Rio’s Comments (group member since Aug 21, 2014)

Rio’s comments from the R-E-A-D-A-B-O-O-K group.

How do you think Cleopatra felt as she traveled to meet Caesar for the first time? What are the differences between that meeting and her first encounter with Mark Antony? How did the circumstances of the initial encounters set the tone for the relationships?

Why has Cleopatra’s story captivated artists and audiences for over two thousand years? Why does she interest you?

Discuss the role of subjectivity in historical records. How does Schiff factor that subjectivity into her account? Do you think it’s possible to document events that are close to us in time? Or do chroniclers’ subjectivities necessarily bias their accounts?

Are there any modern women who you would compare to Cleopatra? Who? What characteristics do they share with her? Discuss how these women are depicted in histories or in the media today.

Despite her political ambition, Cleopatra has been painted as a seductress and siren rather than as a powerful and adept ruler. Do you think it’s still the case that men are said to strategize where women manipulate?

Adam Ewing: At first, I found him almost impossible to read but eventually became engrossed in the story. The history of the Maori vs Moriori was horrifying yet so interesting. [If we ever have Genocide month- this might be my pick!]

Robert Frobisher: Pretty much hated this guy to the end. Perhaps someone more musically oriented would find him poetic but I just found him irritating. Tons of references I didn't understand and way too much French that I was too lazy to translate, honestly.

Luisa Rey: Never thought I would find her story as fascinating as I did but I fear it did become a bit predictable at the end. A typical good guys vs. bad guys situation where everyone dies? I've seen this before...

Timothy Cavendish: Similar to Frobisher, I couldn't stand Mr. Cavendish. He was so pompous and just not fun to read about. His story seemed a bit far fetched but I was totally not expecting it. How it was supposed to be made into a movie on its own though, beyond me. Yawn.

Somni-451: Literally could not put the book down during her two segments. I'm normally all about history and stay as far away from the future as possible but it was so thrilling. I started to get emotional at the end of her tale. Loved every second.

Zachry Bailey: It was quite near impossible to get through this long middle section. The writing gave me such a headache- I wasn't sure what kind of accent I was supposed to be reading it in, if an accent at all and not just an uneducated mop. I did like the made up religion of Sonmi and Old Georgie though, Old Georgie sure freaked me out. Maybe I liked him the least because he was the only one of the six who wasn't a reincarnation of the others? Who knows.

In general.... I loved how everything connected, how all the pieces fell into place towards the end. It was beautiful and I really ended up loving the book.

I remember the day that I was first introduced to Anne Rice; my mother slowly walked into my Fire Island room while I was doing my homework. "Enough of that now, it's time you read this." I began to open my mouth to object when my dumb Italian textbook had been replaced with a brand new edition of Interview With the Vampire. Confused, I looked up at my mother who was grinning from ear to ear as she hurried to explain how much she, and her mother before her, fell in love with the book, adored the writing and just couldn't help but share the experience with me. Then she started a few hours worth of a rant on Anne Rice's upsetting conversion to Christianity and erotica past.

I don't know what it is about Interview that makes it such a mom book but I'm all about it.

Anyone else have a weird cherry popping experience with Mrs. Anne Rice?

Cloud Atlas just came in the mail! I'm finishing another book I started right after the Giver but then I'm jumping right in. Has anyone started? How are you liking it?

You know, I actually thought that the movie exceeded all of my expectations. I mean, my expectations were quite low but still- I was impressed! The ending seemed to make much more sense to me, they showed what happened in the community when he left. It definitely defeats part of the purpose of the book by putting it so far in the future because, you're right, it's supposed to seem like a world we could possibly live in. However, without having just finished the book, I would have been pretty confused.

I'm voting movie > book

Maybe I can pirate it for you once it's on DVD!

I found out who Taylor Swift is though: she's Rosemary.

And why were they still celebrating the same Christmas so long after the memory? And really, what are the chances that he makes it there on Christmas night? Maybe he's just hallucinating?

The killing of the twin definitely gave me the jibblies too but I don't know what I was expecting to happen to them when they were "released".

It seems like other communities just had slightly different rules and feeding times but it's still so odd. Why would there be a road into un-sameness then? Wouldn't you love to see a map of this place?? Hahaha!

Have you finished the book? Let's talk about it!

I have to say, I wasn't so fond of the ending. I'm just having a hard time seeing a 13 year old kid, carrying a baby, with no food for weeks on end, just magically finding a house celebrating Christmas. Also, I wasn't the biggest fan of the 4th grade reading level.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJNNu...

There's a link to the trailer above. So what does everyone think about this movie? Have you seen it yet? Will you? Are we all going as a book club?

Personally, I'm not about this movie at all. Why is Taylor Swift in it and why is it an action movie?

Thoughts?

Has anyone ever read Anthem by Ayn Rand? Anthem must have been a serious influence on Lois Lowry as it is basically the same book.

P.S. If you want a free copy of Anthem, you can get it on paperback swap!
http://www.paperbackswap.com/Anthem-A...