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Re: Ah Cliff, I bow to thee BlackAdder Send a noteboard - 02/10/2010 04:07:10 AM

Not unless you went to High School in the illustrious state of SC. Some of the worst public education in the country. I'm almost certain this is how I could get good grades with Cliff's help.

mmm, I did not. Possibly you have a point


In my own defense, I moved in from a much better school district in OH and not everyone in SC is a waste because the schools are terrible. The district I was in was the best in the state, for what it's worth to be the best of the worst. The state was litterally ranked last in the country while I was finishing up.

Heh, I actually graduated from HS in Cleveland, although I only lived there 2 years. City schools, so not the best, but I only used Cliff notes when I didn't have time to do the reading assignments, and they didn't really help. I didn't realize SC was that bad

But more seriously though, that show... Wishbone was a lot more useful (and fun!) than Cliff notes

I dig most of those. What is the Periodic Table about, if not Chemistry? I've not heard of that one. Like seeing another Twain fan there.

It's written by a chemist and Holocaust survivor named Primo Levi. Each chapter is titled after a chemical element and the author relates each of them to his experiences in Nazi concentration camps.


This sounds like an interesting way to write about this subject. Does he get through all of the elements or just selects several that match up with his experiences? Also, does he just play off the elements name or get into it's scientific properties as well?

Sorry for so many questions here, this just seems an interesting way to do it. I'm also picturing a chapter called Bromine (or pick other random element) and how I would relate that to surviving a concentration camp.

It's much more metaphorical than just a play on the names. He relates to properties as well as the history of each element used. The total is not that long of a list. As I mentioned it is one element per chapter, and I think there are twenty or thirty chapters.

It's Hermann Hesse... not exactly my cup of tea (not that I drink tea), but I found his other major work, Steppenwolf, readable at least. Siddhartha is his version of the Buddha story and I just couldn't get through it.


I know very little about Buddhism, which seems to be a major influence on quite a few of his works. I imagine that would make it difficult to get into them, even if they were action packed. May be interesting to look at something from a different angle like that, but Steppenwolf sounds much more interesting.

Action-packed and Buddhist narrative don't seem to occur together anyway. I'm no expert on Buddhism, however. It really wasn't that much of a content issue, more a style/pace issue. And the story just gets... stranger as you move further.
This message last edited by BlackAdder on 02/10/2010 at 05:34:04 AM
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The Classics - general discussion / survey - 30/09/2010 03:52:53 PM 1334 Views
My own answers. - 30/09/2010 04:38:33 PM 921 Views
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Get a copy with annotations! - 30/09/2010 10:56:12 PM 844 Views
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Powdered Soup! - 30/09/2010 09:23:51 PM 965 Views
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Re: Powdered Soup! - 30/09/2010 10:07:20 PM 906 Views
Re: Powdered Soup! - 30/09/2010 10:10:32 PM 1069 Views
They are much, much worse than powder soup. - 30/09/2010 09:50:07 PM 811 Views
Well, since they're made of paper... - 30/09/2010 10:09:41 PM 888 Views
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Re: Cliff's notes - 06/10/2010 01:40:38 AM 985 Views
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Yes. - 01/10/2010 09:51:32 PM 798 Views
Re: A classic is really any book with enduring value. - 01/10/2010 12:20:51 AM 984 Views
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I study them, apparently. - 30/09/2010 08:44:40 PM 993 Views
I wish I could do that. - 30/09/2010 09:49:57 PM 895 Views
Less fun than you'd think. - 30/09/2010 10:52:10 PM 784 Views
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Agreed. edited - 30/09/2010 10:37:48 PM 946 Views
But but but Milton is beautiful - 30/09/2010 10:46:06 PM 877 Views
Sometimes. - 30/09/2010 10:47:28 PM 892 Views
Maybe I was unclear. - 30/09/2010 10:55:22 PM 903 Views
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I'm glad you approve on the whole. - 30/09/2010 11:12:00 PM 907 Views
I generally do. - 30/09/2010 11:19:05 PM 898 Views
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Re: Excellent. Might as well include a Hooft poem anyway, in case anyone's interested... - 30/09/2010 11:43:20 PM 892 Views
Dickens - 01/10/2010 02:42:42 PM 885 Views
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Oh, and link to the Flecker poem: - 30/09/2010 11:42:30 PM 788 Views
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Re: My classics - 01/10/2010 03:01:24 AM 942 Views
Ah Cliff, I bow to thee - 30/09/2010 11:30:41 PM 1002 Views
Re: Ah Cliff, I bow to thee - 01/10/2010 03:18:58 AM 848 Views
Re: Ah Cliff, I bow to thee - 01/10/2010 05:20:10 AM 939 Views
Re: Ah Cliff, I bow to thee - 01/10/2010 02:05:35 PM 884 Views
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I agree, thus the "confound" part in there - 01/10/2010 02:53:26 AM 779 Views
I figured as much. - 01/10/2010 03:08:26 AM 816 Views
I expected you to have quite a few as well. - 01/10/2010 03:25:06 AM 892 Views
Re: I will not list 300+ books here, I promise - 02/10/2010 11:23:37 AM 943 Views
Criminy, I thought I was done with essay questions years ago. - 01/10/2010 01:39:56 AM 923 Views
Glad to bring back the school days. - 01/10/2010 01:49:48 PM 949 Views
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Mm, Doré's engravings are gorgeous. - 02/10/2010 11:40:48 AM 959 Views
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