Hi, this is President George W. Bush, I am borrowing Dan’s computer while my Secret Service bodyguards are busy roughing Dan up for his comments about me in a post a few moments ago.

Anyway, a book I cannot recommend high enough:

See Spot Run

It is the story of a dog named Spot and how he runs everywhere, causing great mirth and merriment for everyone in the family.  It comes with illustrations, too.

I can’t wait for the movie version!

George, POTUS

Ive read 2 books by Raynd - The Fountainhead which I blacked out during most of.  Was forced to read it in AP English and I just had no interest in it.  I was still able to flub a B on the exam on it somehow.  (also managed to get an A on a paper on Jane Eyre, which I never actually read either… not even cliff’s notes.. I based my paper on the movie Clueless… )

The second one was her book on Objective Epistemology, which was interesting but I found that I had to reread passages over and over again. 

Whats funny is I have a college degree, scored perfect verbal on SAT’s… Im not exactly stupid anyway…

My boyfriend on the other hand… he bangs rocks together if you get my picture (doesnt mean I love him any less)... and he both understands and enjoys her books.

I think my problem is that Im a skim-reader… I read quickly but only every few words and my brain fills in the rest.  I think Raynd writes in such a way that you cant fill in words…

Maybe if I listened to an Audio Book I’d be able to take it in better…. hmmm

Re:  Ayn Rand

I think skimming Ayn Rand is a good idea, I suffered through ‘The Fountainhead’ too, in a summer-school English I-B class, I think we had two weeks to read it, and i began Z-ing out after the fourth or fifth day, the book just goes on and on and on and on, with no mercy, and nothing happening, like Rex Morgan MD in the comics.

I think Miss Rand is nuts, certifiably so, all this anti-ego-suppressiion stuff, Lord knows the one thing on this planet that is never truly suppressed is one’s ego, anyone’s, anywhere, at anytime.

Dan the Psycho-Analyst

Dan Jr. - 03 June 2006 12:43 AM

I suffered through ‘The Fountainhead’ too, in a summer-school English I-B class

I couldn’t stand the book, but liked the film. This is possibly the only time I have ever felt that way.

I think Miss Rand is nuts, certifiably so, all this anti-ego-suppressiion stuff, Lord knows the one thing on this planet that is never truly suppressed is one’s ego, anyone’s, anywhere, at anytime.

Rape fantasies, exaggerated self-belief, a practically autistic disregard for the feelings or well-being of others? Yup, she was nuts!

Try reading “Steppe Wolf” by Henrich Hesse.
I go on rereading this bookagain and again and each time I find new answers to my numerous questions about life, people and relationships between them.

Pretty much any book by Ken Follett, the best ever being Pillars of the Earth.

And I LOVED the Shining (actually, I like a lot of Stephen King’s books). For those of you who only know him from his more macabre period (the Shining, IT, Pet Sematary), I strongly recommend reading some of his last novels (Cell, Bag of Bones) and especially his Dark Tower series, which are now complete.

With 30 years between the first and the last book, you who haven’t waited are the lucky ones!

And of course there’s the Horatio Hornblower series by CS Forester (some of which were made into an A&E TV serie starring Ioan Gruffudd).

I am at the moment reading Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut, and it’s a good book to think about.

Maegan - 23 May 2006 11:41 AM

If you’re looking for fiction…

The Death Gate Series by Margaret Weis & Tracy somethingorother are pretty good.  I haven’t finished the series but I’m not normally a science fiction fan…but I can’t put these down.  A friend recommended them to me.  He’s from Italy, and he used them to learn English when he was a student.

Gotta agree with you about this series.  I’m on book 6 of the 7 and like you, I cannot put these down and have to have the next one right there to pick up as soon as I finish the last page of the one just before it.  I love the idea of the Sartans, Patyrns and runes Magick of varying sorts and avenues.  I think Death Gate is like a black hole or worm hole.

My top 5 fantasy books:

The Hobbit, by J. R. R. Tolkien. Better the LOTR in my opinion; less of the invented languages and silly names.

The Earthsea Trilogy, by Ursula Guin. I know there’s four, but for me the series reached its climax at the end of The Farthest Shore

Conan The Barbarian, by Robert E. Howard. The well-spring of a thousand knock-offs. Only Moore’s comtemporary Jirel of Joiry stories came close.

The Once and Future King, by T. H. White. With layers of meaning, the outermost of which is just a funny and entertaining retelling of the story, by far the best of the King Arthur retellings.

The Witch World series, by Andre Norton. At least as far as The Year of The Unicorn, full of the light-and-clever touch that characterized Ms. Norton’s early work.

The Lankhmar series, by Fritz Leiber. The quitessential modern sword and sorcery novels.

Wait a minute, I hear you cry, that’s six choices!

Yes, well I wanted to continue my ‘top 5’ theme, but that would mean dropping either Norton or Leiber. Sorry, I just couldn’t imagine discarding either of them.

I always loved the Hobit.  I even had the cartoon (which was a little freaky now that I see it as an adult)...and a listed & read story book that had a tape read the story, while I followed along in a book.

I never really liked Tolkien. I much preferred the Redwall series.