only intermittently obedient

Feel free to add yours (or try to change my mind about mine) in the comments.

1, 2, & 3 - The Lord of the Rings trilogy by JRR Tolkien. Yes, they're classics. They are also dry as esoteric scholastic research papers; hyper-detailed, with long stretches where not much happens (other than my braincells slowly withering). Ironically, all those mind-numbing details are exactly why the movies are better. They are the perfect blueprint for the actors, costumers, set designers, armorers, creature builders, etc. to make magnificent movies.

4 - The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco. I read it to get insight into the movie (with Sean Connery and Christian Slater). Two problems - it suffered from the same issue as above...and then didn't provide any insight. It must have taken over a month to read, because I'd get fed up and throw it in the corner until I built up the strength to carry on. (I never treat books this way, but an exception was made.)

5 - The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim. There are two characters who end up together basically because they're the last two characters left. The movie gives them a reason. (Book is a solid 90%, but the movie is 99%.)

6 - Lethal Weapon novelization by Joel Norst. I think it was based on the script's first draft, because the characters and characterizations were waaaayyy different than the movie. Plus, it was so badly bound that the first two copies fell apart.

7 - The Horse Whisperer by Nicholas Evans. In the book, she went back to her husband because the guy she was having an affair with died. In the movie, he lived and she actually had to make a choice.


Fight me! :D

Here's the thing. I love words. I love to push them and pull; stroke, throw, and play with them - until they mean exactly what I need them to. So it really jars me out of the moment when I'm reading and the wrong word is used. I sort of tense up for the rest of the story, waiting for the next word-shaped shoe to drop.

These are the three I've see most often lately. I wish I could go, author by author, and gently teach people the difference between what they meant and what they wrote. I don't seem to have the gentle touch (in writing, anyway) needed, so all I can do is post my frustration here and hope for the best.


reign in =/= control. This comes from the horse riding world. Rein - you know, like those things on a bridle. (See also "give free rein".)


discrete =/= on the down low. This is the one that inspired the homonym list. I'd be very discreet in my tutelage, I promise. :grin:


albeit =/= although. It is close, even if not precisely the same. I think that someone who knew how to use it correctly did, and then a bunch of people took it to mean 'although', and used it themselves not realizing it was a shade of meaning off.


That's it for now. I feel better.

I'm back, and bossy as ever.  When you've finished reading all the books I recommended, you can take a break and catch a good flick.  Here are nine I insist you see.

( recommended viewing list )