Help me! I keep falling asleep reading a novel for english class! (1 Viewer)

[Dominik Droscher]

"BOOK I
Chapter 1
A Long-expected Party
When Mr. Bilbo Baggins of Bag End announced that he would shortly be celebrating his eleventy-first birthday with a party of special magnificence, there was much talk and excitement in Hobbiton.
Bilbo was very rich and very peculiar, and had been the wonder of the Shire for sixty years, ever since his remarkable disappearance and unexpected return. The riches he had brought back from his travels had now become a local legend, and it was popularly believed, whatever the old folk might say, that the Hill at Bag End was full of tunnels stuffed with treasure. And if that was not enough for fame, there was also his prolonged vigour to marvel at. Time wore on, but it seemed to have little effect on Mr. Baggins. At ninety he was much the same as at fifty. At ninety-nine they began to call him well-preserved, but unchanged would have been nearer the mark. There were some that shook their heads and thought this was too much of a good thing; it seemed unfair that anyone should possess (apparently) perpetual youth as well as (reputedly) inexhaustible wealth.
'It will have to be paid for,' they said. 'It isn't natural, and trouble will come of it!'
But so far trouble had not come; and as Mr. Baggins was generous with his money, most people were willing to forgive him his oddities and his good fortune. He remained on visiting terms with his relatives (except, of course, the Sackville-Bagginses), and he had many devoted admirers among the hobbits of poor and unimportant families. But he had no close friends, until some of his younger cousins began to grow up. ..."

No wait, that was the other lord!

 

[Rob Gillespie]

 

[Steve Christou]

Dominik

Good one, now you got me in the mood to read the rest of it, can you post all of it pleeeese, reading books is so yesterday, I wanna read it off my monitor......

 

[NickSo]

Okay.. i went to school today had a test... I think i knew about 95% of the questions, but the teacher may mark me wrong coz he doesnt understand what im saying, or i missed some details...

But i did read the first two chapters a number of times, and most of the stuff is in my head now...
For tuesday, chapters 3 and 4..

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http://www.multimania.com/sonick182/ht/index.html

 

[Dominik Droscher]

Steve, I could get problems with the Tolkien Foundation. But who cares, here are the next few paragraphs:

The eldest of these, and Bilbo's favourite, was young Frodo Baggins. When Bilbo was ninety-nine, he adopted Frodo as his heir, and brought him to live at Bag End; and the hopes of the Sackville-Bagginses were finally dashed. Bilbo and Frodo happened to have the same birthday, September 22nd. 'You had better come and live here, Frodo my lad,' said Bilbo one day; 'and then we can celebrate our birthday-parties comfortably together.' At that time Frodo was still in his tweens, as the hobbits called the irresponsible twenties between childhood and coming of age at thirty-three.
Twelve more years passed. Each year the Bagginses had given very lively combined birthday-parties at Bag End; but now it was understood that something quite exceptional was being planned for that autumn. Bilbo was going to be eleventy-one, 111, a rather curious number and a very respectable age for a hobbit (the Old Took himself had only reached 130); and Frodo was going to be thirty-three, 33) an important number: the date of his 'coming of age'.
Tongues began to wag in Hobbiton and Bywater; and rumour of the coming event travelled all over the Shire. The history and character of Mr. Bilbo Baggins became once again the chief topic of conversation; and the older folk suddenly found their reminiscences in welcome demand.

If you have never read the "Lord of the Rings" I strongly urge you to do so. I hope the movie gets some of you interested. BTW I never read "Lord of the Flies", but you got me interested. I think I will risk a look.
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-Dominik Dröscher ICQ: 25318265
"Quis custodiet ipsos custodes."

 

[Steve Christou]

Dominik, I've read Lord of the Rings many times over the past 25 years, love the whole rich atmosphere of it, greatest fantasy ever written, reading the few paragraphs you posted makes me want to read it again before the movie comes out.
Nick if you haven't read Rings (and The Hobbit), I strongly recommend you give it a go, much better than Flies. to me anyway.

 

[Andrew 'Ange Hamm' Hamm]

I just finished my third reading of The Lord of the Rings, so I can't start again yet (BTW, it's not just the greatest fantasy novel ever. It's the definitive fiction work of the last century.) If I wasn't in the middle of two fascinating books (God in the Dock by CS Lewis and Signs of Intelligence: Understanding Intelligent Design edited by Dembski and Kushiner), I would read Lord of the Flies in sympathy with you, Nick.
To quote The Electric Company: "I would if I could but I can't so I won't, please forgive me if I don't."
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Andrew Hamm's new album Link Removed is available now!

 

[Justin Doring]

"Kill the pig! Cut her throat! Smash her in!"
I always thought Lord of the Flies was one of the most exciting novels I read in high school. (This is not to be confused with favorite, as it's certainly not among my favorites.) I can think of many more "boring high school books" than Lord of the Flies.
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"Home is where the theater is!"

 

[Max Leung]

Hey, not to rain on your parade, as I know there are some Lord of the Flies fans here, but I must inform you NickSo, that the assumptions the author made about "our basic human natures" have been shown to be false, or at least wildly exaggerated, by sociobiologists and evolutionary psychologists everywhere (9 out of 10 psychiatrists agree!). Ah well, no big deal...I mean, those kids probably drank fluoridated water (endorsed by the American Dental Association), causing them to go psychotic and act contrary to real human nature. Those damn commies!
Personally, I find Jane Austen's work much more satisfying...her characters are people you see everyday: at work, in the shopping malls, and home theater forums worldwide! And she's damn funny too, and the movies are great! I'm sure you'll come to my way of thinking once they cast Mena Suvari in a Jane Austen flick (hopefully based on one of her novels that portray nudity...we can only hope).
I'm currently searching the dark reaches of the internet, in the hope of finding a dark cabal of evil scientists that scheme to clone Mena. Think of me and my desperate journey as you slog through that eyelid-dropping novel of yours, as you contemplate Alex's predicament in Clockwork Orange: strait-jacketed in the theater, with eyeballs threatening to roll out of his sockets, watching Mena's rose-encrusted body frolicking in the screen in front of him whilst Destiny Child blares from the THX-certified speakers in glorious Dolby Digital glory. But alas, someone left the dialnorm at -8 dB. And the projector focus is off and shown in the wrong aspect ratio. Your screams of terror go unheeded...
(This brain-fart brought to you by my brain's right hemisphere. Or was it the left? I can't remember...)

 

[AaronNWilson]

Nickso I also had to read that book and I hated it with a vengeance. I just couldn't get my head around the fact that they were letting Jack take control of the island and the rest of the boys .
Aaron

 

[Andrew Pratt]

One time i read it when i was in bed... today, i read it right after dinner...

Nick reading in bed is asking for trouble if you can't stay awake and everyone always feels sleepy after dinner. I usually am better at concentrating in the mornings but each person is different. Back in university my favorite wake up method was a one of those double hot chocolate power packets mixed in with a very strong coffee...that kept me up many a night
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http://www.attcanada.ca/~itisi
[Edited last by Andrew Pratt on September 18, 2001 at 08:55 AM]

 

[Jay H]

I too like to read in the mornings, while still in bed on a lazy sunday morning... I am most awake in the morning and then I get sleepier as the day goes on.
Perhaps you can put a picture of Mena on the inside back cover so your incentive to look at Mena is to read the whole book.

Jay
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Rider in the 2001 Alaska AIDS Vaccine Ride
Wanna Link Removed

 

[Max Knight]

On a more serious vein, as an English major I had to read a lot of books that I found very boring. I have found the following to be very important considerations for academic reading:
1. Do not overestimate your reading abilities. "Oh sure, I can read and digest two pages of Shakespeare in one minute, so this act should only take me a short time!" is a huge mistake.
2. Do not spend too much time taking notes. If you spend all your time taking notes, you won't get into the story. If you have to, read through a chapter once, then skim it again and make your notes.
3. Know your ideal reading conditions. Some people need absolute quiet. Some need a little background noise. I personally needed relative quiet and a snack/drink at hand.
4. Don't try to read too much at a time. Read in chunks. At the end of each chapter stop for a minute to think about what you just read or take notes.
If the book is just too boring for you, try to reward yourself when you reach a goal (50 pages, two chapters, etc.). Maybe it's a quick computer game, or a few minutes of listening to music, etc.
Hope this helps!
-Max