With this post, I bring new life to a sleepy thread!

Anyway, with regards to what I am currently reading, my English teacher suggested I say this to impress people-"Why, yes I have read Kafka."

I am not entirely sure if this'll work, but on topic, I am beginning to read Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis. I've heard Kafka is a higher-level author whose works are somewhat difficult to read, which accounts for my previous statment.

What They Didn't Say: A Book of Misquotations edited by Elizabeth Knowles

I've recently been whiling away a few amusing hours flicking through this cheerful little reference book, which demonstrates that many of the most popular and familiar phrases in the English lexicon were the result of simple corruptions, sometimes intentional, sometimes not. Often, it's just a matter of pedantics. For example, the poem "To a Mouse" by Robert Burns, which first gave rise to the saying "the best-laid plans of mice and men," actually had it written as the "best-laid schemes." Others have arisen as a result of the highly deceptive nature of popular culture. Sherlock Holmes never used the phrases, "Elementary" and "my dear Watson" in conjunction with one another, Ingrid Bergman never said the iconic "Play it again, Sam", and apparently Captain Kirk never once used the exact phrase, "Beam me up, Scotty".

Nothing like reading a book of this nature to make you feel smug and freshly-informed for a while. Plus, it's provided me with a few new useful phrases for my own personal idiolect. Get down on your knees and pray for Shackleton - I love that one.

Actually, he did, but not on Star Trek. Years after the show was cancelled, he finally uttered the phrase when he made a brief guest appearance on Mork & Mindy. :D

Well shut my mouth. Clearly Ms Knowles isn't as learned on the particular subject as you, Cass. :bloosmirk:

It's been a while since anyone last used this thread...I take it nobody minds if I double post?

Since I haven't been able to get about very much today, I've spent much of the time reading Northern Lights by Philip Pullman (the first of the His Dark Materials trilogy, and the original Golden Compass, before they felt obliged to alter the title for some of the overseas markets).

Thus far it's been a heck of a lot better than that stolid adaptation I saw over Xmas, though one of the penalties for having seen the film in advance is that a lot of the suspence has been taken out of it for me in terms of narrative. Since I know more-or-less what's going to happen, it's not quite proving the page-turning experience that I feel it otherwise would be. I'm still enjoying it very much, but all in all I'm looking forward to getting this one finished and moving onto the next book in the trilogy, The Subtle Knife, of which I remain mostly ignorant.

touching spirit bear.

its pretty good so far :D

i'm reading the Norse classic "The Poetic Edda", Christenson/DeMeere's, "The Fighter's Body".

both great, the Edda is a poetic collection of Norse wisdom and tales of bravery (including the tales of Sigurd and Brynhilde, the basis for Wagners famous operas) The Fighters body is about eating healthyfor martial arts and body building.

ETA: When Amazon ships "Beyond Good and Evil" and "Thus Spake Zarathustra" by Nietzsche i'll be wading through those as well.

Both are great reads, and I would suggest reading Jenseit Von Gut und Bose before Also Spracht Zarathustra. Of all of Nietzsche's work, however, my favorite book by him so far has been Die Frohliche Wissenschaft ("The Gay Science"), which was his book preceding "Beyond Good and Evil" and "Thus Spoke Zarathustra".

I'm currently reading God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater by Kurt Vonnegut. Earlier this week, I got Slaughterhouse Five from my library on Monday. I finished it Tuesday. Fantastic book.

Here, I come again warning about the third book. My goodness if you have any wish to keep your mind intact just stay away. Talk about abysmal. The first two books were a delight to read, full of wonder and adventure and many themes that would've had people questioning authority for ages. Unfortunately by the time The Amber Spyglass gets through I wondered if the first two books were really worth it. It's as if Pullman decided that every character should stop engaging in actual story and turn to the reader and explain his viewpoints on religion and authority. The rest included a sluggish read about wheeled cattle fighting creatures that resembled Donald Duck and a creative writing term paper written by a college student that just finished reading Paradise Lost and a handful of Gaiman and Moore comics.

I guess maybe you should read it for yourself. I just made it sound a lot more interesting than it actually is. Plus seeing something through to its conclusion afflicts more than just this reader.

As for The Northern Lights things, there is some dispute over the title. Pullman has hemmed and hawed over the issue saying in some interviews that he originally wanted the title to be Golden Compass and that he preferred it as well. In others he said the opposite. But The Golden Compass fits the trilogy better than The Northen Lights ever could. It fits the theme of significant objects or in other words "His Dark Materials." That's just this reader's opinion.

Personally, I prefer "Northern Lights" myself, although I do agree that, in light of the rest of the series, "The Golden Compass" is certainly a more consistent title. It just strikes me as being a slightly blander and more run-of-the-mill title than does Northern Lights, which to me conveys a little extra magic and enigma, but that's just my own opinion.

Anyhow, I'll bear your remarks on the Amber Spyglass in mind, though in all honesty I very much doubt that I'll be able to resist reading it, if only for the sake of completism. I couldn't go that far and not go further, after all, even if it does wind up going the way of Douglas Adams' "Mostly Harmless", in bringing a top-notch series to a pretty abysmal conclusion. In all fairness, it has been a while since I read "Mostly Harmless", and if I took the trouble to leaf through it again there's a chance that I might form a slightly better impression of it, but as it currently stands, if I were able to erase all personal knowledge of any concluding novel to any series, it would have to be the one.

Adams' "The Salmon of Doubt" (published posthumously), does apparently contain the remnants for a sixth novel in the Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy series (albeit under the guise of a new instalment for his lesser-known Dirk Gently series), as well as a short story featuring Zaphod Beeblebrox. I do have that book lying around here somewhere, I just haven't yet found the time to read it.