Summarise a Novel in 25 Words

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Big Chief Tablets!

Mikey G (Mikey G), Tuesday, 24 February 2004 14:22 (twenty years ago) link

À la recherche du temps perdu - Marcel Proust

Guy wakes up, eats a cake, thinks about stuff, becomes a writer.

BabyBuddha (BabyBuddha), Tuesday, 24 February 2004 16:23 (twenty years ago) link

Absalom, Absalom - William Faulkner

Incest destroys the South.

Phastbuck, Tuesday, 24 February 2004 16:40 (twenty years ago) link

Native Son

Black Chicago kid beats off to film image of white debutante, scores, coincidentally, limo job in debutante's home, accidentally kills her, gets hunted down. Then there's this trial.

otto, Tuesday, 24 February 2004 17:27 (twenty years ago) link

Take George Eliot's bourgeois pastoral, transplant confusingly to Renaissance Florence. Compromise, apolocalypse (unrelated). Ending spookily identical to 'Crying Of Lot 49'. Best victorian novel evah.

Gregory Henry (Gregory Henry), Tuesday, 24 February 2004 19:38 (twenty years ago) link

(Romola)

Gregory Henry (Gregory Henry), Tuesday, 24 February 2004 19:39 (twenty years ago) link

young thug gets conk, goes to jail, finds Allah, becomes a great man, goes to Mecca, rethinks seperatist dogma, gets crushed by powers that be.

Fritz Wollner (Fritz), Tuesday, 24 February 2004 19:53 (twenty years ago) link

pamela:

virtue. virtue. virtue. virtue. virtue. virtue. virtue. virtue. virtue. virtue. virtue. virtue. virtue. virtue. virtue. virtue. virtue. virtue. virtue. virtue.
virtue. virture. virtue. virtue. virtue.

lauren (laurenp), Tuesday, 24 February 2004 19:54 (twenty years ago) link

oh damn these are supposed to be novels! sorry.

Fritz Wollner (Fritz), Tuesday, 24 February 2004 19:54 (twenty years ago) link

I have to re-do my Flowers for Algernon one. I didn't seem to remember the ending correctly.

I'm stupid, I'm smart, I'm wicked smart, I'm wicked wicked smart, I'm stupid again. And I have a mouse called Algernon.

Vermont Girl (Vermont Girl), Tuesday, 24 February 2004 20:00 (twenty years ago) link

Finnegans Wake:

Eh...

SRH (Skrik), Tuesday, 24 February 2004 20:46 (twenty years ago) link

Gravity's Rainbow

Sloth or entropy? Who can tell, really?

otto, Tuesday, 24 February 2004 22:43 (twenty years ago) link

DING DING DING!!! I think we have a winner!

Otto - that is the most brilliant thing I've read today.

^_^

BabyBuddha (BabyBuddha), Tuesday, 24 February 2004 22:49 (twenty years ago) link

The Sound and the Fury

My retarded brother's castration may have had something to do with my bastard daughter, another brother's suicide, or another brother's general assholishness. Or maybe not.

DanielTheHead, Wednesday, 25 February 2004 02:15 (twenty years ago) link

The Jungle

Jurgis immigrates with family,
marries,
job
kids
kids die
wife cheats
Jurgis beats
prison
wife dies
son dies
runs away
returns
prison
turns socialist

saline, Wednesday, 25 February 2004 02:25 (twenty years ago) link

Generation X

Yuppies whine about how tough their lives are.

August (August), Wednesday, 25 February 2004 02:38 (twenty years ago) link

Regeneration

War is hell, but we can't shoot soldiers who go crazy anymore, so let them write poems instead.

August (August), Wednesday, 25 February 2004 02:40 (twenty years ago) link

Oddly opportune parental death leaves North Shore boy money, freedom, little brother. San Francisco beckons; carnival of irony ensues. Hey, lets move to Brooklyn!

rotten shark meat, Wednesday, 25 February 2004 02:54 (twenty years ago) link

Dude, that's too easy. But I've got an easier one than even Dave "Paint a bull's-eye on my angst" Eggers...

Posh dandy tries matchmaking, wins enemies; beatings loom. Thank goodness for the fish-eating servant!

Ann Sterzinger (Ann Sterzinger), Wednesday, 25 February 2004 03:13 (twenty years ago) link

An old lady, a coven of witches, a pack of wolves and some bees steal the holy grail. Pole shift. Civilization ends. Happy old lady.

~The Hearing Trumpet, by Leonora Carrington

Jorge, Wednesday, 25 February 2004 03:21 (twenty years ago) link

It's hard to compete with a boulevardier such as I. But this fellow has me looking over my shoulder! Ah, well, thank heaven for little girls ...

ccccccc, Wednesday, 25 February 2004 04:07 (twenty years ago) link

Sloth or entropy

I just realized this is an anagram of Tyrone Slothrop.

o. nate (onate), Wednesday, 25 February 2004 04:10 (twenty years ago) link

The Corrections - Jonathan Franzen

Disgruntled children misunderstanding their senile parents. Oh yeah, talking turds.

learned, Wednesday, 25 February 2004 04:48 (twenty years ago) link

"You Shall Know Our Velocity"

Asshole, Come to africa where i can purge cash and make factual mistakes before i drown at some point, i haven't worked this out properly.

jed_ (jed), Wednesday, 25 February 2004 11:09 (twenty years ago) link

The Crying of Lot 49:

Conspiracy theories are a load of bollocks. Or are they?

SRH (Skrik), Wednesday, 25 February 2004 13:53 (twenty years ago) link

Call of the Wild:

Woof, woof, woof, woof, woof, woof, woof, woof, woof, woof, woof, woof, woof, woof, woof, woof, woof, woof, woof, woof, woof, woof, woof, woof, woof.

SRH (Skrik), Wednesday, 25 February 2004 13:56 (twenty years ago) link

Great Gatsby This is a story about the effects of money. They are not good.

Ike Stephenson (Ike Stephenson), Wednesday, 25 February 2004 15:17 (twenty years ago) link

The Crimson Petal and the White, by Michel Faber

Upwardly mobile whore inspires man to get job. Wife leaves, dies; brother dies; kid leaves with whore. Man breaks leg.

BPG, Wednesday, 25 February 2004 15:42 (twenty years ago) link

New York Trilogy, Paul Auster

"Are you the detective Paul Auster?" No, but I'll pretend I am. Actually I write detective novels, and now I'm pretending to be a detective! Later I get to meet the real Auster, who isn't a detective at all but the author of this post.

Paul Auster, Wednesday, 25 February 2004 15:53 (twenty years ago) link

The Lord of the Rings, by JRR Tolkien

Little guys go to a lot of trouble to get rid of stolen jewelry.

BPG, Wednesday, 25 February 2004 15:56 (twenty years ago) link

Far From the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy

Three men infatuated with one beautiful woman. Guy she ends up with is too good for her.

Vermont Girl (Vermont Girl), Wednesday, 25 February 2004 15:56 (twenty years ago) link

The Collector by John Fowles

Boy meets girl, boy imprisons girl, girl withers away. Boy meets girl...

Chris Hill (Chris Hill), Wednesday, 25 February 2004 15:59 (twenty years ago) link

The Piano Tuner by Daniel Mason

Apocalypse Now but with Brahms instead of The Doors.

BPG, Wednesday, 25 February 2004 16:00 (twenty years ago) link

Madame Bovary

"Is the grass greener on the other side? It must be. Oh, it isn't. Time to die."

Chris Hill (Chris Hill), Wednesday, 25 February 2004 16:01 (twenty years ago) link

Slaughterhouse Five by Vonnegut

"Being in World War II was so bad that now I hallucinate about aliens and time travel."

BPG, Wednesday, 25 February 2004 16:06 (twenty years ago) link

Tess of the D'Urbervilles

Rural tart gets mixed up with local bounder. Dad is constantly pissed. Too upbeat? OK, I'll add a dead baby and a murder. Stonehenge. Hanging.

Mikey G (Mikey G), Wednesday, 25 February 2004 16:08 (twenty years ago) link

Man/Woman uncovers dark secret from law firm/corporation. Spends a lot of time xeroxing things.

Ok - I'm cheating. That's every John Grisham novel.

BabyBuddha (BabyBuddha), Wednesday, 25 February 2004 16:11 (twenty years ago) link

Robinson Crusoe:
Being a second son stinks, but so does being stuck on a desert island, building lots of things, and teaching a local to speak English.

SRH (Skrik), Wednesday, 25 February 2004 16:28 (twenty years ago) link

"Our Bodies, Ourselves"
Touching now and proud of it.

Cupie (Cupie), Wednesday, 25 February 2004 16:58 (twenty years ago) link

whoops, not a novel ;)

Cupie (Cupie), Wednesday, 25 February 2004 16:59 (twenty years ago) link

It's alright, I did the bible.

Mikey G (Mikey G), Wednesday, 25 February 2004 17:00 (twenty years ago) link

Portnoy's Complaint by Philip Roth: Pass me that sock, will you? Thanks.

chillythekid, Wednesday, 25 February 2004 17:33 (twenty years ago) link

Portrait of a Lady

Boy loves girl. "I'm too original for you," sniffs girl. Girl proves originality by marrying gold-digging asshole. First boy stalks girl.

Phil Christman, Wednesday, 25 February 2004 18:16 (twenty years ago) link

The Idiot by Dostoevsky

"You're an idiot," says Rogozhin. "Yes," smiles Myshkin. "I'm going to mistreat a woman now," says Rogozhin. "Unhand her, you beast!" says Myshkin. His brain fries.

I also had a prof in college who liked to summarize all of Soviet Social Realism this way:
Boy meets tractor. Boy and tractor fall in love. Boy and tractor live happily ever after.

Phil Christman, Wednesday, 25 February 2004 18:21 (twenty years ago) link

One last, not a novel:

Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung by Lester Bangs

WHOOP! Benzedrine's great Romilar's cheaper! NGK ZRRRRZSSST Noise is primal actfact of funky/tragic pullulation (cf. Velvets, 1965) ZAP! OK, what was I talking about?

Phil Christman, Wednesday, 25 February 2004 18:25 (twenty years ago) link

John Henry Days
"You never know when someone might die, but you can always count on a writer mooching"

Cali, Wednesday, 25 February 2004 19:11 (twenty years ago) link

In the Cut.
Blowjob, observed. Hot Cop. Cop's a killer? Screw him. Then, again, again. Wait, student's obsessive. Oh. This is quite bad. I'm dead.

Art Linkletter, Wednesday, 25 February 2004 19:23 (twenty years ago) link

The Unnamable

I think therefore I am...but that's it, baby.

Not That Chuck, Wednesday, 25 February 2004 19:28 (twenty years ago) link


Brave New World

A frenzy of drugs and sex, somewhat like a frat house, only in the near future.

loveisreal, Wednesday, 25 February 2004 19:34 (twenty years ago) link

Middlesex:

She's a man, baby! Or is s/he?

tl (tom), Wednesday, 25 February 2004 19:42 (twenty years ago) link

I'm in search of the novel called oliver thwist, the somary of it

agbams ugochukwu, Friday, 10 February 2006 15:31 (eighteen years ago) link

Brutally honest and emotionally charged, it tells the story of Oliver Twist. Oliver is a boy, raised by his prostitute mother. In an endearingly perverse way to earn his mother’s respect and love, he sets out to join the ‘lot lizards’, selling himself for sex to truckers in the local parking lot. So with curly blonde Shirley Temple curls, Oliver, clad in a short leather skirt, and adopting his mother’s name ‘Sarah’, does just that.

tom west (thomp), Friday, 10 February 2006 15:53 (eighteen years ago) link

three weeks pass...
These are all the books we've read so far in my English class. See if you can spot the pattern.

Beloved by Morrison:
Slavery sucked. My sons ran away and I'm haunted by my baby's ghost. HOLY SHIT SHE'S BACK! Wait, where are we? Hey, she killed her daughter!

The Great Gatsby by Fitzgerald:
Friend changes his life for a girl. She's married to a rich racist. I'm in the middle and I don't care. Money will kill you.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Twain:
Slavery sucks. I'm too racist to like this guy. I'm having an adventure to escape my evil dad. Oh crap I've been caught.

Native Son by Wright:
Racism still sucks. African-American kid in Chicago accidentally kills a white girl. That must mean all black people suck! Long speech in trial explains everything.

And now just for fun, two novellas by me. The first one is available at www.cyberheroez.inetgames.com and the second is in progress

Cyber Heroez:
Teenage nerd based on author goes into video game world, uses powers to fight giant glove. Almost dies, and his brother cries. Magically has idea.

The Centaur:
In the future, things are normal. Weird scientist mistakes fantasy for history and changes the world. Centaur finds him, tells him how much life sucks.

UnknownWarrior33, Saturday, 4 March 2006 02:56 (eighteen years ago) link

Johnny Tremain:
The revolutionary war had no technology, tanks, or drill seargents. Maybe a deformed guy will make it interesting. No? Well, it was worth a try.

UnknownWarrior33, Saturday, 4 March 2006 02:59 (eighteen years ago) link

The Animorphs series:
Kids and aliens turn into animals to fight smaller aliens that crawl into your head and take over your body. Series' end screwed everything up.

UnknownWarrior33, Saturday, 4 March 2006 03:04 (eighteen years ago) link

The Elementary Particles by Michel Houellebecq-

One scientist brother, one horny brother. Women they can't love wither and die. Finally men are extinct, cloned women inherit world. Is that an apology?

Beth Parker (Beth Parker), Saturday, 4 March 2006 14:17 (eighteen years ago) link

The entire history of the human race:

War, hate, disease, famine, poverty, anger, rioting, rape, crime, theft, terrorism, racism, sexism, homophobia, drug addiction, fear and I got laid last night. Thouroghruly worthwhile.

Rob Wright A.K.A. Ned the viking, Saturday, 18 March 2006 12:27 (eighteen years ago) link

Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men"

Don't bother reading this, just pinch yourself and chop onions till you cry.

Rob Wright A.K.A. Ned the viking, Saturday, 18 March 2006 12:45 (eighteen years ago) link

two weeks pass...
Romeo and Juliet
2 14 year olds meet and marry in three days. They relise what a mistake they have made and kill themselves

Brita, Tuesday, 4 April 2006 07:16 (eighteen years ago) link

three weeks pass...
A journey of friendship. The temptation. To destroy the one ring.

frodo baggins, Tuesday, 25 April 2006 06:22 (eighteen years ago) link

[spam. registered users only now!]

hispam, Friday, 28 April 2006 20:37 (eighteen years ago) link

two weeks pass...
"The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien:

Everything in this book is a total lie, but it's still true for the psychological reasons I say it is. Or maybe I'm just crazy.

UnknownWarrior33 (unknownwarrior33), Sunday, 14 May 2006 23:01 (seventeen years ago) link

"Anthem" by Ayn Rand

We fell in love with them and now the two of us want to escape. I'm glad I found her. Society is evil.

UnknownWarrior33 (unknownwarrior33), Sunday, 14 May 2006 23:14 (seventeen years ago) link

one month passes...
Iain M. Banks

Consider Phlebas

Intergalactic Mind-fuck in which main character does a fair bit of lots of things

David James Cruse (Day In Day out Day In Day Out), Monday, 26 June 2006 22:14 (seventeen years ago) link

"Cloud Atlas" by David Mitchell

Admiral sails ...
Victorean charlatan composes ...
70's reporter ...
Publisher ...
Future clone escapes ...
postapocalyptic civilization sucks like all
... tolitarian oppression
... is institutionalized
... exposes corporate malfeasance
... music
... pacific

Camiel (Camiel), Wednesday, 28 June 2006 13:11 (seventeen years ago) link

three months pass...
‘The Bluest Eye’ by Toni Morrison

Young, unattractive black girl wants to have blue eyes in order to look prettier. Prays to God every day. Gets nailed by her father instead.

Al Harris (Spotter), Friday, 29 September 2006 11:24 (seventeen years ago) link

DMT: THE SPIRIT MOLECULE

THOSE WHO DARE...TRIP THEIR BALLS OFF. THOSE WHO DON'T, LIVE WITH ONLY THE ONE REALITY OF CONSCIENCE.

David James Cruse (Day In Day out Day In Day Out), Friday, 13 October 2006 04:49 (seventeen years ago) link

three years pass...

Gremlins(the movie)
RTFM.

lattegrappa, Sunday, 26 September 2010 09:15 (thirteen years ago) link


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