Books to read before you die

"Teacher's Pet and other wildlife" by A.P. Merillat.
Little known classic.
 >> Stay informed about: Books to read before you die 

"Steve Hayes" <hayesmstw.DeleteThis@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:rtpbp3pr3vfr3htp4cu267n0539627k4et@4ax.com...
>
> When I first read it, Lord of the flies struck me as a kind fo parable of
> original sin.

Now, that's a new way in which to look at this book, and new ways of looking
are (almost) never bad. One of the reasons I read Charles Williams,
btw.

Blessings,
Ann
 >> Stay informed about: Books to read before you die 

In answer to the thread:
The Ender Series, Orson Scott Card
I read these last year. I'm 60 plus and an avid reader of anything written-
Adam to the Atom Bomb. I found these books to be uniquely well written for
the genre (or almost any, actually), as well as
spiritually/morally/philosophically challenging. Not meaning to draw a
spiritual, moral or philosophical parallel in , but in reading these books I
experienced aha! moments similar in feeling when I first began reading
Anne's Rice's vampire chronicles.
It occurs to me that I should probably write down somewhere what it is that
my 'lit crit' would consist of.
Blessings,
Ann
 >> Stay informed about: Books to read before you die 

On Fri, 1 Feb 2008 11:18:23 -0500, "AJA" <ahnemann.DeleteThis@optonline.net> wrote:

>
>"Steve Hayes" <hayesmstw.DeleteThis@hotmail.com> wrote in message
>news:rtpbp3pr3vfr3htp4cu267n0539627k4et@4ax.com...
>>
>> When I first read it, Lord of the flies struck me as a kind fo parable of
>> original sin.
>
>Now, that's a new way in which to look at this book, and new ways of looking
>are (almost) never bad. One of the reasons I read Charles Williams,

What are the old ways?

That's what struck me right from the first time i ever read it. I've never
really looked at it in any other way.




--
Steve Hayes
Web: http://hayesfam.bravehost.com/litmain.htm
http://www.librarything.com/catalog/hayesstw
http://www.bookcrossing.com/mybookshelf/Methodius
 >> Stay informed about: Books to read before you die 

"Steve Hayes" <hayesmstw.RemoveThis@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:1kt6q3h5uhtuq3qae24c1me8qivs21i5gh@4ax.com...
> On Fri, 1 Feb 2008 11:18:23 -0500, "AJA" <ahnemann.RemoveThis@optonline.net> wrote:
>>
>>Now, that's a new way in which to look at this book, and new ways of
>>looking
>>are (almost) never bad. One of the reasons I read Charles Williams,
>
> What are the old ways?

Looking and not seeing, of course.
>
> That's what struck me right from the first time i ever read it. I've never
> really looked at it in any other way.

Amazing. Never crossed my mind the first time. But I was assigned the book
to read in 10th grade. NEVER should it be read in high school -as with many
other books that are so assigned. I've read it two or three times since.
At what age did you first read this LotF, btw?

Blessings,
Ann
 >> Stay informed about: Books to read before you die 

On Fri, 1 Feb 2008 22:20:50 -0500, "AJA" <ahnemann DeleteThis @optonline.net> wrote:

>
>"Steve Hayes" <hayesmstw DeleteThis @hotmail.com> wrote in message
>news:1kt6q3h5uhtuq3qae24c1me8qivs21i5gh@4ax.com...
>> On Fri, 1 Feb 2008 11:18:23 -0500, "AJA" <ahnemann DeleteThis @optonline.net> wrote:
>>>
>>>Now, that's a new way in which to look at this book, and new ways of
>>>looking
>>>are (almost) never bad. One of the reasons I read Charles Williams,
>>
>> What are the old ways?
>
>Looking and not seeing, of course.
>>
>> That's what struck me right from the first time i ever read it. I've never
>> really looked at it in any other way.
>
>Amazing. Never crossed my mind the first time. But I was assigned the book
>to read in 10th grade. NEVER should it be read in high school -as with many
>other books that are so assigned. I've read it two or three times since.
>At what age did you first read this LotF, btw?

17, first year university.

My lecturer wrote on my essay that I shouldn't approach it with preconceived
ideas, but it seemed, well, so obvious. I thought he was beuing unfair, as I
had no preconceived ideas about the book when I read it, though of course I
did have ideas about life, the universe and everything.

And of course, in the end, salvation comes from outside. By grace, not by
their works. They don't just suddenly life themselves up by their own
bootstraps.

Whether that's what Golding had in mind when he wrote it, I don't know, but
that's how I read it.
--
Steve Hayes
Web: http://hayesfam.bravehost.com/litmain.htm
http://www.librarything.com/catalog/hayesstw
http://www.bookcrossing.com/mybookshelf/Methodius
 >> Stay informed about: Books to read before you die 

"Steve Hayes" <hayesmstw DeleteThis @hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:vno8q3phc511h1lsdhu54cr0chjrsff5b4@4ax.com...
> 17, first year university.
And,
>. I thought he was beuing unfair, as I
> had no preconceived ideas about the book when I read it, though of course
> I
> did have ideas about life, the universe and everything.
>
I'm impressed! I shudder to think what I was doing, and thinking, at 17.
Blessings,
Ann
 >> Stay informed about: Books to read before you die 

Steve Hayes wrote:
> On Fri, 1 Feb 2008 22:20:50 -0500, "AJA" <ahnemann.TakeThisOut@optonline.net> wrote:
>
>> "Steve Hayes" <hayesmstw.TakeThisOut@hotmail.com> wrote in message
>> news:1kt6q3h5uhtuq3qae24c1me8qivs21i5gh@4ax.com...
>>> On Fri, 1 Feb 2008 11:18:23 -0500, "AJA" <ahnemann.TakeThisOut@optonline.net> wrote:
>>>> Now, that's a new way in which to look at this book, and new ways of
>>>> looking
>>>> are (almost) never bad. One of the reasons I read Charles Williams,
>>> What are the old ways?
>> Looking and not seeing, of course.
>>> That's what struck me right from the first time i ever read it. I've never
>>> really looked at it in any other way.
>> Amazing. Never crossed my mind the first time. But I was assigned the book
>> to read in 10th grade. NEVER should it be read in high school -as with many
>> other books that are so assigned. I've read it two or three times since.
>> At what age did you first read this LotF, btw?
>
> 17, first year university.
>
> My lecturer wrote on my essay that I shouldn't approach it with preconceived
> ideas, but it seemed, well, so obvious. I thought he was beuing unfair, as I
> had no preconceived ideas about the book when I read it, though of course I
> did have ideas about life, the universe and everything.

I can't remember now whether I thought of original sin when I first read
/Lord of the Flies/ (also at age 17), but I certainly did years later
on reading his second novel, /The Inheritors/. Have you read it? The
plot, in which some of the last Neanderthals encounter a group of modern
/Homo Sapiens/, immediately struck me as a kind of secular equivalent of
original sin. Unfortunately, the Wikipedia page on the novel seems to
have been vandalized; a better link might be to the 1983 presentation
speech for Golding's Nobel prize: http://preview.tinyurl.com/ywvszd

> And of course, in the end, salvation comes from outside. By grace, not by
> their works. They don't just suddenly life themselves up by their own
> bootstraps.
>
> Whether that's what Golding had in mind when he wrote it, I don't know, but
> that's how I read it.

Golding once said that the "rescue" was intended to be ironic:

The whole book is symbolic in nature except the rescue in the
end where adult life appears, dignified and capable, but in
reality enmeshed in the same evil as the symbolic life of the
children on the island. The officer, having interrupted a
man-hunt, prepares to take the children off the island in a
cruiser which will presently be hunting its enemy in the same
implacable way. And who will rescue the adult and his cruiser?
 >> Stay informed about: Books to read before you die