Notes from a bibliophile

I mentioned before how I love mythology, but one book I read made me realize how little I know of Norse myths, so I decided it was time to correct that. I am seeing a lot of similarities between the myths and that novel, so it's nice to see their origins. I was very fortunate to be able to take a mythology class in college by a wonderful teacher, Merrilee Cunningham. She made you feel like you were seeing something really unique when probably it was something she's read from students throughout her teaching career. But the boon to that, at least for me, is that I wanted to keep researching to see what else I could find. One paper I wrote for her was an attempt to classify gods and goddesses by their Greek/Roman counterparts. I didn't have oodles of time, so I wasn't able to delve into the project like I really wanted to, but it was enough to see that there are similarities throughout the ancient civilizations. For instance, there's just about always a flood myth,

This is another YA series I've been into for a while. Sort of an alien invasion/dystopian tale. Many years ago, the evil Mogadorians destroyed the planet Lorien, but not before several of the inhabitants escaped with several children. These people made their way to Earth and have been living among us, hiding and honing their powers, their Legacies, ever since. Of course they are discovered here by their destroyers who are out to wipe them from the face of the universe. Destruction ensues. I've been a fan since the beginning, but I recently I found out who the real author was. James Frey. A Million Little Pieces James Frey. Bald faced lied to Oprah James Frey. Now I'm not a Oprah-ite. She's awesome and all, but I don't have to buy her favorite things and working at the bookstore caused a good amount of distaste for her book club. But to lie about your life on national TV to sell books. That's sacrilege, man. Of course now I have to finish the series. Luckily

Another Great Courses lecture. This one delves into novels that I am (mostly) to terrified to even think of picking up. Here's the line up: Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe Tristram Shandy by Laurence Sterne Les Liaisons Dangereuses by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos Père Goriot by Honoré de Balzac Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë Moby-Dick by Herman Melville Bleak House by Charles Dickens Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert War And Peace by Leo Tolstoy The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad Death in Venice by Thomas Mann The Metamorphosis and The Trial by Franz Kafka Remembrance of Things Past by Marcel Proust Ulysses by James Joyce To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez Most of these cover two, sometimes three, lectures. I've only managed to get through 5 of these: Dangerous Liaisons (loved!), Wuthering Heights (yawn), Bleak House (yea

I am a huge fan of mythology, but I haven't really explored the Norse myths that much. This new series has made me want to delve a little deeper. This series, like the Percy Jackson series and Kane series published previously, focuses on an unwitting demi-god just trying to make it in the real world. Magnus Chase is homeless, though, making him one of the sadder cases. Almost all the other heroes in the other series had at least a family member to lean on. Magnus has family, but his mother warned him to stay away from them. Now, after she has been killed by wolves and he has had to make do on his own, his family is seeking him out. But of course, there are ulterior motives. Each and every book in these myriad series is just a delight. They are fun, they are witty, they are smart without being stodgy, and Riordan not above a good bodily function joke, because, let's face it, farts will always be funny, no matter what age you are. I think what I love the most is the interpl

Ian Doescher obviously loves Shakespeare. He takes such care of a very beloved script, translating it into iambic pentameter and rhyming couplets. It must have taken a heck of a lot of diligence and research to accomplish, and to think he's done this 6 times, one for each film! I am thoroughly impressed and obviously incredibly lazy. I can't even write on this blog every night. Despite the impressiveness of Doesher's feat, I do feel he took a few shortcuts. He relies heavily on Henry V , utilizing the St. Crispin's Day speech. Luke also has an Antony "Friends Romans Countrymen" moment and a sort of "Alas, poor Yorick" moment too. I don't remember anything similar in the actual films. Luke, as a relative newcomer to the Rebellion, has no place speechifying to the pilots in the war room. I can maybe see how Henry's journey mirrors Luke's, but it feels like a bit of a cop-out. But then again, he's just re-written a script in iambic pen