March 2012
im trying to start getting into films and books. i think i'd like woody allen-esque films, maybe with some culture or something french (sorry if this is sort of vague). in terms of books, i like things with philosophy in them, that teach you something practical about life in an underlying message. would you mind providing me with a list?
If you like Woody Allen’s style, you may like Roman Polanski, Stanley Kubrick, Federico Fellini and Martin Scorsese.
If you like french cinema, you should really look into Jean-Luc Goddard and the new wave. For the list, here are some really good french films.
When it comes to books, I would start with George Orwell’s work as well as Aldous Huxley. If you are interested in science, Darwin’s book on natural selection is incredibly easy to read and packed with informations. Voltaire also deserves a place in this list.
Hope it helped.
How many books have you read?
I have no idea! I never counted.
February 2012
Do you think that people can/should rational when it comes to losing a loved one. Especially when it comes to a sudden death or an accident. Do you think that people should be able to forgive the person they accidentally killed?
It depends on a person’s personality. I know that personally I am far better off by staying rational and calm but that doesn’t work for everyone. Firstly, grief takes time and depending on whom you lost, it might take even longer. When it comes to forgiving a person that killed (accidentally) your loved one, you don’t have to. I’m not religious so I do not have a very christian attitude to forgiveness but if the rage and resentment you feel hurts you more than anything else, I think it might be important for you to somehow heal. How? I have no idea…everybody is different. But it would be way easier if the person responsible pays a fair price for their wrong doing.
Did you read Twilight? I know it is absolutely not comparable to Harry Potter, yet many people like it for some reason. Which modern book or series would you like to read sometime?
I do not read Twilight. I read the first chapter of the first book and I have to say that it really didn’t appeal to me.
I heard really great things about the A Song of Ice and Fire series so I might try it. Otherwise, I really liked some of Kate Atkinson’s books.
So your first language is indeed French?! wow that is amazing... you speak English so eloquently... is the transition from french to english/english to french difficult for you?
Thank you ^^ My mother used to always tell me that speaking correctly was like wearing a very beautiful dress. Haha! She often said “Would you want to go out with holes in your shoes, no? Speak properly.” - I guess my parents were old fashioned in that sense.
When it comes to english, when I moved to Montreal my parents put me in an private all english school. I was 11, I spoke very little english and suddenly everything was in english! This is when I met my english tutor and she really changed my life! Now I’m back in the french education system, with a very good english ;)
What do you think about the Harry Potter books? You read very fine literature, so I was wondering what your opinion on this might be.
I grew up with Harry Potter so I might be a little bias. I first read them in french as I didn’t speak any english. Rowling constructed a very magical yet believable world. You can see that she really put a lot of thoughts and time into creating and writing her books.
When I re read them in english, I loved the series even more! The quality of the language was really good and she didn’t seem to dumb down to childlike language. The way things are described, the complexity of the characters…It is an amazing body of work! Comparable to JRR Tolkien (in my opinion).
By the way, I’m not at all snobbish when it comes to books. I’m very open minded, I just think that reading classics (or fine literature) is a way of enjoying more recent literature as a lot of authors inspired themselves from the grand classics.
What book are you reading at the moment?
I finished “Du côté de chez Swann” (Proust) fifteen minutes ago and now I’m looking for a less heavy book to read. I might take on Lady Susan (Jane Austen) to relax a little bit ;)
