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Wanda The Fish says (in memory of Elisa)
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24 May 2010 Mon 01:41 pm |
What no spouse of a writer can ever understand is that a writer is working when he´s staring out the window.
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24 May 2010 Mon 07:33 pm |
Well, anyway, I was reading this James Bond book, and right away I realized that like most books, it had too many words. The plot was the same one that all James Bond books have: An evil person tries to blow up the world, but James Bond kills him and his henchmen and makes love to several attractive women. There, that´s it: 24 words. But the guy who wrote the book took *thousands* of words to say it.
Or consider "The Brothers Karamazov", by the famous Russian alcoholic Fyodor Dostoyevsky. It´s about these two brothers who kill their father. Or maybe only one of them kills the father. It´s impossible to tell because what they mostly do is talk for nearly a thousand pages. If all Russians talk as much as the Karamazovs did, I don´t see how they found time to become a major world power.
I´m told that Dostoyevsky wrote "The Brothers Karamazov" to raise the question of whether there is a God. So why didn´t he just come right out and say: "Is there a God? It sure beats the heck out of me."
Other famous works could easily have been summarized in a few words: * "Moby Dick" -- Don´t mess around with large whales because they symbolize nature and will kill you. * "A Tale of Two Cities" -- French people are crazy.
-- Dave Barry
Edited (5/24/2010) by gezegen
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25 May 2010 Tue 01:03 am |
To be or not to be. -- Shakespeare To do is to be. -- Nietzsche To be is to do. -- Sartre Do be do be do. -- Sinatra
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25 May 2010 Tue 04:42 pm |
It is by the fortune of God that, in this country, we have three benefits: freedom of speech, freedom of thought, and the wisdom never to use either. -- Mark Twain
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25 May 2010 Tue 10:44 pm |
A Tale of Two Cities LITE(tm) -- by Charles Dickens A lawyer who looks like a French Nobleman is executed in his place. The Metamorphosis LITE(tm) -- by Franz Kafka A man turns into a bug and his family gets annoyed. Lord of the Rings LITE(tm) -- by J. R. R. Tolkien Some guys take a long vacation to throw a ring into a volcano. Hamlet LITE(tm) -- by Wm. Shakespeare A college student on vacation with family problems, a screwy girl-friend and a mother who won´t act her age.
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26 May 2010 Wed 12:25 am |
Hell is empty and all the devils are here.
-- Shakespeare, "The Tempest"
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26 May 2010 Wed 11:59 am |
The Swiss have an interesting army. Five hundred years without a war. Pretty impressive. Also pretty lucky for them. Ever see that little Swiss Army knife they have to fight with? Not much of a weapon there. Corkscrews. Bottle openers. ´Come on, buddy, let´s go. You get past me, the guy in back of me, he´s got a spoon. Back off. I´ve got the toe clippers right here.´ --Jerry Seinfeld
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26 May 2010 Wed 09:33 pm |
You´re not my type. For that matter, you´re not even my species!!!
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28 May 2010 Fri 06:30 pm |
Gone With The Wind LITE(tm) -- by Margaret Mitchell A woman only likes men she can´t have and the South gets trashed. Gift of the Magi LITE(tm) -- by O. Henry A husband and wife forget to register their gift preferences. The Old Man and the Sea LITE(tm) -- by Ernest Hemingway An old man goes fishing, but doesn´t have much luck
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28 May 2010 Fri 06:38 pm |
Well, anyway, I was reading this James Bond book, and right away I realized that like most books, it had too many words. The plot was the same one that all James Bond books have: An evil person tries to blow up the world, but James Bond kills him and his henchmen and makes love to several attractive women. There, that´s it: 24 words. But the guy who wrote the book took *thousands* of words to say it.
Or consider "The Brothers Karamazov", by the famous Russian alcoholic Fyodor Dostoyevsky. It´s about these two brothers who kill their father. Or maybe only one of them kills the father. It´s impossible to tell because what they mostly do is talk for nearly a thousand pages. If all Russians talk as much as the Karamazovs did, I don´t see how they found time to become a major world power.
I´m told that Dostoyevsky wrote "The Brothers Karamazov" to raise the question of whether there is a God. So why didn´t he just come right out and say: "Is there a God? It sure beats the heck out of me."
Other famous works could easily have been summarized in a few words: * "Moby Dick" -- Don´t mess around with large whales because they symbolize nature and will kill you. * "A Tale of Two Cities" -- French people are crazy.
-- Dave Barry
Sorry to break into what seems like your personal thread, but I have to mention Crime and Passion too....... 670 pages if you read the notes, or how about The Golden Notebook, by Doris Lessing, a mere 576 pages of shear drivel, so here is my synopsis of the two:
Crime and Passion - You can appear to be a mad man but if you own up to a crime you will go to jail
The Golden Notebook - Coloured notebooks make life so much more organised or do they?
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