*boggle*

[yendi]

From one of the customer reviews for The Continental Op:

I can easily understand why Dashiell Hammett was so revered as a crime/thriller writer in his day but, sadly, the stories and the language are so dated that for me, they affect the impact and enjoyment of the tale.

I shudder to think what would happen if this poor girl were to attempt to read, say, Pride and Prejudice or Hamlet.

Comments

[voltbang.livejournal.com]

"I don't like to, you know, read anything written by someone who is like, dead now. It's kinda like, you know, creepy."

[robyn-ma.livejournal.com]

Your blog entry is so 2006. Who even uses words like 'attempt' and 'shudder' anymore?

I can easily understand why you were so revered as a blogger in your day but, sadly, the stories and the language are so dated that for me, they affect the impact and enjoyment of the blog.

[litch.livejournal.com]

Keanu as reeves as sam spade

[corwinok.livejournal.com]

QUIET! The film execs might hear you!

[dwivian]

Or the Odyssey! And no cheating by reading it in an accessible translation, either!

In a world where everything is brought, just in time, just right, to the consumer, I can see where people have lost the ability to take in a story in the context of the author's time and style. If it doesn't fit in an iPod or TiVo, with subtitles..... ::sigh::

[malinaldarose.livejournal.com]

I think it takes a certain maturity to be able to read and enjoy something in an older style of prose. I would not have enjoyed any of the Jane Austen I have read in the last few months ten years ago.

And please excuse my lack of contractions; my browser is being funky this morning.

[matociquala.livejournal.com]

I still can't read Austen, but it's not the prose. It's that I inevitably find myself uninterested in the things that concern her characters.

OMG. *lightning strikes*

I'm too much of a butch for Austen.

*dies*

[yendi]

Heh. Have you tried Northanger Abbey? I found it a lot more accessable (and enjoyable) than her other novels (plus, it contains possibly my favorite line of Austen dialogue: "I cannot speak well enough to be unintelligible.").

[matociquala.livejournal.com]

I haven't. But I always find myself skimming her books, waiting for something to happen. I suspect she's wasted on me.

[malinaldarose.livejournal.com]

I was going to suggest that one...it's so much fun!

[malinaldarose.livejournal.com]

*snork*

I suppose if you're not interested in who's going to marry whom, or who's wearing what, or who's going to be in town for the season, then there's not much reason to read Austen.

I was rather surprised to find myself enjoying her work, to be honest.

[thelastrobot.livejournal.com]

I love it. Reminds me of people who say they don't like The Seventh Seal because they've seen chess games with death so many places. I love retroactively blaming something.

[cissa.livejournal.com]

*choke*

Great comments, too!