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Topic:
Modern Classics of World Literature (currently disc. "The Grapes of Wrath" by John Steinbeck)
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Zaz
Title: Manager, The Ampitheatre
Registered:
Oct '98
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Date Posted:
3/5/07 5:47pm
Subject:
RE: Modern Classics of World Literature (currently discussing 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea)
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The beginning is the best part of the Disney adaptation, too; right creepy.
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Obi Anne
Title: FanForce RSA
Europe
Registered:
Nov '98
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Date Posted:
3/6/07 9:10am
Subject:
RE: Modern Classics of World Literature (currently discussing 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea)
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20.000 Leagues was one of my favourite books when I was younger. I didn't think it was boring at all, until maybe the last chapters. After that I tried to read other Verne books, I never finished Journey to the center of the earth though because I thought it was boring. I liked parts of the Mysterious Island, foremost the conclusion to the Nemo story.
I think what I really liked with 20.000 Leagues was that when I was ten it was possible to think that maybe they had such advanced technology in the 19th century that the story could be true.
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Tea one, proud member of the Tea Squad, FanForce Meeting 2006, Berlin  GSADMINCOACHEMPERORRULERPRESIDENTTSARMINISTERQUEEN liuba 
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JohnWesleyDowney
Registered:
Jan '04
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Date Posted:
3/6/07 4:52pm
Subject:
RE: Modern Classics of World Literature (currently discussing 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea)
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When I was a kid, I had the colorful Disney book based on the movie, which I loved.
The drawings and paintings in the book were fantastic.
When I got a little older, I read the novel. Parts of it were great, parts were
excruciating for an 11 year old to get through.
I heard recently that when Disney assigned a screenwriter and director to convert
the novel to screen, they were both horrified, because there's not much story
structure. But then the writer made a key observation...he realized that essentially,
this was a "prison escape" picture that just happened to take place on a submarine,
and the script came together pretty well after that. They did a good job on it.
From what I can remember of the novel, if you'd filmed it "as was", it would not have
been good cinema.
But on the other hand, the book is a classic in it's own right, and rightly so.
It was quite original for it's time.
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How many movies do you think Industrial Light and Magic has worked on? WRONG. http://www.ilm.com/ilm_services.html "Films fulfill an unconscious spiritual desire that human beings have to share a common memory." - Martin Scorcese
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Zaz
Title: Manager, The Ampitheatre
Registered:
Oct '98
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Date Posted:
3/14/07 10:06pm
Subject:
RE: Modern Classics of World Literature (currently discussing 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea)
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But they screwed up the casting of the Professor and the Peter Lorre part. They are both years older than necessary.
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JohnWesleyDowney
Registered:
Jan '04
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Date Posted:
3/14/07 10:13pm
Subject:
RE: Modern Classics of World Literature (currently discussing 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea)
- Date Edited:
3/14/07 10:14pm (2 edits total)
Edited By:
JohnWesleyDowney
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Well, you're probably right.
You can discuss that with Walt when they bring him out of the deep freeze,
 I heard he had his body put into suspended animation in 1966 right after
he died. Now that Michael Eisner is no longer running the company, they
could probably wake him up. 
By the way, the extras features on the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea Special Edition DVD
are fantastic.
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How many movies do you think Industrial Light and Magic has worked on? WRONG. http://www.ilm.com/ilm_services.html "Films fulfill an unconscious spiritual desire that human beings have to share a common memory." - Martin Scorcese
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NYCitygurl
Title: Manager of SFFBC, C&G, and NSWFF
Registered:
Jul '02
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Date Posted:
3/18/07 10:39am
Subject:
RE: Modern Classics of World Literature (currently discussing 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea)
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I've actually never seen it, and I can honestly say that I probably won't.
I liked parts of the Mysterious Island, foremost the conclusion to the Nemo story.
Really? What happened?
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"Not till the moon falls. Not till the world ends."
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Zaz
Title: Manager, The Ampitheatre
Registered:
Oct '98
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Date Posted:
3/18/07 1:16pm
Subject:
RE: Modern Classics of World Literature (currently discussing 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea)
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The Mysterious Island
This is a link which gives a summary of the plot (NOTE: contains spoilers)
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NYCitygurl
Title: Manager of SFFBC, C&G, and NSWFF
Registered:
Jul '02
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Date Posted:
3/18/07 4:34pm
Subject:
RE: Modern Classics of World Literature (currently discussing 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea)
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Wow. How cool!!! Glad he didn't die in the whirlpool
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"Not till the moon falls. Not till the world ends."
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NYCitygurl
Title: Manager of SFFBC, C&G, and NSWFF
Registered:
Jul '02
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Date Posted:
3/25/07 9:56am
Subject:
RE: Modern Classics of World Literature (currently discussing 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea)
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The Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy AKA everyone dies
The story starts out with Diggory Venn, a reddleman, taking one Thomasin Yeobright home after the license to get married to her fiancee, Damon Wildeve, falls through. Disgraced, Mrs. Yeobright insists that Wildeve marry her niece at once. However, he's still head-over-heels with his former love, Eustacia Vye, and begs her to marry him.
He refuses when she gets word that Clym Yeobright, Thomasin's cousin, is returning from Paris. After hearing that he is fabulously wealthy and handsom, she sets her sights on him. Meanwhile, Diggory is trying to make things better for Thomasin, who he loves, by attempting to push Wildeve back toward her.
The novel explores the concept of despair (and causes it to all readers) because of the so-called "death of God" in the mid-1800s. Hardy does a good job of having his characters put into situations where, if they had only answered the door or seen a letter, things might have turned out differently.
This is supposed to be a classic, but I'll admit that I'm not a huge fan (by which I mean that I daily burn Hardy in effegy ). It's like a modern-day soap opera, with everyone in love with everyone else and no one happy.
The end, however, is a bit uplifting. I won't spoil the plot, but it was much better than the rest of the story. Hardy had never intended to put it in, but was forced to give the story a "happy ending" by his editors.
Does anyone else hat this book as much as I do? Or, on the other hand, are there any Hardy fans?
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"Not till the moon falls. Not till the world ends."
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Zaz
Title: Manager, The Ampitheatre
Registered:
Oct '98
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Date Posted:
3/25/07 4:53pm
Subject:
RE: Modern Classics of World Literature (currently discussing Return of the Native)
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I've only read "Far From the Madding Crowd", I admit. Hardy is an accurate reflection of his time, when people could get trapped in situations that would prove life-altering very easily.
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NYCitygurl
Title: Manager of SFFBC, C&G, and NSWFF
Registered:
Jul '02
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Date Posted:
3/26/07 1:29pm
Subject:
RE: Modern Classics of World Literature (currently discussing Return of the Native)
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I've wanted to read Tess of the D'Ubervilles for a while (not that I'll ever tell my Lit teacher that since I complained all the way through RotN) but I really hated this one. Drove me nuts; the plot was boring, and nothing good ever happened.
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Zaz
Title: Manager, The Ampitheatre
Registered:
Oct '98
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Date Posted:
4/7/07 1:48pm
Subject:
RE: Modern Classics of World Literature (currently discussing Return of the Native)
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I know the plot of "Tess", and I suspect you'll find it even more infuriating.
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NYCitygurl
Title: Manager of SFFBC, C&G, and NSWFF
Registered:
Jul '02
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Date Posted:
4/22/07 7:47am
Subject:
RE: Modern Classics of World Literature (currently discussing Return of the Native)
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Great 
The next three books are by the Bronte sisters.
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Jane Eyre is the story about a young orphan of the same name who is raised by an uncaring aunt and sent to a boarding school where conditions aren't very good. At eighteen, desperate to escape, she places an ad in a newspaper and becomes a governess at Thornfield Hall for Mr. Edward Rochester. She begins to fall in love with him, and saves his life during a fire.
Jane's aunt dies of a stroke, leaving her with only a letter of a distant uncle who had wished to adopt her. Jane returns to Thornfield Hall where Mr. Rochester asks her to marry him.
However, the ceremony goes awry when A Mr. Richard Mason appears and claims that Rochester is already married. Rochester admits that he was tricked into marrying Robert's sister, Bertha, who has since gone insane and must be kept locked up. Jane, distressed, runs away in the middle of the night and ends up onm the doorstep of St. John Rivers and his sisters.
She comes into a great deal of money, which she splits with the Rivers siblings, her cousins, as thanks for taking her in. St. John, who is heading to India as a missionary, wants her to come with him. However, when Jane hears Rochester's voice calling out to her supernaturally, she returns to Thornfield, only to find it in ruins.
Jane learns that Bertha got loose and set fire to the house, and jumped off the roof, killing herself. Rochester suffered severe injuries and was now blind. She goes to find him and, after convincing him that she still loves him, they are married.
Charlotte's story is set in England in the 1800s. It is written in a romantic style, with characters whose souls are greater than most and bound to be together eternally.
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"Not till the moon falls. Not till the world ends."
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emilsson
Registered:
Oct '98
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Date Posted:
4/22/07 8:24am
Subject:
RE: Modern Classics of World Literature (currently discussing Jane Eyre)
- Date Edited:
4/22/07 8:25am (1 edits total)
Edited By:
emilsson
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Ah, Jane Eyere, one of my favourite classics even though it's gone several years since I read it. I like Jane as a character and her determination to overcome the difficulties in life. Also, Rochester's first appearance is quite amusing.
As for Tess of the D'Ubervilles and Thomas Hardy, a good friend of mine adores his novels and according to her Hardy excels at using the elements of nature as symbols. I haven't read any of his books myself and I guess you have to be in the mood for them. Otherwise you simply get bored and annoyed.
I see you've mentioned The Mysterious Island which is my favourite novel by Jules Verne. 
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"Take no heroes, only inspiration" - C. Dean
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Zaz
Title: Manager, The Ampitheatre
Registered:
Oct '98
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Date Posted:
4/22/07 8:28am
Subject:
RE: Modern Classics of World Literature (currently discussing Jane Eyre)
- Date Edited:
4/22/07 11:05am (1 edits total)
Edited By:
Zaz
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The Brontes are a very interesting bunch, especially Emily; but also Charlotte, Anne, and the failed artist, Branwell. For a woman to write a novel at this stage was singular enough, but for three sisters to do so is even stranger. Emily seems to have had the most talent, but "Jane Eyre" is a good book, even though hordes of crappy imitations have dulled its lustre a bit.
The first sequence, the dreadful school at which Jane is enrolled is based on a real place, and Charlotte was attacked in the press by the adherents of the man who ran it--he was well-respected in society. She wouldn't give an inch, and good on her. She and her elder sisters attended there, and both the older girls died. Her father then withdrew her.
She wrote two other books, neither of which I have read.
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