Thread: An Observation: The New Breed of Authors Are Using Obscure Words - Page After Page

Originally Posted by ScoutHikerDad

Yeah, I knew both of those quotes were not Shakespeare, and that the 1st was from Ecclesiastes. That's why I didn't write the "Shakespearean" that you added in your bold reply. They're just related to the idea under discussion. So, I guess, "not exactly."

And Tim-I concur 100%. I can only take so much of that myself, and I do it for a living.

Although I was done reading, the poem hit close to home.

My father would not let us use a buzz saw and I have seen many accidents caused by distractions.

Originally Posted by 32t

Although I was done reading, the poem hit close to home.

My father would not let us use a buzz saw and I have seen many accidents caused by distractions.

Yeah, saws scare the s**t out of me, and I was using a table-saw quite a bit today. That poem is disturbing, to say the least.

And JB, I'm sorry if my earlier post was a touch snappish. I did that post in a bit of a hurry, as I had/have a long list of shop projects I was working on during my break, and was in so much of a hurry to get back to them that I didn't attribute the quotes, which would have saved the confusion and me getting my panties in a twist.

Originally Posted by ScoutHikerDad

I loved A Moveable Feast! The scene where a pissy-drunk, insecure Fitzgerald gets Hemingway to, erm, measure him is classic.

A brilliant example, thanks! I'm about at that scene again in the audio book I posted earlier. Lately, I've been putting in the earbuds and using "A Moveable Feast" to lull me to sleep at night. That narrator has a silky smooth voice to my ears and within 20 minutes or so, the sandman is dragging me into the land of nod.

Originally Posted by ScoutHikerDad

Yeah, saws scare the s**t out of me, and I was using a table-saw quite a bit today. That poem is disturbing, to say the least.

And JB, I'm sorry if my earlier post was a touch snappish. I did that post in a bit of a hurry, as I had/have a long list of shop projects I was working on during my break, and was in so much of a hurry to get back to them that I didn't attribute the quotes, which would have saved the confusion and me getting my panties in a twist.

Not at all a problem. I had a high-school teacher who was (like me) a fan of Procol Harum, and when they released "Shine on Brightly" (1968, my senior year) he would often quote this line from "Look to Your Soul":

For the lesson lies in learning and by teaching I'll be taught

I'm sure you work-to (and succeed-in) bring that into your classroom.

Thanks.

Originally Posted by ScoutHikerDad

Yeah, saws scare the s**t out of me, and I was using a table-saw quite a bit today.

My favourite Author has to be Ken Follett and my favourite book is Pillars of the Earth. I am going to get the new prequel that recently came out but I'm waiting or my Kindle Paperwhite to arrive so I will get it for that.

I'm also a Robin Cook fan.

I used to read a lot of Stephen King but I went off of him, I don't know if I out grew him or if my taste changed. I found Stephen King, Dean Koontz etc good authors and great stories but Ken Follett seems to have a more intelligent writing style.

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

I never really understood grammatical construction until I took a foreign language.

Same for me. I struggled with French until I found out that English has perfect, conditional and all the other tenses.

Originally Posted by STF

My favourite Author has to be Ken Follett and my favourite book is Pillars of the Earth. I am going to get the new prequel that recently came out but I'm waiting or my Kindle Paperwhite to arrive so I will get it for that.

Yes! There are two more that follow in the Knightsbridge series, and an enjoyable 8-part mini-series was made from POE. I had the prequel on hold at my local public library, but Covid-19 restrictions prevented me from picking it up... another thing to live for.

I'm also a Robin Cook fan.

Ditto. Unfortunately, he's getting [getting? he's gotten!] a little "long in the tooth," and I wonder if we'll see more from him.

I used to read a lot of Stephen King but I went off of him, I don't know if I out grew him or if my taste changed. I found Stephen King, Dean Koontz etc good authors and great stories but Ken Follett seems to have a more intelligent writing style.

And... ditto, again. Dunno why, although my suspicion is that it was -- at least, in part -- due to the glut of movies-based-on-his-novels. That is, I felt he began writing more with an eye to future motion-picture adaptations, than to the readers' enjoyment or written quality. In any case, I haven't read anything by either of them in at least a decade, with no plans to re-read any.

OTOH, as long as we're talking about contemporary authors, I just yesterday finished [the late] John le Carre's penultimate novel, "A Legacy of Spies"; and, before retiring for the night, began his final work, "Agent Running in the Field". Now his novels are ones I would re-read; in fact, I just placed holds on the first two (in the "Smiley" series). So well-written! Even the violence is "genteel".

As a near-obsessive Stephen King fan in high school, I of course read all of his brilliant 70's works: The Stand, The Bachman Books/Different Seasons, The Shining and the others. Like many artists, his early work was his best IMO. I think it was somewhere around 1982? that he signed a $40 million dollar deal with Random House, started writing for money, and lost me. Someone feel free to correct me if I've misremembered the specifics of that deal. I didn't really enjoy the whole Dark Tower series, Tommyknockers, or anything after that.

JB, ever since I heard about LeCarre's death, I have been wanting to read some of his spy thrillers, as I'm certain I would love them. The last time I got completely lost in a genre was with Golden Age science fiction of the 60's era. Some of those guys bent reality in such mind-blowing ways (Sturgeon, Phillip K. Dick, et al).

Originally Posted by ScoutHikerDad

As a near-obsessive Stephen King fan in high school, I of course read all of his brilliant 70's works: The Stand, The Bachman Books/Different Seasons, The Shining and the others. Like many artists, his early work was his best IMO. I think it was somewhere around 1982? that he signed a $40 million dollar deal with Random House, started writing for money, and lost me. Someone feel free to correct me if I've misremembered the specifics of that deal. I didn't really enjoy the whole Dark Tower series, Tommyknockers, or anything after that.

JB, ever since I heard about LeCarre's death, I have been wanting to read some of his spy thrillers, as I'm certain I would love them. The last time I got completely lost in a genre was with Golden Age science fiction of the 60's era. Some of those guys bent reality in such mind-blowing ways (Sturgeon, Phillip K. Dick, et al).

I didn't think much of the Shining but I liked Tommyknocker, Pet Cemetary, Needful Things, I hated IT.

I was thinking after you gave the reading list for your students.

I went to Boarding School from 11 years old in 1973 and we did English Lang and English Lit as two separate classes. I remember we read Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, Hamlet, 1984, Animal Farm , The Go Between, Keats and Wilfred Owen among others.

It was a long time ago and I don't remember much but I remember liking George Orwell but not Shakespeare and I hated The Go Between. The Poets were good though until we were told to write a poem of our own experiences and i got a D because I rhymed instead of writing prose, it ended up sounding more like Pam Ayers then Keats or Owen. I got the cane because I thought it was funny.