Book meme- tag you're it.
Kirsten, over at Enjoy Every Sandwich, tagged me for a book meme. This one was kind of hard-- just one book?! I tried to stay true to the one deal. Enjoy. Play along if you'd like to.
One book that changed your life?
The Hiding Place by Corrie ten Boom. When she tells her dad how she's afraid to die, and he tells her a story to illustrate how God gives us strength, just when we need it, has stayed with me for a long time. Her story has lifted me up and given me hope for many years.
One book you have read more than once?
Circle of Friends by Maeve Binchy.
One book you would want on a desert island?
A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute. You've got stength of character, cliff hangers, romance and intrigue all wrapped up under one cover.
One book that made you laugh?
Matilda by Roald Dahl. Rosie and I read this together when she was younger, and we'd laugh until tears rolled down our cheeks.
One book that made you cry?
Requiem for a Wren by Nevil Shute. I don't want to give it away, but this book is the ultimate on missed chances and not seeing what's directly in front of you.
One book you wish had been written?
[edit: See what happens when you don't read closely. I thought the question was "What book do you wish you'd written.]Tex by S.E. Hinton. I read this book a bazillion times when I was a kid.
Since Tex has already been written, I need to fix this answer. Making friends with guilt to live a more productive life is the correct answer to this question.
One book you wish had never had been written?
Native Son by Richard Wright. I still don't get why this book is considered a classic. Every character in it is horrid.
One book you are currently reading?
Indecision by Benjamin Kunkel
One book you have been meaning to read?
Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memior in Books by Azar Nafisi I've read most of this book before, but I'd like to reread it and finish it. I'd also like to read the book Invitation to a Beheading by Vladimir Nabokov, which Nafisi mentions so often in Reading Lolita. Okay, so it appears I'm mentioning two books, but in reality I'm only mentioning one, since I've read most of the first book mentioned. So there = p .
Tag five people:
Taran Jordan, Claire, Morrigan, Mark and Don
posted by lewlew @ 8:26 AM
3 Comments:
One book that changed your life?
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
I read this while sitting in the back of the room in a boring history class. No teacher had ever mentioned the case for individual freedom. I never recovered.
One book you have read more than once?
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
I was barely able to get through this book as a teenager but, several years into my 20s, I found it so exciting that I just flew through it.
I'll add: any play by George Bernard Shaw, esp. Man and Superman. Shaw is my favorite socialist.
One book you would want on a desert island?
A good etymological dictionary. I can spend hours reading about the origins of words, how they came into the language, what they originally meant and how their usage has changed.
One book that made you laugh?
Night of the Avenging Blowfish: A Novel of Covert Operations, Love, and Luncheon Meat by John Welter
A total crack-up and also a wonderful love story.
I'll add: any book by P.J. O'Rourke who said, "Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys."
One book that made you cry?
My medical school histology textbook. I tried to read it at night in bed before I fell asleep. I lasted about 5 minutes. OK, it didn't really make me cry, except with frustration.
One book you wish had been written?
How to Rewind the Tape of Your Own Personal History and Start Over
What a smash best-seller that would be.
One book you wish had never had been written?
War and Peace by Tolstoy
We had to read this along with several other monster classics in high school. The only thing I remember is that I couldn't keep track of the characters. They had names and nicknames and there were hundreds(?) of them.
And then there was Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton. Again, high school English class. It was so boring to me, a 14-year-old, and to the other boys in my class, that the teacher gave us a quiz about it as follows:
Teacher: OK, arrange your chairs in a circle. Write your name at the top of the exam paper. Here's the first question; write your answer: how many horses did Ethan Frome have? When you are finished, pass your paper to the person on your right and answer the next question on the paper you now have.
One book you are currently reading?
The Structure of Liberty by Randy Barnett
A great constitutional lawyer tries to suggest how a restoration of the Constitution is possible and what limits there need to be in law-making in order to preserve individual liberty.
One book you have been meaning to read?
Ye gads! Just one?
Man, Economy and State by Murray Rothbard
But it's 890 pages long, small type and tons of footnotes. Maybe when it's cold and wet and the fireplace is going. Then again, maybe not.
Thanks lewlew.
Mark said: How to Rewind the Tape of Your Own Personal History and Start Over
It would be a best seller. I'd buy a copy.
I answered on my blog.
Wow, I had to do some thinking for some of those questions!
Post a Comment
<< Home