Ophelia Joined the Group Maidens Who Don't Float: Classic Lit Signs on to Facebook
14 journalers for this copy...
It may seem a bit odd that I chose the book at all; I'm not on Facebook, nor on any other major networking sites - I don't even twit. Er, tweet. Whatever. (I did post on usenet groups back in the day, and now there are the BookCrossing forums and LiveJournal, but the message-board structure, etiquette, and expectations are all very different from those of the social sites.) But while I may need to do a little research to figure out some of the jokes (on the cover, Hester Prynne "received a piece of flair", whatever that means), much of the rest of it seems pretty entertaining even without the full context (Edgar Allan Poe "will not stop looking at you that way").
Other samples: from Juliet Capulet's page, "Relationship status: it's complicated." There's a "travel tipster" review of Wuthering Heights ("only stayed because of blizzard and dog attack"). And "Edgar Allan Poe received a ROFL Catz: 'iz in ur wall (wit ur ded wife)'." Hee!
Ooh, and there are quizzes, like "Which dystopia are you in?" The choices there include Brave New World, 1984 - and "Social Media", about which it says:
"You've stopped communicating with actual people to spend more time updating your status, tending your virtual farm, pretending you're in the mafia, and writing comments on the pages of people you haven't seen in person since kindergarten, if ever. What's that? Your boyfriend wants to talk to you? Just tell him you will as soon as you take these quizzes on what your birthday means about you, what kind of shoe you are, and what kind of dog breed you'd be. Go ahead, we're always here for you. Always, always here."A bit shuddersome, that one! [And it reminds me of this entertaining Social Media Venn Diagram t-shirt from the lovely - if gloomy - folks at Despair.com!]
I'm even enjoying the segments on books/characters I haven't read; Holden Caulfield's page, for example, has him whining as usual only to receive a series of snarky/helpful comments from Huck Finn, Jo March, Pip, and Scout Finch, among others. And Holden gets to participate in some other chats, such as this exchange on the news feed for Alice's Adventures in Wonderland:
"Alice does wish I didn't have to keep changing! I would cry, but I did that before and almost drowned myself in my poor tears. Along with several woodland creatures.Some of the items, such as Great Expectations, are actually pretty good summaries of the books' plots - surprisingly so in some cases, with details that tend to get dropped from film versions; teachers should be on the lookout for book reports based on these!
Peter Pan: You don't have to change, Alice. Never grow up!
Lewis Carroll: Here, here!
Hans Christian Andersen: So true!
Humbert Humbert: Yes, yes!
Holden Caulfield: This place is lousy with perverts."
I have more things-I-want-to-quote than I can fit in a single JE, so I'll have to be selective (and leave something for the readers to discover for themselves!). I loved the Jane Austen segment, where she gets comments/questions from Emma Thompson, Karen Joy Fowler, Bridget Jones, Colin Firth, Elizabeth Bennett, and William Shakespeare. [Shakespeare opens the book, come to that; among other things he suggests that one measure of a "classic" is "how often you refer to me".]
There's a lot more wonderfulness here, but I'll end with the James Joyce profile - it is a major hoot ("Are you sure he didn't just hit 'Post' too soon?", which also - oddly enough - provides some insight into Joyce's unusual style.
Very, very entertaining book, this!
[See also the maidenswhodontfloat web site, here.]
The book is a 7"x9.5" softcover that weighs about a pound, and will definitely hit the 1-pound mark with packaging, something to keep in mind when estimating postage costs. I'm willing to make it an international ray if I get enough participants who can mail internationally and cover all the necessary hops. [US participants can get postage estimates at the USPS site here ( http://www.usps.com ).]
Bookray instructions:
When you receive the book, please journal it, and PM the next person in line for their address so you'll have it ready when you've finished the book.
Note: even if you've sent books to that person before, please PM them before mailing this one, to confirm that the address is correct and that they're able to take on a bookray book at this time.Try and read the book promptly - ideally, within one month of receiving it. (If you expect to take longer, you can request to be put at the end of the list. If you find you're swamped with other books when the person before you contacts you about the book, you can ask to be skipped, and then let me know whether you'd like to be moved down the list or dropped entirely. If you receive the book and find it's taking longer than you'd planned to get through it, I'd appreciate an update in its journal entries or on your profile, just to let me and the other participants know you haven't forgotten it.)
When you're ready to pass the book along, please add your comments about the book and indicate where you're sending it, either through a journal entry or through the controlled-release-note option using your country/state/city as the location. If you find that you're having problems contacting the next person in line, or don't think you can manage to mail the book as originally agreed, please let me know; I'll be glad to try to work something out.
Participants so far, in mailing order:
collectorkerri [USA]
nancynova [USA]
Minerva101 [Canada]
rureading [Canada]
FrancesinSA [South Africa]
snufkin81 [South Africa]
chich [Spain]
elstaplador [UK]
ArabellaFigg [UK]
salvami [Ireland]
Projekt-X [UK]
Luanalara [Germany]
Esme-Weatherwax [Ireland]
It's now on its way to nancynova in Pennsylvania for the next leg of its journey.
I don't facebook, tweet or anything else, much to my kids' dismay, but looking forward to reading this anyway.
Now off to Canada!
Granted some of the jokes went over my head as I haven't read all the classics exploited within but still was able to appreciate the chapters anyways.
Loved it, loved it, loved it! Honestly my favorite part was Alice in Wonderland - the exchange with Alice, Holden Caulfield, Huck Finn, Cake, Morpheus, Hunter S Thompson and Neo was beyond priceless! I was over the top with laughter when Grace Slick jumped into the conversation! Hahahahahahaha!
And the Paradise Lost part was very good also. I particularly liked the lines:
God removed Satan from his Best Friends.
Satan added "Motivational Speaker" to his Work Info.
Oh, thank you, GoryDetails, for sharing this book! My stomach hurts from all the laughter! I will PM rureading and arrange to meet up with her so that she can enjoy it also.
rureading is reading “Ophelia Joined the Group Maidens Who Don’t Float”
rureading wonders who Odysseus is… :P
rureading enjoyed Paradise Lost because of the Rolling Stones reference! (Which band do you prefer: Rolling Stones or the Beatles? –An old school quiz- ha.)
rureading watched Pride and Prejudice and understands the references- ha ha!
Jane Austen: How could you appreciate my book if you only watched the movie on DVD?! I don’t even get the royalties from all the movies, spin offs and book clubs. Despicable…
rureading wishes Mr. Darcy (Colin Firth) would send a Bouquet of Tulips to her…
rureading remembers something of her grade 10 English and understands Juliet Capulet’s profile.
rureading is reading Coles notes for Moby Dick… snore…
rureading enjoyed the Quiz with Dante’s Inferno!
Dante: Confess that you only read that section because “Dante” is the name of a vampire in that trashy novel you read.
rureading: :O
rureading thanks GoryDetails for the book! I wish I had paid attention in English and, of course, now my TBR pile is much bigger… :)
rureading is sending this book to South Africa!
I have two bookring books to read before this one but will get to it asap.
I did enjoy the way that rureading did her review. :-D
I will post this to chich tomorrow.
Released 13 yrs ago (11/20/2010 UTC) at To the next participant, A Bookring -- Controlled Releases
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I started reading the book last night and am already loving it, thanks for sharing it with us GoryDetails:)
Oscar Wilde thinks we live in a age when unnecessary things are our only necessities.
Oscar Wilde: Arguments are to be avoided; they are always vulgar and often convincing. Whenever people agree with me I always feel I must be wrong. Life is far too important a thing ever to talk seriously about.
William Shakespeare: Oscar, you're going to hurt yourself quipping. Also, you'll never win in a quip-off against me. We know what we are, but not what we may be. Neither a borrower nor a lender be. Frailty, thy name is woman!
Mark Twain: The coldest winter I ever spent was summer in San Francisco.
William Shakespeare: Har har.
Oscar Wilde: Who would even care about that quip unless they were in San Francisco?
Ernest Hemingway: How do you fellows find the time to quip so often? No one ever quotes my quips?
Charles Dickens: They do have bad writing contests in your honour, however, as well as those look-alike contests. No one does that for me.
Ernest Hemingway: You get built-in publicity every damn Christmas!
Charles Dickens: True.
Dorothy Parker: I hear you're quipping over here? I don't care what is written about me so long as it isn't true.
Oscar Wilde: Can you all take this somewhere else? This is my page. My quips.
William Shakespeare: Sure
Charles Dickens: Of course.
Dorothy Parker: Certainly.
Ernest Hemingway: Damn right.
Mark Twain: Okeydoke.
I also loved the smack talk when authors play Scabulific together! "Faulkner: Muchsias grapcias my sautril little meise. Hemingway: I hate you." Hilarious I tell you:)
Thanks so much for sharing this very entertaining book with us GoryDetails! This would make a perfect Christmas gift for many people I know;)
Happy Holidays to all!
Released 13 yrs ago (12/9/2010 UTC) at Bookring/Bookray, -- By post or by hand/ in person -- Canada
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Released 13 yrs ago (1/10/2011 UTC) at By mail, A Bookring -- Controlled Releases
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I thought this book was a lot of fun - great literary characters' status updates, very cleverly done. Happily I knew most of the works referenced, because I could see from reading the chapters based on works I didn't know that it wasn't going to make a whole lot of sense out of context. My favourite was the Shakespeare's Comedies section, which was utter genius.
I will get the address from the next book-crosser and get the book moving again as soon as I can.
Thanks again for sharing! :-)
Thank you GoryDetails for sharing & ArabellaFigg for sending me this book!
Some of them I didn't know or never read *shame*, so I had to look up, but overall it was a fun entertaining book!
Got Projekt-X's address the other day, so I will send this as soon as possible.
Released 13 yrs ago (3/28/2011 UTC) at -- Somewhere in London 🤷♀️ , Greater London United Kingdom
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I'll finish another book this weekend and then I'll see what all those famous people are doing on facebook.
Thank you for sharing!
Especially loved Odysseus, Paradise Lost, Pride & Prejudice (and Austen's profile *g*), Romeo & Juliet, Alice in Wonderland, Lord of the Flies, Oscar Wilde's profile.. I could go on. :) Loved it when characters commented on other characters' profiles. *g*
Got the next address and will send the book off on Monday.
Released 12 yrs ago (4/12/2011 UTC) at -- Per Post geschickt / Persönlich weitergegeben --, Nordrhein-Westfalen Germany
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