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Suswatibasu (1702 KP) rated As I Lay Dying in Books

Oct 25, 2017 (Updated Oct 25, 2017)

A timeless American classic

This is a classic among American literature - as with most of William Faulkner's novels, it can be hard work at times, but it is tragic, darkly funny and full of compelling characters.

It begins with the death and burial of Addie Bundren, the matriarch of the family. Members of the family narrate the story of carting the coffin to Jefferson, Mississippi, to bury her among her relatives. And as the intense desires, fears and rivalries of the family are revealed in the vernacular of the Deep South, Faulkner presents a portrait of extraordinary power.

The narrative, told from each character's perspective, yet often about the same event, left the reader to interpret the underlying motive or conflict of feelings within the Bundren family. It is intriguing but requires careful reading of the dense prose.

Kudos

Paige (428 KP) rated The Alchemist in Books

Aug 19, 2017

The Alchemist

Paulo Coelho | 1993 | Fiction & Poetry

7.2

(35 Ratings)

Book Rating

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A book for a particular audience

If someone tells me they love this book, I pretty immediately assume that they don't read for pleasure. This book was really made for people who think reading is like medicine, and it strives to be the best-tasting medicine. It is short, vaguely inspirational, uses simple language, and tailored to make you feel wiser after reading it.

In this way, the book is a success.

For readers who are more well-read, all this comes across as a not unpleasant, but not groundbreaking attempt at making capital L literature. It kind of drones, and seems a bit twee and trite.

If you think of books as vitamins (good for you, but a pain to procure and consume) then this book is the most delicious version of that.

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Awix (3310 KP) rated The Three Musketeers (2011) in Movies

Feb 11, 2018 (Updated Feb 11, 2018)

The Three Musketeers (2011)

2011 | Action, Romance

4.9

(9 Ratings)

Movie Rating

Dumb and Dumas

Paul W.S. Anderson, the man behind the Resident Evil and Alien Vs Predator franchises, shows us what real creativity looks like as he gives us his take on a piece of classic literature, adding all those crucial things that Alexandre Dumas inexplicably forgot to include in the original version of The Three Musketeers: aqualungs, flamethrowers, airship battles, Orlando Bloom in a pompadour hairstyle, and Milla Jovovich doing somersaults in a basque.

Pretty much wholly ghastly from start to finish, almost to the point where banning Anderson from reading books seems like a reasonable precaution, just to be on the safe side. About as thrilling as watching your laptop install an update, with all the comic charm of an outbreak of venereal disease. The special effects are technically competent but that really is the best you can say about it.