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

[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.