pigs. I don't care. Kill them.

I don't even eat them. THat is how much I hate pigs."


"I know it was supposed to reflect...shoot....I don't even remember what it was...some major event in European history..."


"its SUPPOSEDLY symolizes the french resolution"


"this book is a allegory of the french revolution. this book showed the hierarchy of the people during the French Revolution."

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

George Orwell - Animal Farm

"There are so many themes that are still completely applicable today, though only a few can perhaps see the implications."


"A. Classic. Where term pigs comes from"


"I think I would've liked it a lot better if I would have read it about 10 years ago. Being a fan of pigs, I enjoyed how they took over. It made me think a tiny about treating animals better."


"I didn't enjoy Animal Farm at all, probably because I don't like learning about history."


"I thought this book was very interesting at first because it had to do with talking animals. I thought i wouldnt like it but it was actually a really good book. I like how the author used this idea of napoleon and integrated it into the book. I mean it was really cool how he also made the animals fight with the farmers and stage like some epic battle. But the ending wasn't like i expected."


"well. there was a plentiful amount of things i despised of in this book including the old style way of writing, the fact it was animals, and that there was no adventure involved what so ever. first of all the old style writing. i actually can't stand it. it hacks me off so much because half the time you don't even know what they are saying, so you don't get whats happening in the rest of the book. secondly who wants to know about animals? apart from tom. lastly adventure is a key aspect in my book vocabulary. no adventure means no venture (towards).
...
Recommend to?

old people who like nothing but boredom in there life. who don't actually want anything but a boring book of poos"


"What I really don't like about this book is the pigs. Why the bloody hell are they in charge? Why are they walking like normal people? Why are they becoming the thing they rebelled against? How are they becoming like humans? How are they walking like them?"


"I THINK ANIMAL FARM IS DYNAMIC BOOK THAT HAS SPIRE ALOT OF YOUTH MIND TODAY AND SO THE FREEMASON IS THE NO 1 AND I WANT TO BE ONE OF THEM."


"I got that it was not really about animals, that it was about communism somehow---but all I could focus on were how mean those pigs were. Mean, nasty piggies. Poor, poor horsies. I was scarred by this book."


"This book brings readers to a world where all animals can talk and have their own thoughts. (AMAZING!)"


"WHAT THE HECK WAS THE LIFE LESSON SUPPOSED TO BE?! ... WHAT IS THIS BOOK SUPPOSED TO TEACH??"


"not very well written, but message well received: socialism"


"i couldn't get over the fact they were all animals. It was just a bit weird. Defenitly would have prefered them to be humans."


"If your into politics or knowing about how other countries rule their people then this book is for you ... I really didn't like this book at all. I am not really big into wanting to know much about our world because it is sad. I feel like all the news wants to tell us is bad news all the time"

Sunday, March 17, 2013

Marianne Moore - Poems

"Girly."


"The main thing I remember about good ol' Marianne from my Contemporary American Poetry course was that... I hated her poems. And ...she liked baseball. Or something like that."


"This book fucking sucked. If poetry is about compact, memorable images, Marianne Moore forgot. I'd rather read 100 Hallmark cards stapled together than have to read this book again."

Friday, March 15, 2013

Homer - The Odyssey V

"Boring. Not impressed."


"I don’t get it. It is literally one long ass poem. Hellpppp."


"I just had to read this for my lit class and it wasn't bad, but I felt like I was reading an older, less interesting adult version of Percy Jackson."


"The first part of the book lost me completely because it had nothing to do with Odysseus. I did not understand why in the world would they do that. In addition in the middle of the book they were talking about how his ship wrecked and how he was the only one left alive, that confused me even more. I think that it should have been put in a better chronological order. The Odyssey should have been told as a story, rather then being jumped around from one point of the story to the other."


"These Greek epithets are getting ridiculous. 'Hebe of the slim ankles'. Fucking come on."


"You know what I just realized
The Iliad and the Odyssey were basically religious fanfictions
And they got such a large following that it became canon
So basically
Homer is the founding father of fanfiction"


"This book is absolutely atrocious. Many literary geniuses would strongly disagree; but they're stupid and have never actually finished the book, NO ONE has ever finished it ever ever in the history of the world. This book sucks."


"Does it make me a bad English major if I don't particularly like The Odyssey?

At some level, I don't feel like I can honestly review a poem that's thousands of years old and far more important than me, but at the same time, I feel a little let down. After reading everything that alludes to it, I think the works that refers to The Odyssey are a lot better."


"Sexism? It was interesting to finally read the full book version, but I was pretty bored. I liked this story when I was little and didn't know any better. Now, well... Moving right along."


"I was expecting more sea monsters. Skip the book and watch the Wishbone version."


"All the values are so wrong! ... How silly! I liked the poem; and the world it transports you to; but I totally disliked the message and the values depicted there. No wonder why those are not ruling the world any more (if they ever did; which I doubt)"

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Shakespeare - Richard II

"This was stupid. Just plain dumb. Avoid at all costs. If I get a chance later, I'll come back and tell you why. If not, just don't waste your time."


"It annoyed me that I couldn't decide whose side I should be on."


"Did they pronounce words back in Elizabethan England very differently than they do now? Nowadays, Shakespeare's stuff just doesn't sound like poetry. And what's the deal with 'art', 'thou', etc. ? It's still understandable, but very annoying. Couldn't they translate it into modern English? There is no rhythm to be broken anyhow.
I actually think Shakespeare worship is perpetuated much like the myth about Emperor's clothes.
Don't you think it's a bit symtomatic that the earliest English author of any significance also happens, by pure accident, no else, to be the greatest author and poet of all times and languages? Huh?"


"It's Shakespeare. I'm an English Lit major."

IF IT'S NOT CLEAR, THIS WAS A ONE-STAR REVIEW


"The purchase of this book was merely for bragging right i.e. pompous display of high literature to impress the clueless, visiting proletariats. I did not get pass the first page and the one star rating is a reflection of that"


"What can I say? It's Shakespeare, therefore it's diffcult to read at best and thoroughly unenjoyable."

Monday, March 11, 2013

Henry James - Daisy Miller II

"I didn't like her at all and I don't see how anyone could like her, she isn't charming with her stupidity, she isn't really pretty."


"Pretty pointless story for anyone in today's society to understand or care about"


"It makes backwards time travel less and less appealing."


"A very short book, and from a historical perspective it's one of the very first novels written."


"Daisy is a hooker.
Daisy Miller is a two timing whore. Every time she spoke I wanted to punch her."


"Daisy Miller as a character is a tease and the hero should have given up long ago."


"I had to read this dreadful book to complete an essay for English class. This book is pointless, not to mention boring. Anyone who has to read this book i feel sorry for!! The book is past its time and no teeager today could even begin to relate to this sad fictional prtoagonist, Dasiy Miller. The only purpose this book serves is to waste your time. Stay away form this worthless novella, this book is a waste paper i can't belive its actually printed"


"James killed Daisy in order to assure his European friends — rather than his American readers — that he was 'not like that', i.e., not like Daisy."


"I love to read. I’m absurdly nerdy ... While I love to read, there are some books I just can’t stand and will never ever understand. In college I took a Lit class that was so terrible to me and I felt like an idiot and a bad bookworm because I hate most of the classics. I hate The Great Gatsby. I hate Daisy Miller. Them, which isn’t technically a classic, is the worst book I’ve ever read just because I don’t get it. Books assigned in school almost always suck and are super complicated, outdated, and plain old complicated."


"I disliked Daisy Miller. I hated Daisy Miller. I wasn't sad at all when she died. She deserved it."


"Daisy Miller deserved to die because she's a slut and a tease"


"If we search someone to blame for the death of 'innocent' Daisy, i think she herself is the one to blame ... You thought you were more intelligent than Mrs. Walker. Girl, you should have listened to her advises. You were so arrogant and you thought you were a wise guy. You found yourself in the astonishing life of Europe. Travelling around the Europe didn’t improve your knowledge but your arrogance in society. You deserve death…
:)"


"If someone insists on doing wrong things,then let him/her to do it...Nothing can be effective than seeing the results of some mistakes,even if it is death!Daisy Miller deserves to die!Good end:)"


"Society was very strict and everybody laughed or made gossip after Daisy. However, the real responsible for Daisy’s death was Daisy’s herself. These kind of people, I mean who made gossip or laughed , can be seen everywhere. So people should behave according to the norms of the society."

Saturday, March 9, 2013

Henry James - Daisy Miller

"As Michael Crichton said about Henry James, 'I can't stand Henry James. His stuff reads like a first draft.'"


"The dialect consistently switches European languages, making reading difficult. The author also on a consistent basis lapses into descriptions of Daisy which, if anything, detract from the intentions of Henry James. Also, the characters switch languages in the middle of sentences."


"The fact that it's a 'classic' should only be taken to mean that the language 'sounds' 'classic' in the most dull, stereotypical sense."


"O dearest Henry James. Why art thou so wordy?!"


"This Giovanelli fellow comes across to me as a homosexual, I can't simply understand him. Even though during the 19th century there was never any exposed human contact between an unmarried couple per se but still I cannot see them marrying each other. Thank God they never did. No, Giovanelli to me would be Daisy's unhired stylist and gay acquaintance there by the reason for them spending so much time together but still no engagement. End of story."


"This book made me depressed while reading it because most people know the emptiness inside how it feels to be lead on. All i could do while reading is to sympathize for Winterborne who had strong feelings for Daisy but she teased him. I can understand that if you realling want someone, then you will have to fight for their heart, but knowing Daisy's personality, it's sick. I learned to respect other peoples emotions and be honest with them instead of torturing them inside for the possibility for love."


"I shiver when I hear 'Henry James', convulse at the book cover, and gag at the prospect of ever touching the cursed pages again."


"The underlying message is she got what she deserved because she was not a good girl."


"I didn't like Daisy at all, she was an attention-seeker and she deserved to be criticized."


"There is no protagonist I wished harm on MORE than Daisy Miller. I hated her from the moment I met her and then continually hated her throughout the whole book. She's stubborn, stuck up, flirtatious but in that annoying way that just makes her a frilly childish nuisance, she's uneducated, rude, culturally insensitive and honestly boring ... SHE'S AN IMMATURE EMPTY-HEADED COQUETTE (one of the terms from the class that forced me to read this book). I felt like her stupidity wins her EXACTLY what she deserved at the end of this book. I actually felt relief knowing that the narrator is saved from his own idiotic attraction to this woman."


"DAISY MILLER is part of my 'appetizer' book series for my pre-IB kids in 2011 ... it is the kind of 'girl book' I am loathe to teach...."

Thursday, March 7, 2013

Parmenides - Fragments

"at the time, parmenides was laughed at by his colleagues, who were all strictly grounded in views of socrates and plato"


"Parmenides made Achilles paradox to help Pythagoras’ students – Pythagoreans to laugh at Pythagoras’ students – Mathematicians’ logic (idealism logic), when he was learning from Pythagoreans. Parmenides made Arrow paradox to laugh at Pythagoreans’ logic (materialism logic) after he had had his own unity logic (usually it is called digital logic today) and left them. Human brains’ the parts that support to idealism logic, is autonomic nerve system center. Human brains’ the parts that support to materialism logic, is sex center. Human brains’ the parts that support to the digital logic (the unity logic), is parasympathetic nerve system center. The idealism logic (human autonomic nerve system function), the materialism logic (human sex function), and the digital logic (human parasympathetic nerve system function) are as teamwork of ZEN."


"The most important steps in this argument are horribly fallacious. That's what makes it so fun. You can't get completely ridiculous conclusions as easily if the steps of the argument are any good."


"Paramenides wanted to one up Heraclitus.

Unfortunately he was an idiot.

Heraclitus said 'You can't step in the same river twice.'
..because the river is always changing so it's not the same river.

Paramenides said 'You can't step in the same river once'
..because Paramenides was an idiot.

He later came up with philosophical gems like 'Motion is impossible'.
& his student Zeno was made famous by essentially (and erroneously) stating that an infinite series could not resolve to a finite solution. I.e. you can never get to a doorway because you will infinitely have to cover half the remaining distance.

So as far a I can tell his big contribution was to delay the development of Calculus for 2100 years."

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

Franz Kafka - The Metamorphosis IV

"The metamorphosis i thought was just plainly confusing, i didn't get that he turned into a bug until the middle of the second chapter."


"I'm pretty sure I got the metaphor. I mean, it isn't that complex right? His family and his job are shitty to him, he turns into a bug, right? I get the gist of it, anyway. I think my point is, I wasn't impressed. It was weird, and it was a unique idea, but I don't give points for weird. I think everyone can be weird -- weird is easy ... I have little to no tolerance for things like giant, unexplained bugs.

Perhaps I'm a pedant, or I'm just simple, but it seems to me that this story is nothing more than its surface, and I don't think that was very impressive. It was just a weird, weird tale."


"I understand and appreciate the metaphor in this book. The reason for the 2 star review is really just because of the giant beetle aspect. It was just not something that appealed to me"


"THIS BOOK IS A COMPLETE PIECE OF S#$. I swear this book is boring as a Motherf*$@. The guy is sales man that just becomes a bug. How on earth does that happen. Is he on some steroids that makes him sell more? Now, how will anyone believe this piece of S#*!. This author had to be smoking something that got him real high you know what i'm saying. I wonder how this author thought about this idea. I give him respect on the morals. Though this author needs to get out of cloud 9 or get some pills for his mental health. Please author do not make us get us through this crappy a$$ book.

Though this book is still Art...."


"I don't even know why it exist. Metamorphosis should never be read by anyone again. Absolutely the worst book ever written! I give this no starts whatsoever!"


"it makes no sense why would somebody wake up as a bug it is just stupid."


"I THOUGHT THE BUG WAS SCARY BUT WHY HE DIE

WHY

A APPLE? HE 2 BIG MANG. 2 DIE TO APPLE"


"Franz Kafka is the culprit. Franz Kafka invented a perfectly nice, likeable young man for the sole purpose and pleasure of turning him into a cockroach and tormenting him to death. For what? To show us what a miserable life he had? To vaguely depress us with the futility of it all? But Gregor Samsa's life wouldn't have been anywhere near as bad if he'd been allowed to remain human. Kafka turned him into a cockroach, and he can jolly well turn him back!

Not even depressing German authors are free from the rules of good storytelling. And one of the rules of good storytelling is that you try to make the author's hand as invisible as possible. You avoid co-incidences in the plot. You refrain from making characters behave in uncharacteristic ways. And you certainly don't hang your whole plot and theme on the ridiculous conceit that an ordinary man might transform into a cockroach overnight. This may be short-sighted of me, and I may be missing the point. But the first rule of fantasy is that you use it to teach something about the real world."

Sunday, March 3, 2013

Joseph Conrad - Lord Jim II

"I listened to Lord Jim on audiobook and found it tolerable by listening to only every second or third track."


"A strange thing happened to me as I read this book. I couldn't feel my fingers and then my toes. Soon enough my whole body started to go numb. Eventually I had to stop for fear of dying of numbness. (I read about 115 pages)."


"As much as I love Conrad's style, this one was just too long. He shouldn't have tried to write a full-blown novel."


"Never before have I been forced to struggle through a book like this one. Conrad's style is adds superfluous information that does absolutely nothing to advance the plot or symbolic significance of the story. The sentences and paragraphs were too large to be dealt with rationally. One of the chapters, which is about 4 and a half pages, is one single paragraph! While the story itself was a good one, Joseph Conrad ruins it with his esoteric and over-descriptive style of novel-writing."


"how anyone could sit through such a long and boring ramble with so litte point is beyond comprehension."


"You are smart enough. This is simply a horrible novel."


"It's downright dull and far too difficult for me to comprehend while I'm trying to make deadlines at a pace of 3 minutes a page! Joseph Conrad should have tried speaking English!"


"This is one of the worst books in the world---in my humble opinion! OK, I'm in the minority. Most of the reviewers LOVED the book. I think this book is a waste of beautiful words! Yes, Conrad had a beautiful English vocabulary. But, the 'story' is 'encrusted' with so many words you'll tire of it after awhile. OK, try the book, but now, at least, you won't feel as I did, 'What's wrong with ME that I don't like this book.' You won't feel 'alone' in your reaction ... PS: As of 1-15-07 I see that I have ZERO 'yes' votes for my review. That's 'mean'. I'm just giving my honest reaction. You don't have to agree with me but why not give me a break for spending the time and energy just to write my thoughts----thoughts which MIGHT help someone....maybe not you....but someone. Thanks."


"I gave up reading this ' Gibberish /Jargon ' at about the 125th page. Jargon is defined as speech or writing full of long,unfamiliar, or roundabout words or phrases. Jargon accurately describes this novel. If you want to read 400 pages of jargon and try to figure out what Mr. Conrad is trying to say, then this book is definitely for you. I'm sure Mr. Conrad was an excellent sailor but a writer he is not."

Friday, March 1, 2013

Joseph Conrad - Lord Jim

"Why did I loathe this book so much... I was an English major in college. I have a master's degree in English literature. I love books!"


"There are too many perspectives."


"This book was literally painful to read!"


"Even if I were the only person in the world who was saying that they just couldn't understand Conrad's writing, I would still say it. I would not bow to peer pressure and call his storytelling 'masterful', or even 'readable'. Reading this book made me feel like I had massive ADD, or a brain tumor, which rendered me unable to understand what was going on."


"I just don't like Conrad. He is smarter than I am"


"Jove! This book was ruined by being a story-within-a-story!"


"English to Conrad was a third language, and reading this book was like listening to a foreigner with a heavy accent. The sentence structure is odd and off kilter ... Have you ever read a novel when you were really, really high, and you have to read a paragraph three times to comprehend what is going on because your mind and attention drift? You are continuously flipping pages back and forth because you can’t remember who that character is, or where or even what they are talking about? Lord Jim reads like that, except without the drugs."


"Jim was an officer on a ship that sank. Although he wanted to be noble in going down with his ship, his survival instincts made him jump off the ship. While 800 people perished in the ship, jim feels guilty he was not one of them. His perceive moral lapse made him destitute because he did not want to accept the money he earned via being one of the ships officers."


"At first I took the novel's stubborn resistance to being read as a challenge. Lord Jim is squeezed into large chunks of paragraphs, dialogue and all, which was strangely fascinating. I've never met a book which didn't seem to want to be read. It's quite frankly a formatting nightmare. Were I the editor, I would've thrown Conrad's manuscript in his face and yelled at him for wasting my time.

On top of his utterly disastrous formatting, Conrad's prose is so painfully verbose that I was bored to tears sometimes. All of this would've been perfectly worth it if there had been a great pay off characteristic of other challenging novels like Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings."