h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I have to write an essay on this b****y book! It is unfortunate as I have less sympathy for Jane than I do for Victor Frankenstein (which is really saying something because I hated the egotistical p***k)
She ought to have a big V (for victim) tatooed on her forehead. The only time she ever makes a decision it is presented as a fait accompli, and it sticks in my throat. I am sure that there are people out there that think Jane is a model of good behaviour, but I like a bit of spark in my heroines. She does start really well, but caves in. Give me Becky Sharp any day!

I too had to write an essay on this book a looong time ago, if I still had a copy (I'm so old it was when we wrote with pens and paper..) I'd save you the effort.....however, I have to say I love this book. I've read it many times since school and will read it many times in the future. The appealing factors (to me) are that unlike many many romance novels, especially of that era, she was not pretty, she was not rich nor from a rich family, nor was she interested in money. She was a heroine with nothing going for her, that's pretty bizarre (and gives the rest of us hope!). The story is a romance but it's also about sticking up for your principles. Ok, so the morals against living in sin don't apply these days, but let's face it, she loved the guy and he neglected to tell her he had a crazy wife in the attic. She couldn't stop loving him but she couldn't exactly trust him either. Not sure I'd be too keen to move in with the crazy wife guy myself. You want spark? She would rather be destitute than sacrifice her principles. I'd say that shows spark. In an era where women basically did as they were told she stood up to everyone from a very young age because she wouldn't do something she knew was wrong. She was an extremely strong feminine figure, especially for that time. Where do you think she caves??
Having said all of that, I know people who love this book and I know people who hate it. My advice is read Wuthering Heights, it seems you like one or the other but not both so chances are you'll love it.

I have to write an essay on this very soon.

I had to write one a couple of decades ago (no, really) - so it seems some things never change... If you feel the urge, you can pick my brains and see if there's anything worthwhile in there.

I don't mind Jane Eyre, but for funI'd sooner read Vanity Fair. Becky Sharp is so much more entertaining.

Ivan.

I have not yet read "Vanity Fair". I seem to recall reading most of "Jane Eyre" though, and reading the first half several times because I really liked it. Got a bit boring as she got older though. However as I'll have to write an essay, I guess I'll have to do a re-read.

I only found out about it today and haven't yet got the question, but it's entirely possible that I will ask you for help somewhere down the track...

No worries.

Vanity Fair is something to read purely for fun - I dread to think how deadly it could get if it were something that was *taught*.

I don't think "Vanity Fair" is a book people like to teach, luckily. Of course, with a good teacher, studying a novel can be good - sometimes it helps you understand the book better etc. - but usually studying something takes the fun out of things. So I'm glad we're not doing "Catcher in the Rye" this semester.

I've never tried 'Catcher in the Rye' - is it something you'd recommend in cold blood, seeing that there'd be nobody telling me what to think about it?

Oh definitely - well, at least give it a try, you can always stop if you don't like it (I think my father did that, many years ago...) and it's fairly short anyway. But I loved it. It's great entertainment and would be good to read just for fun.

I'll see about getting a copy next time I'm in a secondhand bookshop. That's my favourite sort of bookshop; I like the way they're always so random and cluttered.

Really? Unfortunately I don't really like those ones much because it's so hard to find things. They have heaps of better - and cheaper - things than a boring bookshop, but as it would take me years to search through trash for a gem I want, I don't usually bother. My favourite is the public library system , because I don't have enough money to buy books.

I used to be a regular library-user, but I came to resent having to take books back if I really liked them. So naturally when I got a job I started buying books instead. Now it's become compulsive, and in a couple of years I'll need a bigger house because of it.

*stands* My name is Ivan and I'm a bookaholic *sits*

As for bookshops - places like Dymocks or Anguish & Robbery are all very well if you know exactly what you want and you know they'll have it, but when it comes to wasting a Sunday afternoon and there's nothing in particular you're looking for, a secondhand bookshop is the way to go - precisely because you can't be sure what you'll find. (Also, if you exercise great self-control, it can end up costing nothing at all...)

I agree with you - taking books back to the library is one thing I hate and I often have to borrow books many times. If there's a book I really like, I'll buy it, or if the library forgets I have it out (as happens sometimes he he) I might keep it. Of course, I used to be very bad at getting my books back on time and probably through all my fines I have given the library system enough funding to keep them going for years. Indeed, the fact that we have three rooms almost entirely full of books in this house, and everybody in the family bar me has had their library card suspended for too many fines, says quite a lot about this family.

at the BA comment BTW

I generally find Dymocks & Collins too expensive, A&R slightly better so I've been getting most books at Kmart recently. Their choice is pathetic, but it's good for particular things. Also there seem to be a lot of books that aren't in great supply in this corner of the world, so secondhand bookshops are a good place to find those ones too.

This is a pathetically pointless discussion, I now realise.

Anyway...

Yes, I guess it is a bit , having this conversation on the 'Jane Eyre' thread... *shrug* Oh well, we've done it now...

I do like a house that's full of books...

Well it's just in general, on or not on a "Jane Eyre" thread. However, I feel that much better for having had this conversation even though I'm thinking we'll have to do an update of the entry.

The problem with having too many books in your house is that soon the books you want will be just as hard to find as they are in a secondhand bookshops, or whatever! Are yours in alphabetical or any sort of order, incidentally? (I am embarrassed to admit that I had so many books when I was 7 that I put them all in alphabetical where they stayed for many years.)

Another entry to update - I agree, but we'd better finish that other one first. (I got nothing done on the weekend, as you probably noticed.)

My books are in an order that makes sense to me. The non-fiction is roughly by category, with the history books arranged in order of period. Fiction I've grouped by author, but not in alphabetical order. The fiction is split into classic, modern literary, modern trashy-but-fun, and Virginia Woolf - the sort of schema that gives my librarian friend the nervous shakes whenever she thinks about it. The V Woolf books sit on a non-fiction bookcase, with books about VW and her circle, and books about the 1930s in general. There is an odd internal logic to it, but it defies explanation.

OK, here is the revised to-do list:

- Finish Canberra entry (come on guys, we're nearly there, go team, woohoo! )
- New entry on bushfires (this one is looking unlikely, but at any rate a brief update of the entry about Victorian bushfires)
- Update the Jane Eyre entry

Excellent I'd like to apologise for also doing nothing on the entry, except for stealing and adding bits and pieces, and thinking of things to do (but not doing them). I seem to remember that the emails I've sent have been full of things like that

Of course, I'll be busy writing essays now so my time will be limited, but I'll try to....have good time management. Yeah. That.

I guess as long as the order makes sense to you, that's fine. And it sounds fairly easy to follow. I have a similar thing on my bookshelf, only because I had so many books, I had to offload a lot of the older ones to other bookcases and to my sister, and now I keep my nice shiny ones in a special order on my bookcase. There's one non-fiction shelf, all the fictions grouped in a similar way to yours actually, and then I have special books and my foreign language books and large series all collected in the bottom two shelves.

Never mind about adding to Canberra for now; I'll have another bash at it (there are still some dopey things I want to rewrite) and send it to you when I'm happy with it. Then you can do what you like with it all and drop it into PR when you're ready. (I don't envy you your essays...)

Aftr Canberra, I need to finish my KI entry, which has now been dormant for at least 5 weeks, to my shame.

Time management? Oh yeah, that's the thing my boss keeps wittering about. *shrug*

I honestly think we're well on the way to completion with the Canberra thing. Yay! I haven't notified the old authors about our intentions to update (oops) although both have left the building. Maybe later on I'll post to them. Yeah. Later.

Ah yes, the KI entry. That reminds me of the two island entries I have to finish, plus quite a few in PR, as well as one I told Jimster months ago I would write...oops.

Canberra is scheduled for completion - from my point of view - this weekend...