Janet’s Comments (group member since Feb 28, 2008)

Janet’s comments from the Brentwood Library group.

I haven't read anything really extraordinary in such a long time. I guess I'll have to keep trying. *sigh*

Hey Miss Carrie! You see my name as a moderator of this group; right? Well, don't make me revoke your membership! Disagreeing with me! The nerve! LOL! j/k.

A bit of rebuttal. I really wish I had read BJD (that's what us true fans call it) before I saw the movie because I'm sure you're right and the whole CF and HG thing would have been extra funny. I'm sure I would have had different feelings then.

We usually agree about 94% so it's weird how we view both of the Darcys differently. For me, Mark Darcy is the love of my life. Mr. Darcy is not. I'll take him, but I'd choose Mark first.

I suppose I was a bit too harsh calling the Patrick Swayze version of N&S crappy. I'm so sorry! I really shouldn't have put baby in the corner.

And truth be told, I was quite in love with that version back in the day. Didn't dare miss a night of viewing. BUT, I am so totally in love with Richard Armitage and his character of Thornton in Elizabeth Gaskell's story. By the way, I should mention, so as not to confuse others, the two are totally different stories. Ms. Gaskell having written hers well before the Civil War even started.

Here's another secret: I love Thornton way better than Mr. Darcy. There, I've said it.

But do I love him better than Mark or Morelli? Hmmmmmmmmmmm... :-0

Yea, Carrie! You've joined. Welcome. Thanks for sharing your list.

I'm confused about one little thing. You said: "Really most of Janet's list is my list, as she is trying to be me when she grows up. Not that she ever will." Do you mean I will never be you? Or, I will never grow up? You've really got me baffled! LOL!

Let's just leave that one alone. No answer required. Really!

Carrie, where are you with your list? I know you got one. Kids in the way? Employ the duct tape if you have to! My Joe Morelli entry and Megan's agreement with it totally reminds me of back in the day when we first started reading the series. Do you remember how much we gushed over Morelli. We talked about him as if he were a real live person whom we had just waited on. We were totally smitten. It was sick in a crazy good kind of way, huh? ;-)

Silly Coral! You would have been able to get here and home so much quicker without the brakes. Did you ever think of it that way? We missed you.

Daniel, the names of your characters are awesome! Also they're very intriging to me. Aside from Harry Potter and Jason Bourne, I've never heard of any of them. Maybe I should try to expand my horizons? Awfully Wee Billy Bigchin sounds like my kinda guy!

Stephanie, are you sure you don't just have some sort of fixation with three and four part French names? LOL!!
P.S. Thanks for contributing. I knew it wasn't just me who was crazy. ;-) hahaha!

Does anybody have a favorite literary character? Someone that is your hero maybe? Or someone that you just admire and might want to be like? Or someone that you're totally smitten with? Or am I the only nutcracker out there who "falls" for fictional characters? I need a life. *sigh**

To name a few of mine (in no particular order):

1) Mr. Darcy - from Pride & Prejudice. If I have to explain, then there's really no hope for you.

2) Mark Darcy - from Bridget Jones's Diary. Again, I think no explanation is needed. (Cheat and watch the movie. Then I really need not explain.)

3) Elizabeth Bennett - from Pride & Prejudice. Really, another no-brainer here. She's spunky. She says what she thinks. She doesn't back down. AND, she gets the guy in the end.

4) Edmond Dantes - from The Count of Monte Cristo. As you follow him along on his journey, you can't help but love him, sympathize with him, cheer him on. His revenge becomes yours.

5) Richard Thornton - from North & South by Elizabeth Gaskell. This man is a similar character to Jane Austen's Darcy but much more endearing. While at times you might hate Darcy for his aloofness, you very rarely feel that way about Thornton.

6) Joe Morelli - from Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series. It's a phenomenon I simply can't explain. I LOVE JOE MORELLI. That's it.

7) Ranger - from the same Janet Evanovich series. You try to remain true to Morelli. You really do. But, you end up falling for Ranger too. I'm a slut. Sue me.

8) Hunter - from Cate Tiernan's Sweep series. He's just a kid (to me at least) but I found that I truly cared about him and what was going to happen to him and Morgan.

9) Betsy and Sinclair - from MaryJanice Davidson's Undead series. Betsy is really awesome and I think that I wouldn't mind being her - and having all of her shoes! And Sinclair is super hotttt! One reason why I wouldn't mind being Betsy. (**wink, wink**)

10) Mr. Rochester - from Jane Eyre. I'll be honest. I've not yet read the book. But the Toby Stephens movie adaptation is enough to have me hooked on Mr. Rochester!

11) d'Artagnan - from The Three Musketeers. I haven't re-read this book since I was a tween. But, when I was a young impressionable girl (you see, I've progressed a lot)I really loved d'Artagnan. And this was before I had any tv or movie images of him in my mind. To me, he was dashingly gorgeous and one of my girlhood hero/crushes.

12) Nancy Drew - Don't even lie. You wanted to be her too!

13) Laura Ingalls Wilder - from Little House on the Praire. This might be embarassing, but it's the truth. From the time I could read until about, say, last week (I'm kidding), I really wanted to be Laura Ingalls. I wanted that life. Really, I did.

Okay. That should be enough for now. I think the above properly illustrates my pathetic semi-obsession with fictional characters. Hey, don't knock me - they're a lot nicer to deal with than real people!

Don't be shy. Add your favorites. I know somebody has to have some. Or one? Don't leave me hanging here.

Cheers!

Wow! A movie and its cast can really do wonders for a book that you didn't like so much when you first read it. At least that's the case for me (I'm so shallow and material). I don't think that I absolutely LOVED "The Kite Runner" when I read it. I didn't hate it. I liked it just fine but I don't remember being blown away by it. Since it was our "One Book, One Community" read at the time, I did highly recommend it to customers who asked.

Now that I've seen the movie, I think I have a better appreciation for the book. If my memory serves me correctly, the movie was exactly like the book. Not much was changed, if anything.

The little boy who played Hassan just about brought tears to my eyes. In the beginning he is so darn cute and faithful. It makes you want to hate Amir. But Amir has his endearing qualities too and somehow instead of hating him, you just feel sorry for him.

Towards the end when you realize how much Amir has lost you can't help thinking back to the cute little Hassan and be moved. I swear to God if I had working tear ducts, this movie would have made me cry!

In short: Excellent adaptation from book to movie. I give it two thumbs up! ;-)

Oh, and P.S. If I were your Mom, I'd give your Dad a good healthy kick in the ass and then pack up myself and one of my closest friends (or daughters) and hop the next plane to Hawaii!!! --charging it all to his credit card, of course! And not too worry, he'll get a nice lei once she gets back. ;-)

Funny you should mention Bridget Jones's Diary, Megan. I was just coming here to comment about it! I just got done reading it (finally) and didn't like it as much as the movie. In fact I only gave it two stars ("it was ok"). The movie is so, so very wonderful (in my opinion) and a whole lot different than the book. I thought that in some instances the book's plot was not very believable. I am very thankful for the movie adaptation version. Oh, and Colin Firth (Mark Darcy)!

Also, I do the same thing as Megan said. If I've not read the book yet and the movie is about to come out, I'll wait.

The book is always better! BUT...what if you haven't read a book yet and you find out it's becoming a movie. Do you hurry up and read the book first before seeing it? Will it ruin the movie? Or do you see the movie and then read the book after? It's really quite a dilemna for me.

btw, Coral, I'm a bit confused (hey, it ain't hard to do) about your comment "He's no Colin Firth!" Do you like Colin then? If so, you're my new favorite person! lol

Duty done. I've read the book. I think Fred (that's Mister Rogers to the rest of you!) would say, "If you don't have anything nice to say..."

If you're interested in taking a peek into the dark side of my evil mind, see my comment under "books read."

Here's a list of some of the books that I read AFTER I saw the movie: P.S. I Love You, Phantom of the Opera and How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days.

Books that I own because I love the movie (but haven't read yet. Hey, I own them, I've got time...): Timeline, Bridget Jones's Diary, Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, Pride & Prejudice (not that crappy 2005 movie version though!), North & South (not that crappy Patrick Swayze Civil War one though!)

Oh, the list shall go on...another day.

In order to not create any confusion about Message 2 by Megan and Message 3 by Stephane, allow me to say that I had originally posted this comment after Message 1 of Megan's.

I said: Or - alternate question - since I'm struggling to answer Megan's. What are some of your favorite movies that prompted you to then read the book? (Sorry Megan! I was having probs answering. Anyone can answer either or but maybe should clarify their answer.)

So that's why they gave the answers they did! Get it? Good!