Dinosaur is not currently reading any books.
I’m 28 years old, female, from the United States. I’ve been a DailyLit member since January 07, 2009. My reading interests include Pretty much anything.
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Etc. - Shakespeare's Plays
I love Macbeth deeply. It's got magic, war, ambition, questions about the nature of fate, and the iconic image of a guilty conscience.
Etc. - Question of the Week #16: Favorite Female Writers
In terms of classics, my favorite female writer by far is George Eliot. I don't think I've read any novel written with as much depth and compassion as Middlemarch. There are tons of characters, and many of them are small or unscrupulous. However, Eliot never lets any characters become flat or cliched.
Then there is of course Flannery O'Connor--I like her for amazing characters, also, though the stunning turns of events in her stories also appeal to me.
I love many modern female writers. In particular, Robin McKinley and E. Nesbit (both favorites from childhood), Siri Hustvedt (for her combination of intellect and eroticism), Connie Willis (incredibly funny when she wants to be), Elizabeth McCracken (great short stories), Sherwood Smith (world-building to rival Tolkien), Ursula LeGuin (queen of the thought experiment), and way too many more to name...
Ideas - Pre-constructed reading lists
Considering the content on the site, I bet it would be cool to have pre-constructed reading lists on offer (for example, "A Tour of Serial Novels" that would take you through Dickens and Dumas and etc.). I know that members could make their own reading lists to this effect -- I feel like the site is set up to point me in that direction a bit, but maybe prime the pump? I bet it would be a cool counterpart to the (seemingly very popular) Wikipedia Tours. Also, I could imagine it as a sales vehicle -- match up some modern, paid content, with some classic, free content in a clever way. For example, The Soul of the Rhino with Just So Stories and some other classic travel/nature works. My own personality (which others on this site might share) is that I love lists, checking things off, etc. I find the percentage read tracker on the profile page very inspiring. Constructed reading lists that tour people through types of books might appeal to that sort of nature in people.
Book Requests - Children's books
I don't know how hard the licensing would be for these, but I'd love to see a bunch more classic children's books (either paid or free) to go with some of the free ones currently up on the site. For example, the Chronicles of Narnia, books by George Macdonald, Lloyd Alexander's Prydain Chronicles, The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster, E. Nesbit's Book of Dragons, and Five Children and It series, etc.
Dubliners - Strange, Subtle Endings
Every story in the collection is written with a light, subtle touch. Many of them stay with me -- particularly "Eveline," "Counterparts," and "The Dead." Joyce's endings are strange--they often feel abrupt. But I think it's because he's telling a different sort of story. The plot isn't centered so much in events as in the feelings and thoughts that pass through the characters. The endings (and every part of the narrative) come in response to those internal motions. I confess that some of the stories go over my head. I'm sure that I don't understand what's going on in "Ivy Day for the Committee Room," for example. Joyce is generally a writer who needs to be studied, and to be read with a lot of background knowledge. I haven't done so with Dubliners. Still, there's plenty to like here. The overall tone of the collection is one of incredible love for people.
Ideas - some suggestions:
I don't know that I'd want the full social network experience, but I am finding that I do wish there were ways to speak directly to a user. It would also be nice to see somehow when someone posts "at me" -- I don't always know to check back on the thread, and so sometimes I miss replies. I've seen features that allow people to be notified when a reply is posted to a thread. Something like that might be useful.
Etc. - Question of the Week: Special CEO Edition
cresswga: Dubliners is the only Joyce I've been able to handle so far. It's far more accessible than his other work. I still feel that some of the stories in Dubliners go over my head, but I particularly like "Araby," "Eveline," "Counterparts" (though it hurts to read it), and "The Dead."
Etc. - Question of the Week: Special CEO Edition
cresswga, Maybe pick one from Dubliners? The Dead, the last story in Dubliners (really a novella) is lovely -- it's 20 parts. (I am just reading Dubliners on Daily Lit now, but I'd gladly read a bit again along with everyone else). And there's plenty to discuss with Joyce.
Etc. - "Buttonhole books" Everyone has at least one
The Phantom Tollbooth (Norton Juster)
The Hero and the Crown (Robin McKinley)
Brief Interviews with Hideous Men (David Foster Wallace)
Those are probably the ones that have lasted the longest in my life.
I also have a revolving list of stuff I've read lately that I'm telling everyone about. Right now, it's:
Mockingbird (Sean Stewart)
Spiral Hunt (Margaret Ronald)
Pandemonium (Daryl Gregory)
Etc. - Question of the Week: Special CEO Edition
Maybe nonfiction would be cool this time -- Thoreau's "On the Duty of Civil Disobedience?" Alternatively, I'd be interested in reading one of the classic Holmes stories.
Ideas - Button to report spam comments
I've been noticing spam comments to the forums making it onto the daily lit front page. I hate to see the page being polluted that way, and I'd gladly report them, but can't see a good way to do so. Might be good to add a button that allows people to report comments as spam or inappropriate.
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - Sweet, sad
Great point. I was reading an essay today (in Peter Manseau's and Jeff Sharlet's Killing the Buddha, which isn't on this site) that pointed to the oblivion at the beginning of our memories. It's strange that people can't remember the first time we spoke, the first time we felt sad, etc--for information about these things, we have to rely on other generations (i.e. parents). You're right that Fitzgerald points out how we are bracketed by oblivion. It's the general state of people, I think. We are floating in space without really knowing what's around us. We look out to the universe and see an infinity we can't reach, and we look in at the microscopic world and see the same.
Ideas - Breaking up poetry books
Thanks for the reply! I'm excited for the change. :)
Ideas - Breaking up poetry books
I was checking out some of the site's poetry books. While I generally think that Daily Lit does an incredible job in figuring out how to split books into portions, I think the way poetry is being done misses the mark. I would want to receive a poetry book in the form of one poem a day, not a clump of poems at once. Then, if I want more, I could click for it. I know that would make them take longer to read, but I think that's a more comfortable way to read poetry.
Accelerando - Really torn on this one
One more thing to add -- I'd gladly read Stross again, for the sheer vision if nothing else. The style of the book is some of what I think holds it back, and so I'd be curious to see what he'd do with a more traditional novel format.
Accelerando - Really torn on this one
The vision of this book is breathtaking, but the narrative is jerky and awkward at times. Chapters 4-7 were the height, in my opinion. The transcendence of the concepts made what had come before worth the opacity and confusion. But characters get dropped and left behind, and I found the end deeply unsatisfying -- a real disappointment after all that had come before. The book is a glorious attempt, and I respect and am awed by what the author was trying to do, but I think it's held back from true greatness by a key bit of incoherence.
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - Always one of my favorite stories
The concept of this story is highly original, and there's a gently comic tone along with melancholy. Probably best to think of it as entirely separate from the movie.
Ideas - Suggestion for Big Read
I think there should be a central Big Read page, some sort of social thing. It seems like you're wanting to form a sense of community, but I'm participating in the Big Read and am sort of not sure where to go. There are no forum topics for Benjamin Button yet (I know I could start one!). Beyond that, the Big Read is something I'd be interested in doing every month, and I think the sense of community would be heightened if there were a main page from which participants could talk about what the next one ought to be, etc. Also, if this continues, it would be nice to have one place from which to access discussions on the Big Read, instead of having them scattered over the pages for the individual books.
The Enchanted Castle - Good book -- but punctuation is off
Thanks!
The Enchanted Castle - Good book -- but punctuation is off
I love E. Nesbit, and, like her other work, this story takes a common fairy-tale theme (that of a magic ring), and gives it a fresh twist. On the whole, Daily Lit seems to split portions well. However, I think something went wrong with the punctuation when the book was digitized. My guess is that dashes, and possibly semicolons, came out funny in OCR, and someone just went through and removed them. There are lots of places where punctuation is clearly missing, and a dash would do the trick. It's frustrating to read that way, and I'm hoping I won't see the same flaw in too many titles on the site.
Little Brother - Scary
This book is so near-future and plausible that, at times, it was almost too scary to read.