The reason is for perspective.I have failed in the last 2 books I purchased because they weren't novels.Basically as a rule every other novel I buy I can't finish because it fails to Move me.It lacks whatever degree of characterization,setting and plot that seems necessary to move from chapter to chapter.I did luck out last fall and winter with a string of novels I really enjoyed.Then I hit a novel that went nowhere and decided to go back to my Jack London books and his 2 great Dog novels and his London telling with - People of the Abyss -.I'm struggling thru a Biography that is interesting but it isn't a novel.I need a nice story that moves me and I like the setting. To me setting is very important.Also how the Protagonist moves within the story and impacts character and motives.Kinda like how a Perry Mason TV series operated. I think todays youth are being purposedly fed a diet of Overt self-esteem as if their little lives are THE most important thing on Gods Green Earth. This is one way how Liberals are out to capture and control the culture and destroy.Like - Maury - and - Springer -.The country is NEVER served by having someone/anyone feel pride in exposing their personal dirty laundry in public.Andy Warhol was correct.About a culture gravitating to their 15 minutes of fame.It is now a replicant prerequisite of today's impressionably ignurnt and clueless youth.Imagine for a just a minute what guys like Jimmy Stewart,Clark Gable and Spencer Tracy were like in their youth.I think it more than obvious.They were polar opposites of todays youth.Which means this Country is in a heap of trouble. Novels,good novels may be the only recourse. Since this Mainstream Media is out to destroy the inherent nature of what Americana is and what it's like to act Grown-up.
"Ready, Player One" by Ernest Cline is one of my favorite modern novels. I couldn't put it down. It's not the most literary novel, but it's extremely entertaining.
In this day and age of right wing religious hypocrisy and political correctness, you simply MUST read, The Story of a Country Town by E. W. Howe http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/47575 While so many historians and scholars invariably point to Alexis de Tocqueville as portraying most accurately the American character, this attribution rightfully belongs to Howe.
That is the key to a good story. Too many modern works put their characters into a string of coincidences they have no influence on. They lack real protagonists.
The mark of a good Novel is like the Mark of Zorrne will come close to being obsessed throughout the day trying to think back on what they read and look forward to reading more of whatever situation or conundrum faces the lead character or characters.One may also savor the thought of not rushing to finish the Novel,because it's like a fine 5 course meal. It needs to be savored.Because often times finishing a novel is sad. Because the Novel ends and that's it.There is no more story or characters to find out about.Whereas in the middle of a novel,there is anticipation as to what comes next,and what takes place. Which is why Novels are the next best thing to having a friend or pet. The Novel becomes our friend or pet. Not to be confused with Relatives.Who are more often than s'not a pain in the keister.
I haven't been able to read novels since I went on SSRIs. That's why I derp instead. I was able to read some Hunter S Thompson stuff recently though. SSRIs ruined my ability to concentrate, turned me into a conspiracy theorist and a nazi, made me have appalling displays of temper and generally destroyed vast tracts of my friend and aquaintance circles.
Because he a Know-it-all.In fact he knows best how the classic instrumental { Telstar } by The Tornados should be played.What Octave and pitch and speed of ascent. Liberals are like that. They can make a peanut butter and jelly sammich seem grown-up when it's s'not.
I think the cinema and then TV replaced novels for many people. There are novelists and there are readers of novels but I imagine most people are neither. Alfred Hitchcock once said movies are like real life with the boring bits taken out.
The conventional wisdom holds that most great novels are better than the movie. As a movie buff,I may have a problem with that. Because a great movie based on a novel has screenwriters working late hours to fine tune elements for a better overall presentation.Some novels just don't translate to celluloid.LIke a lot of Ernest Hemingway and his buddy F.Scott Fitzgerald.Many of those of - The Lost Generation. Franz Kafka especially does not impact the silver screen.
I rarely like novels or movies. Too passive and boring or irritating. Song of Ice and Fire series is decent - I like how there's no real good or evil sides, just better and worse and the better side doesn't always win so it's usually interesting and logical with palpable descriptions and imagery. Otherwise, would much rather take an active role by playing videogames or learn something by watching a documentary. I suppose over time novels should improve your spelling and vocabulary.
I love to read. I read a lot of bio's, history and am into sci-fi. I am one of those who has 4 bookcases full of books I have read. That is not counting those I have given away. But I have to have paper, this electronic stuff irks me.
I started to read Double Indemnity by James Cain because my brother sent it to me recently after I mentioned the movie to him. A reader of fiction could get through it in one sitting. I was surprised at how well the movie adapted the story. I suspect a fair amount of people do go to read a novel having seen the movie adaptation.
I'm still reading the Classics and haven't had time to read anything that supposed to be modern. Orwell, Kafka, Huxley, Vonnegutt, etc...
It used to be that when in high school one could not graduate w/o certain classes involving reading.And the classics.of course in public school,one can go home and have no homework.Private schools don't operate like public schools.In privare school,not doing ones homework or backsassing a teacher gets you either suspended or expelled.I went to a high school { 60's } that was run by the Holy Cross brothers { like Notre Dame University }. There was also demerits given { usually for being tardy to class }.Get too many demerits and face Mr.Urankar { nicknamed The Tank }. He was a math teacher who was built like a Russian Pro wrestler.He was one of the lay teachers. After school if one had to go see Mr.Urankar,they did so in the biggest classroom where each student present had to watch as one got Paddled.The degree of attitude shown by the student with too many demerits determined how hard Mr.Urankar stroked the paddle { like a Frat house wooden paddle w/holes to make it faster when swinging }. That is considered corporal punishment and it is banned in many a Northern state public school.Funny if one looks at those Banned Blue states as opposed to the Red states down south that allow for corporal punishment.There could be a direct link among the liberal permissive mentality of Blue States as opposed to the austere discipline of Red States. In order words Sparing the Rod DOES create more Brats.
I spent an entire decade reading around 2-3 novels a month plus many short stories. I remember when going to the bookstore this infatuation among women with just insisting like a crazy person to run to the bookstore like a mad hatter to get their paws on the latest Steven King Novel.I eventually got tired of trying to explain how much a spookier Edgar Allen Poe was as a writer.It was like trying to explain what is better a Nice medium rare New York strip or a well done strip steak. Or how much ketchup to use.
LOL, yeah. Everyone has their own tastes when it comes to food and the same is when it comes to books and authors. I have read quite a lot of Steven King and I like his books. His movies aren't bad either. But for the most part I stick with biographies and history. Although I am now on a Sherlock Holmes kicks. I obtained the entire works in two huge columns at a flea market of Sir Author Conan Doyle.
Sherlock Holmes flicks are pretty good.Very atmospheric.Whereas Miss Marple { British } series is more fuddy-duddy.My favorite reads are True Crime.I really like True Crime where the guy or gal is like some deviant serial killer.I still remember the true case of a Mom { Marybeth Tinning } and how she almost got away with Killing 9 of her babies.It turned out she did it to gain popularity and sympathy.She suffered from some deviant form of being a Sociopath.She was a Sociopath/Psychopath.She was consumed over making sure others grieved at her loss { her dead babies/infants }. The last True Crime I read involved a Rich Dude from New York city.I won't say what happened in that case.But the ending surprised me. The Title was : - A Deadly Secret - The Bizarre and Chilling Story of Robert Durst
I agree on the Sherlock Holmes movies. Basil Rathbone and Jeremy Brett are my two favorite actors who played Sherlock Holmes. Perhaps because both made quite a few movies. Ellery Queen played by Timothy Hutton on PBS was also good. I have the DVD or the whole set of his Ellery Queen series.
I've switched to nonfiction lately. I used to be into fantasy and science fiction, but as I learned more about "science" I gradually lost interest in science fiction since much of it is just repackaged fantasy. And fantasy gets repetitive after awhile. Currently I'm reading "The Goshawk" by T.H. White which is a pretty brilliant book. Also reading "The Philosophy of Hebrew Scripture" which is very interesting.
I really missed Jim Hutton.He died way too young.He was a unique actor from that generation of cool actors,like Jack Nicholson,Steve McQueen,Bruce Dern and even Paul Newman.I read somewhere that Hutton kinda dropped out of the scene. lives off the beaten path and raised Dogs.I think German Shepherds. He was instrumental in Cary Grants last movie - Walk Don't Run -. Jim Hutton was a sort of skirt chaser.He refused to marry his girlfriend and very " B " actress ... Hottie Yvette Vickers. Vickers made news a few years ago when they found her body in her rundown home in Los Angeles where she remained as recluse.Her body was mummified. She was discovered by a neighbor as her body was unattended for around a year. I think she tried to keep up appearances at select Sci-Fi movie events.
