Hi there,
So do you have a favourite book? NOT THE BIBLE although I read that cover to cover and with hope and interest. I did skip all the begats, which were a lot. But it's not a book I enjoyed.
No, I have favourite books. Catch 22 by Joseph Heller. They made a movie about it and that was nonsense and nothing like the book. This book is the ONLY one I have ever laughed out loud at while reading it alone.
The characters in it are extroardinary. Couple of examples. A guy whose surname is Major, his parents have a nasty sense of humour so they gave him two first names, being Major, Major. So he was Major major major.
It was the second world War and when he joined up some clerk put him down as a Major. So he became Major Major Major Major. Trouble is, he knew nothing about the army or war so any time someone casme to see him he would hop out his ground floor window and run. No one really ever saw him.
Then there was the main character whose only ambition was to complete the prescribed number of flying missions to be sent home. Every time he got within 5 they'd raise the minimum by, say, 20. That was Catch 22. You get to go home if you reach X number of flown missions, except you never reach that number because they kept increasing it anytine someone got close. Through attrition he became the lone survivor with a chance. That's the Catch. You can't reach the number. Catch 22. Got it, it's impossible. Yossarian was his name. Do you now understand what it means when they say "Ahh, Catch 22". Just means it can't be done as someone will stop you.
The other book is "The Dice Man" by Luke Rheinhart. The main character is a shrink and his best friend is a shrink. He sees a lot of people and never helps anyone really. Then, on a whim he decides that all people have moments where they would love to do something out of character. In other words, we all have many personalities but we suppress them for the sake of convention and peace.
But how to let these parts of him have a chance at expressing themselves?
After a dinner with his friend Jake and his wife, Arlene, his wife has gone to bed and he's sitting in the lounge room, swirling the last drink around his glass when he notices a dice under a magazine on the table.
So he thinks "If that dice has a three showing face up I'm going to go downstairs and rape Arlene.
It's a three of course so he gets up goes downstairs and knocks. Arlene answers and he says "I'm here to rape you, the die told me to". She says, "Hold on a minute would you and returns quickly and pulls him inside and SHE virtually rapes him. Apparently she had a similar part of her that wanted to do the same.
And so it goes. He gives the dice increasingly risky options and is constantly disappointed anytime it rolls up "Do nothing". It is hilarious and leads to situations you could never imagine. And the basic idea is actually a valid theory on man and why he restricts himself to become, well, nothing really.
What are yours?
So do you have a favourite book? NOT THE BIBLE although I read that cover to cover and with hope and interest. I did skip all the begats, which were a lot. But it's not a book I enjoyed.
No, I have favourite books. Catch 22 by Joseph Heller. They made a movie about it and that was nonsense and nothing like the book. This book is the ONLY one I have ever laughed out loud at while reading it alone.
The characters in it are extroardinary. Couple of examples. A guy whose surname is Major, his parents have a nasty sense of humour so they gave him two first names, being Major, Major. So he was Major major major.
It was the second world War and when he joined up some clerk put him down as a Major. So he became Major Major Major Major. Trouble is, he knew nothing about the army or war so any time someone casme to see him he would hop out his ground floor window and run. No one really ever saw him.
Then there was the main character whose only ambition was to complete the prescribed number of flying missions to be sent home. Every time he got within 5 they'd raise the minimum by, say, 20. That was Catch 22. You get to go home if you reach X number of flown missions, except you never reach that number because they kept increasing it anytine someone got close. Through attrition he became the lone survivor with a chance. That's the Catch. You can't reach the number. Catch 22. Got it, it's impossible. Yossarian was his name. Do you now understand what it means when they say "Ahh, Catch 22". Just means it can't be done as someone will stop you.
The other book is "The Dice Man" by Luke Rheinhart. The main character is a shrink and his best friend is a shrink. He sees a lot of people and never helps anyone really. Then, on a whim he decides that all people have moments where they would love to do something out of character. In other words, we all have many personalities but we suppress them for the sake of convention and peace.
But how to let these parts of him have a chance at expressing themselves?
After a dinner with his friend Jake and his wife, Arlene, his wife has gone to bed and he's sitting in the lounge room, swirling the last drink around his glass when he notices a dice under a magazine on the table.
So he thinks "If that dice has a three showing face up I'm going to go downstairs and rape Arlene.
It's a three of course so he gets up goes downstairs and knocks. Arlene answers and he says "I'm here to rape you, the die told me to". She says, "Hold on a minute would you and returns quickly and pulls him inside and SHE virtually rapes him. Apparently she had a similar part of her that wanted to do the same.
And so it goes. He gives the dice increasingly risky options and is constantly disappointed anytime it rolls up "Do nothing". It is hilarious and leads to situations you could never imagine. And the basic idea is actually a valid theory on man and why he restricts himself to become, well, nothing really.
What are yours?
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