Comments on Writing well is the best revenge: ON ASSIGNMENTS

Ah, yes. I went on a serious sci fi binge in coll...

2008-09-30T07:27:00.000-05:00

Ah, yes. I went on a serious sci fi binge in college, starting with Heinlein (sexist pig!). Loved John Wyndham's books. Ray Bradbury--beautiful language. I kept them all (have I mentioned that I never, ever get rid of books?), and my daughter read them in high school.

And a college friend handed me Gaudy Night my sophomore year, and just look what happened! I read every Sayers I could lay hands on, then dug into the classic mysteries.

BTW, I did manage to graduate with honors.

Ah Rhonda--he who controls the spice controls the ...

2008-09-29T16:01:00.000-05:00

Ah Rhonda--he who controls the spice controls the universe...

Ro sounds like someone from my generation: Sangri...

2008-09-29T14:50:00.000-05:00

Ro sounds like someone from my generation: Sangria and Vonnegut.

I had a grueling college curriculum - 2 years as a nursing major (can you say LABS?) and then 2 years as an El Ed major. BUT, whenever I managed to scrounge an elective, I chose English. I took Chaucer, Shakespeare, the Romantic Poets and The Great American Novel - which is where I read so much excellent stuff - Gatsby, Portrait of a Lady, (Moby Dick - ugh). But on my own (yes, when I should have been studying Statistics or Abnormal Psych or growing noxious substances in a petri dish) I read all of Vonnegut, Catcher In The Rye, Dorothy Parker's poems and stories - loved Big Blonde, The Yellow Wallpaper, and The Awakening- which was being passed around among the uber feminists. And Betty Friedan, Kate Millet, Germaine Greer (and I got to use them for my women's study readings, too!). And I read some of my favorite children's books over: The Wind In The Willows, The Wizard of Oz, Little Women and Jo's Boys for my education courses which required we read children's books as well. But since I was a little tyke, and to this very day, there's never been a day I wasn't reading. Cool question, and I'm pleased that I remember anything about my college days - besides disco and whiskey sours.

The summer my friends and I passed around Frank He...

2008-09-29T14:36:00.000-05:00

The summer my friends and I passed around Frank Herbert's "Dune" we all tried cinnamon in our coffee and imagined it was "spice."

I read and read and read - but they were all assig...

2008-09-29T14:31:00.000-05:00

I read and read and read - but they were all assigned novels, romantic poetry, Shakespeare, etc. - because I was an English lit major. I remember one semester taking 3 literature courses that each had at least 25 required books. I do remember reading Stranger in a Strange Land, but I think that was in a science fiction class I took two years after I graduated (keeping up my teacher's license). I didn't have time for TV or pleasure reading in college; I made it to a few movies.

Hi Becky,I don't know what it was, both the writin...

2008-09-29T10:35:00.000-05:00

Hi Becky,
I don't know what it was, both the writing and the stories themselves were understated. I really liked that, but I sometimes wonder if they'd get published if she was a new author starting today.
But I was totally addicted.

Jan, what was it about Barbara Pym? During the und...

2008-09-29T10:31:00.000-05:00

Jan, what was it about Barbara Pym? During the undergrad years, I fell in love with the assigned Victorian novels and just lay there on the couch reading 700-800 pages at a time. By grad school, I was seriously burning out.

That's also when I turned to mysteries--Christie and Ruth Rendell, but also Pym. I read everything by her, all in row. Haven't picked up a copy in years, but every now and then I think about going back and seeing if she (or I) still has it. Oh, what the heck. I'm off to the library home page.