"height and my sensitivity to the misuse of language more than anything else I've ever read in my life."
"This is literally one of the best books mankind will ever produce. George Orwell achieves a formidable task by creating a world that is far-fetced and simultaneously real and feesible to exist. This is way the book is relevant nowadays as much as it was back then. It rings us a bell that this dystopian world may not be as imaginery as we may think."
"the entire book quickly degenerated into soft porn."
"This book was a waste. I tried to read it before I just quit. I logged onto my laptop, clicked the link of shame and fell in love with Sparknotes. I studied the summary, devoted myself to character lists and looked at each chapter break down. And yet, all I could see was nothing but sexual meanings, double meanings that made no sense, and the glorious WTF ending that left me screaming at my laptop."
"1. It's EXTREMELY long. There are paragraphs that last for almost two pages, which really bores me because there's nothing much going on but description after description after description. Oh, I know. Imagery. While I don't mind imagery, 1984 was simply too much for me to handle.
2. Awkwardness. I don't know why an adult novel is required reading for high school students in the first place, aside from the fact we're more mature. Still, it's awkward."
"This book is terrible. I do not understand why it is always rated so high, especially now that communism has collapsed."
"I am only 143 pages in (and have had to bare the fairly unpleasant sex scenes) but the concept of totalitarian dictatorship in literature, if written well, is always fascinating. In one section, the language of newspeak is addressed. Orwell predicted a form of language that was based off of english, but substantially reduced to the point where one does not have to think about vocabulary, but can simply say words, and everyone understands. It made me think about texting lingo, with such abbreviations such as: lol, ftw, brb, ttyl. Everyone knows the meanings of these terms, one does not have to think."
"This is dated. My students could read The Hunger Games trilogy or Harry Potter and grasp some of the same concepts about totalitarian regimes."
"I like reading Science Fiction books, but not to this extent."
"It's amazing that he's British and the book was written 60 years ago, but the book still reads clearly."
"I am still puzzling as to why any educator would wish to subject a teenager to this torture. The horror of a socialist society that was involved in literally every aspect of life was shocking, thus serving its purpose. However, the in-depth detail of the totalitarian society and one man (and woman) who decide to rebel was just that: a little too in-depth. Were detailed descriptions of their sensuality all that necessary?"
Thursday, October 24, 2013
Monday, October 14, 2013
Ernest Hemingway - The Old Man and the Sea III
"The only reason I can think of as to why such a dull, bland, mundane, uninteresting book is so well revered by the 'know it all's' is because they are afraid to contradict decades of praise given to what is considered one of America's finest pieces of literature. I say stop being so blinded by the majority and actually judge a book for what is really is."
"As for the characters in this book, Oh, excuse me character as to that he was quite dull and not to bright either. For instance, the Old Man is always thinking about baseball and fishing and how he thinks everyone will think he is crazy nothing else. Being very one-sided like that the Old Man makes for a bad main character. The Old Man could have been made handsome, like myself, so he didn't have to be smart. He is also very simple minded he says he was put on earth to fish and nothing else. I myself would prefer a more multi faceted person."
"Old Man and the Sea? More like, Old Man Should Have Died 100 Pages Earlier!"
"Hemmingway is overrated. He writes short sentences."
"This book was AWFUL!!! Sorry Ernest. Sometimes the truth hurts!"
"It was TOO descriptive...and I swear the old man is insane..."
"i just don't think that this analogy was written for the way things work in my head"
"Stemming from the philosophy of naturalism - depressing and thoroughly Godless."
"yo, this old guy is in a boat and takes forever to catch this fish. 120 pages later....still hasn't caught it. lame."
"What I learned from this book....the reason behind Hemingway's suicide. I would have shot myself too had I written this boring, uninspired piece."
"I could have written the book in three pages for everything that happened and was learned. For all his praise, this was a less then stellar effort."
"This dreadful book could be boiled down ever further from it's 90 page size to about a 4 page short story, even then...it probably still wouldn't be interesting to read. Oh Ernest, what a terrible book you wrote."
"Bo-ring. I gave up. And I wasn't even reading it, I was listening to it as a book on tape (ipod). And I still couldn't hang. Did I mention it was bo-ring? Because it was."
"this book is shit I mean seriously the 21st century and you'd think English teachers would evolve and move forward but No they are rooted in the past. Fuck this shit I love horror and I wasted my time reading this for nothing its fucking boring and stupid I'm no wonder the author killed him -self"
"I have never been a huge fan of hemingway. Maybe it is because he puts his characters in impossible situations, and yet he killed himself. I think that he just needed to grow up."
"As for the characters in this book, Oh, excuse me character as to that he was quite dull and not to bright either. For instance, the Old Man is always thinking about baseball and fishing and how he thinks everyone will think he is crazy nothing else. Being very one-sided like that the Old Man makes for a bad main character. The Old Man could have been made handsome, like myself, so he didn't have to be smart. He is also very simple minded he says he was put on earth to fish and nothing else. I myself would prefer a more multi faceted person."
"Old Man and the Sea? More like, Old Man Should Have Died 100 Pages Earlier!"
"Hemmingway is overrated. He writes short sentences."
"This book was AWFUL!!! Sorry Ernest. Sometimes the truth hurts!"
"It was TOO descriptive...and I swear the old man is insane..."
"i just don't think that this analogy was written for the way things work in my head"
"Stemming from the philosophy of naturalism - depressing and thoroughly Godless."
"yo, this old guy is in a boat and takes forever to catch this fish. 120 pages later....still hasn't caught it. lame."
"What I learned from this book....the reason behind Hemingway's suicide. I would have shot myself too had I written this boring, uninspired piece."
"I could have written the book in three pages for everything that happened and was learned. For all his praise, this was a less then stellar effort."
"This dreadful book could be boiled down ever further from it's 90 page size to about a 4 page short story, even then...it probably still wouldn't be interesting to read. Oh Ernest, what a terrible book you wrote."
"Bo-ring. I gave up. And I wasn't even reading it, I was listening to it as a book on tape (ipod). And I still couldn't hang. Did I mention it was bo-ring? Because it was."
"this book is shit I mean seriously the 21st century and you'd think English teachers would evolve and move forward but No they are rooted in the past. Fuck this shit I love horror and I wasted my time reading this for nothing its fucking boring and stupid I'm no wonder the author killed him -self"
"I have never been a huge fan of hemingway. Maybe it is because he puts his characters in impossible situations, and yet he killed himself. I think that he just needed to grow up."
Monday, October 7, 2013
Ernest Hemingway - The Old Man and the Sea II
"Old man sucks!!
I hate fish this book was written about fish. This was torture to read."
"I am an avid reader and book collector. I love literature in general. I love books. I have always loved books but when I was tenth grade back in 1996 or so (I'm twenty eight now) my literature class was made to read The Old Man and the Sea ... Imagine, if you will, spending your entire teenagehood trying to tell other teeangers that books are wonderful. They take you on adventures and you meet fascinating characters who do incredible things. And then you're handed this book ... I was told that Hemingway killed himself because he knew he was developing arthritis in his hands, this seems to reflect what I suspected of his personality already, a deep-seeded insecurity, self-consciousness and doubt of self-worth that he thought that he was of no worth to the world if his hands didn't function properly"
"A joke. That's what I think about The Old Man and the Sea getting a Pulitzer Prize. I can not comprehend what the Pulitzer Committee was thinking when they gave this book a prize. The Old Man and the Sea is a redundant book full of hum drum that is not worth 127 pages of anyone's time. This book did not deserve a Pulitzer Prize for the book lacked excitement and plot. For example, Santiago does a ton of work and does not succeed. The Climax of this book is a major let down which makes the reader regret reading it in the first place. Since the climax is poor that also forces the plot of the story to go downhill. Another example is that this book was written at a low reading level. This is a big part of why I can't see why this book got one of the highest awards in history. Sure the book probably got the prize for the theme or the symbolizing the author put in it, but these are not very strong in my opinion. Any younger kid could have written a book like this. The Old Man and the Sea is not worthy of its award ... All in all, The Old Man and the Sea is a redundant book full of hum drum that is not worth 127 pages of anyone's time."
"The Old Man and the Sea is a bad book to read due to being a dull-as-dirt book begging for compliments."
"The author does not clearly explain mandatory parts in the book that are truly needed to make the book a success ... This book should not be read by anyone. This truly shows Hemmingway's weakness as a writer. The protagonist does not prove to have any common sense at all and he may be going insane. This book proved to be an overall failure because it did not add up to my expectations as a reader."
"'The Old Man and the Sea' should be changed to 'The Old Man and the Snore.'"
"The Old Man and the Sea is unclear in the writing. For example, 'Bad luck to your mother' is just one of the fragments Ernest Hemingway uses. Fragments leave the reader with an incomplete thought. An author should know not to use fragments in their writing. Authors should also know not to use unfamiliar words. For instance, Hemingway uses the Spanish word 'Galanas'. He doesn't give a definition or any clue of what the word might mean. A well written book shouldn't use undefined or unusual words."
"This book was so, so boring. First of all, why didn't they just summarize those three days with a couple of pages. Instead, I was forced to read an endless amount of pages that seemed to get longer about him catching and losing his prize fish/trophy. What's the point? He was already poor, and now he's lost one of the most important things to happen to him. It was a lost phenomenon."
"I asked my classmates when I was in school to select the Hobbit as a reading assignment instead, but they insisted on The Old Man and the Sea because it was a few pages shorter and they were just a lazy bunch of semi-literates."
"The grammar is supposed to be 'cutting edge' and 'of powerful simplicity,' but it's really just incorrect. Call me a stickler, but in the end it's plain annoying."
"For most, the story seems uneventful and boring. It may only appeal to those who are either def or blind. Anyone with a normal sense of sight or sound will find this story to be extremely boring and tiring ... The Old Man and the Sea, only appeals to the def and the blind. Those of us with full or partial use of our ears and eyes can plainly sense that this story is uneventful. I especially was bored with the story. It was not an interesting topic. The only people who would be interested in the story are old fishermen. The poor children who are forced into reading this will find it unappealing. The story wasn't filled with action. Even someone who is into the topic will find the story too boring. The interesting events are too few and far between. Someone who has perfect vision or perfect hearing will still find this story boring and uneventful.
In conclusion, The Old Man and the Sea is a boring worthless peace of nothing. Only the def and the blind consider it literature."
I hate fish this book was written about fish. This was torture to read."
"I am an avid reader and book collector. I love literature in general. I love books. I have always loved books but when I was tenth grade back in 1996 or so (I'm twenty eight now) my literature class was made to read The Old Man and the Sea ... Imagine, if you will, spending your entire teenagehood trying to tell other teeangers that books are wonderful. They take you on adventures and you meet fascinating characters who do incredible things. And then you're handed this book ... I was told that Hemingway killed himself because he knew he was developing arthritis in his hands, this seems to reflect what I suspected of his personality already, a deep-seeded insecurity, self-consciousness and doubt of self-worth that he thought that he was of no worth to the world if his hands didn't function properly"
"A joke. That's what I think about The Old Man and the Sea getting a Pulitzer Prize. I can not comprehend what the Pulitzer Committee was thinking when they gave this book a prize. The Old Man and the Sea is a redundant book full of hum drum that is not worth 127 pages of anyone's time. This book did not deserve a Pulitzer Prize for the book lacked excitement and plot. For example, Santiago does a ton of work and does not succeed. The Climax of this book is a major let down which makes the reader regret reading it in the first place. Since the climax is poor that also forces the plot of the story to go downhill. Another example is that this book was written at a low reading level. This is a big part of why I can't see why this book got one of the highest awards in history. Sure the book probably got the prize for the theme or the symbolizing the author put in it, but these are not very strong in my opinion. Any younger kid could have written a book like this. The Old Man and the Sea is not worthy of its award ... All in all, The Old Man and the Sea is a redundant book full of hum drum that is not worth 127 pages of anyone's time."
"The Old Man and the Sea is a bad book to read due to being a dull-as-dirt book begging for compliments."
"The author does not clearly explain mandatory parts in the book that are truly needed to make the book a success ... This book should not be read by anyone. This truly shows Hemmingway's weakness as a writer. The protagonist does not prove to have any common sense at all and he may be going insane. This book proved to be an overall failure because it did not add up to my expectations as a reader."
"'The Old Man and the Sea' should be changed to 'The Old Man and the Snore.'"
"The Old Man and the Sea is unclear in the writing. For example, 'Bad luck to your mother' is just one of the fragments Ernest Hemingway uses. Fragments leave the reader with an incomplete thought. An author should know not to use fragments in their writing. Authors should also know not to use unfamiliar words. For instance, Hemingway uses the Spanish word 'Galanas'. He doesn't give a definition or any clue of what the word might mean. A well written book shouldn't use undefined or unusual words."
"This book was so, so boring. First of all, why didn't they just summarize those three days with a couple of pages. Instead, I was forced to read an endless amount of pages that seemed to get longer about him catching and losing his prize fish/trophy. What's the point? He was already poor, and now he's lost one of the most important things to happen to him. It was a lost phenomenon."
"I asked my classmates when I was in school to select the Hobbit as a reading assignment instead, but they insisted on The Old Man and the Sea because it was a few pages shorter and they were just a lazy bunch of semi-literates."
"The grammar is supposed to be 'cutting edge' and 'of powerful simplicity,' but it's really just incorrect. Call me a stickler, but in the end it's plain annoying."
"For most, the story seems uneventful and boring. It may only appeal to those who are either def or blind. Anyone with a normal sense of sight or sound will find this story to be extremely boring and tiring ... The Old Man and the Sea, only appeals to the def and the blind. Those of us with full or partial use of our ears and eyes can plainly sense that this story is uneventful. I especially was bored with the story. It was not an interesting topic. The only people who would be interested in the story are old fishermen. The poor children who are forced into reading this will find it unappealing. The story wasn't filled with action. Even someone who is into the topic will find the story too boring. The interesting events are too few and far between. Someone who has perfect vision or perfect hearing will still find this story boring and uneventful.
In conclusion, The Old Man and the Sea is a boring worthless peace of nothing. Only the def and the blind consider it literature."
Friday, October 4, 2013
Ernest Hemingway - The Old Man and the Sea
"Santiago is the man I want to just be near... all the time."
"Oh, my good lord in heaven. Cut your line, land your boat and go to McDonald's!"
"I have made many sacrifices as a mother but none so great as slogging through this book"
"The whole book was about this old *insert unsavory word*, who refused to cut the line and was deteremined to catch a fist. The whole damn time. And when he finally gets close to shore the *insert unsavory word* fish gets devoured by sharks. REALLY? Did that really just happen?"
"Hemingway won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1953 for the The Old Man and the Sea, and the Nobel committee in 1954 cited it as contributing to his winning the Nobel Prize in Literature award as well. I have to wonder why; I think they must have known he was ill and wanted to be nice."
"Apparently I am a huge fan of chapters. I never realized before how much joy I feel when I finish one chapter and start another; the convenience stopping at the end of a chapter before going to bed; the helpfulness of potty breaks while reading. Needless to say, this book did not have any of those things as Hemingway thought he was too good for chapters."
"The Old Man and the Sea. Why waste 127 pages instead of saying, 'and old man is a terrible fisher.'"
"What did it achieve in the end? He's an old man who's obviously fucking crazy if he wants to let a fish lead him out to sea for days. And in the end most of the fish is eaten by the shark anyway!
Well done! Props to you gramps for going missing for days and bringing back a mutilated fish that nobody would want anyway!"
"I get it, it's supposed to be allegorical, and some great literature, but the thing about a lot of classics is that I find them to be incredibly boring. Maybe because I'm a 21st century person."
"lame excuse for his terrible writing that people seem to buy, without realizing the guy was just trying to come up with a concept to attempt to pass off his lack of skill as art"
"This book is a despicable creation ... Call me a sick person if you will, but I became pleased when the fish became destroyed; I had developed a strong disliking towards the old man because of the monstrosity of writing craft Hemingway uses, so I became close to jubilant when his dreams were eaten up along with the fish ... Overall, I loathed this book with much of my spirit."
"I read this book back in high school, and I thought it was utter crap. I was reading high fantasy, and I was just so used to the complex story telling and deep visuals that when I read this book, it felt hollow and empty. I didn't think anything could be written any worse."
"Don't even bother thinking about reading it. You will have lost tons of brain cells by the end of the book. That's why so many people say they like it, they don't know better."
"Way to ruin books, Hemingway."
"Oh, my good lord in heaven. Cut your line, land your boat and go to McDonald's!"
"I have made many sacrifices as a mother but none so great as slogging through this book"
"The whole book was about this old *insert unsavory word*, who refused to cut the line and was deteremined to catch a fist. The whole damn time. And when he finally gets close to shore the *insert unsavory word* fish gets devoured by sharks. REALLY? Did that really just happen?"
"Hemingway won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1953 for the The Old Man and the Sea, and the Nobel committee in 1954 cited it as contributing to his winning the Nobel Prize in Literature award as well. I have to wonder why; I think they must have known he was ill and wanted to be nice."
"Apparently I am a huge fan of chapters. I never realized before how much joy I feel when I finish one chapter and start another; the convenience stopping at the end of a chapter before going to bed; the helpfulness of potty breaks while reading. Needless to say, this book did not have any of those things as Hemingway thought he was too good for chapters."
"The Old Man and the Sea. Why waste 127 pages instead of saying, 'and old man is a terrible fisher.'"
"What did it achieve in the end? He's an old man who's obviously fucking crazy if he wants to let a fish lead him out to sea for days. And in the end most of the fish is eaten by the shark anyway!
Well done! Props to you gramps for going missing for days and bringing back a mutilated fish that nobody would want anyway!"
"I get it, it's supposed to be allegorical, and some great literature, but the thing about a lot of classics is that I find them to be incredibly boring. Maybe because I'm a 21st century person."
"lame excuse for his terrible writing that people seem to buy, without realizing the guy was just trying to come up with a concept to attempt to pass off his lack of skill as art"
"This book is a despicable creation ... Call me a sick person if you will, but I became pleased when the fish became destroyed; I had developed a strong disliking towards the old man because of the monstrosity of writing craft Hemingway uses, so I became close to jubilant when his dreams were eaten up along with the fish ... Overall, I loathed this book with much of my spirit."
"I read this book back in high school, and I thought it was utter crap. I was reading high fantasy, and I was just so used to the complex story telling and deep visuals that when I read this book, it felt hollow and empty. I didn't think anything could be written any worse."
"Don't even bother thinking about reading it. You will have lost tons of brain cells by the end of the book. That's why so many people say they like it, they don't know better."
"Way to ruin books, Hemingway."
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