UChicago 2017 discussion

In spirit of holiday movie releases, I reread The Hobbit and then saw the movie, it was great but I guess I haven't read much of yolk owns other stories besides the LotR trilogy and the Hobbit. Any fiery recommendations? Right now I am reading my way through the Sirens of Titan by Vonnegut. What about you guys?

Sirens of Titan was great. One book that recently set me on fire was David Mitchell's Cloud Atlas. Couldn't get enough of that book. Acquired taste though. Check it out!

I never thought HOL was weird for weirdness's sake. I trusted Danielewski to put a purpose behind every sentence; I think he has that ability, that power. Of course, that's the big game, with literature: what does he mean? Does he mean anything?

This is where we'll stay disagreeing, because, for example, in the Whalestoe Letter you mention he's writing as Pelafina, who is a paranoiac, a conspiracy theorist, and a psychopath who spends the duration of the Whalestoe letters trapped in her own mind (as I'm sure you notice, she gets a little crazy with her imagination); that's the explanation for the fact that those encodings (and there are many in those letters) aren't so subtle. As for the image/content of the book, the entire thing serves as a) a dissection of the relationship of meaning to text to reader and so demonstrates its point by granting meaning in nonverbal ways (e.g. the ladder page being a ladder, the colors and nonlinearity), but none of it is just there for show, and b) the parts of the book that ARE traditional contain a really really wonderful story, multilayered and (I found) emotionally engaging. Personally I loved the book, but there are many people out there who I'm sure would agree with you. Cheers.

Currently, I'm reading Half the Sky, a non-fiction book, about the oppression of women worldwide. I plan on reading All The Pretty Horses soon. A play I've recently read that totally shook me was Spring Awakening. I was familiar with only the musical, but the play has such beautiful and poetic language often not found in plays today.

A book I always recommend to people is Middlesex. After I read it, I literally sat in stunned silence for an hour. The scope of the book is amazing.

I watched a performance of "Spring Awakening" and found it ... a bit indulgent.

Yeah, both the musical and play does use shock tactics, but it really is up to the director how apparent he or she wants to make those. And even with the shock tactics, I find both the musical and play to be raw and poetic. But, that's my two cents. :)