There's nothing I hate more than having to help my computer illiterate mom shop on the Internet, especially when she knows and doesn't know what she wants at the same time. She'll say some details about a piece of jewelry, and then when I finally find that, she adds additional details or that nooooo, she meant the other thing. Way to be specific, mother. ("It's made of bronze." *five minutes later finds the bronze object she was looking earlier* "Nono, I said it looked bronze, the way it looks in tarnished gold..." gsjhsejkghsrjktherjksth AUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGH! It doesn't help this morning that no sooner have a laid a finger on my Dad's laptop, she halts me for her shopping and instead of checking my mail and catching up on LJ, I'm stuck googling for the same bloody necklace she has and hasn't found yet. She thanked me later for being patient with her, but really, I wanted to pull my hair out and scream.
Now I'm at the library and I finished reading Daisy Miller. Which I don't get. What's scandelous in this modern day and age about Daisy being a chatterbox again? I'm kinda wtf over the ending too. It felt random. Death from STAYING UP LATE or MOSQUITO BITE AT NIGHT or HANGING OUT WITH HANDSOME ITALIAN GUY. I... don't get it. British customs and classes in ye old age apparently fall completely flat on me. Started Madame Bovary but I'm mainly reading it since it's one of those things where you can feel better by saying, "I've read it," since it's mentioned a billion times in literary circles. That and I'm wondering how I'd like Flaubert's style. I told my Dad I was checking out the pr0n and smut scenes that were likely gonna be super tame and non-existant but "shocking for its time" but eh. It's more for Flaubert's matter-of-fact-ness if anything else. I still don't feel ready to tackle Wuthering Heights again.
Clearly, I need to read books that I know are gonna be aimed for my tastes. I may be a reader checking out everything from (almost) every genre, but I'm allowed to indulge in my comfort zone once in a while. I don't feel like reading anything byzantine and compact though, so no Lovecraft or Nabokov for me. Dunwich Horror looks long and I'm still reeling from Colour Out of Space (which I liked, I could even forgive the horrible dialogue just a teenie bit if he didn't keep repeating those same painful lines over and over), so I want something snappy. I don't feel like anything slow-going either, so there goes most fantasy and sci-fi and atmospheric horror. Give me something with crisp dialogue, snarky narration, nice and gritty and badass prose. I don't feel like reading Stephen King so he'll have to wait. So Puri checked the shelves for some authors she liked and some promising additions. Here's some of the things I checked off:
Harlan Ellison: Virtually none in this library. I'd have to ask the staff to import a copy for me and by that time, I'll feel like reading something else. Phooey. Let's see...
Poppy Z. Brite: Again, nothing. I really wanted to see what his works were like. :(
Tim: Okay, so it looks like it doesn't fit any of my requirements. But it's a book I've been curious about a long time after reading excerpts of it, and they don't have it. gjsdrhjkghdfjkhdfh
One Flew Out of the Cuckoo's Nest: This I wanted to pick up if Ellison and Brite weren't available. I knew the library had a copy, but when I looked for Ken Kesey's name, I saw the book was already checked out. :(
A Clockwork Orange: Huh, I must be desperate. Either not there or checked out. I'm not sure how far Clockwork Orange is supposed to go regarding my squick levels, but I didn't want to do anything I knew was too risky like Chuck Palahuik's Haunted, which has Guts and may include other stories that make me nauscious. D:
Naked Lunch: Dammit, not there. :(
Cue a big sigh of relief when Puri found a big collection of Roald Dahl's short stories. Thank god, my old friend came through to me in the end. This should be fun, reading his adult work. XD I read one of his short stories eons ago and I didn't remember much of it. It was different, but I think I liked it all the same. His stuff should come like a breath of fresh air~ ♥ It's like he's growing up with me~ ♥♥♥
If I didn't find Dahl, I was gonna go with Catch-22. Dammit, now I want to check that out too and I know I'll never be able to read two books at the same time. Still, Dahl has short stories... *goes to check* Dammit! No Catch-22! DDD:
Does I.M. Meen run this library or what? "Looking for something, bookworrrrrm? GOOD. HAHAHAHAHAHA *poof*"
Now I'm at the library and I finished reading Daisy Miller. Which I don't get. What's scandelous in this modern day and age about Daisy being a chatterbox again? I'm kinda wtf over the ending too. It felt random. Death from STAYING UP LATE or MOSQUITO BITE AT NIGHT or HANGING OUT WITH HANDSOME ITALIAN GUY. I... don't get it. British customs and classes in ye old age apparently fall completely flat on me. Started Madame Bovary but I'm mainly reading it since it's one of those things where you can feel better by saying, "I've read it," since it's mentioned a billion times in literary circles. That and I'm wondering how I'd like Flaubert's style. I told my Dad I was checking out the pr0n and smut scenes that were likely gonna be super tame and non-existant but "shocking for its time" but eh. It's more for Flaubert's matter-of-fact-ness if anything else. I still don't feel ready to tackle Wuthering Heights again.
Clearly, I need to read books that I know are gonna be aimed for my tastes. I may be a reader checking out everything from (almost) every genre, but I'm allowed to indulge in my comfort zone once in a while. I don't feel like reading anything byzantine and compact though, so no Lovecraft or Nabokov for me. Dunwich Horror looks long and I'm still reeling from Colour Out of Space (which I liked, I could even forgive the horrible dialogue just a teenie bit if he didn't keep repeating those same painful lines over and over), so I want something snappy. I don't feel like anything slow-going either, so there goes most fantasy and sci-fi and atmospheric horror. Give me something with crisp dialogue, snarky narration, nice and gritty and badass prose. I don't feel like reading Stephen King so he'll have to wait. So Puri checked the shelves for some authors she liked and some promising additions. Here's some of the things I checked off:
Harlan Ellison: Virtually none in this library. I'd have to ask the staff to import a copy for me and by that time, I'll feel like reading something else. Phooey. Let's see...
Poppy Z. Brite: Again, nothing. I really wanted to see what his works were like. :(
Tim: Okay, so it looks like it doesn't fit any of my requirements. But it's a book I've been curious about a long time after reading excerpts of it, and they don't have it. gjsdrhjkghdfjkhdfh
One Flew Out of the Cuckoo's Nest: This I wanted to pick up if Ellison and Brite weren't available. I knew the library had a copy, but when I looked for Ken Kesey's name, I saw the book was already checked out. :(
A Clockwork Orange: Huh, I must be desperate. Either not there or checked out. I'm not sure how far Clockwork Orange is supposed to go regarding my squick levels, but I didn't want to do anything I knew was too risky like Chuck Palahuik's Haunted, which has Guts and may include other stories that make me nauscious. D:
Naked Lunch: Dammit, not there. :(
Cue a big sigh of relief when Puri found a big collection of Roald Dahl's short stories. Thank god, my old friend came through to me in the end. This should be fun, reading his adult work. XD I read one of his short stories eons ago and I didn't remember much of it. It was different, but I think I liked it all the same. His stuff should come like a breath of fresh air~ ♥ It's like he's growing up with me~ ♥♥♥
If I didn't find Dahl, I was gonna go with Catch-22. Dammit, now I want to check that out too and I know I'll never be able to read two books at the same time. Still, Dahl has short stories... *goes to check* Dammit! No Catch-22! DDD:
Does I.M. Meen run this library or what? "Looking for something, bookworrrrrm? GOOD. HAHAHAHAHAHA *poof*"