Hah, have learned about the book while searching for the text that androids repeat during their "evaluation" in Blade Runner 2.
Don't be terrified of Pale Fire
31–40 of 166 posts
Re: Don't be terrified of Pale Fire
#32When people recommend Russian literature I'm always curious what they think about the other great Russian literary works. Because I find unnecessary complexity unbearable. I have no desire to read literature with 100+ named characters, unreliable narrators and Escher-like chronology. For some people narrative complexity is a draw but if I can't put a book down and come back to it two weeks later without having to start from the beginning it's just not for me.
Re: Don't be terrified of Pale Fire
#33Re: Don't be terrified of Pale Fire
#34Is this a "Bookworm's book?" Much like a "skier's mountain" or a "band's band," is this the kind of book that only appeals to a narrow audience that likes to pick apart the mechanics of a book? Or is this a book like Harry Potter, which was panned by the critics, but otherwise is awesome popular fiction?
It is literary fiction, yes, to put the point more succinctly.
Re: Don't be terrified of Pale Fire
#35Earlier quoted context omitted.
According to the Cambridge English Dictionary: > refrain, n. a short part of a song or poem that is repeated, esp. at the end of each longer part, or any phrase that is often repeated Verbing nouns is a very common feature of the English language.
That's true but in this case the noun and verb forms of refrain have distinct meanings and come into English from different sources: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/refrain#word-hist... It's don't think I've ever read refrained used this way. I wonder if she was thinking "reframed"?
Why did they have to flag it? This was an interesting discussion.
Re: Don't be terrified of Pale Fire
#36Re: Don't be terrified of Pale Fire
#37Earlier quoted context omitted.
> otherwise is awesome popular fiction It could be described as many things, but popular fiction it will never be.
It is popular and it is fiction, how can you say Harry Potter will never be that?
Fairly sure he was talking about Pale Fire, not Potter.
Re: Don't be terrified of Pale Fire
#38Is this a "Bookworm's book?" Much like a "skier's mountain" or a "band's band," is this the kind of book that only appeals to a narrow audience that likes to pick apart the mechanics of a book? Or is this a book like Harry Potter, which was panned by the critics, but otherwise is awesome popular fiction?
The 'hook' of Pale Fire is this: ostensibly you're reading a long-form poem with a foreword and footnotes and editing by a friend of the poet (a poet of some eminence), but it soon becomes apparent that the editor is trying to jam his own life story into those footnotes. If you like that idea, I think you'd like the book.
ah, so the same genre as House of Leaves
Re: Don't be terrified of Pale Fire
#39Is this a "Bookworm's book?" Much like a "skier's mountain" or a "band's band," is this the kind of book that only appeals to a narrow audience that likes to pick apart the mechanics of a book? Or is this a book like Harry Potter, which was panned by the critics, but otherwise is awesome popular fiction?
The 'hook' of Pale Fire is this: ostensibly you're reading a long-form poem with a foreword and footnotes and editing by a friend of the poet (a poet of some eminence), but it soon becomes apparent that the editor is trying to jam his own life story into those footnotes. If you like that idea, I think you'd like the book.
Other books I know of that play with part or all of the text itself being an artifact of the fiction:
- The Third Policeman, Flann O’Brian. Fictional scholar of a fictional esoteric philosopher weaves his commentary on same philosopher into an account of his… journey.
- If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler, Italo Calvino. You(!) embark on an adventure to find the book you believed you purchased, which was If on a Winter’s Night a Traveler by Italo Calvino.
- The Princess Bride, William Goldman. This has a very different framing narrative from the film, and is very much worth a read.
(Setting aside epistolary novels like Dracula)
Re: Don't be terrified of Pale Fire
#40Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's true but in this case the noun and verb forms of refrain have distinct meanings and come into English from different sources: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/refrain#word-hist... It's don't think I've ever read refrained used this way. I wonder if she was thinking "reframed"?
Why did they have to flag it? This was an interesting discussion.
nicwolff's comment isn't framed as intellectual curiosity. It comes across as condescending. $0.02.