Question!

[annundriel]

On my book list of books I've read there are 37 books, not counting anything on the internet be it fan or original fiction. This particular book list is on my laptop which I've had for about a year. So, I can pretty much gather I've read about 37 books in the last year. Is this a gratuitous number of books? Is it average? Is it low? I really want to know.

Comments

King Arthur, Matrix & the Baudlaire Orphans

[dragonsxist.livejournal.com]

The thing about arthurian legend is (as far as I know), nobody seems to know if these tales and people really ever existed. I have read somewhere that there is proof of a King Arthur who lived in the 1200's (I am shakey on that decade, I could be off) and had an official advisor (aka Merlin).

There are really a lot of books out there that pertain the this particular legend, however a lot of them are fiction. When I looked more into it, I found a book that is supposed to be the original story of King Arthur. It is called "Le Morte D'Arthur" by Sir Thomas Malroy which was written in the 1400's. The title is french and means "The Dead Arthur." I have yet to read it though, and those I have talked to who have read it have told me that it is really slow and one person even told me they remembered dragging themselves through it.

But if your looking for somehting a bit lighter, I would recommend "The World of King Arthur" by Christopher Snyder. Its more of a guide-map as to the tale and its history. Its very helpful.

Fiction can often be more captivating though. So with all that I feel I must also recommend some of the fiction books: "The Once and Futurre King" by T.H. White and "The Crystal Cave" which is actually a trilogy, but none the less, very good.

Also, In know that I've already rambled on enough about this subject, but if you have not seen the movie "First Knight," I highly recommend it. Although it may be a little off the exact happenings, it is very close, and overall a great movie.

King Arthur: "For the first in my life, I wanted what all wise man say can't last; what can't be promised or made to linger any more than sunlight. I don't want to die without having felt its warmth on my face."

===================================================

Did you see the first "Matrix" movie? I found out something really interesting about it recently. Are you interested in different philosophies? You'll have to let me know, its crazy, but get back to me on this, its really great.

===================================================

I am currently reading the seventh "Series of Unfortunate Events" book. And as far as I know there are only 9 right now. But there are supposed to be 13 in the end. However I do not know if this includes Lemony Snicket's "Unathorized Biograpy." And they are going to make them into movies, 3 I believe it is. The first three books are going to be combined to make the first movie. And last I heard they had Jim Carrey cast as the part of Count Olaf.

Oh, also, Lemony Snicket has a live journal. Though he has only written in it once. His user name is lemonysnicket.

===================================================

Have you ever read the book, "In the Garden of Good and Evil"? I picked it up once but immediately put it down because of a bad habit I had then: I read the very last paraghraph of the book and it gave something away. But I have heard more than once that it is an amazing book and I have been wondering if I should try reading it again.

[annundriel.livejournal.com]

The only encounters with Arthurian legend I've encountered in reading has been in Susan Cooper's "The Dark is Rising" sequence. I may actually have read part of "The Crystal Cave" trilogy long ago, but I was very likely side-tracked by something else. Is this the trilogy that is written by Mary Stewart? I may possibly be thinking of something else.

In my high school English Literature class we read and analyzed part of "Le Morte D'Arthur". It was a bit slow and dense, but I enjoyed it. But than I enjoy the challenge and discussion material it presented.

I believe I've seen "First Knight". I greatly enjoyed it.

Yes, I did see the first "Matrix" movie. And the second. Both several times. Loved them. They're very interesting in that they aren't afraid of being intelligent as well as action packed. I am very interested in hearing what you found out.

I'd love to see justice done to the "Series of Unfortunate Events" if it is in movie form. Couldn't they run into problems though? Much of the charm for me is the author sort of nudging the reader with little witticisms. It will be very interesting to see how they adapt the books.

I can't say I've ever read "In the Garden of Good and Evil". I've heard good things about it though. I know that bad habit very well. It takes a lot of self-control not to skip to the last page. Especially on a really good book.

[dragonsxist.livejournal.com]

I have read "The Dark is Rising" also. Wow, I remember that book. But wasn't that a sequal to "Over Sea, Under Stone?" I never really had any problems with the book except that the characters were completely different people than in the first book. You are right, "The Crystal Cave" trilogy is written my Mary Stewart.

As for the Matrix, I was really interested in how the first movie ended, how love can be so powerful. My friend said something about how this is a major belief. So I did a little research and found that there is some major philosophy woven throughout the entire movie. There is really a lot of metaphysics as far as "is reality really what it seems?"

Remember how in the beginning of the movie, Neo pulls a book off his bookshelf that turns out to be hollowed out in order to hold computer disks? Well, in movies there are often connections... this is one of those. That book is "Simulacra and Simulation." It is a collection of essays by the French postmodernist philosopher Jean Baudrillard. This book is said to talk a lot about reality and the things around us. I read somewhere that they asked some of the Matrix cast to read this book (before making the movie).

In the official Matrix Reloaded website, there is a site that pertains to the philosophy aspect of the movie, and it has several essays on these topics. I find it all very interesting. You can check it out here (http://whatisthematrix.warnerbros.com/rl_cmp/new_phil_frames.html).

This book is now on my "To Read" list. There are actually now quite a few books on the philosophy in the Matrix, but I was a little surprised by all this, as it was way more than what I ever expected to find.

Its all very crazy. However it is true that there is normally a lot in a movie that many people will never know about, which is one of the reasons I love commentaries on DVDs so much, despite the fact that I've never really watched any of them on the DVDs I own. I want to though, I just need time. And once again back to the time reference.

[annundriel.livejournal.com]

Yes, "The Dark is Rising" is the sequel to "Over Sea, Under Stone". But both books are also part of a series of five. The characters in "Over Sea, Under Stone" appear in the last three books and everything from each separate set of characters falls together. It's a very good series.

Here's my screwy theory about love and reality. And why love can be so powerful. The love of another person is the acknowledgment that something other than one's self is real. The end of the first movie seems to me to be about love and belief and faith. (There are religious metaphors all over the movie.) These three concepts are very powerful and carry through centuries of history and literature. They are what control us in everything we do. Of course there's hate and all the really bad things that drive people, but didn't they once start as something good?

And I've completely rambled off-topic. Oops. Anyway, back to the movie. "Is reality really what it seems?" This is the question I had at the end of the second movie. What is real? What does it mean? Reality is what we make of it and nothing is ever really what it appears to be on the surface.

I did watch an interview with several of the cast members and they did mention Baudrillard several times. It's all very interesting and I don't know quite enough about it to make any sense. (See about paragraph.) Mostly I'm thinking "aloud". Thank you for the link, BTW. I had a chance to skim over a couple of the essays and am looking forward to reading it all more thoroughly.

I hope some of this made sense. It's been a long day and I'm not as learned in this area as I'd sometimes like to be. Mostly I'm just going with my thoughts and opinions. But I do love a good discussion.

I have to say that I admire the Wachowski (spelling?) very much. They made the type of movie they wanted to see and weren't afraid to be intelligent. They've put concepts out there that many people who are drawn to the Matrix movies may never have really thought about. (I mean 14 year old boys who want to see Neo kick butt and Trinity in leather.) I would love to listen to commentary on these movies. I'm a big fan of movie commentaries. The Lord of the Rings commentaries are great. Very enlightening. But time is always needed.