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Post by roper on Jan 12, 2006 4:29:15 GMT 10
Glad you liked it, Elly. It's one of the best book of the series, indeed! I enjoyed it Dreamy, the last page is a bit of a cliffhanger, what did everyone else think of that? I have re-read that page a few times just in case I got it wrong I was a bit angry when I got to the last page of ABOSA. I also went back and re-read it to see if I had it wrong, glad im not the only one
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Elly
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Post by Elly on Jan 12, 2006 15:17:34 GMT 10
Glad someone else thought the same, yes I kept flicking back to the fire part in the paper after reading the last page, then reading the last page again#cry# guess it`s another long wait till the next one #cheeky#
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Post by dreamy on Jan 12, 2006 22:01:44 GMT 10
Same here, Elly. It really is a cliffhanger and I reread the last pages a couple of times myself. Another few years we have to wait now...what a pain! #cry#
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Post by desertrose on Jan 23, 2006 0:15:33 GMT 10
I am still reading ABOSAA right now and really enjoying it! Nothing like FC! ;D I am also reading a novel called, After Dark, My Sweet. Ok, y'all can laugh. It is the novel that the movie of the same title that my favorite actor, Jason Patric, plays in. I wanted to get more of a feel for the character he played. How obsessive is that?
Dreamy, I really need to read "Time Travelers Wife" too. A friend of mine bought that book for me and she has since bought it for herself and read it. How embarrassing is that? EEP!
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Post by dreamy on Jan 23, 2006 0:31:31 GMT 10
I am still reading ABOSAA right now and really enjoying it! Nothing like FC! ;D I am also reading a novel called, After Dark, My Sweet. Ok, y'all can laugh. It is the novel that the movie of the same title that my favorite actor, Jason Patric, plays in. I wanted to get more of a feel for the character he played. How obsessive is that? Dreamy, I really need to read "Time Travelers Wife" too. A friend of mine bought that book for me and she has since bought it for herself and read it. How embarrassing is that? EEP! Obsessive...oh well.. Jk! Oh, it's not embarrassing, Rose. Though I'm a passionate reader I don't get the time to do all the reading I would love to. And then...you know you have something to look forward to and that's a positive thing after all, no? I promise you will love the book.
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Elly
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Post by Elly on Jan 24, 2006 14:04:26 GMT 10
I`ve started reading 'Fallen Angels' by Bernard Cornwell, haven`t gotten that far into it but so far I am enjoying it.
FALLEN ANGELS by Bernard Cornwell
The gilded family had been the envy and the pride of England for centuries. Never had the Lazenders seemed more powerful or more wealthy. And never had the unseen means of their destruction seemed so close…
Yet the heir to the estate was absent. Toby Lazender worked for the British in Revolutionary France – where he hunted down the men who had murdered the innocent girl he loved. It was his sister, Campion, who oversaw the family’s affairs at the ‘little kingdom’ of Lazen Castle.
But Lazen is, unknowingly, a house under siege. The Fallen Angels – among the most powerful and dangerous men in Europe – are plotting to bring revolution to England. To succeed, they need money, and the Lazender fortune can provide it. The key to the fortune is control of Campion’s future. A web of deceit closes around Lazen, drawing Campion ever closer to a subtle trap that has been laid just for her. Her only hope for survival lies with the Gypsy – her brother’s broodingly aloof horse-master – a man whose loyalties are at best uncertain.
The Fallen Angels is a powerful blend of passion, adventure and intrigue, played out in the shadow of the guillotine and the sunlit splendour of an English estate. It is a worthy successor to A Crowning Mercy, the first chronicle of the Lazender family.
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Post by desertrose on Jan 26, 2006 15:51:08 GMT 10
I heard that was a very good book, Elly.
I finished, "After Dark, My Sweet" wow! What a book! It was crime/drama, something I never read but I was totally enthralled! It was excellent and explained a lot about the movie.
I am still reading ABOSAA and very much enjoying this book! I am a slow reader, but I do hope to finish it soon!
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Elly
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Post by Elly on Feb 2, 2006 17:50:04 GMT 10
Finished `Fallen Angels', enjoyed it very much, started reading 'Evil Angels' by John Bryson, its a true story about a family camping at Ayers Rock, their 10 week old baby is snatched from their tent by a dingo (native feral dog), the authorities don`t believe them and charge the mother with murder, its very interesting so far, it was made into a movie a few years back with Meryl Streep and Sam Neil playing the parents.
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Post by dreamy on Feb 3, 2006 0:42:14 GMT 10
I have seen the movie, Elly but I never read the book. Let us know what you think about it when you've finished it, ok?
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Post by dreamy on Feb 12, 2006 10:31:28 GMT 10
I finally got a copy of "The Chronicles of Narnia - Adult Edition".I read two of them when I was a kid. These books are not very popular in Germany...well, until now that a movie had been made of one of them. I'm enjoying them. Of course it's not Tolkien but it's charming though.
Narnia is series of adventures for children, but like the best of such stories, continues to hold power for adults who read them as well. Resurgence in popularity of late has occurred because of the film, 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe', second in the series (depending upon which chronology one follows), but the whole series is a charmer. In 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe', the story focuses upon Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy, four exiles from war-time London in the English countryside who discover the portal to Narnia in the back of a mysterious wardrobe. The king of Narnia, Aslan the lion (whose imagery fits both Christian and English mythic lore) is battling the icy witch, who styles herself as Queen of Narnia. Through a classic struggle of good and evil in epic battle format, the pure-hearted children and the graceful king Aslan win the day, but eventually the children must return to their own world, even after such adventures.
'Prince Caspian' takes place long after (in Narnia time - one discovers the passage of time from one world to the next is variable), as Caspian befriends many of the creatures of Narnia, both natural and fantastic. The four children, enthroned as kings and queens of Narnia at the end of the first adventure, must return to help Caspian, whose main desire is to live in old Narnia, forbidden tales of which he has heard.
'Voyage of the Dawn' sees Edmund and Lucy drawn back into Narnia through a painting, together with their horrid cousin Eustace Scrubb. Caspian is now king, on a knightly quest to discover lost knights of old, and also to seek the end of the world (in a literal sense). Sea voyages and other journeys take them far and wide, until Aslan again appears to return the children home. Eustace becomes a better person for his Narnia adventures, much as Edmund had transformed during his first major Narnia experience.
Eustace returns in the 'The Silver Chair', this time from his school, with fellow student Jill, who is also less than popular. Jill, like the earlier Edmund, must find redemption, and seeks to save Rilian (son of the now-dying Caspian). Here we encounter the Parliament of Owls as well as the bottom of the world - once again, Aslan helps to save the day, despite the nay-saying of Puddleglum.
Shasta is the boy and Bree is the horse in 'The Horse and His Boy'. Shasta is about to be sold into slavery when he escapes with Bree, and they meet Aravis and Hwin, another escaping duo, on their way to Narnia. They uncover a plot against Narnia, and must work to save the kingdom of their dreams.
'The Magician's Nephew' is often considered the first of the series, with events that preceed 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe'. It gives background and insight into the overall workings of Narnia. Polly and Digory discover the portal to the Woods between the Worlds, and there is a greater mix of worlds here than in any other story. However, this is also the beginning of the other stories, with Aslan providing the same kind of guidance he would throughout the series.
'The Last Battle' is, as the title suggests, the last of the series. Narnia falls into the final conflict of good and evil, with a false Aslan (a false messiah figure) appearing and humans destroying all things around, particularly the natural environment. Old Narnia must pass away, but a new Narnia is held in promise as the real Aslan returns to lead the faithful.
While many of Lewis' original readers were occasionally disturbed by the Christian overall (and indeed, at Lewis' interpretation of Christian lore), in fact the state of biblical illiteracy is such today that most will miss much of the Christian allegory unless it is specially spelled out. Narnia can stand on its own merits as a story independent of its underpinnings, but just as most mythological and even biblical stories can achieve, this one becomes stronger the deeper one explores the symbolic meanings.
Lewis is very much a creature of his culture - this is very post-Victorian (read, more Victorian than the Victorians) in style and morals, even in the 1950s (a time so many in our present culture look back to as a high point in moral culture) he was looking back to a better time - perhaps it is no surprise that instead of finding it in the past, he found it in Narnia?
This is a series that is wonderful for children of all ages, and for adults - the tales bear repeating over and over, and many editions of these texts come with wonderful artwork. This particular one has illustrations by Pauline Baynes, the original illustrator for the series, and they are wonderful indeed.
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Elly
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Post by Elly on Feb 13, 2006 18:10:21 GMT 10
Evil Angels, was very good, hard to believe that sort of witch hunt could happen in modern times.
am now reading 'Midnight In The Garden of Good and Evil' by John Berendt, have seen the film and the book is promising to be just as good. Based on a true story, gives a great insight into Savannah, Georgia, some real quirky characters.
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Post by desertrose on Feb 14, 2006 14:47:00 GMT 10
I read Chronicles of Narnia many years ago...as an adult. I always said those books should have been made into movies and finally!
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