I'm reading reader reviews on Amazon, and I'm forced to conclude...
08-28-06 | 07:54 PM
#26
DVD Talk Limited Edition
Originally Posted by Breakfast with Girls
I enjoyed many books I had to read for school, but I would say you and I (and probably most of us on this board, since we earn enough money to have a somewhat expensive hobby) are the exception.
Agreed.
I'm a fantasy/sci-fi guy for the most part, but I enjoyed To Kill a Mockingbird, the Grapes of Wrath (minus that stupid Turtle allegory chapter), etc. They were OK. I especially enjoyed Alas, Babylon which sits on my shelf now (post-apocolyptic novel).
08-29-06 | 09:09 PM
#27
Thread Starter
DVD Talk Legend
Originally Posted by brainee
2) What I hated is when your "testing" on the book isn't about general understanding and appreciation but remembering specific details. There was this one high school teacher who was a stickler for this. If there was a minute detail in the pages, she'd quiz us about it. Sucked the fun out of reading. Once she assigned a couple books: "Lord of the Flies" and "Potrait of a Lady". I loved LotF, and ripped through it in record time. Probably my favorite book I was "forced" to read. I hated PoaL, gave up after 75 pages or so of extreme boredom, and read the cliff notes. Of course, I failed the test on LotF and aced the one on PoaL. She then came up with this crazy notion of making "Cliff Notes proof" tests. Now, all exams and quizes were filled with trivial facts that didn't even make the Cliff Notes. We'd be asked stuff like the street address a character lived in, or similar nonsense. It's a good thing I was already into reading for pleasure, because that whole experience left a bad taste in everyones mouth for books in general.
I used to get packets from my teachers with fill-in-the-blank, multiple choice, true/false, etc. Ridiculous and pointless. Exams should consist entirely of essays. Some students will hate it because they will have to actually think critically instead of regurgitate, but in time they will adjust.
3) Shakespeare should always be seen in addition to being read. Shakespeare himself didn't write them as novels -- they were scripts for a performance. Yet almost all classes I had treated them as novels. It's amazing how easy it is to get past the old English barrier when you see the plays performed well. But reading it can be a drag, especially when you have to consult the footnotes for translations every other line.
09-02-06 | 08:40 PM
#28
DVD Talk Legend
My favorite reviews on Amazon are for Robert Jordan's book Crossroads of Twilight, where some 2000 fans of the Wheel of Time series scream in pain:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...ws/0312864590/
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...ws/0312864590/
09-02-06 | 09:20 PM
#29
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
Originally Posted by Jay G.
My favorite reviews on Amazon are for Robert Jordan's book Crossroads of Twilight, where some 2000 fans of the Wheel of Time series scream in pain:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...ws/0312864590/
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/AS...ws/0312864590/
09-03-06 | 12:05 PM
#30
DVD Talk Ultimate Edition
Originally Posted by Joe Molotov
Maybe it was for the best that I bailed out after Book 5.
Regarding the poorly written and mis-informed reviews on Amazon, my profession is partly to blame. Within the past few years high school teachers have either required or provided extra credit to their students for submitting reviews on novels read in class. A former colleague of mine would even force his kids to print out the reviews and submit to them to him as proof. I still can't figure out why teachers would do this considering most ninth grader's initial impressions of MOST of what they read in school is negative. It's usually not until years later that they appreciate some of the denser works like TKM, Grapes, 1984, Animal Farm, etc.
09-03-06 | 06:10 PM
#32
DVD Talk Limited Edition
Originally Posted by Joe Molotov
Haha, that's pretty funny. Having read a few of those, apparently the whole book is full of tea parties, crazy women, and recaps of things that have already happened. Maybe it was for the best that I bailed out after Book 5.
I can't believe people read this long, rambling, poorly characterized stuff that goes on and on and on without ever getting anywhere.
I didn't read George RR Martin's books for a long time, because I saw how many pages they were, and super-hyped up like Jordan, and I figured they would be similiar. Luckily I was pleasantly surprised; depending on how the series finishes up, Martin might become my 2nd favorite author.
