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Active 2 weeks, 2 days ago-
Daedalus replied to the topic Chit Chat in the forum
September Song 7 months agoI finally managed to read Ulysses earlier this year after numerous failed attempts over several decades (Middlemarch likewise). So I’m going to make the most of it!
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Jules replied to the topic Choices in the forum
September Song 7 months, 1 week agoRain
The Morning Gift
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Daedalus replied to the topic The Wild West Railway in the forum Blogs 1 year, 1 month ago
Glorious. I’ve been to that part of the world and had no idea there had been a railway there, let alone one with such a remarkable history. It’s a shame it didn’t survive long enough that the preservation movement had got going, though by the sound of things it was probably lucky that they quit while they were ahead.
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Daedalus replied to the topic What if I'm a bad human being? in the forum Blogs 1 year, 3 months ago
Oof. Yes. Gaiman. I think a lot of people I know are particularly hurt by that one because he appeared to be a writer of such humanity. I didn’t read anything of his that I didn’t like, and connect with in some way. At first, I did allow myself to give him the benefit of the doubt. Not for very long, and I’m not sure there’s any doubt now…[Read more]
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Daedalus posted an update 1 year, 3 months ago
Finally completed a more-or-less subbable draft of the novel I’ve been working on since 2013. I did the Writers’ Workshop Self Edit course using this novel in October 2014 (back in the days when I hilariously thought of it as ‘nearly finished’). Is anyone still around from that course? Anyway, it just goes to show that if you occasionally put your…[Read more]
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Many congratulations. I’m about to get going on my next novel that I started in 2009. Only took me 15+ years to think I might manage it.
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Daedalus replied to the topic Chit Chat in the forum
A Different Time 1 year, 7 months agoRe absence of choices and surprises. I’m not sure really. Sometimes they’ve helped me push myself to do something dramatically different, or have at least significantly shaped what I’ve written. Other times they just made slight complications to writing the story I would have written anyway. Generally it’s the overall theme I have the biggest…[Read more]
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Gosh, I had to read that last sentence twice! I’m astounded that only one of your excellent challenge stories has been accepted. Really sorry to hear that.
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Thanks Thea. In part I’m sure it’s my own fault for not being persistent enough. That said, I can’t help worrying that there’s something indefinably dated or just offputting in my writing. I should add that since I wrote the above, another story based on one of the Den challenge pieces was accepted for an anthology, but for various reasons that…[Read more]
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Congratulations on having another story accepted. You say the anthology might be “up in the air”, so I really hope it all goes through alright.
I honestly don’t think there’s anything “dated” or “off-putting” in your stories. I’ve read several in the challenges over the years and they have all been excellent. I’m sure that if you look back at the…[Read more]
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Daedalus replied to the topic Chit Chat in the forum
A Different Time 1 year, 7 months agoHope so!!
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Jules replied to the topic Chit Chat in the forum
A Different Time 1 year, 7 months agoAsper usual, I have no ideas at all yet. Knowing me, it’ll be something weird though ????
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Daedalus replied to the topic Chit Chat in the forum
A Different Time 1 year, 7 months agoI’ve an idea. Whether it’s a workable idea or not is another matter. Recently my life has taken a slight turn reminiscent of the film Stand By Me, and it’s kind of demanding to be written about. On the other hand, it doesn’t have an obvious narrative shape or all the checkbox things you’re supposed to include to make a story these days, and…[Read more]
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Woolleybeans posted an update 2 years, 3 months ago
I simultaneously get hooked on worldbuilding and dislike putting in a lot of exposition. I’m all ‘yeah, I only mention this one thing in passing, but it has much info in my head that you will never know’.
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Woolleybeans posted an update 2 years, 3 months ago
Welp, as my laptop has decided my writing since…August does not exist, I am going to start over on some stuff. Which is a good time to work on the Den challenge, because so far I have a playlist I am listening to which is, in my mind, linked to this story. I just have no actual words yet… But that counts, right? Right?
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Right! Thumbs up. Sorry about the laptop.
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Of course it does! You can’t paint a picture without setting up the easel, preparing the canvas and laying out your palette, and this is no different. Sorry to hear about the laptop
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Good to know that other Denizens have issues reading classic works. I remember the professor of philosophy at university remarking that there were a few books that every educated person should read. One of them was “The Magic Mountain” by Thomas Mann. Took me 40 years and 2 translations to become educated 😁
Congratulations on finishing Ulysses. I’ve never even tried.
The thought of reading The Magic Mountain crosses my consciousness from time to time. But Ath, did the philosophy professor explain why it should be read?
Not directly – or any of the other books on his list. I only remember a few. I suppose it was on his list because it gives an insight into how people think about life and death and some other major philosophical issues. My difficulty stems from myself, I think. I sometimes find it hard to read something that I’ve been told I ought to read. On…[Read more]
I’m ashamed to say I hadn’t heard of it, but a lot of non English language literature is not on my radar. As far as Ulysses is concerned, I can see why it is important, and I enjoyed parts of it very much, but it was a tough read because with the style constantly changing, I couldn’t settle into it the way I generally can sooner or later. Middl…[Read more]
Haha, Rosamund Vincy really is the worst! Even worse than the executives indeeed. But so memorable! I found the political bits in Middlemarch hard to get through personally, but yes the introspection can be pretty lengthy too.
I read Middlemarch very quickly when I was 19 and still had the habit of reading 2 or 3 books every week. MM took me a whole week. I have no recollection of how I felt about it afterwards, because, in my usual way I was onto the next book. Parts of it have sort of emerged into my mind, and, if I’m honest my writing over the years. The book that…[Read more]
I enjoyed Middlemarch when I read it some years ago. I like politics in novels – didn’t mind those parts. As for Rosamund Vincy: poor Lydgate. The mistakes we make.
The classic that’s had most impact recently is Wuthering Heights. I had to reread it for a book group or else wouldn’t have bothered. Teenage memories of a depressing story of a grim…[Read more]
Merle Oberon wasn’t the finest Catherine either. But Larry, dear Larry, was hopelessly miscast.
She did look as though she’d never been on a moor in her life.
Here’s Larry, wondering if he’s done the right thing
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wuthering_Heights_(1939_film)#/media/File:Laurence_Olivier_-_1939.jpg