Member: Kahlan7

"nowadays people know the price of everything and the value of nothing"

yeah its an awesome book, just wraps everything up really nicely - perfect ending i think. reminds me of fight club, have you seen it? i spose authors will always have to get a part of themselves across in a book otherwise it'd all be lies based on no experience. the greatest authors just understand humans tho, like tolstoy. how the hell did he write the death of ivan ilyich without having died/been on his death bed? ridiculous....

posted by liam108 at 5:45 pm (EST) on Apr 7, 2008

oh yeh the preface to dorian gray is cool....the thing that talks about art then says 'all art is utterly useless' or something similar hahah oscar wilde is awesome, some of his quotes are too funny! glad you're enjoying it, it really is great.

so what you're saying is that you prefer there to be an emotional link with a character in a book for you to be affected by any tragedy? i see what you mean....what about just being human? i mean we're all humans and we dont really want to see anyone suffer so we relate to characters purely as humans. even though gatsby is a bit of a fool its still sad that he ends up that way because under any other circumstances he coulda been a cool guy. he wasnt dislikable, he was just pathetic really so its more sad almost. you're right that its not so hollywood which is always cool haha! but books where the author lets you make up your mind about characters are better, like where they dont say 'this person is totally evil' because no one is like that. oh man another recommendation, 'in cold blood' by truman capote, its a book investigating the murders of a whole family with no motive and its actually a real story. but the way capote researches and writes it he shows the two murderers to be so human that you're almost sad when they caught and stuff coz they're still human and have human failings but also hopes and dreams and pain and joy. you must check it out if you wana screw with your perception of which character to like or dislike!

posted by liam108 at 11:52 am (EST) on Mar 25, 2008

ah librarything....i even missed your message about wuthering heights from december so in answer to that: i'm glad you didnt like it, i also thought it totally sucked!

well i read the great gatsby a few years ago but i remember that i really enjoyed it, it was written in a great style and i really am a sucker for that period of history anyway so it was still appealing to me. i love the decadent, summer evening/jazz night and champagne thing. i mean the way i saw it was just a snapshot into these lives, i remember i really didnt like jordan haha she's the typical predatory, cynical woman. so yeh i didn't really expect to like anyone and in general it was just a sad, tragic story coz gatsby looks so rich and happy but in fact he's just a miserable pretender with no friends and no one to love. a book like that to me is like looking through the letterbox of a stranger's house and discovering how their lives are and its just a curiosity rather than a great, brilliant story. if you want (or dont want as the case may be!) to read about far more dislikable people then check out vile bodies or a handful of dust by evelyn waugh. he writes about 30s english high society and seriously at some points you just want to scream at the ridiculousness and shallowness of the people! they're infuriating! but good books haha!

i was actually talking to my dad the other day about why so many 'great' books are so tragic and unhappy and i think its because without the climax of tragedy (or at least an event which shakes up peoples lives) there would be no story to tell and it'd be totally boring. it seems like if someone tries to write a story with a 'hollywood' ending, it'd be badly received coz it'd be so saccharine - like its too delicate an issue to write about realisitically though correct me if you think i'm wrong. the most touching stories of that style are from real life like in this tv programme i saw....

man i'm going on for ages, we should speak more

so yeh au revoir ms. schildhammeriviciute

posted by liam108 at 7:39 am (EST) on Mar 24, 2008

im so disappointed with harry potter!
what did we get right....snape is good, hagrid doesnt die (you owe me your lizard) and i think thats it...oh and hermione and ron get together.
'all was well'
what a cop out!
i dont get how harry can die and come back to life. well, i do coz dumbledore explained it but its still dumb.
what do you think...?
speak in 6 months anyway
liam

posted by liam108 at 7:50 am (EST) on Aug 23, 2007

harry potter film........yeh it was alright. nothing special though. i enjoyed it for what it was, but i can't even remember what they left out and stuff anyway. it was definitely a fun way to kill a few hours y'know. but the films will never be as good as the books. ever. what did you think of it?
they call dumbledore 'silente' in italy haha. on that note, i found the new harry potter on my pillow when i got back yesterday :D so i'm gonna start it sooooooon!!
hopefully we'll speak before you leave for six fucking months....we must
lalalala

posted by liam108 at 8:41 am (EST) on Aug 11, 2007

hagrid eh? hmmm.....tis a possibility aswell....but i still think it could really be anyone. ok my bet is that i bet hagrid DOESN'T die. i bet your rolex and your lizard for my 'porsche'! you're on! heres another bet....do you think harry and cho and ron and hermione will get together? not as some psycho foursome....just as couples.
and where are you this fine eve? i hope i'm able to talk to you before you run away to paris and don't speak to me for weeks! have you thought any further about what you might like to do after cabella? i'd definitely like to hang out with you....
maybe we could go to the moon? we're both weird enough, we could power the ship with weird thoughts and we'd get there in like 4 hours.
well i'm really tired now (can you tell?), been doing manual labour today and have some more tomorrow! i like!
so hopefully speak soon andreaea, ciao!
ps. funny that out of all the intellectual books we have between us that we discuss harry potter in so much depth :P how old were you when you read the first one btw?
pps. i hope we're not too disappointed with the new book after all the speculating we've done!

posted by liam108 at 4:22 pm (EST) on Jun 26, 2007

aaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnddddddd...

i think whatever i guess, i'm gonna say how blind we were at that time! i just cant second guess ms. rowling!! i'm kinda thinking its gonna be neville or ron...? just because she said she cried when she wrote it....so it must be a goody, and someone we're sposed to like? do you wana bet between neville and ron?! hahah! or are you convinced that it could be someone else??!

posted by liam108 at 5:22 am (EST) on Jun 25, 2007

well the new harry potter is out reaaaaaaaaaaaally soon so we can see what weird and wonderful things ms. rowling pulls out of her magical hat.
oh yeh....i was thinking that the last horcrux could be harry's scar...?? and theres going to be bill and fleur's wedding hahah!
i was online at an ungodly hour last night. it was because i had wind trapped in my chest and it wouldn't go away! its like having a bowling ball covered with thorns in your chest, neck and back! i think last night was probably the worst night i've ever had in my life. i didn't get to sleep till 5am. i still have it a bit even now but i think it's easing off finally. i hope you found that interesting 'lol'!
what is the thing that i should tell you? give me a clue....i remember you mentioned it the other day and i am as intrigued as harry potter was when he discovered the chamber of secrets!
hows things anyway? when are your exams over? i cant believe they examine you so much!
speak soon andrea, protectress of squirells :)

posted by liam108 at 5:58 am (EST) on Jun 14, 2007

wow! yeah i definitely agree thats a possibility....what a professional opinion haha!! you've clearly thought about this whilst sitting infront of some economics book!
the only doubt i have with your theory is that if j.k.rowling decides to turn everything upside down and do something totally against our expectations. like not have a total ending or to let evil win or something. she seems a kinda stand offish person who'd like to mess with everyones head....but seeing as she thought of the whole plot back when she was poor, i reckon your theory is very plausable! well done haha!! you should be made an honorary hogwarts student!
you go online at weird times on the weekend! get online in the evening!! (where are you from 7-10pm???!)
i hope you haven't been doing too much studying anyway....speak soon hopefully :D

posted by liam108 at 1:33 pm (EST) on Jun 10, 2007

an 8th book!!!? thats crazy! she promised that there'll only be 7!!
i think the money has got to her head....like you mentioned, it seems like the further on the series gets, the more popularised her writing has become, what with the whole cho/harry thing and killing the best characters. i bet she's just making it up as she goes along!
i'm still wondering if dumbledore is really dead....i mean, i can't believe she'd kill him. or maybe she just did it so that people would'nt call her a kiddy writer? who knows what goes on in her twisted mind. dumbledore should still be alive in a picture frame right? theres something real weird going on....i'm expecting a massive twist in the story. like snape won't be evil or something.
maybe ron or hermione will die? or maybe harry?....remember they mentioned that it was either him or neville who would kill voldemort? so neville could die too...?
harry's death scene would be hilarious....he's such a crap actor! i mean, maybe he's got better in the later films but in the 1st and 2nd i was cringing at how crap he was. after fighting a spider they go 'harry are you ok' and he's like 'yup, lets go' like he's just come out of a shop or something! have you seen the extras episode with daniel radcliffe?? thats fantastic!
seeya andreaov ;)

posted by liam108 at 10:05 am (EST) on Jun 8, 2007

heya!
i've read all the harry potters up to date....hotly anticipating the 7th ones release! you've read them all haven't you?
my fave is the 3rd, closely followed by the first coz when i read it i was 11 and i thought i was going to get a letter from hogwarts inviting me to study there. oh if only!
what did you think of the dark materials trilogy??
I'm loving your squirrel picture by the way!! das ist eine eichhörnchen!

posted by liam108 at 6:44 am (EST) on Jun 8, 2007

hey andrea37 :p
i really have read all those books, but i realised that i've forgotten a lot of what happens in them coz i read them so long ago. like catcher in the rye, i remember that i loved it and its one of my absolute faves ever but i cant remember specific bits. anyway, just for you, i re-read the part you mentioned and heres my conclusion.
i think he probably had some repressed gay feelings for holden, especially from the fact that he was getting more drunk throughout the evening and little comments he makes to him about his eyelashes and being handsome. i'm not sure how to explain that sort of gayness....kind of bleary eyed, desperate gayness? someone who's so sick of being repressed that they can't even be bothered to cover up anymore? his wife is sposed to be a lot older than him and not so pretty so that kinda adds to evidence that he could be gay too. the overbearing feeling i got from it was of someone who was just tragically desperate but still had some dignity and respect for the person (holden) which is why he was only stroking his hair and 'admiring' him.
it's not really a very fatherlike thing to do. guys and dads have a very different bond not based on hugging or anything like that. i'm not sure if that explains it properly? do you know what i mean, thinkalike?
have fun with your studies heheheh, speak soon :D

posted by liam108 at 6:18 am (EST) on Jun 7, 2007

joker!
i'm glad that by using your logic, you have read more than 7 books otherwise it'd be quite embarassing for you to be one here right?

posted by liam108 at 6:46 am (EST) on Jun 6, 2007

heheh yeah here i am....this site seems like one where you just show off how many intellectual books you've read i think. you can even post your library on your blog apparantly.
i think we should discuss themes of desire and unfulfilled ambition in the books of j.k.rowling. please send me some thoughts on this.
glad you like holes! so awesome! and harry potter 3 is my fave too :D
I should read the alchemist, i heard from other people that its good....i'll check if my mum has it. what are you reading at the moment??
readreadreadreadreadread
catch ya laters :P

posted by liam108 at 5:26 am (EST) on Jun 6, 2007