Links
These two links are funny, they both involve stories of people not knowing things they really should know.Ever Heard of Sex? -My question is this, what have you been doing all these years!!!!!!!!!!???
Head of NASDAQ: What's Gross Profit Margin? -Maybe he was just getting high during all his classes in business school?
Let Me Tell You About the Book
Ok, first off, I don't make a habit of talking about the stuff I read, I'm pretty forgetful with plots, I forget what character did what, I get sidetracked in things I'm trying to say about the book, and frankly, I'm a lot better at analyzing a range of other subjects, like football, art, and this stupid illness I have. That said, I love reading, and since it's what I spent some time doing yesterday, I will go ahead and tell you about this book.So this book I'm reading, Les Illusions Perdues, is by Balzac, a French writer. I mentioned I was reading this a while back. Anyways, this book is freakin' great, not exactly a happy happy story... The novel takes place around the 1830's... the story is about a talented young poet. This guy is from the countryside, and he moves to Paris to try and make it as a poet, he is full of idealism and the hope of creating beautiful works.
Well, so far he has squandered his talent, mostly because he forgets about working on his art, he gets enamored with the idea of money and fame (and the fine ladies that go along with that fame!). Haha, anyways, he gets into journalism, sees it as his opportunity to make a name for himself, but he basically becomes a gun for hire, renting out his services to the highest bidder, writing whatever people want him to write. He gets manipulated every which way by all sorts of people, which so far has really screwed him over.
I'm kinda hoping for a miracle, I'm at a point in the novel where he's at death's door, he has no money, his family has no money (eh, this is kinda his fault!), but I'm still cheering for him to pull it out, he's not such a bad guy (he just has no backbone, well, that kind of is a major fault!), I hope he can recover and get back to writing 'real' things... Most of all, I'm hoping he can make it through so that he can get some sweet sweet revenge on the people that screwed him over! There's still 200 pages left, so I'm optimistic that there's hope for this young poet (if those last 200 pages are full of revenge, I will be so happy!). Actually, a major reason for his downfall was his lust for revenge against a former lover and her new aristocratic asshole of a boyfriend (thus making my excitement over his getting revenge somewhat silly and ironic!). Nonetheless, in spite of the author's seeming anti-revenge stance, I'm still cheering for the poet to get revenge.
9 comments:
Are you reading this in French? Sounds most interesting and a bit depressing, as is much of French literature! LOL! I remember reading Madame Bovary years ago in English and it was a damn good book.
Yeah, my French isn't as good as my English, so I've been focusing on reading in French so I can improve!
Oh yeah, I remember loving that book, but I can't remember a damn thing from it, haha, I always forget plots...
The book sounds rather interesting. Hope the character pulls it out. As for the sex story, I can only roll my eyes.
Ha, I get really pissed when the main character in a book I'm reading gets screwed over. There's a feeling of emptiness when you reach the last page and realize that there will be no revenge because the character reaches some level of enlightenment...or they died.
Hopefully this doesn't happen in your book. ;)
You're reading this is French? I bow before you.
Art can often fall short of our expectations and desires. That's what motivates other writers to right.
:D I love your conclusion. When you think about it it's like every action movie: the hero lives on violence, but wants to become a man of peace. So the bad guys come along, kill his family or do some other big mistake, and he commits more violence to punish them for being violent. It makes sense to you and me, it's the rest of the world that doesn't get it. :D
Mrmanuel: Haha, yeah that sex story! Blew my mind!
Nicole: Seriously, that is the worst! I'm not always a fan of happy endings, but when I like the main character I like to see them turn out ok!
Bice: Thanks, I also accept cash donations! Yeah, it's such a difficult line, a struggle every artist is faced with.
Mariana: Oh yeah, seriously, violence is the key to everything!!!
You have more patience than I...I can't read the classics, they made us read them in school, and I OD'd on them.
I am totally into foreign authors and stories though. And I love bestsellers. For me reading is about escape.
Yeah, I guess we all read for different reasons. I really like this book because of the subject and the scope of the story, and it's wonderfully written... Reading can be about escape for me, but not always...
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