The Literature Thread

[monkeygirl]

Okay, it seems I'm not the only one who enjoys discussing literature every now and then, so I thought I'd create this thread and get some nice, nerdy and bookish discussion going. I suppose we'll start out with one book/poem/something, discuss it for awhile, and when we've discussed it through we can move on to something else. Discuss interpretations, opinions, plot, whatever! For students, this can be a bit of homework help, to an extent...but don't expect this to be some kind of Cliffs Notes...think of it more as extra class time, but fun and relaxed.

 

You don't have to be an English professor...heck I'm just a high school senior! Just be familiar with the work we're discussing at the moment, and join in.

 

Alright, something to start with...

 

has anyone read the play Hedda Gabler by Henrik Ibsen? Or have something better to discuss? I'm kind of reaching with that one. I'm better at joining discussion than starting it.

[isshinryu5toforever]

Ah, I always love to read your posts, you seem to have such interesting ideas. I'm just a college freshman (though people seem to mistake me for a 25 year old) so I might not be as well read as I should be, but I could give this a go. Anyways, I must admit that I have never read Hedda Gabler, but I think more people on here would have read Of Mice and Men which I really like. Anyone have any general opinions on the book? or the relationship between how simple minded Lennie and Forest Gump are and how their simplicity of mind takes them down two different paths? I always thought it was kind of interesting myself, Forest Gump puts himself in all the right positions, while Lennie's downfall is his lack of understanding.

[Cmon]

well i haven't read forest gump (seen the film) but i have read Of Mice and Men. I am currently doing the book for my GCSE so i could go off into an essay on it but i wont. True Lennie's downfall is his lack of understanding, he totally relies on George for everything. But what i think is scary about Lennie is that on one hand he is like a big cuddily bear, and then the next thing you know he is killing things but he always has good intentions.

 

What i have only just figured out though is the meaning of the title, Of Mice and Men. I think it means that Lennie starts of by killing a mouse and then progressively onto a human.

[isshinryu5toforever]

The title of the book was inspired by a poem by Robert Burns. When I talked about Forest Gump, I was referring to the movie, I don't think there is a book? Anyways, the poem is called:

 

To a Mouse, On Turning Her Up In Her Nest With The Plow

 

I was just making the comparison between Gump and Lennie because it would seem that everyone in America loved Forest Gump, because they like to see a simple guy win. I bet that people would be more hard pressed to sympathize with Lennie, who despite his low mental capacity turns into a killer.

[Cmon]

Ye i see where you are coming from. Ill tell me english teacher that about the title muwhahaha show him up lol.

 

I also think lennie's huge physical presence attributed to him killing things, Forest Gump hasn't much of a beast like Lennie. But i think Lennie was even more mentally disfunctional then Forest.

 

I don't think there is a Forest Gump book i just assumed with you talking about Gump i thought there was a book.

[isshinryu5toforever]

Lennie is a huge physical presence, but it seems to me that Forest is just as simple as Lennie is. He beats up one of Jenny's dates, beats up a guy trying to touch her while she's on stage. He shows tendencies toward violence as well, not as extreme as Lennie of course. Yet, it seems that Gump always finds himself in the right place at the right time so to speak. During his cross country run, during Water Gate, etc. it is odd to make a man such as this have so much success, while a man such as Lennie makes it his downfall.

[ovine king]

....not to put a dampener on things but the biggest problem with forest gump is that it is a feel good hollywood movie.....

 

 

noble intentions (maybe) but it is still limited by the need to be entertaining in an uplifting and amusing way.

 

of mice and men, being a different medium and subject matter, is not restrained by the need to be 'cheerful'.

 

anyway.

 

forest is rather nerdy guy and far from the looming image of lennie. when forest hits someone, it is the small guy making a stand. when lennie hits someone, it is almost like a monster revealing himself.

 

or is it lennie getting consumed by the monster that is anger and aggression?

 

or is it lennie being a small man trapped inside this monster?

 

eck... too much for my little mind to comprehend.

 

just in case anyone's interested, i've recently been pointed towards gabriel garcia marquez.

 

i've made an order for one hundred years of solitude, love in the time of cholera and chronicle of a death foretold.

[isshinryu5toforever]

I like the fact that someone made an independent film Of Mice and Men with John Malkovich and Gary Sinese.

[Ted T.]

I wasn't going to reply to this with my favorites because I don't read "literature" anymore,

 

but since it has dropped to the level of including Forest Gump in literature, ok.

 

Here's what I recommend: great light reading...

 

Let me introdue you to Barry Eisler, http://www.barryeisler.com/ and his character, John Rain. The stories are full of fights, intrigue and spy craft. Fights are martial arts based and well written. And very entertaining.

 

I've read the books and met the man and he's a class act. And funny.

 

Bit of Bio: Mr. Eisler earned his black belt in judo from the Kodokan International Judo Center in Tokyo.

 

Today he lives and works in the San Francisco Bay Area and continues to travel to Japan frequently.

 

Rights to the Rain books have been sold in 12 countries, and film rights have been purchased by Jet Li.

[isshinryu5toforever]

I was trying to use a character with a subpar level of intelligence that people could relate to. I know a story about a man similar to Lennie, he doesn't have violent outbursts but his naivety is his downfall, however it was written in Korea in 1930 something. I didn't figure people would have seen or read this. So, I used Forest Gump.