Ok so The Ballad of the White Horse is about King Alfred uniting England against the Danes, and he has three generals who represent the different cultures of Britain. One of them is a Roman left over from their conquest and departure, named Marc. Right before the first battle, each main character confesses his sin, and then says where they want to be buried, because they expect to lose horribly. Marc's is perhaps the coolest out of several wonderful passages
A proud man was the Roman,
His speech a single one,
But his eyes were like an eagle's eyes
That is staring at the sun.
"Dig for me where I die," he said,
"If first or last I fall--
Dead on the fell at the first charge,
Or dead by Wantage wall;
"Lift not my head from bloody ground,
Bear not my body home, For all the earth is Roman earth
And I shall die in Rome."
Oh my god.
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StraightziHere we may reign secure, and in my choice,To reign is worth ambition though in HellRegistered Userregular
edited January 2011
Hot damn
That is fantastic
I want to read this
Added to my amazon wishlist, because I don't have money for books currently
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AntimatterDevo Was RightGates of SteelRegistered Userregular
Seriously though, if you like the english language, you will love Ballad of the White Horse. Also, the White Horse Vale is a real place in Wales
that is actually the Uffington white horse, in Oxfordshire, England (as if you care). There probably is one in Wales too. There are a lot of those things around Britain, bizarrely.
I'm about to start A Comedy in A Minor Key by Hans Keilson.
Keilson is a psychiatrist who survived the Nazi holocaust. He supposedly does a lot of writing on holocaust related trauma. He has a few fictional novels out, which have only just recently been translated into English.
This book is about a couple who take in a Jewish man, during World War 2. The Jewish man dies, and the couple is left to dispose of the body without being caught...
Man now I am even more excited to learn that there are horses just carved into the grass all around britain.
edit: Although I think I was confused because I think that during the period the story takes place, there was no england as such and so everything is described as Welsh.
I am currently reading the Ballad of the White Horse by GK Chesterton, on loan from the collection of one J. Langly Awesomeguy, esq.
For christmas I got The Fort and The Burning Land by Bernard Cornwell, Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk: A Modest Bestiary by David Sedaris, and the HG Wells collection from Munkus for SS.
So I've got some good reading ahead of me.
At work, I'm using our expansive online technical library/learning center/certification tool thingy to read about programming artificial intelligences for games. It might be a slight misappropriation of the tools at hand, but it's either that or I watch a progress bar move across a screen.
would you mind me asking which hg wells collection that is?
i have heard that squirrel seeks chipmunk is incredibly dark and depressing
I read the first short story. It was kind of dark humor in that it was about a person (animal) in the service industry trying to tell a client what they wanted to hear just to ensure their business, but there wasn't much depressing about it. I guess you could draw some parallels to using casual racism too.
Point is, it was funny.
i think i heard one at least is about child murder
his approach, if i remember correctly, was to sort of mimic certain african stories, inclusive of the really horrible crap that happens to people in them
yeah this is spot on
apparently he thinks that beause he writes about animals he can write about some totally fucking horrifying shit?
It's kind of funny but in an "oh my god I can't believe that" kind of way
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PiptheFairFrequently not in boats.Registered Userregular
i have heard that squirrel seeks chipmunk is incredibly dark and depressing
I read the first short story. It was kind of dark humor in that it was about a person (animal) in the service industry trying to tell a client what they wanted to hear just to ensure their business, but there wasn't much depressing about it. I guess you could draw some parallels to using casual racism too.
Point is, it was funny.
i think i heard one at least is about child murder
his approach, if i remember correctly, was to sort of mimic certain african stories, inclusive of the really horrible crap that happens to people in them
yeah this is spot on
apparently he thinks that beause he writes about animals he can write about some totally fucking horrifying shit?
It's kind of funny but in an "oh my god I can't believe that" kind of way
not to mention in Cinderella when the step sisters cut off their toes and heel to fit into the shoe, and the prince notices by the blood coming out of the shoe.
Saw this on this thread on Wednesday, picked it up Thursday, finished it today. The reporter story was pretty entertaining, but the weird culture of Japan was half the interest, too.
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Lost Salientblink twiceif you'd like me to mercy kill youRegistered Userregular
edited January 2011
I haven't read that, but if you are interested in other nonfiction books that touch on Japan's culture, I highly recommend Murakami's Underground, which is the book he assembled of interviews regarding the Tokyo gas attacks.
Also everyone savor your posts, because after this we have to wait forever to talk about books again.
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"Sandra has a good solid anti-murderer vibe. My skin felt very secure and sufficiently attached to my body when I met her. Also my organs." HAIL SATAN
I found an old copy of The Golden Bough in some boxes full of Christmas crap and I'm giving it another go. I found it awfully dull when I picked it up as a teenager but it is full of some seriously interesting European folklore and mythology. I'm glad this is the abridged edition with no footnotes though, Frazer does not want for words.
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Lost Salientblink twiceif you'd like me to mercy kill youRegistered Userregular
edited January 2011
Hobnail, I really like the quote you have as your sig. Like, a lot.
Lost Salient on
"Sandra has a good solid anti-murderer vibe. My skin felt very secure and sufficiently attached to my body when I met her. Also my organs." HAIL SATAN
I haven't read that, but if you are interested in other nonfiction books that touch on Japan's culture, I highly recommend Murakami's Underground, which is the book he assembled of interviews regarding the Tokyo gas attacks.
Also everyone savor your posts, because after this we have to wait forever to talk about books again.
we can just make a thread about harry potter or some shit and turn it into the book thread
Posts
Seriously though, if you like the english language, you will love Ballad of the White Horse. Also, the White Horse Vale is a real place in Wales
I did really enjoy TMWWT
His speech a single one,
But his eyes were like an eagle's eyes
That is staring at the sun.
"Dig for me where I die," he said,
"If first or last I fall--
Dead on the fell at the first charge,
Or dead by Wantage wall;
"Lift not my head from bloody ground,
Bear not my body home,
For all the earth is Roman earth
And I shall die in Rome."
Oh my god.
That is fantastic
I want to read this
Added to my amazon wishlist, because I don't have money for books currently
http://www.amazon.com/Moby-Naxos-AudioBooks-Herman-Melville/dp/9626343583
?
Some people have problems reading books online, but it is free at project gutenberg.
http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1719
I don't have a problem with reading books online, but I do absolutely prefer physical copies
Partially because I know people with problems reading books online, and my pretentious library is a nice thing to have in circumstances like that
I want to click that spoiler so bad! Curssseeee youuuu!!
I'll be picking up the Ballad of the White Horse tomorrow after work.
I think I might pick up Infinite Jest, as well.
Click it
It's worth it
Still though, that wedding. God damn, that was mean.
that is actually the Uffington white horse, in Oxfordshire, England (as if you care). There probably is one in Wales too. There are a lot of those things around Britain, bizarrely.
oh woops, that last one isn't a horse at all!
Keilson is a psychiatrist who survived the Nazi holocaust. He supposedly does a lot of writing on holocaust related trauma. He has a few fictional novels out, which have only just recently been translated into English.
This book is about a couple who take in a Jewish man, during World War 2. The Jewish man dies, and the couple is left to dispose of the body without being caught...
I've read 3 stories so far! Pretty good
edit: Although I think I was confused because I think that during the period the story takes place, there was no england as such and so everything is described as Welsh.
yeah this is spot on
apparently he thinks that beause he writes about animals he can write about some totally fucking horrifying shit?
It's kind of funny but in an "oh my god I can't believe that" kind of way
have you ever actually read brothers grimm?
they're about humans and still horrifying
Oh man, I just thought of a great idea for a party game.
I think it is pretty interesting that both the Grimm Bros and Tolkien were linguists first and then, secondarily, tale spinners.
thread killer - didn't mean to, btw
Saw this on this thread on Wednesday, picked it up Thursday, finished it today. The reporter story was pretty entertaining, but the weird culture of Japan was half the interest, too.
Also everyone savor your posts, because after this we have to wait forever to talk about books again.
"Sandra has a good solid anti-murderer vibe. My skin felt very secure and sufficiently attached to my body when I met her. Also my organs." HAIL SATAN
Have you heard the story of Tolkien being given a recorder by a student?
The first thing he recorded was himself speaking the Lord's Prayer in Gothic in order to drive the "demons out of the machine".
Awesome.
"Sandra has a good solid anti-murderer vibe. My skin felt very secure and sufficiently attached to my body when I met her. Also my organs." HAIL SATAN
the plot like, nearly always follows some trajectory that makes no sense and jumps to new central characters and stuff every few paragraphs
the moral of the story is basically always that woman are stinky and should just shut up and listen to their husbands
one is like, a three paragraphs long and is just about a woman disagreeing with her husband,
so he drowns her in a river
the end
HG: 5285 4128 5154
we can just make a thread about harry potter or some shit and turn it into the book thread
what are the odds that it is the worst thing ever
Maybe the first book will be decent then it will immediately plummet down a cliff
Ender's Game, anyone?
but Speaker for the Dead was the best one
after that though yes
like, I'm talking just the worst.
I havent read all of them though
Bale! buddy! can I grab some recommendations
I've been jonesin' to reread Neverwhere but I'd rather read new stuff