Book meme
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Stephanie tagged me for this one. (Golly, I've never been tagged for a meme before; I guess I'm just part of the wrong demographic for this sort of thing.) I've been considering my answers for a while, but what with not having internet access at home and not having much time to boot, it's taken me a while to get around to it. But here we go . . .
1. One book that changed your life?
I would have to say . . . The Boy Scout Handbook. I read it religiously during the years when I was oh, nine and ten, I think. I most desperately wanted to be a Boy Scout and do all that cool camping and outdoor cooking and stuff. (Back in the day, Girl Scouting was just plain silly. I went to one meeting, and everyone was sewing pillowcases, for god's sake. Not What I Had in Mind.)
From the Handbook, I learned to love the outdoors, to decry the "pasty-white skin of the stay-at-home" (well, maybe my mother helped there), and to strive to be "trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent." A good list of qualities to aspire to for anyone, both then and now, in my view.
2. One book you have read more than once.
This is a tough one. As a child I re-read books often (most notably Little Men and Black Beauty and anything that featured cowboys), but as an adult, not so much. The one book I re-read several times in grad school was The Sound and the Fury, by William Faulker, and the subject of my dissertation. Mostly, though, I feel like there are too many books and too little time to go back - unless it's a kids' book, such as Hippos Go Berserk! or There's No Such Thing as a Dragon, both quick reads and funny every time.
3. One book you'd want on a desert island.
This is also tough. Perhaps because my long-term memory for plots has gone completely to mush in my middle age, I no longer have a totemic book that Stands for Everything. I think maybe I'd choose Diet for a Small Planet because perchance it would be useful in that circumstance . . . :)
4. One book that made you laugh.
Again, see #2. If you have never read Sandra Boynton's Hippos Go Berserk, you have never laughed.
5. One book that made you cry.
Gosh, I can't remember. I don't know that I have ever actually cried while reading a book. I do know that The Awakening by Kate Chopin made me very, very sad, as did Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth.
6. One book you wish had been written.
Grr. Maybe I have no imagination or something, but I'm pretty happy with what's out there. I can't think of anything right off the bat - or even after a few days' consideration. (I fear this admission reveals me to be a literary lightweight, but oh, well.)
7. One book you wish had never been written.
Hummm. I'd say American Psycho by Brett Easton Ellis. Some things are distubring, and although I know people think them, they don't need to foist their thoughts on others. (I tend to be a bit extreme in this regard. For instance, if it were up to me, Quentin Tarrantino would probably never have made a movie, either.) I'm not sure of the value of being disturbed in that particular way . . . I personally don't find any value in it (just as I find no value in bamboo shoots under my nails, either).
8. One book you are currently reading.
The only book I'm reading - and I may be reading it all semester unless my time frees up a bit - is Before You Know Kindness, by Chris Bohjalian. I'm about halfway through it, and so far it seems to be a delicately-layered and subtle portrayal of a family. The plot has just turned a bit in the obvious direction, though, so I'm a little concerned that the complexity may disintegrate, but we'll see.
Well, that's it. Now I get to tag people . . . but I don't know too many people with blogs, so I'll tag Rob and Randy and Peter. And among the blogless, I'll tag Cheryl and Russ . . . if you send answers I can post them here.
OK, so now it's back to moving boxes and planning classes and trying to find the *&((^&%&^^%*&!! dog brush, without which we are becomung buried under mountains of pet hair . . . Stay tuned. Pictures as soon as I can manage . . .
1. One book that changed your life?
I would have to say . . . The Boy Scout Handbook. I read it religiously during the years when I was oh, nine and ten, I think. I most desperately wanted to be a Boy Scout and do all that cool camping and outdoor cooking and stuff. (Back in the day, Girl Scouting was just plain silly. I went to one meeting, and everyone was sewing pillowcases, for god's sake. Not What I Had in Mind.)
From the Handbook, I learned to love the outdoors, to decry the "pasty-white skin of the stay-at-home" (well, maybe my mother helped there), and to strive to be "trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent." A good list of qualities to aspire to for anyone, both then and now, in my view.
2. One book you have read more than once.
This is a tough one. As a child I re-read books often (most notably Little Men and Black Beauty and anything that featured cowboys), but as an adult, not so much. The one book I re-read several times in grad school was The Sound and the Fury, by William Faulker, and the subject of my dissertation. Mostly, though, I feel like there are too many books and too little time to go back - unless it's a kids' book, such as Hippos Go Berserk! or There's No Such Thing as a Dragon, both quick reads and funny every time.
3. One book you'd want on a desert island.
This is also tough. Perhaps because my long-term memory for plots has gone completely to mush in my middle age, I no longer have a totemic book that Stands for Everything. I think maybe I'd choose Diet for a Small Planet because perchance it would be useful in that circumstance . . . :)
4. One book that made you laugh.
Again, see #2. If you have never read Sandra Boynton's Hippos Go Berserk, you have never laughed.
5. One book that made you cry.
Gosh, I can't remember. I don't know that I have ever actually cried while reading a book. I do know that The Awakening by Kate Chopin made me very, very sad, as did Edith Wharton's The House of Mirth.
6. One book you wish had been written.
Grr. Maybe I have no imagination or something, but I'm pretty happy with what's out there. I can't think of anything right off the bat - or even after a few days' consideration. (I fear this admission reveals me to be a literary lightweight, but oh, well.)
7. One book you wish had never been written.
Hummm. I'd say American Psycho by Brett Easton Ellis. Some things are distubring, and although I know people think them, they don't need to foist their thoughts on others. (I tend to be a bit extreme in this regard. For instance, if it were up to me, Quentin Tarrantino would probably never have made a movie, either.) I'm not sure of the value of being disturbed in that particular way . . . I personally don't find any value in it (just as I find no value in bamboo shoots under my nails, either).
8. One book you are currently reading.
The only book I'm reading - and I may be reading it all semester unless my time frees up a bit - is Before You Know Kindness, by Chris Bohjalian. I'm about halfway through it, and so far it seems to be a delicately-layered and subtle portrayal of a family. The plot has just turned a bit in the obvious direction, though, so I'm a little concerned that the complexity may disintegrate, but we'll see.
Well, that's it. Now I get to tag people . . . but I don't know too many people with blogs, so I'll tag Rob and Randy and Peter. And among the blogless, I'll tag Cheryl and Russ . . . if you send answers I can post them here.
OK, so now it's back to moving boxes and planning classes and trying to find the *&((^&%&^^%*&!! dog brush, without which we are becomung buried under mountains of pet hair . . . Stay tuned. Pictures as soon as I can manage . . .
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