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Post by Songbird on Jul 9, 2013 17:16:42 GMT -5
people please no spoilers!!!
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Post by Hermes on Jul 14, 2013 11:43:20 GMT -5
Well I've never been through a breakup but I know that if my current boyfriend ever breaks up with me cruelly (like he cheats on me,or if he just cuts me off) I'll return everything he's ever given me. But if we just start to i don't know..drift..then I'll keep it. But bear in mind Min isn't just returning what he's given her, but everything that reminds her of him. OK, I said I'd comment on a few points of detail, and now I've forgotten a lot of them, but I'll try to remember. (One was the virginity thing, which has already come up.) There isn't really a Scarpia's Bitter Ale. Scarpia is the villain in Puccini's Tosca. Is bitter ale a real thing in America? It is in Britain, but you wouldn't normally get it in a bottle, only draught - and it wouldn't be black. Is Parker's a real drink? At quite a few points Min says 'That's why we broke up', and the reasons don't seem totally to fit together. This would be a hard question to answer without spoilers, but we might think about whether they do in fact illuminate why they broke up. One in particular is notable, 'You could never truly see the movies in my head, and that, Ed, is why we broke up'. [Firefox is questioning 'movies'.] Min does draw attention to the movies in her head from time to time, as with 'The song I'd keep, for the movie, so loud through the window that you words were all a sporty blur', and 'up in smoke I wanted you, though in a movie that wouldn't work, even, too many effects... cut that fire from the film'. Perhaps, because Min is imagining it as a film, it will be easier to turn into one than ASOUE was. There's a 'following a star' theme/joke - I'm fairly sure she uses that phrase somewhere, though I can't now find it. But she does say 'the star we were waiting for finally emerged' (p. 59). Mayakovsky was a Russian revolutionary poet. I did wonder if 'I stand entwined in fire...' might be a quote by him, but all the sources on the internet ascribe it simply to Daniel Handler - though I suppose it's possible that he translated it from Mayakovsky's original. Next episode is scheduled to start today - Songbird, will you push it off?
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Post by Songbird on Jul 14, 2013 21:36:43 GMT -5
I have had a really really difficult week so you can start this one. Also my internet connection has been spotty. I'll catch up in a few days.... (long story short, the job I was promised decided after a month they didn't want me)
I don't know. I kind of like this story so far, I mean it reminds me a lot of my relationships. Like I saved the ticket stub to the movie I went to on my birthday with that guy I'm not sure I'm with or not. I always have a plan in my head like Min seems to, where she sees life as a film playing out in front of her. When the characters deviate from her script I guess she gets disappointed. As far as bitter ale, I'm not sure, but it probably exists. They have weird drinks everywhere.
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Post by Hermes on Jul 15, 2013 13:30:39 GMT -5
Sorry to hear about that, Songbird, hope things work out OK.
I'll try and post something tomorrow. By the way, is anyone other than me and Songbird still here? GUYS? CAN YOU HEAR ME?
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Post by Kit's tits kick ticks on Jul 15, 2013 13:37:15 GMT -5
Sorry I still have to work this week, and next week until Wednesday, but after that I can say more. If I know something to say of course. The problem is that I'm such a stupid reader, most of the time I don't think of anything to say when I read a book, I just read it.
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Post by Hermes on Jul 15, 2013 13:50:59 GMT -5
Don't worry, Anka, you don't need to say anything; it's just good to know you're here. I'm particularly hoping for input from Americans, who will get more of the cultural background.
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Post by Isadora Is a Door on Jul 15, 2013 14:07:35 GMT -5
And youa re not a stupid reader
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Post by bandit on Jul 15, 2013 14:09:08 GMT -5
I'm still here, I just finished the book a few hours ago. And I am indeed an American.
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Post by Charlie on Jul 16, 2013 6:31:16 GMT -5
I'm still here, and like Bandit, just finished the book. Now I'm going to restart it, half for personal satisfaction as it was so good, and half because I want to make some notes to post.
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Post by Isadora Is a Door on Jul 16, 2013 7:00:35 GMT -5
Im keeping up with the discussion even though i havent read the book (but i know the general plot). Do you guys think the book is actually good? I think lemona said it was okay, but a bit...boring in places. Myabe thats what put me off reading it.
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Post by Charlie on Jul 16, 2013 7:11:04 GMT -5
Yeah she did, but it's still Handler, and it's a very satisfying read.
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Post by Hermes on Jul 16, 2013 7:14:20 GMT -5
Im keeping up with the discussion even though i havent read the book (but i know the general plot). Do you guys think the book is actually good? I think lemona said it was okay, but a bit...boring in places. Myabe thats what put me off reading it. I think it's excellent.
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Post by Hermes on Jul 16, 2013 11:49:18 GMT -5
OK, this week we are reading pages 65-144. I have quite a lot of thoughts, so I'll do them bit by bit.
I started wondering about the timeline, and I came to the conclusion everything in this section happens in one week. We know this because near the end Min goes to see Ed in the game for the first time. It certainly feels longer than that: Min even comments on this at one point. Mr Handler seems rather like his associate Mr Snicket in producing confusion over how long things take. Monday - Ed puts note in Min's locker; tearing of the poster. Tuesday - Cheese Parlor. Wednesday or Thursday - Min visits Ed's house, meets Joan. Friday - basketball game; bonfire party. Saturday - Tip-Top Goods.
I think it's interesting that three images in succession (torn poster, coin, hairband)are reminders of something Ed did wrong, a lack of respect.
The writing down of a phone number seems strangely old-fashioned. We know the book is set in the 21st century, because Min says 'Join the twenty-first century' in connection with the word 'fag'; and there is at least one reference to cellphones later; so it isn't deliberately set in the past (as I think TB8 is), but in some ways it has a feel which may really come more from Daniel Handler's youth (a common hazard when writing about children or young people).
Talking of which 'we need your spirit, give us your spirit' recalls the 'Spirit Week' which DH mentions in his Class Historian speech.
The end of the torn poster chapter gives us a portrait of Ed and Min's relationship. Do people think it's an effective portrait? Does it show us what's good about it?
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Post by Hermes on Jul 17, 2013 11:42:58 GMT -5
One other thing about the folded paper chapter - 'the preppies and the hippies bickering over the airwaves with competing sound tracks': what does 'preppies' mean in this context? I thought it was essential to the concept of a preppy that they went to a private school, but clearly that's not so here.
I find the Cheese Parlor episode wonderful; it reveals such a lot about the characters. On the one hand we have Ed being arrogant in stealing the coin; on the other hand he is right about the hot cheese soup, and the arty group are being arrogant there. They are also being snobbish in laughing at him for liking Tommy Fox. And as for Min - shouldn't she have returned the coin to Lauren? That says something about her.
Zembla comes from Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov (a wonderful book, which you should all read, and which may be a partial inspiration for TUA). Even within the book, it's likely, though not certain, that it's an imaginary country, which perhaps says something about Min's hope to escape there.
What do people think of the character of Joan? Do you think living with her might have had more effect on Ed than it seems to have had - made him a bit more aware of arty things? I also think it's interesting that it's through Joan that Min discovers Hawk Davies (who, like the films, doesn't exist) - so something good in her life comes out of her relationship with Ed, at least.
PEOPLE, POST MORE.
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Post by Isadora Is a Door on Jul 17, 2013 11:47:01 GMT -5
MORE.
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