King Arthur Movie Tristan

title: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland


author: Lewis Carroll


genre: classic/fantasy/childrens


published: 1865


source: DailyLit



first line: Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank, and of having nothing to do: once or twice she had peeped into the book her sister was reading, but it had no pictures or conversations in it, `and what is the use of a book,' thought Alice `without pictures or conversation?'



rated: 4 out of 5 stars












I don't know what took me so long to read Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. I think it's because I'm not a big fan of Disney's animated Alice, and that kind of put me off from reading the actual story.
I also have to admit the unsavory rumors about Lewis Carroll also steered me away from reading this one.




I put that aside and decided to finally read this classic. I found Alice's Adventures in Wonderland a delight. As soon as Alice falls down the rabbit hole, I found myself swept into Carroll's lyrical and strange storytelling and didn't stop reading until the end.


Alice herself is the one who captivates the reader.

For, you see, so many out-of-the-way things had happened lately, that Alice had begun to think that very few things indeed were really impossible.

After falling down the rabbit hole, Alice encounters some strange characters, the Chesire Cat, the Queen of Hearts and the Mad Hatter among them. The encounters Alice has with these characters are funny and strange and I enjoyed the silliness of the story. Interestingly enough, this genre is referred to as literary nonsense.

Lewis Carroll was a mathematician and that is evident as you read this story.

Let me see: four times five is twelve, and four times six is thirteen, and four times seven is - oh dear! I shall never get to twenty at that rate!

My favorite chapter was 5, Advice from a Caterpillar.


I found it amusing that Alice comes upon a caterpillar sitting on a mushroom, smoking a hookah no less.

The Caterpillar and Alice looked at each other for some time in silence: at last the Caterpillar took the hookah out of its mouth, and addressed her in a languid, sleepy voice.

'Who are you?' said the Caterpillar.

I read this one online, but I'll definitely be grabbing a copy to add to my book collection. I know this one is best read with the illustrations included.

I almost wish I hadn't gone down that rabbit-hole--and yet--and yet--it's rather curious, you know, this sort of life! I do wonder what CAN have happened to me! When I used to read fairy-tales, I fancied that kind of thing never happened, and now here I am in the middle of one! There ought to be a book written about me, that there ought!

Read Alice's Adventures in Wonderland online free from DailyLit or at americanliterature.com.







This has been a part of Once Upon a Time

title: Lincoln's Yarns and Stories

authors: Abraham Lincoln & Alexander Mcclure

source: Daily Lit

genre: non fiction/history


rated: 3 1/2 stars out of 5

This 1901 collection of personal anecdotes and fables brings warmth and humanity to our image of Abraham Lincoln. Insightful and often humorous, these stories capture the essence of a man who has gone down in history as a great and heroic leader. Through these tales, many of which Lincoln loved to tell himself, we see a different, more accessible side of a legendary historical figure.

Abraham Lincoln has always been my favorite president. He served as the 16th President of the United States from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865.




I have watched a few documentaries about Lincoln and never cease to be fascinated by him. I think his having endured a difficult childhood helped make him the man he became. He ended up suffering an unhappy marriage and having 4 sons, only to lose them all to illnesses. Lincoln suffered from depression himself. His wife wound up in a mental asylum.



The letters and speeches included in this collection are about everything from taxes and education. There's even one letter about courting a woman and another has advice for lawyers. Lincoln mostly discusses slavery. He brings up the Dred Scott decision repeatedly, which stated that people of African descent that were imported to the U.S. would never be citizens or be protected by the Constitution.

As a nation, we began by declaring that all men are created equal. We now practically read it, all men are created equal except negroes. When the Know-nothings get control, it will read, all men are created equal except negroes and foreigners and Catholics. When it comes to this, I shall prefer emigrating to some country where they make no pretence of loving liberty--to Russia, for instance, where despotism can be taken pure, and without the base alloy of hypocrisy.

-AUGUST 24, 1855

This was the type of read that I needed to get in small doses, which was what made it a perfect selection for a Daily Lit
read. It's not the type of book I'd be able to immerse myself in for a few days. I'd actually be a bit bored with it if I did that.




Lincoln's Yarns and Stories was an interesting read. I especially liked peeking at Lincoln's personal letters, the ones that were not related to politics and I wish there were more like those included in this collection.



I was happy to see the former president mention Shakespeare, and how he loved Macbeth.

AUGUST 17, 1863

Some of Shakespeare's plays I have never read; while others I have gone over perhaps as frequently as any unprofessional reader. Among the latter are Lear, Richard III., Henry VIII., Hamlet, and especially Macbeth. I think nothing equals Macbeth. It is wonderful.

Another letter that made me smile was one to his wife:

LETTER TO MRS. LINCOLN. WASHINGTON. AUGUST 8, 1863


My dear Wife, All as well as usual, and no particular trouble anyway. I put the money into the Treasury at five per cent., with the privilege of withdrawing it any time upon thirty days' notice. I suppose you are glad to learn this. Tell dear Tad poor "Nanny Goat" is lost, and Mrs. Cuthbert and I are in distress about it. The day you left Nanny was found resting herself and chewing her little cud on the middle of Tad's bed; but now she's gone! The gardener kept complaining that she destroyed the flowers, till it was concluded to bring her down to the White House. This was done, and the second day she had disappeared and has not been heard of since. This is the last we know of poor "Nanny."

This is not my usual type of read and I'm happy I ventured out a bit and learned something along the way. I enjoyed Lincoln's speeches, and see him even more now as a great man.










Here's are a few quotes from his many speeches:

For my part, I desire to see the time when education--and by its means morality, sobriety, enterprise, and industry--shall become much more general than at present; and should be gratified to have it in my power to contribute something to the advancement of any measure which might have a tendency to accelerate that happy period.


-MARCH 9, 1832

Let reverence for the laws be breathed by every American mother to the lisping babe that prattles on her lap. Let it be taught in schools, in seminaries, and in colleges. Let it be written in primers, spelling-books, and in almanacs.
Let it be preached from the pulpit, proclaimed in legislative halls, and enforced in courts of justice. And, in short, let it become the political religion of the nation.



-JANUARY 27, 1837

But we cannot be free men if this is, by our national choice, to be a land of slavery. Those who deny freedom to others, deserve it not for themselves; and, under the rule of a just God, cannot long retain it.

-MAY 19, 1856

title: Tao Te Ching

author: Lao-Tse


first line: The Tao that can be trodden is not the enduring and unchanging Tao.





I've been reading the Tao Te Ching in daily installments from Daily Lit. It's something totally different from what I normally read.



The Tao Te Ching consists of 81 short poems, which you can read here. It was written about 2,500 years ago by Lao Tzu and is the basis for the philosophical school of Taoism.



Most of the themes in the Tao Te Ching are about living life simply and doing away with material things. This is a difficult book to review, I feel I really can't do it justice. It's such a profound work.


Here are a few of my favorite passages:

He who knows other men is discerning; he who knows himself is intelligent. He who overcomes others is strong; he who overcomes himself is mighty.

Sincere words are not elegant; elegant words are not sincere.

The good person does not argue; the person who argues is not good.

The wise do not have great learning; those with great learning are not wise.

True Persons do not hoard.

Using all they have for others, they still have more.

Giving all they have to others, they are richer than before.


The way of heaven is to benefit and not to harm.

The way of the True Reason is to assist without striving

in the unfolding of the story of the earth.

Empty everything out; hold fast to your stillness.

Even though all things are stirring together,

watch for the movement of return.

The ten thousand things flourish and then

each returns to the root from which it came.

Returning to the root is stillness.

Through stillness each fulfils its destiny.

That which has fulfilled its destiny

becomes part of the Always-so.

To be aware of the Always-so is to awaken.


Those who innovate while in ignorance of the Always-so

move toward disaster.

Those who act with awareness of the Always-so

embrace all, are not possessed by particular desire,

and move toward the Tao.

Those who are at one with the Tao abide forever.

Even after their bodies waste away, they are safe and whole.

I enjoyed reading the Tao Te Ching and am glad I ventured off and read something different.

title: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow

author: Washington Irving

published: 1820

firts line: Found among the papers of the late Diedrich Knickerbocker.



The Legend of Sleepy Hollow starts off with the narrator describing the town of Sleepy Hollow. The mood is set perfectly, the small town is said to be haunted and the townspeople believe there is such a thing as the Headless Horseman.

Enter Ichabod Crane, who is a schoolteacher and arrives at Sleepy Hollow from Connecticut to teach the townchildren. Ichabod is described as being tall and lanky, with his clothes too large for his thin frame. He also enjoyed reading, singing and flirting with the townswomen. He spent winter evenings with the old Dutch wives and loved to hear them tell ghost stories.

When he meets Katrina Van Tassel, he likes her right away. However, Katrina is being courted by Brom Van Brunt, a young man well known for being mischevious.

When there is a party at the Van Tassel home and the whole town is invited, Ichabod is more than happy to go. Ichabod hopes that one day he will marry Katrina and he will inherit the Van Tassel property.


As the night goes on with dancing and drinking, the townspeople begin to tell thier ghost stories. And invetiably, they begin to tell stories about The Headless Horseman.

Once the night is over and everyone starts to go home, Ichabod stays behind to speak to Katrina. When he is done, he leaves, walking home alone late at night. He begins to pass a few of the places where the ghost stories he heard of took place.


Out of the dark appears the Horseman, and comes after Ichabod. The next day all that the townspeople find is Ichabod's horse, hat and a smashed pumpkin. Everyone just accepts that the Horseman killed Ichabod.


A few years later, an old farmer visits New York and comes back to town saying that he saw Ichabod Crane there. He claims that Ichabod ran off that dark night because he was spooked in the woods and because Katrina had turned him down. Brom also seemed a bit suspicious whenever people mentioned Icabod's dissapearance. He would laugh at the story and seemed to know more than he was telling anyone.



I hadn't read The Legend of Sleepy Hollow since I was in grade school, and on re-reading it, I found that I still enjoyed it. This is a great spooky story for anyone, especially older school children.

I liked how Irving sets the mood and there is no dialogue in the story, it is just the narrator telling his tale.

From the listless repose of the place, and the peculiar character of its inhabitants, who are descendants from the original Dutch settlers, this sequestered glen has long been known by the name of SLEEPY HOLLOW, and its rustic lads are called the Sleepy Hollow Boys throughout all the neighboring country. A drowsy, dreamy influence seems to hang over the land, and to pervade the very atmosphere.

The dominant spirit, however, that haunts this enchanted region, and seems to be commander-in-chief of all the powers of the air, is the apparition of a figure on horseback, without a head. It is said by some to be the ghost of a Hessian trooper, whose head had been carried away by a cannon-ball, in some nameless battle during the Revolutionary War, and who is ever and anon seen by the country folk hurrying along in the gloom of night, as if on the wings of the wind.

All the stories of ghosts and goblins that he had heard in the afternoon now came crowding upon his recollection. The night grew darker and darker; the stars seemed to sink deeper in the sky, and driving clouds occasionally hid them from his sight. He had never felt so lonely and dismal. He was, moreover, approaching the very place where many of the scenes of the ghost stories had been laid.

I read this online at:



This read has been part of R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril…IV

Nymeth hosted the Try Something New Mini-Challenge and I read The Colors of Space. My reading partner is Rhinoa, who has sent me a set of questions to answer as part of my review.






title: The Colors of Space

author: Marion Zimmer Bradley

published: 1963

genre: science fiction/YA

first line: It was a week before the Lhari ship went into warp-drive, and all that time young Bart Steele had stayed in his cabin.

Bart Steele has just graduated from the Academy and qualified as an Astrogator. Instead of getting a berth on a human ship, however, he disguises himself as an alien Lhari and signs on to one of their ships, risking his life to break the Lhari's monopoly on intergalactic travel by finding out what element is missing from human attempts to copy the Lhari's star drive.

Questions from Rhinoa:

1. What was the The Colours of Space about?

Young Bart Steele has just graduated from the Academy and is on his way back home to Vega. While waiting for his father to pick him up, he sees a strange man come towards him and tell him to 'follow his lead'. This man is pretending to be Bart's father and warns Bart that his life is in danger. Turns out this man, named Briscoe, knew Bart's father and is here to save Bart's life.



There are alien Lhari that allow humans to travel through space at warp speed in Lhari ships. The humans are first put to sleep so that their bodies can endure the warp-drive. Turns out Bart's father thought the Lhari were lying and that humans can find their own way through space. Bart winds up disguising himself as a Lhari and trying to find out the secret to warp speed. Are the aliens trying to keep humans from finding their full potential?



The reason this book is called the colors of space is because Bart has a special genetic mutation that allows him to see the extreme high light illumination levels in the Lhari planet. Bart can see what is called the 'eight color'.





2. Did you enjoy reading this book?
The Colors of Space was an interesting read. It had a pretty good plot, but didn't blow me away. I enjoyed it, but I didn't love it.





3. Did you find a favorite character?

I think Bart was a good character. He was smart, loyal and independant.




4. Was this book very far out of your comfort zone?


I enjoy science fiction, but don't get to read it as much as i'd like to. I tend to watch sci-fi films and programs instead of reading books in this genre. So this read was out of my usual comfort zone, and hopefully i'll start to read a bit more sci-fi.



5. Have you ever read anything similar?

I used to read and really enjoy the Star Trek Voyager books! *lol...don't ask me why*

I recently read Well's 'War of the Worlds'. But I think my favorite sci-fi read so far is Stephenie Meyer's 'The Host'.




6. Have you read anything by Marion Zimmer Bradley before?

Nope, this is my first time reading her work.




7. Will you read anything by her again?

I hope so. One thing I found interesting, is that Marion Zimmer Bradley is a 'she'. I always thought this author was a dude! (just because of the name Marion) And Miss Bradley also wrote the book The Mists of Avalon , which I have in my TBR pile.






8. Would you recommend this book?

I would recommend this one to fans of sci-fi. It's a quick and easy way to get a good dose of science fiction. It's good for young adults too.



9. Did you enjoy this challenge?

Yes I did enjoy it and am glad to have stepped out of my comfort zone.




--------------------------

Last but not least, here's my facorite passage:

One by one he picked out the constellations. Aldebaran swung on the pendant chain of Taurus like a giant ruby. Orion strode across the sky, a swirling nebula at his belt. Vega burned, cobalt blue, in the heart of the Lyre.

Colors, colors! Inside the atmosphere of Earth's night, the stars had been pale white sparks against black. Here, against the misty-pale swirls of cosmic dust, they burned with color heaped on color; the bloody burning crimson of Antares, the metallic gold of Capella, the sullen pulsing of Betelgeuse. They burned, each with its own inward flame and light, like handfuls of burning jewels flung by some giant hand upon the swirling darkness. It was a sight Bart felt he could watch forever and still be hungry to see; the never-changing, ever-changing colors of space.

I read this book online courtesy of Daily Lit.

In the mood for some thrills and chills? Curl up with this 1921 collection of spooky tales by some of the English language’s best writers. Such masters of the supernatural as Edgar Allen Poe, Ambrose Bierce, and Arthur Machen bring you terrifying tales of revenge from beyond the grave, frightening stories of shadowy spirits who threaten their victims’ sanity, and touching pieces about love and devotion that know no (earthly) bounds.

I have been reading Famous Modern Ghost Stories a little bit every day courtesy of Daily Lit. As I read, I've decided to review the short stories one by one. This way I can give each story the attention it deserves. Here is my first review:








First in this collection is a short story called:

THE WILLOWS by by Algernon Blackwood

first line: After leaving Vienna, and long before you come to Buda-Pesth, the Danube enters a region of singular loneliness and desolation, where its waters spread away on all sides regardless of a main channel, and the country becomes a swamp for miles upon miles, covered by a vast sea of low willow-bushes.

rated: creepy






Two friends go on a canoe trip down the Danube river. They decide to camp on an island surrounded by willows, but once there, they become stranded. This is how the 'willows' are described:

humble bushes, with rounded tops and soft outline, swaying on slender stems that answer to the least pressure of the wind; supple as grasses, and so continually shifting that they somehow give the impression that the entire plain is moving and alive






That first night that they make camp, strange things happens throughout the night, strange noises are heard and in the morning, the two men find that their boat is broken, an oar is gone and the other oar is damaged. Each man is suspicious of the other.
They also notice odd sounds and movement that seem to be coming from the willows. But though they are afraid, each man is trying to keep his cool and not let these strange events mess with thier heads.

With this multitude of willows, however, it was something far different, I felt. Some essence emanated from them that besieged the heart. A sense of awe awakened, true, but of awe touched somewhere by a vague terror. Their serried ranks growing everywhere darker about me as the shadows deepened, moving furiously yet softly in the wind, woke in me the curious and unwelcome suggestion that we had trespassed here upon the borders of an alien world, a world where we were intruders, a world where we were not wanted or invited to remain--where we ran grave risks perhaps!

Another strange thing that happens is a constant 'humming' sound. The men cannot pinpoint where it is coming from or what it actually sounds like, but it is freaking them out. Also, after spending the first night on the island, in the morning, the men notice some of thier food is missing.

But the willows especially: for ever they went on chattering and talking among themselves, laughing a little, shrilly crying out, sometimes sighing--but what it was they made so much to-do about belonged to the secret life of the great plain they inhabited. And it was utterly alien to the world I knew, or to that of the wild yet kindly elements. They made me think of a host of beings from another plane of life, another evolution altogether, perhaps, all discussing a mystery known only to themselves. I watched them moving busily together, oddly shaking their big bushy heads, twirling their myriad leaves even when there was no wind. They moved of their own will as though alive, and they touched, by some incalculable method, my own keen sense of the horrible.

They mend their boat as best as they can and contemplate making a run for it, to try to go down the river and escape off the haunted island. But to go downstream would mean to go into 50 more miles of willows. So instead, they wait it out.

"Look! By my soul!" he whispered, and for the first time in my experience I knew what it was to hear tears of terror in a human voice. He was pointing to the fire, some fifty feet away. I followed the direction of his finger, and I swear my heart missed a beat.


There, in front of the dim glow, something was moving.

One night, one of the men begins sleep talking, saying things about making a sacrifice to the willows. Then he tries to drown himself. The other man saves him.
I won't give away any more of the story, but this was a good one. It was just the right length, had a creepy plot, and a good ending.

"The Willows" was the personal favorite story of H.P. Lovecraft, who wrote in his treatise Supernatural Horror in Literature, "Here art and restraint in narrative reach their very highest development, and an impression of lasting poignancy is produced without a single strained passage or a single false note.

quoted from wikipedia

title: The War of the Worlds

author: H. G. Wells


pages: 240

genre: science fiction

published: 1898

Never before in the history of the world had such a mass of human beings moved and suffered together.


rated: 4 out of 5






The last science fiction novel I read was Stephenie Meyer's The Host. And I've been meaning to grab a good sci-fi novel, but nothing really grabbed my attention. Then I remembered the sci-fi classic, The War of the Worlds.



Taking place in London, The War of the Worlds, is about Martians invading Earth and the mayhem that results. The way Wells writes the story, it's almost like you are reading non-fiction. I liked his style of writing, the storyline was fun and i'm glad I read this one.


He explains there is life on Mars:

The planet Mars, I scarcely need remind the reader, revolves about the sun at a mean distance of 140,000,000 miles, and the light and heat it receives from the sun is barely half of that received by this world. It must be, if the nebular hypothesis has any truth, older than our world; and long before this earth ceased to be molten, life upon its surface must have begun its course. The fact that it is scarcely one seventh of the volume of the earth must have accelerated its cooling to the temperature at which life could begin. It has air and water and all that is necessary for the support of animated existence.

Next he goes on to explain how the Martians can no longer live on Mars, the climate is drying out. And they know Earth is nearby, they can invade.

And we men, the creatures who inhabit this earth, must be to them at least as alien and lowly as are the monkeys and lemurs to us.

The narrator goes on to tell how he has seen lights through a telescope at night, he knows these are caused by Martians invading Earth. He and an astronomer, Ogilvy, began to watch the sky for signs of an invasion. The narrator insists its Martians firing missiles, but Ogilvy says the flashes they have been seeing at night are just meteorites. By this time, the local newspapers are reporting about the strange meteorites.




Until one day, there is a 'falling star'. Thinking its another meteorite, Ogilvy
goes to check it out and sees a huge hole in the ground, with what looks like a spaceship inside. A crowd soon gathers at the site and before you know it, things start to come out of the spaceship...things with tentacles.

A big greyish rounded bulk, the size, perhaps, of a bear, was rising slowly and painfully out of the cylinder. As it bulged up and caught the light, it glistened like wet leather.


Two large dark-coloured eyes were regarding me steadfastly. The mass that framed them, the head of the thing, was rounded, and had, one might say, a face. There was a mouth under the eyes, the lipless brim of which quivered and panted, and dropped saliva. The whole creature heaved and pulsated convulsively. A lank tentacular appendage gripped the edge of the cylinder, another swayed in the air.

Before you know it, more spaceships land, more Martians emerge and begin using Heat Rays to destroy everything in their paths. The Martians eventually begin to spread poisonous black vapour as well. Red vegetation begins to sprout and cover everything. So basically, all Hell breaks loose. People begin to make a run for it, many are trampled trying to get onto trains, in cars, trying to find any way out of town. The narrator takes his wife to Leatherhead to stay with relatives until it is safe again. But things go from bad to worse. When he gets to see the Martians up close, he sees them feed. They are blood suckers.

They did not eat, much less digest. Instead, they took the fresh, living blood of other creatures, and injected it into their own veins.

He is forced into hiding for a while, being that he is trapped inside a damaged building near one of the Martian's landing sites. Several days later, he is finally able to re-emerge and walk the streets, he sees death and destruction caused by the Martians.

The dusky houses about me stood faint and tall and dim; the trees towards the park were growing black. All about me the red weed clambered among the ruins, writhing to get above me in the dimness. Night, the mother of fear and mystery, was coming upon me. But while that voice sounded the solitude, the desolation, had been endurable; by virtue of it London had still seemed alive, and the sense of life about me had upheld me. Then suddenly a change, the passing of something--I knew not what--and then a stillness that could be felt. Nothing but this gaunt quiet.

I am very glad I read The War of the Worlds. It was entertaining and well written and above all, it's a classic. If you want to read great science fiction, pick this one up. Or better yet, read it for free from Daily Lit.
I liked this passage:

And before we judge of them too harshly we must remember what ruthless and utter destruction our own species has wrought, not only upon animals, such as the vanished bison and the dodo, but upon its inferior races. The Tasmanians, in spite of their human likeness, were entirely swept out of existence in a war of extermination waged by European immigrants, in the space of fifty years. Are we such apostles of mercy as to complain if the Martians warred in the same spirit?

What happens to the Martians? Do humans survive the invasion? You have to read The War of the Worlds to find out!

For neither do men live nor die in vain.

Interesting tidbit:

A 23 feet high sculpture of the a Tripod fighting machine, entitled 'The Martian' based on the description in The War of the Worlds, stands in Crown Passage, close to the local railway station, in Woking.


How cool is that?








about the author:

Herbert George Wells (21 September 1866 – 13 August 1946), better known as H. G. Wells, was an English writer best remembered today for the science fiction novels he published between 1895 and 1901: The Time Machine, The Island of Doctor Moreau, The Invisible Man, The War of the Worlds, The Sleeper Awakes, and The First Men in the Moon. Wells and Jules Verne are each sometimes referred to as "The Father of Science Fiction".


He was an outspoken socialist and a pacifist; his later works becoming increasingly political and didactic. His later novels were more realistic; they covered lower middle class life (The History of Mr Polly) and the 'New Woman' and the Suffragettes (Ann Veronica). He was a prolific writer of both fiction and non-fiction, and produced works in many genres, including contemporary novels, history, and social commentary.

quoted from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._G._Wells

I was reading The War of the Worlds a little bit every day courtesy of a great site called Daily Lit













This book is part of the Sci-Fi Experience challenge.