Susan's Place Transgender Resources

Who else among us loves the classics? When I say classics, I don't mean Oliver Twist. I mean Poe, Shakespeare, Homer, and the like?

I have the complete works of both Poe and Shakespeare. I also have a volume that has both the Illiad and the Odyssey. I constantly read this stuff. I know more than half of the Raven by heart. Shakespeare's sonnet 141 is my favorite.

Other than that, I like medieval stories. Things like wizards and warriors. The occasional Stephen King book isn't bad. Other stuff that I absolutely love is the unexplained, and true hauntings. I have a few books on that stuff, have read them 10 billion times, and continue re-reading them. My favorite unexplained haunting is the moving coffins of Barbados. Truly out of this world. Literally I believe. Then there's stuff like homuncli, alchemy, bigfoot and nessie. Stuff we just can't figure out. It's just a mind job. Oh and you know of Jack the ripper right? Check out Spring Heeled Jack. Another psychopath that terrorized London int 1800's, yet had super human abilities. Such as the ability to leap above and past several houses in a single jump. The Germans tried to replicate that in one of the world wars, I just don't remember which one. Several soldiers died from the attempt, the rest would up with broken legs or ankles. A lot with spinal damage.

Am I crazy, or just stuck in the middle ages?

Nah, you're not crazy! Your tastes run a bit darker than mine though. I've started a personal fiction library that consists of hard covers (and a dedicated bookmark for each book!) of The Silmarillion, Hobbit, and Lord of the Rings, collected tales (didn't realize it wasn't "complete works" when I bought it, oops!) of H.P. Lovecraft (I'm wearing a Miskatonic U. t-shirt as we speak :p), Complete works of Poe (I've memorized over half the Raven too! I love getting it stuck in people's heads), and a giant book of collected poetry. I have more poetry books but they're on loan.

I've tried to sit down and do the Odyssey thing before, but didn't make it far. I intend to try again, some day, but for now I'm reading this book I found at a second-hand book shop called "Irish Folk & Fairy Tales Omnibus". It would be like your Greek epic, but Irish, I suppose? It is quite the quaint and curious volume of lore :)

Do you have smart person glasses too?! And a bag of nerd supplies? I was just commenting to a friend the other day that nerding out from time to time seems to be an important thing to do. He made the comment that one has to be careful to balance the nerd yin with the yang. Which, I have no idea what that even means. Seriously don't think he meant it in any sort of obvious way...artists  ::)

ANYWAYS...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnD0UgTwiLo has good lyrics. I've considered trying to learn Miniver Cheevy just to have something to say before commencing drinking, but I still have to finish the Raven at some point. I started it Halloween night when I was stuck home with a cold, and it's like once every few months I memorize a couple more stanzas. It's a long poem!

Hi!

I have read many of those books, and have a Masters in English literature because it was the path of least resistance.
It seemed like racket to get a degree in something I'd been doing since I was five (reading classical and Greek literature), then get paid for making others read it also, then discussing and writing about it.

I've read Poe, and partially memorized many sonnets and poems but most of it I'm OK reading only once.

Books I keep rereading I put in my Kindle library.

I usually avoid depressing stuff, except for books like Gone with the Wind and Anna Karenina, which make the reader watch people making train wrecks of their lives, but at least they are well written and entertaining.

I have plenty of Shakespeare on my shelf - it's kind of expected of me as a student of English literature and drama to know these sorts of works well, but I also enjoy them for their poetic skill and insight into the human condition. The fact Virgil was writing about things that can still be grasped is an archaeology of sorts. 

I've read over 5 million books since I taught myself to read when I was 4 that's 48yrs of reading. I've read darn near everything from adult books to romance,i'm a well rounded reader. I didn't for in in school for I was bored stiff for my teachers couldn't keep up with me, so they left me to my own and alone,i was the smart kid sitting in the back of the class reading westerns,history,stephen king,etc. I was once tested and topped the scale with a 175 iq, But being from the wrong side of the tracks and pissing the teachers off they didn't build off it,so I did. But my lack of social skills and being anti social I went into jobs where I was left alone and allowed to do my own thing for I got the job done faster and better then the other crew. Yeppers being smart comes with a curse.

Quote from: cheryl reeves on April 19, 2017, 08:06:07 PM
I've read over 5 million books since I taught myself to read when I was 4 that's 48yrs of reading.

That's nearly 300 books a day?

I own over 4000 books not counting comic books and that isn't counting the countless other books I've read. I'm a reader and have read a lot of  information. When I was in school sometimes I read up to 4-6 books a day,when I was a trucker sometimes I read 2-3 books a day. When I was in the 6th grade I was reading at a junior in college level and my knowledge of history by 7th grade was a bachelors degree level. I've read the library in town and in school bone dry on books and that was in 6 yrs My senior yr I was buying a lot of books for I read everything in the school library.