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Post by Marina on Dec 30, 2011 1:51:16 GMT -5
I just finished Neverwhere. BEST GAIMAN EVER! I liked it much better than American Gods.
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Post by Marina on Dec 29, 2011 18:43:45 GMT -5
Also, have you guys checked out the Panem website? Which districts were you put in?
I'm in District 4. At first I was like ... what? But since Finnick is in it, I'm okay. Also, name's Marina, which means "sea one". It all makes sense... somehow.
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Post by Marina on Dec 29, 2011 18:15:35 GMT -5
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Post by Marina on Dec 29, 2011 17:39:49 GMT -5
Vast.
*starts sobbing* I can't pronounce it. My accent just comes out full force. I kept trying to pronounce it and kept failing, I have to make a ridiculous intonation to do it. *keeps sobbing*
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Post by Marina on Dec 29, 2011 17:25:40 GMT -5
What's everyone's take on "modernized mythology", like American Gods? I imagine a few of you are for it, but sometimes I think they take it too far. I just did a research paper on the modernizing of the Hades and Persephone myth. My opinion is that that myth in particular should not be touched with a ten-foot pole. My biggest problem with them was the introduction of romance into the myth--which just doesn't work, at all. It's my opinion that the myth is not supposed to be romantic. But authors change main elements like rape, kidnapping or Demeter's reaction to fit the modern standards; and again, it's my opinion, but I think changing the main elements ruins the myth. Of course there's the right way to do it and the wrong way to do it. I just don't think there was a right modernization of the H&P myth, and I don't think there's going to be one. I'd rather read Gaiman instead, he does it the right way.
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Post by Marina on Dec 29, 2011 17:18:48 GMT -5
It didn't live up to the hype for me. It was great and all, and I liked it, it just wasn't as amazing as everyone makes it out to be.
However, I'm am on Gaiman kick right now. Reading Nevewhere at the moment.
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Post by Marina on Dec 29, 2011 17:13:32 GMT -5
I'm bringing this back, because I just finished the novels awhile ago.
The first book was really hard to get through because of how graphically he describes all the abuse. But once you get past that it's actually pretty good.
I liked the second book much better than either the first or the third. Probably because I think that the romance between Blomkvist and Salader is really weird and they barely spoke to each other in it, if at all. He just don't know how to write romance.... at all. Romance does not equal good sex.
I liked the third book too, I just thought it a little weird that trained professionals were beaten by a journalist. I know it was written by a Swede but it just seemed so Hollywood. Pssh.
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Post by Marina on Dec 29, 2011 16:54:57 GMT -5
I barely know the rules of grammar. I'd like to use the excuse that English is my second language. Also, the fact that grammar isn't really taught in the American schools, at least not after fifth grade (when I came to America). Everything I've picked up about grammar rules has been either self-taught or my brain learning sentence structure from reading and practice. So, can anyone recommend a good grammar book?
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Post by Marina on Dec 29, 2011 16:38:16 GMT -5
I honestly don't remember the conversation. Didn't mean to copy it or anything, but I guess this proves that we all think alike. Besides, it's nice for it to have it's own thread. That said, I just went over and read them. My gosh, where had I been? Everything said there is so much better put. I wish I could just copy it all in here, credited and quoted of course.
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Post by Marina on Dec 27, 2011 21:49:58 GMT -5
I CAN"T STOP LOOKING AT IT
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Post by Marina on Dec 27, 2011 20:39:16 GMT -5
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Post by Marina on Dec 27, 2011 13:26:27 GMT -5
Ah... the sad truth of capitalism.
And then they wonder why our generation is so messed up. Just look at the people raising us.
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Post by Marina on Dec 27, 2011 12:48:07 GMT -5
"media depicts violence against women and glamorizes abuse, rape, murder, and suicide as positive so long as the victim can be sexualized in death. Beyond just desensitizing viewers or making truly horrific acts seem banal through overexposure, images that glamorize violence against women help to dehumanize women and girls. It’s a double-whammy; not only are the women in the photos objectified because, as lifeless characters, they become bodies rather than people, but they are also reduced to their sexualized parts."
"passive death poses suggests that these girls are internalizing very distinct and separate messages about ideal maleness and femaleness in death."
She makes so many good points in that article, it's not even funny. And the ending it is pretty hopeless... publishers are giving us what we want? Why don't they give us what we, or teenage girls, Need instead?
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Post by Marina on Dec 26, 2011 20:08:05 GMT -5
No, I totally agree with you. Shakespeare has other much more beautiful plays and even romances. I wonder why they never choose the sonnets... is it cause they're addressed to a man But yeah, the only reason they pick Romeo and Juliet is for the romance and the fact that it's well known. And yeah, I tried to read Wuthering Heights, twice... I got to page 100 I think. I bet they never pick Jane Eyre, even though the dialogue is so beautiful and touching, because Rochester is married to a crazy lady. But what else? Jane doesn't say, "oh, I don't care, let's leave to France and have babies." No, she fucking leaves him. Because she knows she will never be able to respect herself or love him, if she goes with him. Why can't they pick that as an example?! And I totally agree, again. Bella's only fault seems to be that she's clumsy, but it's in a cute way. Like whoops, I fell, but Edward was there to catch me. She's a cardboard, and people say that that's how they're able to relate to her, because they can step into her ill-defined shoes and pretend to be her. As for Katniss, yeah, that girl is flawed, but she also has the strength to get up and do what is needed. She doesn't rely on Peta, because she knows that she might have to kill him eventually, and even when Gale suggests that they run away, she says No. I feel like the YA authors are afraid to make their characters appear stupid. What do you mean they don't like to read? They must be uneducated. Oh, they made one bad decision? No, everyone is going to hate them because of it. Who doesn't reflect back on their life and think "gosh, I was so stupid back then"? Everyone can relate to that! Why can't we have more writers like John Green? The ones that don't gloss over flaws, but work on them. The ones that don't make drinking or sex glamorous, or abusive relationships a standard.
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Post by Marina on Dec 26, 2011 19:42:39 GMT -5
Yeah, it's like a rule: the main protagonist must love to read the classics, and yeah, it's usually the high school rubric books, that even seasoned English majors have trouble liking. And they usually read them not to get some sort of moral or societal value out of them, but for the romance bit. So it's usually Romeo and Juliet, or Wuthering Heights(it's never War and Peace or For Whom the Bell Tolls). Sure, there was beautiful, heartbreaking romance in those novels, but there's so much more to them that just forces trying to tear the lovers apart. They need to stop objectifying the novels! Especially Romeo and Juliet. I don't know about your classes, but in my English courses we learn exactly why you shouldn't compare your love to theirs.
Another thing is trying to convince the reader that their heroine is so smart, that she's so mature for her age, and ahead of her time. And yet, they're usually always ready to give up everything for a man.
Also the best friend who loves to shop or/and gets all the guys; while the heroine doesn't.
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