Literature

How often have you done this and do you think it slightly 'impedes' your own experience with the text? For example, I watched Forman's adaptation of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest before reading the novel. Despite the book being a favourite of mine, it was rather difficult for me to envision the setting, the characters, the environment, and the overall world of the work without thinking of the adaptation. I couldn't get Jack Nicholson's depiction out of my head when I was trying to imagine who this McMurphy character was. Similarly, the same can be applied with Nurse Ratched, the Chief and the overall layout of the unit these patients were residing in.

List of great contemporary short stories. I read a lot of science fiction and often encounter great short stories. Many authors have fine collections: Arthur C. Clark, Fred Pohl, Larry Niven, Isaac Asimov, etc. A couple years ago I read "The Hard SF Renaissance" which had many good stories. Hard to pick a favorite but maybe Ted Chiang's "Understand" about a guy who has brain damage and is given an experimental drug to heal it. He turns into a super-genius. Nancy Kress's "Beggars in Spain" story was later expanded into a series of books. It's about genetically modified people who no longer need to sleep.

Did 60s literature do anything more than tell us about what the 60s were like or are there actual life lessons to be learned about from the adventures they went on and the stories they wrote.

There's plenty of talk about gender and sexuality play out in Fifty Shades of Grey. What could be even more interesting is looking at how class plays out. Could one argue that Anastasia Steele fulfills a class fantasy by getting involved with the much richer Christian Grey? Does the so-called American Dream revolve around the obtainment of wealth? How does the exposure to such enormous wealth influence the wealthy characters? How are individuals with lower incomes portrayed – in a way that ignores the humanity of these individuals, or in a way that recognizes the privilege of being white and upper class? Could be an interesting topic to explore.

While this topic is listed under literature, the film version could certainly also be explored.

When our kids were small, we owned lots of books and were regulars at the library, so a lot of picture books went by. Some were so wonderful the kids kept them, or bought copies for themselves as adults. Among those were several which were all about the art rather than the story. Would love to read a piece about the greatest picture books.

Discuss the idea that Scott Westerfield's novel, "Afterworlds", condones dyadic withdrawal to an extreme extent. Dyadic withdrawal is a situation in which a person gets into a romantic relationship and then drifts away from many of his or her friends. In the novel, the main character spends a lot of time with her S.O. They write together, eat almost every meal together, and often sleep at each other's apartment. However, the main character seems reluctant to spend time with any of her friends or anyone other than her S.O. In the end, they break up and get back together, but they seem to think that there is no problem with the isolated nature of the relationship.

Now that "Sons of Anarchy" is over, it would be interesting to explore any books out there about the MC world. I know there is plenty of non-fiction. Let's focus on fiction. So far all I've come across is a ton of romance.

Like movie remakes… but in books? From my understanding, in a way, there is–Stephen King's publisher has issued long-form versions of books originally released with substantial edits. I was still reading King when some of these came out, and the two unedited versions I read, both of books I knew well in their original published form, were badly bloated, having benefited greatly from the edits which shortened length and deleted scenes and subplots which did not contribute to the whole.

It's unlikely to happen often, though. Most authors' edited work is pretty close to the original they turned in. The author (or his/her heirs) own the rights to their books for 70 years after death, so it's not like another author can write a brilliant update without violating copyright.