Kevin's Watch

Hmm ... No, I don't like that at all. Kids should be encouraged to read, true. But they should read because they like to read, not because they want to (or have to) get good marks.

man, I couldn't even get into Don Quixote. i tried two different translations, but after not making it to page 50 on both, I decided to wait until I could read the original.

We all know the famous expression, "A fig under my cloak for the king!"

... and that was from the penguin classics edition. *shakes head*

how many points do they put Twain or Poe at?

mmm .. tricky .. I can see they want to extend students .. and expose them to a range of literary experiences .. and that is good .. I guess you can read what you like out of school ..

Harry Potter is great .. its a real pity they dont allow kids to read what interests them .. cos in the end .. if they are forced to read stuff they dont enjoy they will inevitably kybosh reading ..

sad .. so sad ..

Yes, it is sad, 'cause I have to read something above my level (11.9=11th grade, almost 12th) and there's nothing interesting.

Well, there's some pretty good stuff they made me read in HS my junior and senior year. Thomas Hardy, The Mayor of Casterbridge; Stephen Crane, The Red Badge of Courage; Neville Shute, On the Beach; Robert Louis Stevenson, Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. We were also given a long list of books to choose our final paper from, and I took LOTR. Others I can't remember. I never met a reading assignment I didn't like.

It kind of sucks when you're forced to read, but I've always felt that a bad day reading is better than a good day [insert monotonous activity here].

Turiya Foul wrote:Yes, it is sad, 'cause I have to read something above my level (11.9=11th grade, almost 12th) and there's nothing interesting.

Go to the Public Library and read on your own. Don't let some librarian tell you what you can and can't read.

Best class I ever had in high school: The teacher handed us a college-prep reading list on the first day and told us that we had to read 12 books from the list by the end of the semester and write our thoughts about them in a journal. I think it was 12. I know I read more than I had to. That was the semester that I read (and liked) Richard Brautigan and Kurt Vonnegut, as well as Quo Vadis and several others. I also read As I Lay Dying at the urging of a classmate and found it just too odd. I mean, the corpse writes a chapter, for cryin' out loud....

I don't know what the point levels would be for Poe or Twain. I should suggest them. I loved Poe -- but, see, I started reading Poe when I was in 4th grade, and my kids (who looooove to read) couldn't get into him then. The relatively archaic language put them off.

And MsMary, who is, well, old enough to be my mother (wonder why that could be ), likes the trilogy too.

Hmmm...Yes, I wonder why that would be, Foamy.

Yes, I very much enjoyed Pullman's trilogy, and his other books, as well.

I have to say I have read a good many books technically classified as "young adult" at an age well past young adulthood.

We have this Accelerated Reading thing where we're not allowed to check out anything below our reading levels.

I'm sorry, that is just a wrong-headed way of going about getting children to read at their reading level, IMO. There is some darn good reading at so-called "low" reading levels.

damn. that's a little on the draconian side of education. "You're too smart for these books. No young adult fiction for you! Back of the line!"

LOL, Sylvanus. I'd have to agree with you.

~MsMary~

Just re-read the series, would like to discuss some points.

1. If the form a daemon settles in truly matches the personality of the person (servants with dog daemons, and so on), what is the meaning of the forms of some of the main characters, namely Marisa (monkey), Lee (hare) and Serafina (goose)?

2. How honest was Maria in book 3, how much had she really changed in regard to her daughter?

3. Apart from the criticism Pullman received for his depiction of what should come after death (I mean the dissolving, not the Land of the Dead), what do you think? Would this be something you'd look forward to? Or would you prefer any form of conscious existence, even if it is like the Land of the Dead?

4. Would you have decided like Lyra & Will and lived in different worlds? Or would you have gone for the shorter lifespan but together?

Wow, I'm so glad you made this thread, I'm excited to see what people will put!

I absolutely love those books, but it's been awhile since I've read them, so I don't think I'm quite fit to answer those questions...

I certainly wouldn`t like living in that Land of the Dead, it seemed rather unpleasant and dull. I`d miss colors, and so on. But that whole dissolving thing..I`m not sure I want to say farewell to my consciousness either.

The deamons (sorry, I`m not answering your questions in the way you wrote them).. Lee`s hare first: A hare is quick and cautious. Marisas monkey is beautiful (and its colour matches Marisas hair, I think..convenient), handy and cruel. And the goose..geese can fly (all witches have bird deamons, don`t they?), they prefer to fly together with other geese, they`re a bit rootless (since they treck from north to south), but they have areas in which they belong.

I think Marisa really loved her daughter, but you never know with that woman.

I think I`d want to live together, even if it meant a shorter lifespan.

Don`t you think the gallivespers (if that`s what they`re called in the english edition) were cool? I loved chevalier Tialys and Lady Salmakia. Wonderful creatures. IMHO, anyway.

This discussion is a bit slow..

For those interested in His Dark Materials, Pullman has just put out a small book called Lyra's Oxford. I picked up a copy the other day, but haven't read it yet. Foamy has, though.

~MsMary~

I have heard that this trilogy is now a stage play in London -- and that they are filming a movie based upon it.

That's cool, at least the movie. I loved the books, very unique and I see them as a kind of renaissance work of art. With that I mean that they are so full of knowledge from different kind of art-forms and sciences, and that Phillip Pullman must be a very well-educated man...

*Bump* for Forestal

Hmmm, I saw Forestal's post in the General Discussion. I love these books. You read all 3 books, Forestal? I am wondering what you found so frustrating.

Come back and talk!!

~MsMary~

Well, I burned through the first two books in this trilogy on Saturday -- I am finding it to be a wonderful read so far. I am hoping to start the third book tomorrow (lots of housework to do today, unfortuantely , followed by work tonight ).
The daemons are wonderful! As are the intelligent, armored polar bears! And the theme of the war against God and heaven is .
I am hoping he can keep up the fast pace and excitement in book three...

Yes , duchess, it was a lovely read. So many ideas and very exciting. Sadly I read in an interview that he hates fantasy and wouldn't like to be called a fantasy-writer. Wonder why?

kast

i loved these books
nuff said