http://www.myopicsheep.com Close Readings for the Masses Thu, 26 Jul 2007 00:26:12 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en   I must admit, I’m embarrassingly late to jump on the Rosie Thomas train. I consider myself an avid reader, yet I hadn’t even heard of this author until I was handed a free copy of her novel at Book Expo ... http://www.myopicsheep.com/2007/07/25/iris-and-ruby-by-rosie-thomas/     Set in a small town on the Saskatchewan-Alberta border, Baker breathes life into its dusty farmlands and passion into an ordinary German community with layers upon layers of meaning — a pleasant surprise from a first-time novelist. The Horseman’s Graves tells the story of ... http://www.myopicsheep.com/2007/07/25/the-horsemans-graves-by-jacqueline-baker/   Responsibility and Consequences “I will not desert you! I will protect you by every means in my power, dearest love, whatever you may have done or not have done!” (p.386) Oh Mr. Hardy, must the female protagonist always die? In the case of ... http://www.myopicsheep.com/2007/04/07/tess-of-the-durbervilles-by-thomas-hardy/   Where Angels Fear to Tread: Heaven's Gate and the Sinking of United Artists Final Cut: Art, Money, and Ego in the making of Heaven’s Gate, the film that sank United Artists Looking to prevent your movie from becoming ... http://www.myopicsheep.com/2007/04/07/final-cut-by-steven-bach/   "Because there was some doubt about Riel's sanity, I delayed the execution until November 16th and had him examined by three doctors.  They all agreed that he was NOT crazy." - John A. MacDonald I haven’t had the opportunity to read ... http://www.myopicsheep.com/2007/04/07/louis-riel-a-comic-strip-biography-by-chester-brown/   But I wasn’t born Republican.  It’s not genetic.  Believe me–I’m familiar with genetics.  I have McMurphy, the eight-hundred-pound gorilla I carry in my DNA, a total loose cannon rolling around my personality. Born to Rock is Gordon Korman’s most recent creation and unleashes a relatively ... http://www.myopicsheep.com/2007/04/07/born-to-rock-by-gordon-korman/   Each time I put my weight on a fresh dagger, my heart went into my mouth. I was in grade 8 when I first read Cue for Treason, which was assigned by my English teacher.  While I rarely put any ... http://www.myopicsheep.com/2007/04/07/cue-for-treason-by-geoffrey-trease/ Bleak House by Charles Dickens Wasting Candles "Thus, in the midst of the mud and at the heart of the fog, sits the Lord High Chancellor in his High Court of Chancery." (p.18) Those with a penchant for reading about the dark underbelly of Victorian London need ... http://www.myopicsheep.com/2007/04/07/bleak-house-by-charles-dickens/ People You Once Knew “I sit at the bottom of sleep, As on the floor of the sea. And fanciful Citizens of the Deep Are graciously greeting me.” (68) I always find short stories to be somewhat depressing.  They are short bursts of reality. A melancholic photograph of ... http://www.myopicsheep.com/2007/04/07/friends-of-my-youth-by-alice-munro/   "Wonderful music like this was the worst hurt there could be.  The whole world was this symphony, and there was not enough of her to listen." (p.143) The Heart is a Lonely Hunter is a book about people.  It is a ... http://www.myopicsheep.com/2007/04/07/the-heart-is-a-lonely-hunter-by-carson-mccullers/