Sunday 12 October 2014

What Ho! For a Lunatic!

Yes, I am insane.  I have so many books on the go now, I can hardly remember my own name.  I have two MOOCs courses that I've recently started, I'm leading a two book discussions on Goodreads, trying to keep afloat on my WEM Project because I'm participating with others, and am desperately trying to participate in a discussion in another group, which I'm certain I'm going to fall behind in.  And I'm taking deep breaths ........  So, in order to see how I'm desperately in need of professional help going to get all these books completed on time, let's take a look.


1.



For my Shakespeare On Page and Performance course (2 of the 6 plays that need to be read by December)


2.  

For my read along.  Yes, I'm doing okay with this so far, Jean!


3.  

I'm leading the discussion in my Dead Writer's Society group.  It's great fun, but it takes some research.  And research takes time ........


4.  


For my WEM Project.  I was not looking forward to this book, but have been pleasantly surprised!  Montaigne is certainly an interesting character.

5.  

I just love this book.  If I had the time I'd read it once per year.  I'm reading it with someone at the moment and am having to rush a little so it's not the best reading experience.  You can't rush this epic.  Like a good wine, it must be sipped, tasted, swallowed, enjoyed, and then ruminated upon, before taking another sip.  Pure bliss!


6.  


A buddy read with my Dead Writer's Society group.  It is so interesting!


7.  


For my MOOCs Dante course.  I've just found that I need to read the complete book before the course begins in one week.  Help!  Anyone?


8.  

Someone would like me to read this book with them as part of the Well-Educated Mind novel list.  So I said, "yes".  Is that the right answer ........... yes ..............??


9.  


I'm reading this book with another group on Goodreads, just to help me get through it.  So far I hate it.  Hate, as in I want to tear it into tiny shreds and trample on it and use if for the bottom of my rabbit's litter tray.  Yet, I'm persevering.  I know I'm going to fall behind the read, but I figure that if I can read at least 10 pages a day, eventually I'll get through it.  After all, I don't want to miss one of the greatest and most ingenuous novels of all time, do I?  Excuse me, while I make choking noises .......


10.  

In spite of the childish cover, this is an ancient Roman novel and the only one to survive in its entirety!  I want to read it ......... or do I?  Yes, I do ............ no, I don't ............ yes, I do ............ no, I don't ............ yes, I do .................??

Just let me know when the little men will arrive with the white jacket with the joined arms.  At least this post is a reminder to keep focused and keep reading.  I can do this, I must do this .......


21 comments:

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    1. LOL! Thanks, Marianne! I now know that I can count on you to agree with me no matter what I say. Hee hee! ;-)

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  2. I feel like I should "like" this. Or at least "sympathize' this. We need a "sympathize" button!

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    1. Ah, sympathy! Thanks! That's a nice word to hear. I just have to get to the middle of November when Dante is done and then I think I'll be able to handle the rest with just lots of hard work instead of being frantic. It was the curve ball of having to read The Inferno in a week that's thrown me. Luckily I've read it before so some parts of the course I can refer to some notes and it will help just a little ..... I think .......

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  3. I second that, Christine. Cleo needs a sympathize button on her blog. But in all seriousness, "yes" is the correct answer for PP. And actually, as crazy as this appears, you'll get all of these done w/ time to join a few others before the year is up, I'm sure.

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    1. More sympathy! I'm feeling better already! I know I should read The Pilgrim's Progress. I've started a number of times and never made it very far. I did read The Little Pilgrim's Progress, which honestly, I think I'll end up liking better than the original --- in fact I loved that book! Right now I am NOT joining anything else. After the courses, I have people depending on me in other reads, so I don't want to disappoint them. But, yes, when most of my commitments are finished, it's highly likely that I'll overload myself again, I just hope not to this extent. Yikes!

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  4. Sorry to hear that "Infinite Jest" is giving you a rough time. Your little rant made me laugh :P

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    1. Honestly, it's a huge effort even to pick it up but I have a couple of people whom I trust who tell me that it's an excellent book and to keep persevering, so I will.

      Glad to be able to give you a chuckle! I'm usually chuckling over your reviews so I can, for once, return the favour! Happy Thanksgiving, BTW, Jason! :-)

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    2. Yes, the book weighs a ton so I can see why it can be strenuous to "pick up" hehe.

      I forgot to comment on your upcoming read of Othello, my second favorite Shakespeare play. You're in for a treat and I'm very much looking forward to what you have to say about this wonderful work. Iago is such a dastardly villain! He's positively diabolical in his wicked scheming but also devilishly clever and fascinating in his complexity of character. Love it.

      Happy reading!








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    3. Ah yes, I needed a little levity tonight! Kind of corny, huh? ;-)

      Romeo and Juliet was quite good, but I'm expecting to enjoy Othello more. So far I've liked King Lear best, and then Julius Caesar and Coriolanus. I expected to like his comedies most but I like them the least. Go figure! I obviously don't know myself very well! :-W

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  5. Ok, don't hate me - Dante - it's not so hard to read in a week :) I read Inferno and Purgatorio in 3 days (1 for Inferno, 2 for Purgatorio), and I could have read Paradiso in a night but I was itching to read Secret History :) I love Dante! :)

    As for IJ... Well, I believe I got about 10% through and... I will read it, but I'll tell you why I didn't when you've finished. I bet it won't spoil it, but I'm not sure exactly how far you are and how far I got! :)

    Other than that.... That is a lot of books! :)

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    1. It's so nice to hear from you after your short hiatus, O!

      Of course, I don't hate you! :-) The issue is not length or complexity for me, it's time. And not just time, uninterrupted time. The Muses are making sure that I get interrupted every waking moment of the day (yes, that's hyperbole). After today (Thanksgiving), I'm going to lock myself away for a few days so I can get some time for serious, quiet reading.

      My beef so far with IJ is that I feel I've received a very good education on recreational and prescription drugs and the ins-and-outs of addiction, but that's about it. If it ties in, great but to spend the first 100 pages mostly on it without some sort of deeper significance makes me uncomfortable. It may sound strange but I feel like a voyeur, and not only that but I'm a voyeur towards people that I don't even know (Wallace has really not connected me with his characters yet). Please tell me why you didn't finish. I am so seriously not married to this book, that nothing you can say will spoil it.

      It is alot of books. I think I caught your book disease of the sping/summer, which you've managed to recover from it seems. I can't wait to hear what you think of Secret History.

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    2. Well, my problem with it....

      Are you sitting comfortably? Ready for a glimpse of my neuroses? Then I shall begin ;)

      A year or two ago I read American Psycho. I don't know if you've read it, but it *badly* freaked me out. For weeks it was pretty much all I could talk about (in a negative way), I was jumpy, hated being in the house by myself, and it took a lot of talking with my boyfriend, best mate, and mam to eventually calm me down. But I can't tell you how badly freaked I was.

      After I read it, maybe a few weeks, probably less, one of my old blogger pals shared an article about how awesome DFW was (she's a big fan), and without knowing what it was about, I decided to read IJ. I think I was about 30 pages in or so, and I came across another article about DFW comparing him with Bret Easton Ellis.

      Such was my absolute horror, I nearly gave up on it there and then. But I emailed my pal and she said something along the lines of IJ isn't nasty and vile the way American Psycho was, so I read a bit more.

      My memory is a little blurry, but I remember there's a burglary in the early part - a man is tied up and gagged, but he's got a cold so he can't breathe through his nose. In short, a long and painful, slow suffocation ensures.

      And man, that has stayed with me! Even if I hadn't been so highly strung post-American Psycho, that would have stayed with me!

      Horrified, I stopped reading.

      So, there it is. A lot of association of negative thoughts are tied up in IJ. I do want to read it, but I'm not quite *there* yet :)

      (PS - if this comment gets eaten by Blogger I will WEEP. Apologies for the length!)

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    3. You should know that I love lengthy replies! Thanks for sharing your neuroses ...... as I was reading about it, I was thinking about what my neuroses is ........ ;-)

      I had to look up American Psycho and I can see why you were freaked out!!! Did you know that it's so disturbing that they sell it shrink-wrapped in certain countries?! My question for you is why did you read it?

      After seeing Jaws, I had to force myself not to think of sharks when I was swimming in the ocean and I love the ocean. It really ruined it for me for a couple of years (but I'm okay now).

      I tend to avoid reading books like American Psycho, especially because I expect them to be sensationalized garbage that have nothing positive to impart in any way. In fact, that's the way I feel about IJ so far ...... that's it's either sensationalized or that he was high when he wrote it. I remember the burglary ..... that was awful and I really thought, unnecessary. As I keep going, I'll let you know if there are any other disturbing parts. Sadly, I'd have to guess that there will be. :-(

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    4. Sorry to intrude on this conversation but I just had to say that your description of American Psycho as "sensationalized garbage" is right on the money. It's funny because it's true. What a terrible novel and the praise it receives is baffling to me. From what I have read by DFW (his short stories and essays are fantastic btw) he is NOTHING like Bret Easton Ellis.

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    5. I really think what you read (and see, for that matter) becomes part of who you are, sometimes quite drastically, as O experienced, and sometimes rather insidiously. I'd rarely read a book as graphic as AP, but when I read "sensationalized garbage" I always regret it; that's why I'm reasonably choosy about what I read. I call it my comfort zone but I'm trying to make it my sensible zone! :-)

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    6. Yes it does stay with you!
      I made the (bad for me) decsion to watch the movie 7 at the movies when I was on a long roadtrip to visit a friend. I had stopped overnight in a caravan park in a small rural city. It was a dark & stormy night - truly.
      7 was the only thing on at the movies - bad decision!!
      It was ghastly. The murders were sadistic and graphic & full of suffering. I worked out the ending fairly early on & made myself stay because by then, what I was imagining was worse than what actually happened.
      Then I had to go back to the lonely, dark, windy caravan park by myself and try to go to sleep!!!!!!

      Violence for the sake of violence is offensive.There was no redeeming moral or reasonable explanantion. Sounds like this is what you experienced with AP - I for one will not be reading this book - on your excellent, sound advice - thank you.

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  6. Wow, I am impressed, I shall stop complaining about my own pitiful progress and be inspired by your optimism!

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    1. I see your books popping up on my GR feed and you always seem always to be reading more than I am. Perhaps reading so many books at the same time, looks good, but when will I finish them? :-) In any case, I'm glad that I've inspired you ...... my optimism and not insanity! ;-)

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  7. All the best Cleo...some really "heavy" reads in your list, but most of your selection is quite awesome....the overkill thing in our reading plans will not stop...it's a inherent medical condition among all denizens of booklanders!!! Nevertheless if you can't beat it...join it!!! ...have fun!!

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    1. Ah, I knew that you'd understand. I'm keeping my head above water and having fun while I'm at it!

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