Ken Follett-What do you read? (Page 1 of 2)

Angela - hope you make a good recovery and get that cast off soon.  A few years ago I had to use crutches after a sporting injury and it was interesting - to say the least - getting to the living room from the kitchen holding a cup of tea.  Butt shuffling was the best I could do whilst trying not to laugh too much!

Do persevere with Pillars of the Earth: like your son and hubby have discovered it's one of those books that gets recommended by word of mouth, someone lends it to you then you get hooked and have to get your own copy and then you start recommending it to other people so the cycle continues.  It's one of my favourites now.  Violent? Disturbing?  In parts, yes, but you have to remember the times in which it was set (Medieval England when we were all smelly peasants running around in rags and felt boots)

Before I read Pillars of the Earth I never gave a second thought to how some of our great English cathedrals and churches were constructed or how long they took to complete.  Shortly after I read it for the first time I had the opportunity to visit Salisbury Cathedral (as featured in the novel) and looked at it with new eyes, appreciating for the first time the craftsmanship and work involved and the realisation that the masons of the time built this wonderul building with rudimentary tools and equipment and in the most difficult conditions sometimes.  A humbling thought.

Other favourite books?  Too many to mention but if you haven't read it try The Magus by John Fowles or any novels by John Grisham or Ian Rankin.

Hi Angela

Yes, I'm the big Pink Floyd/David Gilmour fan you were thinking about.  I realise now what you meant before about the connection between Gigi and Ummagumma.  I haven't tried that one, but I've attempted to synch Dark Side with Wizard of Oz.  I'm a bit of a sceptic but it was a lot of fun trying to spot the connections, my favourite bit is probably the Munchkins dancing along to Money!  Is it purely by chance or was it intended to be that way ...  (cue Twilight Zone theme tune)

Getting back to books ... I'm such an avid reader that I can't always remember plots and characters.  Think I've read Follett's Eye of the Needle and Whiteout but perlease don't ask me about plot!  Do you teach English by any chance?

http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Amphitheatre/3528/

Lyn, If you check back, my son just reminded me that Ken Follett and David Gilmour are best of friends!  I totally forgot he told me that before; its mentioned in the liner notes of "On Wings Of Eagles" that they fly planes together.  I'm into it now, Pillars is great!

Eva, if you're able to read Kant and know what he's talking about then I am seriously impressed.  It's too bad some of the philosophers didn't have editors to clarify their points.  I think H L Mencken said that Kant was such a bad writer that he hopes he is in he!!.

Eva,
Ditto what the dude said, some of the philosophers are really tough, Kant is impressive!  Do you like Dante?  (Divine Comedy or Dante's Inferno) An easy, but interesting read is The Beatles by Bob Spitz!  All you need is love!

Oh yeah ... Kant.

Give me a break !

Dude, you are right: There´s just  some german philosophers that deserve be sent to a place called "Burning Hell" ..........

Angela, I have read some parts of the Divine Comedy, but not the whole thing yet (that is something I always WANT to do in my holidays, but never really manage to do...) and I´ll look for the book by Bob Spitz ( I have read a lot of books concerning this great english band ... what´s their name again? ... ah, the Beatles - but not this one).

Lyn, I also often wonder how certain words can be translated - where does the word "forsooth" appear?! I have read Hamlet in original, but I guess I wouldn´t have understood a word if I didn´t read it in german first.
But I have read the "Lord of the Rings" (fantastic all-time favourite book!) in english - o.k., not quite Shakespeare, but....

Three of my favourite books are:
1. Hermann Hesse - nearly every novel by him, but especially "Siddhartha" and "Der Steppenwolf"
2. J.R.R. Tolkien : "The Lord of the Rings"
3. Goethe - "Die Leiden des jungen Werther" (The sorrows of young Werther) - but that was my favourite book when I was 16 and tragically in love

So keep on reading ... it´s cold enough outside!

Eva

Hi LynB. I think they did a great thing with King's novels into movies. My fave has got to be Max Overdrive and Carrie, but I like the Green Mile too. If you like sci-fi, you should read The Illustrated Man by Bradbury....you'll never be the same again!!!!!

"just about everyone in any Shakespeare play is 'forsoothing' all the time!  It's a good word and I think we should start using it again (just as soon as I work out what it means)."

Forsooth - from Old and Middle English originally meant "in truth", "in fact", or "indeed". Currnet usage is "to express disbelief".

I really enjoyed teaching Shakespeares' Macbeth to my students. Most enjoyed the fighting, blood and trickery in the stroy.

Angela and anyone else looking for a good book, I have used the following book in my literature classes:

Bless Me Ultima, by Rudolfo Anaya - part of a multiculture literature unit I taught and one of my favorite books! It's about a young boy growing up in New Mexico and finding himself and his beliefs. It pulls from all different religions but is not about religion. The interesting thing about this book is that I have actually spent time and photographed in several of the small towns in this book. This book has gunfights, lust, spirits, witchcraft and more!

Another interesting thing about this book is the Legend of La Llorona, or "the weeping woman,", which reminds me a lot of the lyrics to Joe's version of "The River". La Llorona is the story of a woman who fell in love with a man and she has a baby. And then the guy takes a mistress and abandons her, flaunting the mistress as they ride in a carriage along the river, and in a fit of revenge or rage, she takes it out on the child and drowns the child. The author says, "When I was growing up, these stories were told. And [the story is] used to keep us away from danger. So if our parents would say, "Don't go near the river -- La Llorona will get you," And La Llorona lives there, because you find yourself down there alone late in the evening and you begin to hear sounds, and then you begin to hear La Llorona." Legend has it that her spirit walks the riverbanks at night calling out to her drowned child.

The River lyrics:

Down by the river...
That's where I broke down and cried
Down  by the river...
Where I could just lay down and die
I'm goin' down to the river, for long as I can stand.
Mama told me son, as she took ahold of my hand
Water runs so deep...Deep as all my pain
Down by the river, hone...Lord can I be saved?

Down by the river
That's where I broke down and cried
I said down by the river
That's where I broke down and cried
Heartache soaked in wine
I'm just looking for redemption
But the water's so unkind
Brought me to my knees
As I drowned in the pouring rain
Down by the river, honey
I still see your face

I said, sometime around midnight,
They've come knocking at my door.
I said, sometime around midnight Hellhounds found what they're looking for
Those flashin' lights tell me,
Didn't have to say a word. Someone took my baby,
Someone took away my world.
All they found was a letter I should'a never let her go
The river's the only witness
The only one who knows

And the wind whispers her name
And all those lonesome years
The water turns to whiskey I drown in my own tears
Down by the river I see my life in the flames
Down by the river, honey I call out your name, yeah I call out your name

~Rhonda