Famous books you never cared for/understood the appeal of?

It was very common practice in Elisabethian theatre. Everyone did it. Ben Johnson and Christopher Marlowe were no different.

 

Yeah, that sounds about right.

 

Shakespeare is the James Cameron of Elizabethan England. He'll take your shitty play, make an incredible sequel remake, and everyone will remember it better than the progenitor.

 

Sounds like the old Englishman were the first people to do remakes. Now movie producers make remakes all the time!

 

Haha you posted literally a few seconds before me! Get out of my head!

 

It was probably for the best that you crossed out 'sequel' in that comment.

 

Damn.. They don't teach that at school, at least not in our country, don't know for others. A very interesting fact.

 

Left Behind.

I just don't think it deserves all the hype it gets.

 

They had inspirations. I know The Tempest is based on parts of The Aeneid and the exploration of the Americas that was going on in old Shake-a-spear's day, and Midsummer Night's Dream is based on the cults of Dionysus, who would run off into the woods to use irresponsible amounts of drink and drugs, and have wild orgies in an explosion of pent up passions. The point was that with so much heady, carnal pleasures about, devotes would attract Dionysus himself. This ended with the ritualistic sacrifice of a goat, full of chanting and dancing, which is where the word Tragedy actually comes from. 'Tragedy' the word is based on the word for 'goat song' referring to it's screams as it was sacrificed.

 

The Birth of Tragedy from the Spirit of Music also paints this picture, if I remember correctly.

 

Silmarillion was the only Tolkien's book I actually enjoyed (and finished). I tried to read "Hobbit" recently, with little success, I must admit, and I read a book and a half of "LOTR" trilogy. I do love the LOTR movies, a lot, but the book just wasn't my cup of tea. Strangely, I really liked Silmarillion.

 

I think LOTR is one of the rare cases where movies are better than the books (apologies to all book fans). But I enjoyed The Hobbit and The Silmarillion very much!

 

Frank Herbert's Dune. I just couldn't get into it. Though, I didn't hate it.

I'll give it another go one day.

 

Yes, that's still a great piece of classical scholarship.

 

Same here

 

I'm just gonna drop these and leave... :3

 

Here's a funny inversion. Aragon, Legolas and Gimli say all that, then cut to Frodo with their weapons and saying, "Uh...do you want me to give them back to you?" Dammit, wish I could draw so I could do just that.

 

Or, or, Frodo using the AXE to make him a chick magnet. >:3

 

Then he gets accosted by baby eagles, the size of Volkswagens.

 

Sooo... RIP Frodo?

 

It's already been done.
Of course it has, we're on internet, you can find anything here. Unfortunately...

 

I started reading Kafka's 'Metamorphosis' and i'll be honest I haven't given it a fair chance as I'm still only half way through, but I almost don't want to pick it back up again. I don't know if it's the particular translation I'm reading but i'm finding it very bland and uninspiring and I was expecting to have my socks knocked off. Instead it just about sent me to sleep.

 

For my two cents, it has to be looked at in terms of Gregor's circumstance, and how the world is indifferent and hostile, but yeah, I have to be in the right mood to approach it.

 

Tell you who I sometimes had problems with: Arthur C Clarke. I remember reading one of the 2001 sequels, and he set up this highly intense - I don't remember... Slingshot through the atmosphere of Jupiter or some such.
He built and built the tension: will they make it? Will the ship tear apart? Rivets popping out, windows cracking, teapots rattling, aaaargh, etc...
Then he stops dead and the next chapter opens with something like 'anyway, they made it and the ship was fine...'
I actually threw the book away at that point in disgust.