Originally Posted by The Batlord (Post 2226756)

He was a straight up teen girl sex symbol back then though.

Originally Posted by Marie Monday (Post 2226724)

I've only seen part of Romeo + Juliet but didn't even finish it. Not even the source material and Claire Danes could save it

Originally Posted by Janszoon (Post 2226766)

I saw it not long after it came out, and not even newness could save it from being being shit. I think it might also be the original source of my hatred for John Leguizamo.

Originally Posted by jwb (Post 2226764)

Absolutely. I remember the reign of King Leo as well.

Do you remember the kid from ****in Home Improvement? He had every bitch in my 3rd grade class obsessed with him.

Originally Posted by WWWP (Post 2226778)

Bro I had my JTT poster right next to my Leo poster right next to my Nick Carter poster right next to my ROMEO & JULIET POSTER YOU BITCHES CANT TOUCH MY 90S EXPERIENCE

Originally Posted by The Batlord (Post 2226775)

Even Super Mario Bros???

Originally Posted by elphenor (Post 2226524)

did you finish it

it's one of those books that's entirely justified by pretty much the last page

Originally Posted by FETCHER. (Post 2226544)

This. If you are DM’ing etc, then you are being creepy.

Originally Posted by SGR (Post 2226547)

It's like Bogarting. It's a "Humph" because the book selfishly took her time that could be better spent reading almost anything else.



I view it as the Twilight of the '20s. A novel filled with vapid characters, a vapid love story, and a boring plot. At least the Great Gatsby didn't spawn sequels.

Originally Posted by Lisnaholic (Post 2226552)

^ Yep, sensible advice that's simple to follow. An approach to kids that I consider unproductive is jwb's about avoiding them altogether, on the grounds that an adult and kid have nothing in common. Regardless of changing musical tastes across the generations, we all have this in common with kids: we were once their age.

As for books at school, it's a sad fact that we are obligated to study books whether we like them or not, and when it's the "not" we are likely to be put off them for life. That's a shame because some of those books we might have enjoyed if we first came across them as adults. That's why I'm mentioning these books and when I read them as well:-

At school:
Macbeth by Shakespeare - didn't like
Great Expectations - liked at first, then got bored
Lord of The Flies - liked and then re-enjoyed as an adult
Animal Farm - ditto

As an adult:
Moby Dick - unable to read even one chapter
Great Gatsby - enjoyed, partly by visualizing the movie of that elegant, doomed era. I was sufficiently impressed to read Tender Is The Night, which I preferred.
Tale Of Two Cities - the only Dickens I have so far actually enjoyed.

Originally Posted by Frownland (Post 2226563)

The books I vehemently hate that I had to read in high school are The Power of One (had to read that Forrest Gump garbage twice) and Fahrenheit 451 (everyone zeroes in on the censorship but I see it as a technophobic screed). Catcher in the Rye used to be on the list but I've come around.

Originally Posted by elphenor (Post 2226564)

does Fahrenheit 451 really suck that bad?

it's been in my list to read, maybe I can take it off

Originally Posted by Frownland (Post 2226568)

Ray Bradbury is a fat sack of donkey dicks.

It's short enough that there's no harm in reading it though.

Originally Posted by SGR (Post 2226569)

I haven't read it, but sounds like Frown dislikes it mostly because of tech-fear-mongering.

On a scale of 1 to Ted Kaczynski, how bad is the technophobia in it Frown?

Originally Posted by Frownland (Post 2226575)

It's like a whiny old man talking about kids these days with their iphones and their Facebook.

Originally Posted by WWWP (Post 2226806)

It’s a fever dream from which you’ll never wake - avoid at all costs.

Originally Posted by Trollheart (Post 2226811)

I don't get this take to be honest. What do you find so terrible about it?

No it does not.

Stop that. What about Something Wicked? Or The Martian Chronicles?



No it's not. it's about the Nazi-like suppression of knowledge.

Originally Posted by The Batlord (Post 2226813)

Why are you betraying Sansa?

Originally Posted by Trollheart (Post 2226815)

Well in fairness I didn't say it was the ONLY point, and also, I didn't necessarily say it was about censorship. I said it was about the suppression of knowledge, which it is. Well, the suppression of the will I guess really; they don't, so far as I can remember, want people to read ANY books, not just the "approved ones", as reading leads to thought and can lead to questioning and then action. There may be other themes in it, I'm not denying that, but the main theme is about control, rigid state control over what people think and how they perceive the world. Just like Orwell, though admittedly not as well written at all.

Originally Posted by WWWP (Post 2226817)

Lol was she a fan? I’ll say a prayer.

Originally Posted by Frownland (Post 2226822)

Totalitarian censorship is still censorship.

More of the book is dedicated to showing how obsessed the characters are with other media and commodities than burning books, which is why I see "tv bad" as the driving theme of the novel. It definitely smells like the jumping off point for pretty much everything else in the novel too.