Zogworld

OK – so I was pinged by my brother-in-law to do a book meme. Just to keep things on the up and up , here is Wikipedia’s take on memes.

There are 9 questions and 1 request to be covered here.

1. One book that changed your life
2. One book you have read more than once
3. One book you would want on a desert island
4. One book that made you laugh
5. One book you wish had been written
6. One book you wish had never had been written
7. One book that made you cry
8. One book you are currently reading
9. One book you have been meaning to read
10. Now tag five people

so – Let’s get to it!

1. One book that changed your life : Hmmm- this is such a big question and very open to interpretation. Does it mean change your reading life? Had a profound “rethink” of your life? Caused you such a horrid reaction that you burned the book? I will interpret it as this: The book that had the most profound change on my life was the The Great Gatsby. And not for the book (which is honestly mediocre) but because of the discussion that was joined to it. It was 10th grade, we were assigned this as a read for English class. We all read it and then under the guidance of Mr. Miller we discussed it. I remember being told of all the symbolism in the book, that everything meant something, that no word was not chosen for meaning and alternative imagery. I remember a student raising his hand and asking “Mr. Miller, does any author write a story simply to write a story?”. Good point – just to entertain. Mr. Miller’s direct and immediate response was “NO!”. This changed 2 things in my world. I truly never respected Mr. Miller’s English opinion after that point (side note – he is a great guy, as I was very good friends with his son – he has since left teaching). The second it made me very cynical toward academic “opinion”. Though Mr. Miller was very educated, it was an opinion being declared fact. If he had phrased it differently, such as “in my opinion” or “many in the English and literature fields feel..” I would have a different opinion. Of course, because fate has a wicked sense of humor – I married an English teacher. AHHH – sometimes it just makes me laugh.

2.One book you have read more than once : There are a few that I have read a few times. Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman, Collections of Poe’s work (if this can be considered a book), the Chronicles of Narnia, and the Lord of the Rings. I still think the on that I come back to is Elric of Melnibone by Michael Moorcock. It opened up a whole new concept in SF/Fantasy to me: The Flawed Hero. It was great to find a character with short comings and his downfall; not some superhero.

3. One book you would want on a desert island : Ahh the infamous Desert Island Questions. Which Book? Which Person? Which CD? They are great questions (of course, the CD one implies you either have electricity or a huge supply of batteries). Scott’s suggestion of the Bible is interesting since you would have some free time on your hands. But I think I would want something as big and heady. I am not exactly sure. Plato? Junge? Homer in the original tongue? Guess I am not much help here.

4. One book that made you laugh : Great question. The one book that made me laugh and maybe not outwardly but in an inside laugh kinda way was Soul Music by Terry Pratchett. I do not think I realized the humor in the book until afterwards. It was my first trip into the Discworld and my friend Robert recommended spending sometime there. I has since caused a large withdraw from my bank account in exchange for the entire Discworld saga.

5. One book you wish had been written : hmmm…..interesting. I would love to lay credit to a lot of books. But I think I am most drawn to the writing style of Neil Gaiman. It is his combination of characters, prose and wit that make me want to write like this. As far which book of his – gotta be Neverwhere. BTW- if you have not read it – do yourself a favor – read it.
6. One book you wish had never had been written : The Great Gatsby – see question 1

7. One book that made you cry : I had to think about this question for sometime. While emotional attachment can run through a book and with the characters, I am not sure if any book brought me to tears. I have felt deeply about characters, gotten mad at them (or the author), or even fed up with them and the ridiculousness of their actions. But crying…not sure I have ever done that.

8. One book you are currently reading : I am happy to say that I am reading Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman. As of this writing I am on page 4 I believe. So I can’t give you much feed back on it currently. Other than it is clever — already.

9. One book you have been meaning to read : WOW – that is one long list. Have you seen my “library”? There are LOTS! Which one do I REALLY want to get into.. I would say Otherland book 2. I thought the first was substantially better than most works lately and I would like to get back into Tad Williams series. Of course, I am never good at reading series. So we will have to wait and see.

10. Now tag five people : Ok – no need to be so pushy!

Mike from Adventures of Mike

Jason of Electric Water

Catherine of Bowl of Oatmeal (’cause she will need this kind of prodding)

Joel from Thinking and Driving (check out his podcast)

Brian of Fool Circle (though his is really not a blog)