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Moar Books!
I came across a used book sale last year that turned out to be an annual event put on by a local newspaper, so I decided I’d drop by again this year. There’s thousands of books and over three hundred volunteers, so it’s quite the production. All proceeds go to local literacy programs, so at least I can justify my hoarding with that. I still haven’t read half the books I picked up last year. I’ve been in a bit of a reading slump this month, so buying a pile of new books does seem a bit silly. Half the books do go towards The Classics Club, however, so it’s…
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The Unwritten, Vol. 4: Leviathan
The Unwritten, Vol. 4: Leviathan by Mike Carey Illustrated By: Peter Gross Published: 2011 Publisher: Vertigo Collects: issues #19 – #24 I haven’t been reading many comics lately, but this is one series that I’m still really interested in. When last I wrote about The Unwritten, I described it thusly: “Imagine if J.K. Rowling based Harry Potter after her son of the same name and then disappeared before the last book had been finished, and her son then grew into his 20s as a bitter Harry Potter Con regular living off his fame as a muse. That’s essentially how this series began – Wilson Tayler based his incredibly popular series…
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John de Lancie Reads The Raven
I think I like John de Lancie’s version of The Raven even better than Vincent Price’s or James Earl Jones’, and that’s saying a lot.
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The Picture of Dorian Gray
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde Published: 1890 Basil Hallward sees Dorian Gray as his true inspiration as a painter, and the story begins with him finishing a portrait of the young man. During this same afternoon, Basil introduces Dorian to his friend Henry Wotton, a true dandy who swears by a hedonistic lifestyle, wherein the only real pursuits in life should be feeding the senses. Dorian is young and incredibly pliable, and Henry convinces him that beauty is what matters in life and to cherish what he has while he has it. Always! That is a dreadful word. It makes me shudder when I hear it. Women…
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The Hunger Games
The Hunger Games (audio) by Suzanne Collins Published: 2008 Narrated by: Carolyn McCormick With all the hype surrounding the film adaptation of The Hunger Games, I broke down and decided to read it. I was a little worried I was getting myself into the next Twilight, but I’m glad I picked it up. Set in a post-apocalyptic alternative (or is it??….it is) future of our world, a new country of Panem is under rule by a totalitarian government. This government occupies the central capital, whose technology is so advanced as to seem alien to us, and the twelve surrounding districts live in squalor. Seventy-five years ago the districts rose up…
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Dear Mr. McCarthy
In October of 1973, a high school English teacher in North Dakota decided to use Slaughterhouse Five in his classroom. When Charles McCarthy, the head of the school board, later heard of this he had all 32 copies burned in the school’s furnace, using the book’s apparent “obscene language” as his reason. Kurt Vonnegut sent this letter to him the following week. November 16, 1973 Dear Mr. McCarthy: I am writing to you in your capacity as chairman of the Drake School Board. I am among those American writers whose books have been destroyed in the now famous furnace of your school. Certain members of your community have suggested that…
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All Art is Quite Useless
When The Picture of Dorian Gray was first published, it was attacked for apparently lacking a moral message. Oscar Wilde added this preface to the second edition of the book. The artist is the creator of beautiful things. To reveal art and conceal the artist is art’s aim. The critic is he who can translate into another manner or a new material his impression of beautiful things. The highest as the lowest form of criticism is a mode of autobiography. Those who find ugly meanings in beautiful things are corrupt without being charming. This is a fault. Those who find beautiful meanings in beautiful things are the cultivated. For these…
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Heart of Darkness
Heart of Darkness (audio) by Joseph Conrad Published: 1899 Narrated by: Kenneth Branagh The story is framed by a group of men sitting in a boat on the River Thames, listening to Charles Marlow tell a story from his past. Our narrator is actually one of the unnamed men on the boat, but almost the entire novella is Marlowe telling his story. It’s a story of his time captaining a steamboat on the Congo River. I’m not sure they mention that he’s in The Congo Free State, as it was then called, but I knew this going in. When he first arrives, he stops briefly at a trading station and…
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Blank Spaces
“Now when I was a little chap I had a passion for maps. I would look for hours at South America, or Africa, or Australia, and lose myself in all the glories of exploration. At that time there were many blank spaces on the earth, and when I saw one that looked particularly inviting on a map (but they all look that) I would put my finger on it and say, `When I grow up I will go there.’ The North Pole was one of these places, I remember. Well, I haven’t been there yet, and shall not try now. The glamour’s off. Other places were scattered about the Equator,…
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On a Pale Horse
On A Pale Horse by Piers Anthony Published: 1983 This is my first Piers Anthony novel. My dad was a big fan of him when I was growing up, and I always saw his books lying around the house. Curiosity got the best of me, and I thought I’d start with his most famous. Zane is a would-be photographer who has fallen on rough times. The story begins with him in an enchantments store looking for something that will change his life for the better, even though he can barely afford food. It’s an interesting scene, and does a good job of introducing the world. On A Pale Horse is…