I can’t help with the quote. I haven’t gotten that far yet. But chapter three indeed tells us that “Letitia Borrows teaches [Bod] writing and words, and Mr Pennyworth teaches [him] his ‘Compleat Educational System for Younger Gentlemen with Additional Material for those Post Mortem’.”

Are you doing an essay on The Graveyard Book ?

I also want your help in recalling Mr. Pennyworth’s relationshp to Bod? Isn’t he Bod’s tutor?

Thank you for your reply to this inquiry.

great of you to stop by and share your thoughts.

I mostly think that it is fairly easy to dismiss books without really trying to read them, especially if people have already formed an opinion on books they haven’t read.

Personally, I will also rarely abandon a book, but that might be because I only start a book when I really look forward to reading it. I do not choose books ahead, but only pick a new one when I have finished another, which means I will always pick the books that I want to read most at that time.

The last book I have abandoned is Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson and the only reason I abandoned it is because it’s a very complexly structured book and I started it as an audio book. I am certain that Snow Crash is the type of book that one needs to read in dead tree version before one rereads it in audio.

I do seem to think that contemporary fiction, more than literature, can be very enlightening when it comes to the acute sense of self and others. I think fiction is better suited for the reader to recognise characters, personalities and situations that inhabit our own life, if not our own self. More than literature, fiction tends to not be an analysis of human state, but more of human activity and makes it often more a tale that we relate to.

Now I say this having read awfully few literary classics and I am definitely in danger of being just the type of opinionated person that I illustrated before, but I do seem to have a love for classic drama and highly metaphoric works, such as The Scarlett Letter and Utopia. Maybe that is too much of an influence.

Now that you have read some of your ex-girlfriend’s more chick-lit choices, do you agree with her that it is generally less pretentious and as enlightening as your more ’scholarly’ choices ?

Christian Civil Liberties Union = Oxymoron

Civil Liberties apply to everyone and if you think it’s your liberty to reduce the liberties of others, the liberties of others prevail.

Love, Lies

it’s great to have you stop by and put trust in my recommendation.

I share your opinion; if a book can’t keep my attention from the start, I’ll probably not finish it, no matter how literary it is. There are so many great life-changing classics out there, but there are also jewels of contemporary tales that could be just as worthwhile. I like to strike a balance of both (with the scale tipping to contemporary, I know).

I’ll recommend three, depending on the genre that you prefer;

If you like strong starts and catchy writing, I would recommend Patricia Briggs’ Moon Called. It’s in the supernatural fiction category and I guess you have to like that and be able to go with the suspension of disbelief. But if a novel starts with ‘I didn’t realize he was a werewolf at first. My nose isn’t at its best when surrounded by axle grease and burnt oil—and it’s not like there are a lot of stray werewolves running around. So when someone made a polite noise near my feet to get my attention I thought he was a customer.’ it’s got my attention all right ! A good supernatural crime mystery with a very well-developed heroine.

If you are not only the reading type, but, like me, also the listening type, the second I’d recommend is the BBC audio drama of Stanislaw Lem’s Solaris. There are a few TV and film versions of it, the last having been made a few years ago with George Clooney. It’s categorised Sci-Fi but I’d say it’s that as much as it’s a psychological thriller. Good strong start, well developed characters, nice plot twists and a high-quality production by the BBC (albeit short, running at just under two hours).

My last recommendation is from an older reading list. It’s more in the literary category than the other two because of the descriptive writing and weaker characterisations, but well worth your time if you like the style. Atonement by Ian McEwan has been made into a feature film with Keira Knightley and James McAvoy. If you have seen the film, the plot twist will be spoiled because it’s a very true adaptation, but the book is even stronger than the riveting film. Also well worth a read.

Hope you enjoy the site and please do let me know if my recommendations suited you at all, if you decide to run with them. Maybe you could even write a review for me and the other readers, since I really do read too many books to review them all.

I love catchy writing and I have to say my one indulgence is that I can not continue a book that starts out slowly, no matter how literary it is….did you have a favorite out of your recent reads?