And Bond isn't pure spy either. Most of his are action/adventure stories told from the perspective of a "super spy" but the spycraft is minimal compared to the chases and the shootouts. Read The Man With the Golden Gun sometime. It's probably Fleming's weakest Bond but has a great chase/fight on a train.

Only if you read Red Storm Rising.

Deal. When I finish Les Miserables, I'll get it from the library.

Les Miserables? A close relative of mine is an actor, and he had the privilege of performing in a production of Les Miserables.

Meh... Stupid musical. Read an unabridged translation of the original Victor Hugo novel.

I didn't like the musical that much either. My personal favorite musical is Fiddler on the Roof.

West Side Story. The Bernstein's music is simple perfection.

You are both wrong. "Conan: The Musical" is the greatest musical of all time:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBGOQ7SsJrw

@ Draugnar

West Side Story is a shameless rip-off of Romeo and Juliet. It's perfect because it's stolen from Shakespeare.

Yes, especially the music :p

Hey my two favorite musicals made it in! You guys have good taste :)

Um, there's nothing "shameless" about it. Romeo and Juliet was acknowledged as being the source for the story. Opera's throughout history had other sources. Do you think Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro or Rossini's Barber of Seville were original works? Two plays involving the same group of characters by Pierre Beaumarchais were the original source of *both* operas. Don Giovanni? Don Juan of which there had been a number of plays and operas written before Mozart wrote his Don Giovanni.

And I would point to the improvements over Shakespeare in WSS. There are no suicides. Romeo does not find a sleeping Juliet and, thinking she is dead, commit suicide. Juliet, upon seeing Romeo's lifeless body, does not plunge his dagger into her chest. Instead, Tony, upon hearing Maria has killed herself, runs off screaming for her and looking for her whereupon he is shot just as she arrives on the scene. He dies in her arms with her rocking him and crying out the words to "Somewhere" and screaming at those around them "Don't you touch him!" She has died in her heart but lives on to carry the memory of Tony with her. He has died physically. But neither "die" by their own hand.

And what makes WSS so perfect is the incredible music. "Somewhere", "Tonight", "One Hand, One Heart", "Maria", "Something's Coming". These songs are classics, and rightfully so, regardless of their source musical or its inspiration.

And speaking of R+J... This from Wikipedia.

"Its plot is based on an Italian tale, translated into verse as The Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet by Arthur Brooke in 1562 and retold in prose in Palace of Pleasure by William Painter in 1582. Shakespeare borrowed heavily from both..."

The fact that Romeo and Juliet both die at the end is what makes the ending so good. WSS just has a stupid ending. It wasn't an improvement at all.

Re: Music

Romeo and Juliet is a play. West Side Story is a musical. You can't say that one is better than the other because one has music and the other one doesn't. That's apples to oranges.

Pointing out that Romeo and Juliet was stolen in the first place is irrelevant. (Get ready for a poor analogy) The Cleveland Show is a rip off of American Dad, which is a rip off of Family Guy, which is a partial rip off of The Simpsons. So what?

@TMW

A) *You* started the comparison by claiming it was only as good as it was because it was a "rip-off" of R+J. How do you explain the award winning music then?

B) *You* claimed WSS was inferior *because* it was a "rip-off". I just point out why the more realistic ending was an improvement in my opinion. You are free to disagree, of course. But I did not state R+J was inferior, only that the ending was an improvement in my opinion.

C) I wasn't comparing the two in their entirety, only the specific elements of the story. As it happens, I like Mercutio and feel his role is better in R+J than Riff in WSS. Each piece of performance art is brilliant in it's own right.

D) *You* implied that not being original disqualified a work of performance art from standing on it's own when you called WSS a "rip-off." By extension, all those operas and plays I mentioned cannot stand on their own as they are "rip-offs" of other works. This is *your* implication, not mine.

You win, Draug.

To be honest, I'm just feeling argumentative. I actually hate musicals.

The Power of One (if anyone is interested). I'm enjoying it, although I know I've come to it quite late!

Bryce Courtney wrote the Power of One (if I recall correctly). I read it in the early nineties. It was a pretty good story. Very popular book at the time, and made into a film too.

Correct. Bryce Courtney. I haven't actually seen the film believe it or not, so I have no idea how it ends. I'm guessing it's going to all end well though and be very heart warming and uplifting!

The ending... I won't spoil it for you.

I think I'll not read this thread any more just in case...

I don't really like Bryce Courtenay. I had his book White Thorn and I would call the main character a Mary Sue.

I am reading Dante`s Divine Comedy...again :)

Are you studying it? I have never read it. Is it enjoyable at all?

It is masterpiece. I am not studying it though, just enjoying it :)