Did you enjoy 'Ransom'?

[pi]

Just wondering, for those studying or who have read Ransom (by David Malouf), how many of you enjoyed the novel?

Asking because when I asked a couple of my friends the same question, I was given completely opposite opinions. So, if you read it, did you like it? And why?

Its a new VCAA text, and am just trying to gather some opinions about it.

[azngirl456]

Yes, I liked Ransom because it took the time to explore humane values amidst the tragedy of war. While it is quite slow, I did enjoy the style it was written and the vividly detailed sentences malouf just loves to include.

I've heard a lot of people complaining about Ransom on facebook and tumblr. But seriously, it isn't as bad. What's really bad is the shark net.

[Water]

I wanted to burn it in a camp fire and then throw around its cremated ashes like sprinkling snow flakes.

Hopefully, it'll be more enjoyable once we study it, in school >:




I thought Sharknet was much more redeeming... btw

[azngirl456]

And another thing to add...many people have said that malouf has wasted about 200 pages writing ransom because they think it's just an elaboration of book 23 and 24 of homer's illiad. Thats not entirely true because malouf does make up some characters, events and places different importance and emphasis on parts of the story. While book 23 and 24 of the illiad is shorter in length than ransom, malouf is trying to tell us how storytelling can become skewed but is nevertheless essential.

[acinod]

On my first read of Ransom, I actually could not follow the storyline in Part 1 and for the rest of the book, it felt delayed and quite slow to read. However I liked how the language is easy to understand and the larger than average font

After watching Troy, which allowed me put faces to the characters, as well as reading some study guides, I absolutely loved reading Ransom the second time.

[Water]

On my first read of Ransom, I actually could not follow the storyline in Part 1 and for the rest of the book, it felt delayed and quite slow to read. However I liked how the language is easy to understand and the larger than average font

After watching Troy, which allowed me put faces to the characters, as well as reading some study guides, I absolutely loved reading Ransom the second time.

I hope thats going to be the case, if anyone read Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, its torture reading it the first time, but it grows on you ....

Its slowness could be deliberate as azngirl said.. Anywayz, yeh XD

[azngirl456]

I wanted to burn it in a camp fire and then throw around its cremated ashes like sprinkling snow flakes.

Hopefully, it'll be more enjoyable once we study it, in school >:




I thought Sharknet was much more redeeming... btw

The written style and mood of shark net reminds me of a book called deadly unna?
But since you're a guy, you could probably relate more to drewe's memoir.

[iamtom]

I hated Ransom. Hate hate hate hate hate. I'd rather just read Homer's Illiad.

[FatnessFirst]

hell to the no.

[EvangelionZeta]

As somebody whose favorite work of literature is The Iliad, Ransom is incredibly enjoyable (halfway through).

To those complaining that it's a palimpsest, consider that most of Shakespeare's plays borrowed from old stories too, and that Ransom is much more "human" than it's source.

[tea.squaredd]

love it.

[Tobias Funke]

I like how it adds the whole Carpe Diem aspect in, basically the reason I like 70% of my movies and books.

Also, interesting how it skews the saying 'It's better to live one day as a lion than a thousand as a lamb'

[pi]

I loved it too! Although I thought the start was a bit too slow. Its a great novel on the importance of storytelling.

[illuminati]

I definitely loved the book. I found that I could really relate to the movie, Troy, but I guess like everyone I got lost pretty easily in the first section...

[EvangelionZeta]

The reason people are getting confused is because Troy is only based on The Iliad in terms of story - the actual details of the characters vary fairly significantly (eg Achilles is part god in The Iliad, hence the stuff about the metaphysical mother at the start of Ransom).  In contrast, Ransom only plays with narrative details, and is fairly faithful to it's source in terms of setting and characterization.