{"id":1396614,"date":"2017-03-15T12:00:58","date_gmt":"2017-03-15T16:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/community.sparknotes.com\/?p=1396614"},"modified":"2019-02-08T11:32:53","modified_gmt":"2019-02-08T16:32:53","slug":"what-that-book-gift-is-really-telling-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/blog\/what-that-book-gift-is-really-telling-them\/","title":{"rendered":"What That Book Gift is REALLY Telling Them"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone\" src=\"http:\/\/img.sparknotes.com\/content\/sparklife\/sparktalk\/mar15bookgiftreallysaysMAIN_LargeWide.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"701\" height=\"394\" \/><\/p>\n<p>When you&#8217;re buying flowers for someone, it&#8217;s always good to remember that a rose means &#8220;I love you,&#8221; whereas a ghost orchid means &#8220;I think you are rare, expensive, and thrive in the swamplands of Florida.&#8221; It&#8217;s the same with books. When you&#8217;re giving someone a book as a gift, your choice of book says volumes. (I hate myself for that pun, but it&#8217;s too late, I already typed it.) So, you see, if you&#8217;re going to buy someone a book, you&#8217;d best know what kind of message you&#8217;re sending. Case in point:<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.sparknotes.com\/lit\/gatsby\/\" target=\"_blank\">The Great Gatsby<\/a><\/strong>\u2014Our relationship is most likely \u00a0going to end in either disillusionment or death.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.sparknotes.com\/lit\/doriangray\/\" target=\"_blank\">The Picture of Dorian Gray<\/a><\/strong>\u2014You are beautiful, selfish, and emotionally unavailable.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.sparknotes.com\/lit\/catch22\/\" target=\"_blank\">Catch-22<\/a><\/strong>\u2014You are confusing and objectionable.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.sparknotes.com\/lit\/greatex\/\" target=\"_blank\">Great Expectations<\/a><\/strong>\u2014You will probably amount to very little without the help of a wealthy beneficiary who owes you a life debt.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.sparknotes.com\/lit\/flies\/\" target=\"_blank\">Lord of the Flies<\/a><\/strong>\u2014Given the right set of circumstances, I would not hesitate to cast off the shackles of polite society and proceed to hunt you for sport.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.sparknotes.com\/lit\/poestories\/section6.rhtml\" target=\"_blank\">The Tell-Tale Heart and Other Writings<\/a><\/strong>\u2014I know your secret and you&#8217;re not fooling anyone.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.sparknotes.com\/lit\/wuthering\/\" target=\"_blank\">Wuthering Heights<\/a><\/strong>\u2014You have terrible taste in men and will probably die for it.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.sparknotes.com\/lit\/incoldblood\/\" target=\"_blank\">In Cold Blood<\/a><\/strong>\u2014I&#8217;m feeling like maybe you get TOO MUCH sleep at night. Here, have a book that will ensure your dreams are vivid and bursting with nightmares.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.sparknotes.com\/lit\/ontheroad\/\" target=\"_blank\">On the Road<\/a><\/strong>\u2014Try not to fall in love with me.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.sparknotes.com\/lit\/micemen\/\" target=\"_blank\">Of Mice and Men<\/a><\/strong>\u2014I want you to know you&#8217;re my best friend, and I care about you, but I would definitely murder you if things got dicey.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.sparknotes.com\/lit\/pride\/\" target=\"_blank\">Pride and Prejudice<\/a><\/strong>\u2014I would date you in spite of your shortcomings.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.sparknotes.com\/lit\/the-book-thief\/\" target=\"_blank\">The Book Thief<\/a><\/strong>\u2014I hate you and want you to suffer.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.sparknotes.com\/lit\/bravenew\/\" target=\"_blank\">Brave New World<\/a><\/strong>\u2014When I think of you, I think &#8220;post-apocalyptic dystopian cityscape.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.sparknotes.com\/lit\/janeeyre\/\" target=\"_blank\">Jane Eyre<\/a><\/strong>\u2014You are objectively not good-looking.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.sparknotes.com\/lit\/oldman\/\" target=\"_blank\">The Old Man and the Sea<\/a><\/strong>\u2014No pressure, but you&#8217;re racing against the ever-tightening noose of time and in all likelihood you will never accomplish anything.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.sparknotes.com\/lit\/atlasshrugged\/\" target=\"_blank\">Atlas Shrugged<\/a><\/strong>\u2014Do not look me in the eye, ever.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.sparknotes.com\/lit\/slaughter\/\" target=\"_blank\">Slaughterhouse-5<\/a><\/strong>\u2014I&#8217;ve noticed you care nothing for the worldly constraints of time and space, and largely prefer a nonlinear narrative.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.sparknotes.com\/lit\/heart\/\" target=\"_blank\">Heart of Darkness<\/a><\/strong>\u2014I strongly suspect there is a simmering evil lying dormant inside us both.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.sparknotes.com\/lit\/earnest\/\" target=\"_blank\">The Importance of Being Earnest<\/a><\/strong>\u2014I admire your silk cravat.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When you&#8217;re buying flowers for someone, it&#8217;s always good to remember that a rose means &#8220;I love you,&#8221; whereas a ghost orchid means &#8220;I think you are rare, expensive, and thrive in the swamplands of   <a class=\"continue-reading\" href=\"#\"><span class=\"continue-text\">continue reading<\/span><svg class=\"continue-icon\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"24\" height=\"24\" alt=\"\">\n    <path fill=\"#007acd\" fill-rule=\"nonzero\" d=\"M13.442 5.558L19.885 12l-6.443 6.442-.884-.884 4.934-4.934L4 12.625v-1.25l13.492-.001-4.934-4.932.884-.884z\"><\/path>\n  <\/svg><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":182,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7],"tags":[7,438,628,2335,8833],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1396614"}],"collection":[{"href":"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/182"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1396614"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1396614\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1396614"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1396614"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1396614"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}