Barbara Bailey wrote:
On 27 Jun 2006 21:14:11 -0700, wrote:


Barbara Bailey wrote:
On 27 Jun 2006 15:43:02 -0700, wrote:


Dave wrote:
On 26 Jun 2006 17:16:52 -0700, wrote:

Tsk, I should have remembered 1984 at least from Lit class, but it was
always scheduled in the morning ...

[...]
..
I didn't say it was a stretch. I said that I didn't EXPERIENCE! it,
the way that you assume I must have. All I remember of 1984 is the
concepts of doublespeak and Big Brother; none of the plot has stuck
with me.

"Doublespeak"? "Big Brother"? Oh,
aren't those some words and phrases
that originated in "Dave"'s Usenet opus?


Fahrenheit 451 was much the same, I remember a couple of the
overarching concepts (as you say, that firemen burned books, and
something about a colony of memorizers.) Plot? Nope. Don't remember it
from the book.

The books that -did- make an impression on me from that time were the
ones I wanted to read, (Don Quixote) the ones I enjoyed, (The Count of
Monte Christo) and the ones that drew me into the story

Did you read the original (that is, a full
translation of the original)? A number
of "Count of Monte Christo" editions
used in the schools are, shamefully,
dumbed down versions with half
Dumas' story chopped out. I refuse
to read any edition but the great
old two-volume Rittenhouse Classic.
Gem of an accurate translation,
wonderful set of books...Of course,
there are many other accurate
translations around, such as the
Oxford paperback.

(Dante's
Inferno) or fascinated me with the information, (Ploesti, The Great
Escape) if they were non-fiction (and I read a lot of non-fiction for
a 13-year old.)

They were both books that I hated having to read, therefore, anything
I had to remember for the test was stored in short-term memory, and
most of it faded away almost as fast as the geometry theorems I
learned the next year.

Well, it is true that being forced to read
a book can ruin the experience. Anyway,
thanks for sharing.

--
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