Adolescent09
Left 4evr

Loved this concept and approach.

A Cell Committed Incest
by Adol09

Starless nights once rendezvoused
on a boulevard of bygone lane
Long had they been
intent to invent the maxims of motion
in the confines of monotony's frame,

They coaxed Iota to conceive atom,
atom committed incest,
compound was its son,

kin happened to encounter wroth,
to a ring of red it did succumb,
Its hammock became the cells we see
the blood that paints the plight to be,

the fate of me, of he of...she

Hey, Adolescent09. It's cool. And I will respond in a few days. In the meantime, would you consider voting in the "Don't know much about history" poetry contest. It's in the Poetry contest sub-forum. Here's a link (although they have not been working for me, d'oh!):

http://www.online-literature.com/for...-about-history

It's currently a tie. And thanks.

So what are you studying in college? I hope you're enjoying it somewhat. I liked college, but I know not everyone does.

So, Les Mis. Well, I have to confess that I have read it, but that was many years ago, and as it turns out it was an abridged version of it. I really want to read the full and complete version. Can you recommend a good translation? I have a copy of it, but that brings me to a concern I have. What if I don't like it? I loved it years ago, but when I picked it up this time around I kept falling asleep. Once it gets past the part about the Bishop of Digne, will it pick up? One of the reasons I wanted to read it was to read about those famous digressions of his (the sewers of Paris!). I started (so sad) The Hunchback of Notre Dame about two years ago; also slow going, so while Hugo picks wildly interesting topics, it would seem I'm not as enamoured of his style. Unlike Tolstoy, whose writing flowed like a dream.

Haven't forgotten your letters, but it will be tomorrow before I get to it. My electricity will be off in the a.m., so that will also be an impediment. Have you ever seen the T.V. show 'Southland'? It is so good!

Have a good day tomorrow!

Also, your depression? How do you manage it? (if you don't mind my asking)

2.
Also, Anna's husband. I can't say he interested me very much. He didn't seem to know himself very well, and he was such a dry little man. What would have happened to Anna had she stayed? They were woefully ill-matched. I watched the most recent movie version in December and it was a much more sympathetic portrait of him than the book.

You've read more, and certainly more Russian literature than I have. I have only about 50 pages left of Lolita. It's alright, but I can't say that I love it as much as everyone else, although Nabakov is clearly a genius.

I don't think you have to love African-American literature the most. Although I think it is somewhat underrepresented here on the forums. I haven't read many of the novels, but I do have a passing familiarity with some poetry.

1. Adolescent09! I loved the horse metaphor in Anna, but to me that showed Vronsky's shortcomings more than anything. I know he didn't mean to hurt Anna or be a part of destroying her life (which she was a part of, also, of course), but he was. And I think that is the true tragedy, that of the unintended consequences of one's good intentions.

I also like watching Levin's interactions with both his brothers. Actually, I liked reading about all his interactions. He was always so awkward. He entered into all of them with such high hopes, which were always almost immediately crushed. Only Kitty seemed to really get him. He was lucky in that. I liked his brother who also seemed like someone not quite of this world.

And reading this and knowing the chaos that was about to descend on all of them was rather haunting. I know very little about Russian life at that time, and this was a very interesting peek into that.

Hey! Nah, sorry to say, this is Cossette, A09 (sounds like a highway, eh?):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosette

BUT, Gavroche does have his own illustration:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gavroche

I rather like the little statue of him and his brother.

More to come...tomorrow. I'm intrigued by your viewpoints! I get so used to my own they become a little stale and day old breadish!

2. Not to mention that Anna vastly underestimated her ability to handle her expulsion from society. As one acquaintance said "she flew too high and touched the sun" and I think that is it exactly. I also understand that we are supposed to see Vronsky as valuing the wrong things, and he certainly was wrong in "taking" Anna from her safe and comfortable life. She was not for him, and while he was careless of the consequences, I do not think he was, at heart, a bad man, do you? I rather liked him.


What about you? What's your opinion of these four? Personally, my favorite was Levin. I really responded to his character. I could also relate to Dolly Oblonskaya, whose life most closely resembles mine (sans the irresponsible husband, of course).

1. Hey, Adolescent09! It's interesting you chose those four. The easy answer is Kitty. But she only just edges out the others. Honestly I felt bad about Anna and Vronsky. They weren't bad people, but they did what people often do, which is get caught up in their own misery and problems and then were unable to find their way out. I read somewhere that Tolstoy wrote this as a polemic for marriage. I don't really see it that way, but the way it is written does make me see that loving another can take you out of your preoccupation with yourself, which was one reason Kitty and Levin were more successful.