You, too, huh. Don't you just want to strangle these jerks who can rattle off stanzas of poems by Kipling or paragraphs from some Dostoevsky doorstopper at the drop of a hat?
You, too, huh. Don't you just want to strangle these jerks who can rattle off stanzas of poems by Kipling or paragraphs from some Dostoevsky doorstopper at the drop of a hat?
I don't do Dostoevsky, I can do Kipling--I prefer Shakespeare. Dostoevsky, like most Russian literature is too boring and depressing. I can also give you long stretches of Tolkien and Star Trek, if necessary.
Never did make it all the way through War and Peace.
Here's a movie quote for you, sir! From Nicholas Cage in The Lord of War.
"Since the end of the Cold War, the Kalashnikov has become the Russian people's greatest export. After that comes vodka, caviar, and suicidal novelists."
Agreed. Reading the Russian writers is where a true understanding of what the word "slog" really means. "Dr. Zhivago" wasn't too bad, but it really wasn't in the same category as the turn of the century tomes.
I have a book of collections of Kipling's poems and short stories, as well as a copy of "Kim", which I haven't yet read. And it's a hard read (which I never thought it would be). The problem is most of his works are buried under his experiences of Britain in India, and if you only know a little about it, it's hard going. That said, his poem "If" should be emblazoned on every wannabe tough guys' walls (talking to you, Donnie, Ronnie, Mike, Tucker, Elon, et al).
Nearly everything I read of Kipling's works, I read when I was an adolescent. The works I remember most are "Gunga Din" and "The Jungle Book," in particular, the story of the mongoose "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi." My mom introduced me to Kipling, and to Mark Twain, urging me to read "Tom Sawyer and "Huckleberry Finn" all before I reached 6th grade.
You, too, huh. Don't you just want to strangle these jerks who can rattle off stanzas of poems by Kipling or paragraphs from some Dostoevsky doorstopper at the drop of a hat?
I don't do Dostoevsky, I can do Kipling--I prefer Shakespeare. Dostoevsky, like most Russian literature is too boring and depressing. I can also give you long stretches of Tolkien and Star Trek, if necessary.
Never did make it all the way through War and Peace.
Here's a movie quote for you, sir! From Nicholas Cage in The Lord of War.
"Since the end of the Cold War, the Kalashnikov has become the Russian people's greatest export. After that comes vodka, caviar, and suicidal novelists."
Agreed. Reading the Russian writers is where a true understanding of what the word "slog" really means. "Dr. Zhivago" wasn't too bad, but it really wasn't in the same category as the turn of the century tomes.
I had a Russian literature course once. I somehow managed to avoid self-mutilation or suicide.
Horrible experience.
Love the poetry. And Chekhov.
I have a book of collections of Kipling's poems and short stories, as well as a copy of "Kim", which I haven't yet read. And it's a hard read (which I never thought it would be). The problem is most of his works are buried under his experiences of Britain in India, and if you only know a little about it, it's hard going. That said, his poem "If" should be emblazoned on every wannabe tough guys' walls (talking to you, Donnie, Ronnie, Mike, Tucker, Elon, et al).
Nearly everything I read of Kipling's works, I read when I was an adolescent. The works I remember most are "Gunga Din" and "The Jungle Book," in particular, the story of the mongoose "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi." My mom introduced me to Kipling, and to Mark Twain, urging me to read "Tom Sawyer and "Huckleberry Finn" all before I reached 6th grade.
Indeed. If I could check off even half the criteria Kipling enumerates in his poem I would be a badass alpha-male.
Sometimes, but mostly IтАЩm truly impressed...:)