Comments on: By their reading list ye shall know them

By: Andy

Andy — Tue, 15 May 2007 14:51:10 +0000

Fair enough. Perhaps this story just set off my sci-fi fandom persecution complex. And yes, even I would have had to condemn him had he claimed to enjoy the Travolta movie…

By: kim

kim — Tue, 15 May 2007 14:00:45 +0000

The jokes/criticisms I heard were all from the Scientology angle rather than the pulp fiction angle, as in, “wow, does someone from America’s second zaniest religion really read a book by the founder of the zaniest religion of all? Could Mary Baker Eddy be on his nightstand as well?” Romney is perceived as being outside of the American religious mainstream, and this just draws even more attention to that. And considering most of the calculated replies that have come out of Romney’s and every other candidate’s mouth, I agree that it is refreshing for him to admit his love of bad fiction. And he didn’t claim that he liked the John Travolta movie, did he?

By: michele

michele — Tue, 15 May 2007 10:54:37 +0000

Is he a scientologist? I heard he was a Mormon.

By: Andy

Andy — Tue, 15 May 2007 09:37:30 +0000

Hey, I liked C&P too. But it was nice for a minute to see a politican acknowledging that he reads the same mediocre-but-fun books that the rest of us do.
Most of the critiques I’ve seen of Romney’s book choice have mostly quoted and mocked turgid prose passages from BE. With Romney’s well-publicized Mormon faith, I didn’t think anybody was seriously worried that he was a closet Scientologist. But perhaps we’re reading different pundits.

By: KDC

KDC — Tue, 15 May 2007 09:04:28 +0000

And yes, we know the book is not about Scientology, and yes, I _do_ happen to enjoy curling up in my favorite chair to read a dog-eared copy of – well, the Idiot, not C&P, but close enough. Myshkin just appeals to me, can I help it?

By: KDC

KDC — Tue, 15 May 2007 09:02:25 +0000

Uh, I think it was the Scientology connection that got more people (at least those who might have a chance to vote for him before the general election) upset. Or so it seemed to those of us for whom, until shortly, he was our absentee governor.