I forget which forum that Ramona Q suggested Confederates in the Attic, but I'll just assume this one.

Thanks Ramona. I just got it and I'm about half-way through. I love it. It is funny, but also disturbing in way. It's very sad that so many people are still fighting the Civil War.

(I just love "You've been peeing on your buttons again", though.)

Anyway, thanks again. I really am enjoying it.

Re: Salinger: I just finished the "Franny" part of Franny and Zooeyand yes, I have borrowed 9 Stories from the library, but I've only read a couple of the stories so for. Thanks for your advice; I'll definitely finish the rest of it before I go into "Zooey". And I love what I've read so far of it, by the way. His writing style seems to be light and at the same time still have so much substance, if that makes any sense at all.

Yeah, Nine Stories is an absolute masterpiece. I don't think any of his other stuff touches it, although a couple of the later Glass Family stories are pretty remarkable.

I finished Old School by Tobias Wolff a couple of days ago, and I wholeheartedly endorse it.

I've really been wanting to read that; since I'm going to have a hellishly long flight tomorrow to North Carolina, I might just pick it up.

Re: Kerouac. I don't exactly love it when writers are sexist and misogynistic (as has been the general feeling about the Beats), but I'm such a dork that I'll pretty much read anything once, especially when it comes out of what was, essentially, a revolution in literature, while the rest of the world was experiencing revolutions in politics and culture in general. So "On the Road" is definitely on my list of books to read. You know, after the 45 that are currently waiting for me. It's going to be a long year.

YES. And I absolutely loved Franny and Zooey as well; just finished it the other day as a matter of fact. Brilliant. You can take it on so many levels! Religion and sibling rivalry and boyfriends and.....brilliance.

Now that I don't have classes I've been on a humongous book-reading binge. Here's a few books I've loved and would recomend to Rory and to any of ya'll.


Walden: Or Life in the Woods By Henry David Thoreau. I recomend reading this in short bursts, as it's kind of hard to read all at once, thre's so much to take in. Thoreau's style is kind of meandering and anecdote-y but I am fascinated by his ideas and perspective on life. A lot of his opinions on anti-consumerism have more relevance today then they did in his time.

Persepolis : The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi. This is a really unique story about a young girl growing up in Iran during the Islamic revolution during the 1980's. It's told as a graphic novel which is a medium I haven't had a lot of exposure to but I think it's a very visceral way to tell a story and is a lot harder to pull off then it looks. I discovered this book from bookslut which I discoved from Pamie. Isn't it cool when life comes full circle?

The Vagina Monologues By Eve Ensler This was a Christmanukah present from a goood freind of mine. I read it in a day. I've never read a story that could so deftly make me want to laugh and cry in the space of two pages. I really want to see this performed to see how some of the monologues are pulled off.

A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole. For some people this was the funniest book they've ever read, for others it was a big waste of time. I'm somewhere in the middle but if you're a sucker for a kooky braniac minuderstood genuis stories then read this.

Stolen By Kelley Armstrong. This is a sequel to her first book Bitten. This is a rare book that can mix supernaturals, sex, violence and not go off the deep end. Completly engaging and fresh and pretty funny. It's not for everyone but if you're intrested in stories about werewolves and witches, I'd recomend it.

I'd love to see Rory read something that is way out of her normal standard, such as something by Tom Robbins. Robbins has mostly a cult following and his books have some very out there ideas and stories. I mean, this guy wrote about a talking, walking tin can that also thought itself a philospher and made it make sense(and I liked the tin can). I think Rory would get a kick out of it.

LadySmith, I'd love to get Rory's, Paris's, Lorelai's, and Emily's (and while I'm wishing for the Moon, why not add Jess's and Christopher's) take on Even Cowgirls Get the Blues. There are some scenes in that book that had this old guy absolutely howling and about to roll on the floor.

And, soapygirl, by all means see The Vagina Monologues; if performed right, most of them work really well.

Okay, now it just sounds like I'm only here to knock revered authors, so before I begin, let me just say that A Confederacy of Dunces is truly one of my favorite novels of all time.

But as for Thoreau...well, my wife and I were married in Concord, Massachusetts, in a 17th century barn near Thoreau's church. All of this was despite my mild protestations about being married in a town so associated with, as I usually put it, "That dickhead Thoreau." Why do I think he's a dickhead? Well, it seems to me that in all those hundreds of self-congratulatory pages, he might have mentioned just once that he walked into Concord (his cabin was all of about 3/4s of a mile away from the town square) pretty much every day to pick up his mail and drop off his dirty laundry at his parents' house for their servants to wash. It's easy to be "anti-consumerist" when other people are scrubbing your drawz for you.

My advice: stick to Emerson.

Interesting.

My advice: stick to Thoreau and Emerson. What is important about Thoreau is not his laundry but his views on civil disobedience. If he'd spent more time on his laundry, he might not have produced thinking along the other line.

Check out this link here.

Just found this thread and love it!

Regarding Hemingway: When I first read his stuff, I found it so boring. I was more a fan of 19th century novelists whose descriptions of a grassy knoll could yield paragraphs, a fan of the semi-colon because it allowed a sentence to stretch on and on and on. I'm still in love with the Brontes and Jane Austen, but the more I read of Hemingway, the more I began to respect the way he cut to the chase and evoked a mood and told a story in just a few well-chosen words. Once I became a journalist, I valued his brevity even more--when telling the news you've gotta keep it short and sweet and yet still spin a full story. Sure, he may have been misogynistic, but it doesn't mean he's a bad writer.

Bump.

Thanks, smrou.

Has anyone ever taken a look at the Rory's Book Club section of the WB site? There's two lists of books ("new reads" and "old school faves"). There's a board there but I much prefer this TWoP thread when it comes to suggestions for future reading and thoughts on specific authors and titles.

Any thoughts The Kitchen Boy by Robert Alexander or Life of Pi by Yann Martel? It's time for my monthly trip to the bookstore & those are the two newer reads I was thinking of picking up this weekend.

I haven't read either of those, but I've heard great reviews about Life of Pi. I was wondering if the book list has been updated since Rory went off to Yale? Or are these from her Chilton days still?

Seems to get updated every few weeks or so.

The "Old School Faves" list (which states "Rory's read them all") has been updated several times this season. I'm not sure if we're supposed to assume they're books Rory's read at Yale. I can't recall any talk this season referring to specific books she's reading. I think there were a few times she was shown with a book, other then a textbook, but I can't remember getting a glimpse of the titles.

Heh. Well, Aristotle *did* say that only wealthy people could be great philosophers or leaders because common folk were too busy just trying to survive.

I’ve read Life of Pi and highly recommend it. When I bought it I was not sure that it would be very entertaining, but the story was really well written and interesting.

Life of Pi is one of those books that I see tons of people reading on the train. Depending on what the book is, when I see everyone reading it I either feel like I'm left out of some kind of club, or I feel disappointed in the state of mankind that everyone's jumping on the bandwagon to read such silly books. Life of Pi looks different enough to be in the former catagory.

I've finally borrowed The Da Vinci Code from a coworker. That book started out in the former catagory, but now I worry that it's just another pulp novel, since everyone seems to like it so much.

I also borrowed Volume One of Tad Williams' Otherland series from her. But that's in the sci-fi/fantasy genre and probably wouldn't be considered very Rory-esque and worthy of being in the Gilmorian Literature forum.

Thought this thread was the best place for this blurb:

ASP contributed to Jane's Celebrity-Produced issue (May 2004) with suggestions for books: "The Group"(McCarthy); all kinds of women lit bios, like Dorothy Parker, Virginia Woolf, Mary McCarthy, Simone de Beauvoir. Also: Woolf's "A Room of One's Own" and "The Portable Dorothy Parker." She added Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged," because she thinks that Rand was "certifiably nuts." She also advised books that you were supposed to read but never actually did in high school/college, like "Great Gatsby" and "Anna Karenina." And to finish it off: "Atonement" (as seen being read by Rory earlier this season) and, um, Motley Crue's "The Dirt." That last one was random.

Hee. And, you know, true. Nevertheless, it is a good read as long as you don't go cuckoo and become an Objectivist. ASP has good taste. I liked "The Group," which I only read because I grew up near Vassar and considered going there. "Anna Karenina" (and Tolstoy in general, though the post-religious conversion stuff is not all good) rules. I really hated "Atonement," but I have liked other McEwan books.

I just bought this yesterday and am loving it. Everyone looks at me and says, "Dorothy Parker? That stuff is so depressing." Well, yes, but not all of it. And it's the good kind of depressing, I always feel as if it's from the heart as opposed to written to be sensationalist or for the shock value (Catcher In The Rye, I'm looking at you.). Gotta love Dorothy Parker.

I agree. Of the books mentioned, I haven't read the Group and the Motley Crue book and I don't particularly like Ayn Rand ("certiafiably nuts" sounds about right to me). Atonement was wonderful until the completely pointless "twist" in the end. That enraged me so much I actually cheered when McKewan lost the Booker to Peter Carey (I think he is great btw) for the True History of the Kelly Gang. Nevertheless, I liked all the other McKewan books. Even Amsterdam is a good if slight read.

On Ayn Rand: I read Anthem for 10th grade English, hated it, and intended to avoid Ayn Rand like the plague from then on. A few years later, I had a friend who was obsessed with all things Ayn Rand, particularly Atlas Shrugged, so I finally bit the bullet and gave it a shot. It blew me away. I still don't buy the whole objectivism thing, and I'm not a big fan of the 60-page "John Galt Speaks," but the characters are remarkably well-drawn, and while I tend to disagree with them in many ways, their struggles are still moving.

If nothing else, it's a good book to think on.

Anyone read Lynne Truss's Eats, Shoots & Leaves? I'm reading it at the moment and loving it; I'm laughing my ass off at every bit. I am a stickler! I'm very Ross Gellar-like, with my "Y-O-U-'-R-E means "you are"; Y-O-U-R means "your"!!!!" Heh.

Oddly, perhaps, Anthem and her one play, The Night of January 16th were the only things I thought Ayn Rand did that had any literary merit.

I for a while posted on a political discussion board that has pretty much dissolved into flame wars, so I don't go there any more. But when it was good, there were some Randists posting the Objectivism crap there, and I finally got tired of it after a bit and wrote a screed against it that I wish I'd saved. The Objectivists were never heard from again, which was gratifying.

That's how I felt. The twist ruined it all for me and drove me to hate it. I loved the first section. Stupid Briony.

wounded, I just read that! My husband and I are both grammar dorks and picked it up last week. The section on misplaced apostrophes was my favorite.

On the 4/27 episode, Richard was reading something by W. Somerset Maugham...did anyone see what book it was? Was it 'Of Human Bondage'?

I'm on the waiting list for it at the public library. There are 112 people ahead of me so it'll be a bit of a wait. Glad to hear other people are enjoying it.

MegsieLaur is the Portable Dorothy Parker your reading her poetry or short stories? Even though she is more known for her Poetry her short stories are amazing. There is one that I think is called the dinner party or something that is like the birth of modern Snark. It is all of her commentary about having to sit next to a boring guy at a dinner party and trying to come up with interesting conversation.

Yep, I got it as soon as it came out. I was reading it on the train to work and I actually whipped out a highlighter to highlight the funny lines that were making me grin like an idiot. I'm a stickler too. In fact, I caught a flat-out wrong semicolon usage in the book. I made a little arrow pointing at it and wrote "grrrrrr!"

The only thing I disagree with is Lynne's opinion about the Oxford comma. I'm a big proponant of it. She feels that it should be left out, except for in certain rare cases; I feel that it's always helpful.

My Portable Dorothy Parker has poetry, short stories, play/book reviews, and a few articles. Are there versions that deal with only one portion of her work? Because if so, I need them.

Has anyone read her biography, What Fresh Hell Is This?? I just bought and can't wait for finals to be over so I can read it.

I saw that too, but it was not 'Of Human Bondage' from what I could catch of the title. The author's name was prominant enough, but Mr. Hermann's fingers hid the title of the book. Argh!

It didn't appear to be 'The Razor's Edge' either. I haven't read that one, but I liked Bill Murray's performance in the movie version (I think that was the only thing to really recommend it). Can anyone tell me if it stacks up to the book itself?

I just started as a TWOPer and was happy to find this thread. And I was just as happy to find someone mention A Confederacy of Dunces. Count me with those who consider it to be the funniest thing they have ever read. About Fitzgerald, my favorite work of his is his first novel, This Side of Paradise. I don't think anything else he wrote reached that level of romantic perfection. Hemingway made Paris seem like heaven in A Moveable Feast, which is my favorite of his novels, but I really like some of his short stories, especially Hills Like White Elephants and The Killers. I haven't read much Dorothy Parker, but what I have read I've liked. Ditto Edna St. Vincent Millay. I'm a little surprised that Rory hasn't read more Shakespeare (the only thing I can remember is Romeo and Juliet, which I don't think counts because it was an assignment). Lastly, I would also like to see her read some minority writers such as Rudolfo Anaya and Richard Wright (Black Boy is a favorite).

You can now get Short Stories only by Parker. It's put out by Penguin I believe and you can also get an anthology of her poems too.


Read it. It's awesome. Very, very, very well done. I adore Dorothy Parker - she's one of my three absolute favourite writers.

After seeing Rory reference Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" in Lorelai's Graduation Day (I was sorting thru old unmarked tapes) I decided to actually read it at the library. Talk about short story, it only took fifteen minutes to finish. Creepy story, but the problem is if you've heard of it you probably already know the ending, which really lessens the impact when you actually read it. Personally, I like the comic book version too.

Reading "The Lottery" was staple at my high school, and read it numerous times in college English classes. Love it. Creeps the hell out of me, but love it.

I don't know how many of you have LJs but there is a great reading meme going around that lists about 420 books and you're supposed to bold the ones you've read. It just makes me realize how under read I am (I think I pulled a Rory going through that list and freaking out) but a lot of the titles (even if I haven't read them) I recognized from the show.

And I adore Dorothy Parker.

For those of us who don't have LJ, is there someone who could post a link or the list? I'm going to have some free time this summer and building up my literature knowledge might be nice.

I don't know if any of you are into the "chick lit" genre and if you like the Shopaholic trilogy, but it turnes out that a fourth novel is coming out (already out in the UK, I reckon) called Shopaholic and Sister and chicklit.us has 100 copies on sale, and it's not coming out in the US and Canada till September. I'm curious. But not too keen on the idea. I'll give it a shot, mind you, because I love Sophie Kinsella's work, but this is just milking the Shopaholic franchise for all it's worth, just like Helen Fielding is thinking of writing a third Bridget Jones novel. Everything ended so nicely. Sure, we all want to know what happens next, but that is what fan fiction is for.

UniquelyMe, here's a link to my LiveJournal entry with the book list so far. I, too, feel drastically under-read. (Warning: the post itself also contains my opinions on HP and the Prisoner of Azkaban, which are pretty spoilery if you haven't seen it. If you just click on the link and don't read the section above the book list, you should be fine.)

wounded, I very much enjoy the Shopaholic books I've read (so far just the first two, I haven't gotten to Shopaholic Ties the Knot yet). However, I'm a bit worried with the news that there's a fourth. While these books are hysterical, Becky's antics, dare I say, get tiresome after a time. I actually would have been fine with Shopaholic Takes Manhattan being the last, but that wouldn't have been very capitalistic on Kinsella's part.

wounded, if you like chick lit (I'm not sure what other things you may have read) but I recommend:

Good in Bed by Jennifer Weiner

I Don't Know How She Does It by Allison Pearson

The Nanny Diaries

See Jane Date by Melissa Senate

Burning the Map by Laura Caldwell

The Girls' Guide to Hunting and Fishing by Melissa Banks

Getting Over It by Anna Maxted

Bookends by Jane Green

And I agree about Sophie Kinsella, I've read the original Shopaholic and Shopaholic Ties the Knot but I think that's plenty of Shopaholic for me. I have to say though that I love BJD and don't mind another book....although the second one isn't as good as the first.

I saw that list and I wasn't freaked out that much. A lot of those books are pretty poor literature. Way too much bad science fiction on the list. I had read most of the legitimate literature. If you want to feel REALLY underread on the actual good stuff, get a hold of the top 200 books of all time lists (both the English language and world literature lists) and then start having a panic attack.

Me, I am still trying for my goal of having read at least one, hopefully two, books by ALL winners of the Nobel prize in literature.

Pellee, I've seen that list before. Do you know where I could find a copy? I know I have one somewhere, but who knows where its gotten to.

YAY! Other people who like Chick Lit! I have read all 3 Shopaholic books, but I have to agree with Carrielynn, I read all 3 books one after the other and I found it a bit OTT. However, I read the last one over a year ago so hopefully I'll enjoy the fourth. I can recommend "The Nanny Diaries" I read it last year and loved it, I couldn't put it down! Chris Manby is also a good chick lit author, her books are funny.

Something occured to me today: there's a lot of character similarities between Gilmore Girls and books by L.M. Montgomery (i.e. Anne of Green Gables).

Lorelai I is every bit the guilt-tripping, opressive, manipulative matron relative.

The few good guys in LMM's writing are usually quietly devoted men who never speak their care for the main character, but show it through their actions, often grand gestures. Not unlike Luke and first season Richard (in different ways, of course).

Young Anne is a bit of a S1-3 Rory, bookish, from a "broken" home, and doesn't fit in well with the other girls. She has dreams and abilities beyond "pokey little Avonlea (Stars Hollow)", has an aptitude for education that isn't common to her peers, granting her rare opportuities. Anne and Rory bring light and life into everything they touch, and they "have never failed at anything [they] do." I also suspect that like Anne, who learned that she doesn't have to go beyond Avonlea to write her novel, Rory will eventually decide that Stars Hollow has everything she wants in life.

Valency of The Blue Castle is a bit of a Lorelai II, who -- under desperate circumstances -- made the shocking decision to leave her family and eschew their values. And only through finding their own path do Valency/Lorelai realize what strong, courageous, resourceful women they are - stronger than the relatives who always tried to box them into being someone they aren't.

Gilbert was the hometown boy who was in love with Anne, yet even though she was vaugly aware of his affections, always overlooked him because she only wanted friendship from him; they were too alike, anyway, and would bicker each other to death. (Meanwhile, she was secretly jealous of his other girlfriends and even turned down a marriage proposal b/c of him). It took a long time, but Gilbert's unfailing devotion finally won her heart. "For a moment Anne's heart fluttered queerly and for the first time her eyes faltered under Gilbert's gaze. It was as if a veil had been lifted, giving to her view a revelation of unsuspected feelings and realities. Perhaps, after all, romance [...] crept to one's side like an old friend ... perhaps love unfolded naturally out of a beautiful friendship." L/L much?

So: archetypes, or influences?

I would say it could be an influence. (And I LOVE the Anne books. My grandparents gave me the books when I was very young, and over a course of years, my dad would read them to me and my sister.)

But I've also heard Gilmore Girls compared to modern-day Jane Austen, and I can totally see that.

LOVE Anne Shirley. I can see the parallels in Anne/Rory, Gilbert/Luke, and crazy domineering female relatives (Mary Martha, anyone? Hah.) I've loved the idea of Luke/Lorelai since the very beginning because I'm a sucker for that falling-for-your-best-friend-who's-loved-you-forever scenario, due to obsessing over Anne and Gilbert since a very young age. And that quote still makes me squee: I bet ASP read all those books too when she was younger.

Lorelai also reminds me slightly of young Jo March...flighty, passionate, and too stupid to see or appreciate what's in front of her. (I have unresolved bitterness that she never married Laurie.) But the similarities stop there, haha.

hee! Word about the bitterness issues regarding Jo/Laurie.

And I was just dropping by seeing as how Google has James Joyce up today.
"For millions of people, June 16 is an extraordinary day. On that day in 1904, Stephen Dedalus and Leopold Bloom each took their epic journeys through Dublin in James Joyce's Ulysses, the world's most highly acclaimed modern novel. “Bloomsday”, as it is now known, has become a tradition for Joyce enthusiasts all over the world."

I've never read it, but I'm starting tonight! We'll see how it goes...