Benefits of Old Age - Page 3

HarryT · 04-24-2009, 01:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by edbro

Okay, there is another one of my quirks. I will often trudge through a bad book instead of just giving up on it. Sometimes I get halfway through a book before I conclude that it is not that good but by then I feel I've invested something in it and I'm loathe to give up. This is despite having many other books at my disposal

Have you never found, though, that sometimes you have to plough through what you perceive to be a bad book in order to "get" it? I have to confess that, the first time I read Pride and Prejudice I thought to myself "Why on Earth do people say that this is a great book? There's no plot. Nothing happens." It was only on reading it a second time that it suddenly "clicked" with me, and I got into the mindset to appreciate the genius of Austen's writing. Now I can read P&P over and over, and never tire of it - its cleverness and humour are "bottomless".

edbro · 04-24-2009, 01:25 PM

What a coincidence, I started reading P&P last night. It still strikes me funny that the wives used to call their husbands "Mr So and So".

So, clue me in as to what I should be getting out of it the first time around. Other than the pride of Darcy and the prejudice of Jane.

HarryT · 04-24-2009, 01:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by edbro

What a coincidence, I started reading P&P last night. It still strikes me funny that the wives used to call their husbands "Mr So and So".

I envy you, reading it for the first time - it's a wonderful book. It is useful to know something of the "social conventions" of the time - eg that "Miss so-and-so" always refers to the oldest unmarried daughter of the family, so "Miss Bennet" is always a reference to Jane. Any other daughter will always be named: "Miss Elizabeth Bennet", etc. This can be confusing if you don't understand it!

slayda · 04-24-2009, 03:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fathermole

All I know is that I remember things that are useless and can't remember the stuff I need too . My co workers and wife call me the king of useless information .

I keep waiting for the day that I don't remember that there's something I can't remember. Unfortunately I'm finding a saying of my grandmother to be true - "I have a very good forgetery!"

slayda · 04-24-2009, 03:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pilotbob

Close but so wrong.

"They say that your memory is the second thing to go...I can't remember what the first is."

BOb

The wonderful things about jokes is that they can be refinished any way the teller wants.

Angst · 04-24-2009, 06:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by edbro

Although it has been entertaining, this thread has kinda strayed from my original intent.

Does anybody else reread some of their books? With all the good unread books out there, I feel like I shouldn't, but I do.

Not intentionally.

About 6 months ago I bought an interesting book to read for the weekend. The book turned out to be very exciting. Al least until I was 4/5 of the way through. All of a sudden, I realized I had read the book before, ( 4-5 years ago), and I now remembered how it ended. Very disappointing.

slayda · 04-24-2009, 06:59 PM

I rate books as 1) re-readable, 2) readable, 3) barely or almost readable, 4) unreadable. Only when my forgetery is working at full force do I ever re-read any of the category 2, 3, or 4 books. The category 1 books are the ones I keep in my personal library. The reason I keep them is that I'll probably re-read them. I think the most often I've re-read a book is about 5 or 6 times. I have two at that level; Robert Heilein's "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress", & Tom Godwin's "The Survivors" aka "Space Prison".

I also have three movies that fit in a similar category - re-watchable. They are; "Paint Your Wagon" (and I hate musicals), Shawshank Redemption, & Shrek (the original). When I'm feeling bad, I watch one because they make me feel better.

HistoryWes · 04-25-2009, 04:36 AM

I reread many books. About half of the books that I've read since I got my 505 have been rereads. Unfortunately "Watership Down" isn't out as an ebook yet. I've read it at least once a year for the past twenty years.

Shawshank: Freakin' awesome movie.

Stitchawl · 04-25-2009, 05:06 AM

Interesting thread! As it happens, I'm reading a Travis McGee book right now that I read about 20 years ago. I remember that I read it but have no idea of what will happen next!

I like to re-read books. Both good literature and junk novels! With some books, the humor doesn't fade (such as 'Walden' by Thoreau which keeps me in stitches reading his incredibly dry wit.) Even with 'junk' series such as 'The Destroyer' novels, the comic interaction between Remo and Chiun is wonderful to re-read. John Sanford's characters are so real that re-reading them is like visiting with old friends.

Add to all this the delightful memory loss of old age, and I think I have enough books to last me until I go to the Big Library!

Stitchawl

04-24-2009, 01:25 PM	#32
edbro Banned Posts: 640 Karma: 4911 Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Grapevine, TX Device: iPad4	What a coincidence, I started reading P&P last night. It still strikes me funny that the wives used to call their husbands "Mr So and So". So, clue me in as to what I should be getting out of it the first time around. Other than the pride of Darcy and the prejudice of Jane. Last edited by edbro; 04-24-2009 at 01:27 PM.

04-24-2009, 06:59 PM	#37
slayda Retired & reading more! Posts: 2,764 Karma: 1884247 Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: North Alabama, USA Device: Kindle 1, iPad Air 2, iPhone 6S+, Kobo Aura One	I rate books as 1) re-readable, 2) readable, 3) barely or almost readable, 4) unreadable. Only when my forgetery is working at full force do I ever re-read any of the category 2, 3, or 4 books. The category 1 books are the ones I keep in my personal library. The reason I keep them is that I'll probably re-read them. I think the most often I've re-read a book is about 5 or 6 times. I have two at that level; Robert Heilein's "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress", & Tom Godwin's "The Survivors" aka "Space Prison". I also have three movies that fit in a similar category - re-watchable. They are; "Paint Your Wagon" (and I hate musicals), Shawshank Redemption, & Shrek (the original). When I'm feeling bad, I watch one because they make me feel better. Last edited by slayda; 04-24-2009 at 07:03 PM.

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04-25-2009, 04:36 AM	#38
HistoryWes Teacher/Novelist Posts: 632 Karma: 2274466 Join Date: May 2008 Location: Nevada Device: Nook STR, iPad	I reread many books. About half of the books that I've read since I got my 505 have been rereads. Unfortunately "Watership Down" isn't out as an ebook yet. I've read it at least once a year for the past twenty years. Shawshank: Freakin' awesome movie.

04-25-2009, 05:06 AM	#39
Stitchawl Opsimath Posts: 12,344 Karma: 187123287 Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Chiang Mai, Northern Thailand Device: Sony PRS-650, iPhone 5, Kobo Glo, Sony PRS-350, iPad, Samsung Galaxy	Interesting thread! As it happens, I'm reading a Travis McGee book right now that I read about 20 years ago. I remember that I read it but have no idea of what will happen next! I like to re-read books. Both good literature and junk novels! With some books, the humor doesn't fade (such as 'Walden' by Thoreau which keeps me in stitches reading his incredibly dry wit.) Even with 'junk' series such as 'The Destroyer' novels, the comic interaction between Remo and Chiun is wonderful to re-read. John Sanford's characters are so real that re-reading them is like visiting with old friends. Add to all this the delightful memory loss of old age, and I think I have enough books to last me until I go to the Big Library! Stitchawl

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