Comments on: The “Formatting the Partition” Roundup http://www.edrants.com/the-formatting-the-partition-roundup/ a cultural website in ever-shifting standing Wed, 08 Feb 2012 18:01:24 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: FreakyBeaky http://www.edrants.com/the-formatting-the-partition-roundup/comment-page-1/#comment-236828 FreakyBeaky Sat, 11 Aug 2007 21:24:33 +0000 http://www.edrants.com/?p=6544#comment-236828 This man Bykofsky isn't the first person to express such sentiments lately. See the recent coverage of the New Republic cruise for examples. Yes, he's a lunatic; yes, he's serious; no, he's not alone. Let's not be paraniod, but let's do take necessary account of the fact that this bizzare sort of crypto-fascism (such talk of the clarifying and benefical effects of violence is usually about using violence against your supposed enemies, not a third party using violence against your supposed friends in order to silence your supposed enemies) is for real. Can anyone imagine such a thing being published in any semi-respectable venue ten years ago, or even five? This man Bykofsky isn’t the first person to express such sentiments lately. See the recent coverage of the New Republic cruise for examples. Yes, he’s a lunatic; yes, he’s serious; no, he’s not alone. Let’s not be paraniod, but let’s do take necessary account of the fact that this bizzare sort of crypto-fascism (such talk of the clarifying and benefical effects of violence is usually about using violence against your supposed enemies, not a third party using violence against your supposed friends in order to silence your supposed enemies) is for real.

Can anyone imagine such a thing being published in any semi-respectable venue ten years ago, or even five?

]]> By: Bill Peschel http://www.edrants.com/the-formatting-the-partition-roundup/comment-page-1/#comment-236816 Bill Peschel Sat, 11 Aug 2007 01:43:25 +0000 http://www.edrants.com/?p=6544#comment-236816 Obviously you haven't delved into Grisham's "Skipping Christmas", which I see as a redemption story <a href="http://www.planetpeschel.com/index?/reviews/bookreview/get_frosty/" rel="nofollow"> that praises Ayn Rand.</a> Obviously you haven’t delved into Grisham’s “Skipping Christmas”, which I see as a redemption story that praises Ayn Rand.

]]> By: Lady T http://www.edrants.com/the-formatting-the-partition-roundup/comment-page-1/#comment-236813 Lady T Fri, 10 Aug 2007 22:59:04 +0000 http://www.edrants.com/?p=6544#comment-236813 I think you're being way too harsh on King there,Ed-it is possible to review a book and make credible commentary about the style and strengths/weakness of the text without using direct qoutes from the source material. And yes,King may use plain and simple language but he's talking about Harry Potter not James Joyce! He's right about R.L.Stine(I used to work in a bookstore with a good sized children's section and Stine's GB series dominated the YA fantasy section for quite a while) and about the current state of reading for young people. The early print/online reviews for HP7 were merely a media race to see who could grab the headlines first(btw,Christopher Hitchens is reviewing Deathly Hallows this Sunday in the NYTBR and I wish they had called King instead). I do agree with you about Grisham;I gave up on him after The Street Lawyer. I kept reading the book ,waiting for some interesting mystery/thriller action but all that was there was a boring yuppie-seeks-redemption-by-taking-a-humble-job piece. I was already getting sick of him getting up on his soapbox with The Runaway Jury(smoking is bad,mmmkay?) and The Chamber was so dull,I couldn't even finish it because I'm just not that big of a glutton for punishment(the film version is so tedious that it could be considered a violation of the Geneva Convention to show it on international flights). I think you’re being way too harsh on King there,Ed-it is possible to review a book and make credible commentary about the style and strengths/weakness of the text without using direct qoutes from the source material. And yes,King may use plain and simple language but he’s talking about Harry Potter not James Joyce! He’s right about R.L.Stine(I used to work in a bookstore with a good sized children’s section and Stine’s GB series dominated the YA fantasy section for quite a while) and about the current state of reading for young people. The early print/online reviews for HP7 were merely a media race to see who could grab the headlines first(btw,Christopher Hitchens is reviewing Deathly Hallows this Sunday in the NYTBR and I wish they had called King instead).

I do agree with you about Grisham;I gave up on him after The Street Lawyer. I kept reading the book ,waiting for some interesting mystery/thriller action but all that was there was a boring yuppie-seeks-redemption-by-taking-a-humble-job piece. I was already getting sick of him getting up on his soapbox with The Runaway Jury(smoking is bad,mmmkay?) and The Chamber was so dull,I couldn’t even finish it because I’m just not that big of a glutton for punishment(the film version is so tedious that it could be considered a violation of the Geneva Convention to show it on international flights).

]]> By: Abigail http://www.edrants.com/the-formatting-the-partition-roundup/comment-page-1/#comment-236810 Abigail Fri, 10 Aug 2007 19:34:11 +0000 http://www.edrants.com/?p=6544#comment-236810 <i>name one hard-core Harry Potter fan who didn’t wolf down the final book in quite the same way</i> Hello. To be honest, I don't understand the attraction. When I went back, after finishing the book on July 27th, to read online discussions by people who read it in six hours, half of them seemed to have missed most of the crucial plot points in their haste, and were busy explaining the story to one another. name one hard-core Harry Potter fan who didn’t wolf down the final book in quite the same way

Hello.

To be honest, I don’t understand the attraction. When I went back, after finishing the book on July 27th, to read online discussions by people who read it in six hours, half of them seemed to have missed most of the crucial plot points in their haste, and were busy explaining the story to one another.

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