Comments for lrawles.com Blog http://lrawles.com/lblog Conquering boredom, one book at a time. Wed, 29 Jul 2009 00:08:33 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 Comment on On the Bookshelf: American Gods, by Neil Gaiman by asarwate http://lrawles.com/lblog/2008/03/08/on-the-bookshelf-american-gods-by-neil-gaiman/comment-page-1/#comment-25118 asarwate Wed, 29 Jul 2009 00:08:33 +0000 http://lrawles.com/lblog/2008/03/08/on-the-bookshelf-american-gods-by-neil-gaiman/#comment-25118 Please say you've read a book since then... Please say you’ve read a book since then…

]]> Comment on On the Bookshelf: No Shortcuts to the Top, by Ed Viesturs by Hoss http://lrawles.com/lblog/2008/01/18/on-the-bookshelf-no-shortcuts-to-the-top-by-ed-viesturs/comment-page-1/#comment-726 Hoss Wed, 13 Feb 2008 19:24:23 +0000 http://lrawles.com/lblog/2008/01/18/on-the-bookshelf-no-shortcuts-to-the-top-by-ed-viesturs/#comment-726 I am reading this book right now. I have been slightly fascinated with the topic since well before picking up the book, and I do think of Viesturs as a climbing legend and hero. Nevertheless, I too can't shake the discomfort about that little "kiss and tell" business. The revelation was particularly awkward since it had precious little bearing on any other themes in the narrative, making the passage feel like a random "dude, I totally did her" aside. I'd have to assume that he just dumped his journals into a manuscript and didn't spend enough time culling the unnecessary passages. I mean, if you are an adult reading a story like this and the author says simply, "we grew very close those months we were camped together in the Himalaya ...," well, that is all needs be said, no? We'd get the picture. No need to boast, "Man, she totally jumped my bones." Conversely, if you want to brag about your Wilt Chamberlain legacy, just leave the names out of it. It just don't sit right with me, no matter what a mountaineering bad-ass he may be. And he is. A mountaineering bad-ass, that is. I am reading this book right now. I have been slightly fascinated with the topic since well before picking up the book, and I do think of Viesturs as a climbing legend and hero. Nevertheless, I too can’t shake the discomfort about that little “kiss and tell” business. The revelation was particularly awkward since it had precious little bearing on any other themes in the narrative, making the passage feel like a random “dude, I totally did her” aside. I’d have to assume that he just dumped his journals into a manuscript and didn’t spend enough time culling the unnecessary passages. I mean, if you are an adult reading a story like this and the author says simply, “we grew very close those months we were camped together in the Himalaya …,” well, that is all needs be said, no? We’d get the picture. No need to boast, “Man, she totally jumped my bones.” Conversely, if you want to brag about your Wilt Chamberlain legacy, just leave the names out of it. It just don’t sit right with me, no matter what a mountaineering bad-ass he may be. And he is. A mountaineering bad-ass, that is.

]]> Comment on On the Bookshelf: Possible Side Effects, by Augusten Burroughs by On the Bookshelf: Garnethill, by Denise Mina » L’Blog http://lrawles.com/lblog/2007/06/04/on-the-bookshelf-possible-side-effects-by-augusten-burroughs/comment-page-1/#comment-362 On the Bookshelf: Garnethill, by Denise Mina » L’Blog Mon, 12 Nov 2007 17:14:15 +0000 http://lrawles.com/lblog/2007/06/04/on-the-bookshelf-possible-side-effects-by-augusten-burroughs/#comment-362 [...] I’ve gone on record saying that I don’t like movies and books that deal extensively with mental illness. For the most part, I think that this is still true; I have no intention of running off to buy “The Bell Jar.” But even though a hefty percentage of the book takes place in a psychiatric hospital and the heroine is forever teetering on the brink of a complete breakdown, I found it really enthralling. [...] [...] I’ve gone on record saying that I don’t like movies and books that deal extensively with mental illness. For the most part, I think that this is still true; I have no intention of running off to buy “The Bell Jar.” But even though a hefty percentage of the book takes place in a psychiatric hospital and the heroine is forever teetering on the brink of a complete breakdown, I found it really enthralling. [...]

]]> Comment on Not Much Fun by Administrator http://lrawles.com/lblog/2007/06/16/not-much-fun/comment-page-1/#comment-223 Administrator Sun, 15 Jul 2007 23:09:46 +0000 http://lrawles.com/lblog/2007/06/16/not-much-fun/#comment-223 Fair enough. But I never said anything about "funner" - I know that's not correct, at least. :) Fair enough. But I never said anything about “funner” – I know that’s not correct, at least. :)

]]> Comment on Not Much Fun by Mary Ann Peden-Coviello http://lrawles.com/lblog/2007/06/16/not-much-fun/comment-page-1/#comment-211 Mary Ann Peden-Coviello Sat, 14 Jul 2007 04:07:51 +0000 http://lrawles.com/lblog/2007/06/16/not-much-fun/#comment-211 Hi. Just for the record, I didn't say that "I went to a fun party" was the same as "I ain't never been there." What I said was that you can tell something about a character by his or her vocabulary. For example, if I were writing about a person claiming to be an English professor at, say, Wake Forest University and she said, "It was just the funnest time," the reader might wonder if she were all on the up and up. Of course, it might turn out that she is, in fact, a professor but is trying to seem younger than she is because she has a young boyfriend. I never said I was judging a person for saying "funner" (even though I really tried to keep my own sons from saying it). bye Mary Ann Hi.

Just for the record, I didn’t say that “I went to a fun party” was the same as “I ain’t never been there.” What I said was that you can tell something about a character by his or her vocabulary.

For example, if I were writing about a person claiming to be an English professor at, say, Wake Forest University and she said, “It was just the funnest time,” the reader might wonder if she were all on the up and up. Of course, it might turn out that she is, in fact, a professor but is trying to seem younger than she is because she has a young boyfriend.

I never said I was judging a person for saying “funner” (even though I really tried to keep my own sons from saying it).

bye
Mary Ann

]]> Comment on Recommended for You by On the Bookshelf: Safe Area Gorazde, by Joe Sacco » L’Blog http://lrawles.com/lblog/2007/04/19/recommended-for-you/comment-page-1/#comment-181 On the Bookshelf: Safe Area Gorazde, by Joe Sacco » L’Blog Mon, 09 Jul 2007 21:38:28 +0000 http://lrawles.com/lblog/2007/04/19/recommended-for-you/#comment-181 [...] The watershed moment for me came after reading a free PDF of Bill Willingham’s series “Fables,” which I now love and adore and recommend highly. Amazon.com’s Recommended for You feature - with which I have a tempestuous relationship - then pointed me to Joe Sacco’s work. [...] [...] The watershed moment for me came after reading a free PDF of Bill Willingham’s series “Fables,” which I now love and adore and recommend highly. Amazon.com’s Recommended for You feature – with which I have a tempestuous relationship – then pointed me to Joe Sacco’s work. [...]

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