TWWF Literature

[RotavatoR]

We've been interacting with various well-known literary characters during the course of this Alternate Reality Game, but I think there's actually a lot of people who haven't read some of their books, including me. That's where this topic comes in. Now I'm not sure how this would work (as it obviously needs some fine-tuning) but I feel like this would be a great motivator for me and others to discover the literature that our fascinating friends are born from.
Also, this is a place to discuss the wonderful worlds and characters, and to enjoy these books as a group.

-Alice in Wonderland
-Anansi's Web
-Cinderella
-Don Juan
-Don Quixote de la Mancha
-Dracula
-Frankenstein
-Gulliver's Travels
-Hercule Poirot
-King Arthur
-Peter Pan
-Phantom of the Opera
-Romeo and Juliet
-Sherlock Holmes
-Sweeney Todd
-Treasure Island
-Wizard of Oz

(I've probably forgotten a few books, so feel free to mention them here.)

[Qara-Xuan Zenith]

• Romeo and Juliet
• Cinderella

[Pixelmage]

To be honest, I'm curious to know if any metaguards have actually read all of these.

I'd say which ones I read, but it wasn't the full list, so... *sidesteps*

[Sicon112]

I've read all but Anansi, Juan (The original version), Poirot's books (Have heard a lot about them, though), The Phantom novel, and Todd.

[The Wild West Pyro]

We've been interacting with various well-known literary characters during the course of this Alternate Reality Game, but I think there's actually a lot of people who haven't read some of their books, including me. That's where this topic comes in. Now I'm not sure how this would work (as it obviously needs some fine-tuning) but I feel like this would be a great motivator for me and others to discover the literature that our fascinating friends are born from.
Also, this is a place to discuss the wonderful worlds and characters, and to enjoy these books as a group.

-Alice in Wonderland
-Anansi's Web
-Cinderella
-Don Juan
-Don Quixote de la Mancha
-Dracula
-Frankenstein
-Gulliver's Travels
-Hercule Poirot
-King Arthur
-Phantom of the Opera
-Romeo and Juliet
-Sherlock Holmes
-Sweeney Todd
-Treasure Island
-Wizard of Oz

(I've probably forgotten a few books, so feel free to mention them here.)

I've read Alice in Wonderland, Cinderella, Don Quixote, Frankenstein, King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, The Phantom of the Opera, Gulliver's Travels, a few of Poirot's novels, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, as well as The Return, The Memoirs, The Hound of the Baskervilles, The Valley of Fear, The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes, Treasure Island, and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

[narrativedilettante]

To take them in order:

-Alice in Wonderland: Read and loved both the books, can recite certain poems from memory

-Anansi's Web: I've read a few Anansi stories (we covered him in 8th grade English) and Neil Gaiman's Anansi Boys.

-Cinderella: I know the story as well as anyone who heard fairy tales and/or watched Disney movies growing up.

-Don Juan: No familiarity whatsoever except for a vague idea of his reputation.

-Don Quixote de la Mancha: We read this in 10th grade English.

-Dracula: No practical familiarity whatsoever. I know a little through the extensive influence of Dracula on popular culture, but not much about the source material.

-Frankenstein: Only slightly more familiarity than Dracula.

-Gulliver's Travels: Have read and loved and even ran a lesson on Jonathan Swift in 12th grade.

-Hercule Poirot: Other than knowing he's a Belgian detective created by Agatha Christie, no familiarity whatsoever.

-King Arthur: I have an extremely tempestuous relationship with Arthurian lore. I pretty much go crazy any time I try to learn anything about any of it. So I know fairly little, or at least, what I DO know tends to be muddled and confused.

-Phantom of the Opera: I've seen the musical. I can sing some of the songs from it. I've never read the source material and don't completely remember the plot from the musical.

-Romeo and Juliet: I've read the play and I hate it with a fiery passion.

-Sherlock Holmes: I've read many, but not all, of the Arthur Conan Doyle stories.

-Sweeney Todd: I've never read A String of Pearls, which is the most well-known textual version of the Sweeney Todd story, but I love the musical and have much of it memorized.

-Treasure Island: I've never read the book, and though I've seen Muppet Treasure Island, I don't remember it super well and haven't seen it since I was a kid.

-Wizard of Oz: I've never read any of the books, because I've had a hard time finding physical copies of them. I do know the movie very well.

I do have a copy of Treasure Island. I picked it up to start reading it in December, got maybe 20 pages in, and put it down somewhere I don't remember. :/

[Qara-Xuan Zenith]

Alice I read, though I didn't particularly enjoy it; I stopped partway through the sequel.

I've read a couple of Anansi stories, plus of course Anansi Boys, which I loved.

I have read a vast amount of different takes on the Cinderella tale.

Don Juan I think I've only got from osmosis, and (heh) the Don Juan play-within-a-play in Phantom.

Peter Pan I've read the original play, seen the Disney film, and watched my sister in a school production of the musical.

Quixote-- I've seen Man of La Mancha. Still need to read the original (I'm held up on that because I'm torn between struggling through the original Spanish, or doing enough research to find a translation I'll be able to stand).

Dracula and Frankenstein-- Okay, I know at one point I took both of these out of the library, and started one with the intent to finish both. But then... I got bored and wandered off? (Anyway, I'm familiar with both because osmosis. I think sometime I'll give them another try.)

Gulliver-- haven't read it yet. Mostly I know of him from osmosis, and the extended allusion in Terry Pratchett's Bromeliad trilogy.

I have not read Poirot.

I haven't read Le Morte D'Arthur or one of the other "authoritative" Arthurian compendia, but I have read a great many retellings of Arthurian myth.

Phantom-- enjoyed the book, somewhat enjoyed the Andrew Lloyd Weber musical.

R&J I've read. I quite enjoyed it, actually, taking into account the fact that the main characters are idiots. (Maybe I only liked it because we studied it in my favourite English class. ^_^)

I've read a number of Holmes stories, and a couple of the novels, but not all of them by a long shot.

Sweeney Todd I only know from osmosis.

Treasure Island I've read, and enjoyed (and then re-read during TWWF, the better to manipulate LJS).

I have read the Wizard of Oz (and seen the movie and the play Wicked, but WHATEVER), as well as ALL the Oz books written by L Frank Baum, the original author (plus a number of Oz books not written by him, though none of the Thompson ones). And a good deal of the other stuff he wrote.
Uh...
Oz was the first series of books I actually became obsessed with, way back in... grade two? I think grade two.
<_<
>_>

[The Wild West Pyro]

Alice I read, though I didn't particularly enjoy it; I stopped partway through the sequel.

I've read a couple of Anansi stories, plus of course Anansi Boys, which I loved.

I have read a vast amount of different takes on the Cinderella tale.

Don Juan I think I've only got from osmosis, and (heh) the Don Juan play-within-a-play in Phantom.

Quixote-- I've seen Man of La Mancha. Still need to read the original (I'm held up on that because I'm torn between struggling through the original Spanish, or doing enough research to find a translation I'll be able to stand).

Dracula and Frankenstein-- Okay, I know at one point I took both of these out of the library, and started one with the intent to finish both. But then... I got bored and wandered off? (Anyway, I'm familiar with both because osmosis. I think sometime I'll give them another try.)

Gulliver-- haven't read it yet. Mostly I know of him from osmosis, and the extended allusion in Terry Pratchett's Bromeliad trilogy.

I have not read Poirot.

I haven't read Le Morte D'Arthur or one of the other "authoritative" Arthurian compendia, but I have read a great many retellings of Arthurian myth.

Phantom-- enjoyed the book, somewhat enjoyed the Andrew Lloyd Weber musical.

R&J I've read. I quite enjoyed it, actually, taking into account the fact that the main characters are idiots. (Maybe I only liked it because we studied it in my favourite English class. ^_^)

I've read a number of Holmes stories, and a couple of the novels, but not all of them by a long shot.

Sweeney Todd I only know from osmosis.

Treasure Island I've read, and enjoyed (and then re-read during TWWF, the better to manipulate LJS).

I have read the Wizard of Oz (and seen the movie and the play Wicked, but WHATEVER), as well as ALL the Oz books written by L Frank Baum, the original author (plus a number of Oz books not written by him, though none of the Thompson ones). And a good deal of the other stuff he wrote.
Uh...
Oz was the first series of books I actually became obsessed with, way back in... grade two? I think grade two.
<_<
>_>

GET ZIS ONE.
http://www.amazon.com/Quixote-Usborne-c ... 0746064365

I READ ZIS ONE ALL ZE TIME.

[Rick Healey]

Well, this ought to be amusing for me to give my own response to.

First, among the characters I had a slightly more active hand in...

I have read Le Fantôme de l’Opéra, by Gaston Leroux. That was for French IV, my senior year of high school.

I have taken in multiple versions of Don Juan; I'm most familiar with the Molière version (in French, he's actually known as Dom Juan, with the J pronounced; I believe there's a recording of me doing Poirot where you can hear this), though I did watch a performance of Don Giovanni as well as a film noir version of Dom Juan to see multiple takes on the same character. I think my push towards one particular take on DJ was probably the most strident I got with editing a character.

Interestingly enough, I did not read any Poirot work, nor did I read Alice In Wonderland, for the other characters that I did direct scripting. I did read some of the public domain releases for a quick scan on what kind of voice I should have, but not enough to have an authoritative voice on them. Though to my credit, I did watch a BBC production of Murder On The Orient Express, and I've seen a couple animated versions of Alice In Wonderland, so I didn't go in blind.

For characters where I didn't have as much of a direct hand...

I read Don Quixote in my sophomore year of college, as a part of my Classic European Literature I (LL250) course, which was a requirement for all foreign language majors back when I was in college. Great fun; I was so glad Quixote was one of our characters.

I have read quite a few Sherlock Holmes stories - A Scandal In Bohemia and The Five Orange Pips are personal favorites, though The Red-Haired League rings a bit close to home (hard to tell unless the light is just right, but I have chestnut hair). Interestingly, I haven't read either of the stories featuring Moriarty.

I've read bits of Frankenstein here and there, most recently as prep work for doing this project, but I've never been able to push through it all. I kind of like our version a bunch; I like to think of us as somehow making him happier even as things kept going wrong for him.

Peter Pan, I read when I was 11 or 12. It's been a while, but I do remember the character quite well. It helps that, for all that he's the title character, he isn't really the main character.

Romeo and Juliet... I read this twice in high school (once at my second high school, once at my third). Not to mention seeing multiple versions of it (including some truly horrible film versions). Not the Shakespeare play that I know the best (that'd be Macbeth; read it three times, once in each high school, plus several other readings in college to compare with Ubu Roi), but I certainly have read it enough to know it well and have strong feelings about it (in short, for all that I liked making people feel like crap for what happened when Romeo went to the hospital... he SO deserved it).

I've read a bunch of different takes on Arthurian legend, so I'm familiar with multiple versions of Morgan Le Fay - victim of usurpation, innocent slandered by relation, wicked temptress, mother of the downfall of Tintagel... so many versions to work with.

I've seen multiple adaptations of Gulliver's Travels, dozens of stories inspired by the tale (including Laputa), and I've read several of Swift's other works (including the infamous On Human Ordure), but I haven't read the original. It's on my list.

I've read The Wizard of Oz years ago; been ages since I have. I also have seen both the original film and the 80's Nightmare Fuel-filled Return To Oz; if we ever wanted things to get serious with Westie, I was going to cull from that for ideas (while listening to They Might Be Giants' Hall Of Heads, of course).

I'll be honest; I'm most familiar with Treasure Island via Muppet Treasure Island. In my defense, Tim Curry.

I'm actually more familiar with the original story that inspired Sweeney Todd than the murderous barber himself; I just know that he has a more sympathetic backstory than the original (who moved quite a few penny dreadfuls in his day, if I may make the joke).

Finally, for the two background characters mentioned... I certainly read Cinderella, though not in many years. Probably will in a few more, after my young'un is both born and ready to hear fairy tales. I read Dracula back in 7th grade, and I think it's somewhat of a marvel of durability, given how badly it was written. But hey, some ideas are so good, they transcend poor execution.

[The Wild West Pyro]

I really love The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. It's my favourite book now. The whole story is so good, so funny, you keep on reading till it's time to go. And their logic is hilarious.

[narrativedilettante]

Oh, Peter Pan should go on the list in the OP.

I read that a few years ago, and then reread parts of it when I was writing the Pan refic. For some reason, even though I've been exposed to the story enough that I should know it fairly well, I always feel like I don't quite have a grasp on it. Peter Pan just won't stay in my head.

[Pixelmage]

Well, guess I should contribute my own then... But...

Alice in Wonderland I have read. But it's been quite long, well, I was a kid back then and don't remember it all that well. So it deserves a reread, because I do remember enjoying it quite a lot back then.

On Hercule Poirot, I do have 3 novels by Christie that star Poirot sitting on my bookshelf right now. I'm not aware of their english release names, save for The Murder in the Orient Express. I've read and enjoyed them and I would read other books from his canon if given the chance. So, probably will read more in the future.

For Dracula, I also read the Stoker novel along with having watched some odd movie about him and other adaptations, but mostly the novel itself. It's one of my favorite books, and one I actually remember well even now.

Now, regarding the following list:
-Cinderella
-Don Juan
-Don Quixote de la Mancha
-Frankenstein
-Gulliver's Travels
-King Arthur
-Peter Pan
-Phantom of the Opera
-Romeo and Juliet
-Sherlock Holmes
-Wizard of Oz
All of these I knew from adaptations, or movies, or from somewhere I don't remember. They feel like I've always knew them, but I never read any of the originals at all, even though I was familiar with the characters. Nope, not even for school and I'm really not amused at my lack of reading there.

Now, regarding these fellows:
-Anansi's Web
-Sweeney Todd
-Treasure Island
I was introduced to them by the ARG. Yes, I didn't know Long John Silver before the ARG. Even being familiar with some pirate related things, I had no idea he existed and not even imagined that Muppet Treasure Island was actually a thing. Same for Todd and Anansi, although in their case I wasn't familiar with anything regarding them, at all.

[The Wild West Pyro]

Well, guess I should contribute my own then... But...

Alice in Wonderland I have read. But it's been quite long, well, I was a kid back then and don't remember it all that well. So it deserves a reread, because I do remember enjoying it quite a lot back then.

On Hercule Poirot, I do have 3 novels by Christie that star Poirot sitting on my bookshelf right now. I'm not aware of their english release names, save for The Murder in the Orient Express. I've read and enjoyed them and I would read other books from his canon if given the chance. So, probably will read more in the future.

For Dracula, I also read the Stoker novel along with having watched some odd movie about him and other adaptations, but mostly the novel itself. It's one of my favorite books, and one I actually remember well even now.

Now, regarding the following list:
-Cinderella
-Don Juan
-Don Quixote de la Mancha
-Frankenstein
-Gulliver's Travels
-King Arthur
-Peter Pan
-Phantom of the Opera
-Romeo and Juliet
-Sherlock Holmes
-Wizard of Oz
All of these I knew from adaptations, or movies, or from somewhere I don't remember. They feel like I've always knew them, but I never read any of the originals at all, even though I was familiar with the characters. Nope, not even for school and I'm really not amused at my lack of reading there.

Now, regarding these fellows:
-Anansi's Web
-Sweeney Todd
-Treasure Island
I was introduced to them by the ARG. Yes, I didn't know Long John Silver before the ARG. Even being familiar with some pirate related things, I had no idea he existed and not even imagined that Muppet Treasure Island was actually a thing. Same for Todd and Anansi, although in their case I wasn't familiar with anything regarding them, at all.

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland should deserve a read? It should. You seem to really love Alice Madness Returns and generally Alice and Wonderland in general, so try to find the original, prefably with the original illustrations by George Tenniel-it really helps you understand the story.

[RotavatoR]

Well... This is awkward.

I've never read a single one of these books. I've heard about them all of course :/
I've started reading Alice in Wonderland today, and so far I like it all right. Anyone else feeling a sudden urge to read some?

[The Wild West Pyro]

Well... This is awkward.

I've never read a single one of these books. I've heard about them all of course :/
I've started reading Alice in Wonderland today, and so far I like it all right. Anyone else feeling a sudden urge to read some?

READ TWWOOZ AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN.

[eli_gone_crazy]

-Alice in Wonderland- A book I read to shreds.
-Anansi's Web- I had never HEARD of anansi before the ARG
-Cinderella- ... hasn't everyone read an adaptation of this?
-Don Juan- nope, and I don't really have that much interest in it.
-Don Quixote de la Mancha- never read it, though I was always interested in the windmills
-Dracula- I haven't read dracula, though its sitting in my bookshelf, waiting to be read
-Frankenstein- I did a research paper on this in high school, and loved every minute of it.
-Gulliver's Travels- I read this book to tattered bits
-Hercule Poirot- tried to force myself through a poirot story once... it didn't end well. :/
-King Arthur- I read this book in high school, and I always pitied morgan
-Peter Pan- I loved this book as a kid.
-Phantom of the Opera- >_< I've never read/seen it. but I want to!
-Romeo and Juliet- >_> I have avoided this play
-Sherlock Holmes- I love the sherlock holmes stories, especially The Adventure of The Speckled Band
-Sweeney Todd- never even heard a song
-Treasure Island- I read it a long time ago, but it would do with another readthrough
-Wizard of Oz- I love this book so much

[Victin]

Well... This is awkward.

I've never read a single one of these books. I've heard about them all of course :/
I've started reading Alice in Wonderland today, and so far I like it all right. Anyone else feeling a sudden urge to read some?

You are not alone Rota.

High-five!

*high fives Rota*

[The Wild West Pyro]

:)

-Alice in Wonderland- A book I read to shreds.
-Anansi's Web- I had never HEARD of anansi before the ARG
-Cinderella- ... hasn't everyone read an adaptation of this?
-Don Juan- nope, and I don't really have that much interest in it.
-Don Quixote de la Mancha- never read it, though I was always interested in the windmills
-Dracula- I haven't read dracula, though its sitting in my bookshelf, waiting to be read
-Frankenstein- I did a research paper on this in high school, and loved every minute of it.
-Gulliver's Travels- I read this book to tattered bits
-Hercule Poirot- tried to force myself through a poirot story once... it didn't end well. :/
-King Arthur- I read this book in high school, and I always pitied morgan
-Peter Pan- I loved this book as a kid.
-Phantom of the Opera- >_< I've never read/seen it. but I want to!
-Romeo and Juliet- >_> I have avoided this play
-Sherlock Holmes- I love the sherlock holmes stories, especially The Adventure of The Speckled Band
-Sweeney Todd- never even heard a song
-Treasure Island- I read it a long time ago, but it would do with another readthrough
-Wizard of Oz- I love this book so much

Read the Phantom of the Opera, it's awesome for a Gothic Horror story. Go into your bookstore, and look in the shelves or in the classic section for Gaston Leroux. Only read Dracula if you don't get scared easily by the fridge horror and Nightmare Fuel, though it has some seriously awesome moments at times. And yes, it is obvious now- I really love The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.

[Scarab]

...This is the bit where I admit to having absolutely no knowledge of classics whatsoever, isn't it? Oh well...

-Alice in Wonderland- Read it several times, although never in childhood, ironically. I guess unless the audio-book of the Disney movie counts (and in fairness, I didn't really enjoy that.)
-Anansi's Web- I only knew of Anansi from Gaiman, and I never actually read the book (I'm sorry, Qara, please forgive me .)
-Cinderella- I really enjoy Fairy tales so I've ehard every version of this one. The original has the evil sisters hacking bits of their feet off in an attempt to fit into the slipper (which incidentally, weas originally a fur slipper) -Scarab recieved KNOWLEDGE BOOST 5%!!!!
-Don Juan- Never touched it
Don Quixote de la Mancha- nUh.... know pretty much all the songs from the musical but never actually read or saw it...
-Dracula- Read it. I also once heard an audiodrama by a group on Virgin Radio called Urban Soundtracks, which mixed large stretches of music in with the story. It was AWESOME. They also did Jack the Rpper, The Little Mermaid, and a few others. I have tried in vain to find it again since
-Frankenstein- I... THINK I read it, but I must've been what, twelve? I don't remember much beyond the guy wandering through the snow.
-Gulliver's Travels- Another one I think I read too long ago to recall... But I DID see a Disney animation of it.
-Hercule Poirot- The Only one I've read is The Big Four which is... um... well it's not Agatha at her best, that's for sure (hey the lady was having a bad year, her husband had just left her and her mother died. Also it was originally a serialisation. And um... the racism was a bit painful.) I have however seen plenty of Poirot on TV, including the famous Murder on the Orient Express :3 Spoilers: they all did it.
-King Arthur- Naturally
-Peter Pan- Oddly, never. Not even the Disney movie
-Phantom of the Opera- Have seen the movie, read the book, aaaand played a rather disturbing Point and Click hidden object game where you basically condemn Christine and Rhoul's daughter to a lifetime under the Phantom's imprisonment... Talk about a downer ending
-Romeo and Juliet- They made us read it in school (*grumble* The other class got Othello *grumble*) and... I actually quite liked it. The dialogue is quite pretty even if they are both silly teenagers.
-Sherlock Holmes- Like Eli, I'm a fan of the Speckled Band. I've read Hound, aaaaand a fair few of the original adventures... The Adventure of the Yellow Face is another fave. There was many a time in the ARG when I had to restrain myself from saying 'Norbury' to our Holmes.
-Sweeney Todd- Heard half the soundtrack, still haven't seen it, although I do believe the junior drama groups are doing a version in a local theatre soon. Maybe I'll get the chance
-Treasure Island- Nope, just the Muppet movie. Which is hilarious.
-Wizard of Oz- You know... I dislike this book very much, it just doesn't feel like the 'modern fairytale' to me that Braun claimed it to be. The movie was pretty entertaining, though and I really enjoyed Macguire's Wicked.

Huh... I actually read more than I thought I did.

[narrativedilettante]

-Dracula- Read it. I also once heard an audiodrama by a group on Virgin Radio called Urban Soundtracks, which mixed large stretches of music in with the story. It was AWESOME. They also did Jack the Rpper, The Little Mermaid, and a few others. I have tried in vain to find it again since

Oh man I want to hear that. It's too bad you haven't been able to find it again.

-Gulliver's Travels- Another one I think I read too long ago to recall... But I DID see a Disney animation of it.

Oh god this is such nitpicking I'm horrible This was probably a Fleischer animation, not Disney. Seriously though it doesn't matter.

[Scarab]

Oh god this is such nitpicking I'm horrible This was probably a Fleischer animation, not Disney. Seriously though it doesn't matter.

That's right. you're a terrible, terrible person Dilly

[Endless Sea]

I actually have a videotape of the Fleischer movie. And now I feel old :|

[The Wild West Pyro]

Oh god this is such nitpicking I'm horrible This was probably a Fleischer animation, not Disney. Seriously though it doesn't matter.

That's right. you're a terrible, terrible person Dilly

DO YOU HAPPEN TO RECALL THIS SCENE?

gulliver.jpg (44.03 KiB) Viewed 16816 times

[Scarab]

Oh god this is such nitpicking I'm horrible This was probably a Fleischer animation, not Disney. Seriously though it doesn't matter.

That's right. you're a terrible, terrible person Dilly

DO YOU HAPPEN TO RECALL THIS SCENE?

gulliver.jpg

As it happens, yes, yes I do

[narrativedilettante]

Back during the ARG I kept thinking of this but I don't think I ever mentioned it... But we had Peter Pan and a law setting and a law-related trope... so naturally, I thought of the Captain Hook trial musical from Arrested Development, which we only get to see a few seconds of, or else that itself might have worked as a decent refic.

(There are multiple clips in that video, but the first one has as much of the musical as is ever seen in the show.)