May 02, 2005
Reading Update on Command
As agonizing as these little lists of questions are to answer, their lure is utterly irresistible to me. Thanks, Wilson. It's funny to think how different this would have looked three years ago, just before I started college . . . Anyway:
* What book, other than Fahrenheit 451, would you want to be?
Something long, fun, and not likely to run out of readers anytime soon. I'm essentially an escapist at heart, so my first choice would probably be a fantasy like The Chronicles of Narnia. Something like The Complete Sherlock Holmes (or any of my "desert island" books below) would be a lot of fun, as well.
* Have you ever been really struck by a fictional character?
Geez . . . only all the time. A double handful of books have made me cry, and thrice as many more have left me quiet and introspective for days, but as for a specific character that I must point to forthwith . . . Well, most recently I would have to note both Asbury Fox ("The Enduring Chill" by Flannery O'Connor) and Ambrose ("Lost in the Funhouse" by John Barth).
* What was the last book that you bought?
Flannery O'Connor: Collected Works, Great Novels and Short Stories of E. M. Forster, and William Faulkner: Novels 1930-1935 . . . I decided to snag a little summer reading and beef up my personal library at the same time.
* What was the last book you read?
Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt and Everything That Rises Must Converge by Flannery O'Connor
* Which books are you reading?
I am officially in the midst of summer, so I've taken a large bite . . . *clears throat* . . . The Complete Father Brown by G. K. Chesterton, Lady Chatterley's Lover by D. H. Lawrence, Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray, Lost in the Funhouse by John Barth, Cobra by Timothy Zahn, and The King of Torts by John Grisham.
* Which five books would you take to a desert island?
I'm pretty sure I'd self-destruct if I actually had to choose only five books to take along . . . but discounting anything that would actually be useful to me, here are a few possibilities:
The Bible (beefiest version I can find, Apocrypha a must, in English and Spanish if possible, plenty of supplementary material in the form of concordances and so forth)
The Gormenghast Novels by Mervyn Peake
The Once and Future King by T. H. White
The Complete Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Collected Works by Flannery O'Connor
Alternately, I would be just as content for a time with all four volumes of the Norton Anthologies of American and British Literature . . . although if I didn't get off the island I would go crazy wanting to read more than just the included excerpts of larger works or wishing I could delve into other writings by the favorite authors I picked out.
* To whom are you going to send this erm... let's say confession...and why? (three people) Hrm . . . How about a few fellow readers who haven't done it already . . . Say, Ardith, Andy, and Scholl.
Posted by Jared at May 2, 2005 11:59 PM | TrackBackcollections and "sets" are not single books you big cheater.
1) I'd be The River Why by David James Duncan
2)If you think Asbury is striking, Try Hazel Motes father of the Church of Christ without Christ in Wise Blood- But I think the most striking for me is Capt. Vere in Billy Budd
3)Angle of Repose-Wallace Stegner (once voted the greatest novel ever written about the west)
4)Angle of Repose
5)Remembering Laughter- Stegner, Man of War- Reeman, The Natural-bernard Malamud
6) Could not go on deserted island with out anthologies...especially one of poetry...though a seafood cookbook and a book on raft building and navigation might come in handy
Oh, come on. There isn't a single book on there that isn't . . . well, a single book. All of the above titles appear in single-volume editions. It's part of their appeal.
Posted by: Blame Jared at May 7, 2005 09:20 AMTry that again...this time with more conviction, soon even you'll beleive it!
I would say that perhaps one should land on a desert island with no books. Perhaps then one would be motivated to get off!
The real question should be- After being recued from a deserted island where would you go first McDonald's (or Pollo Campero if your a Guatemalteco) or Barne's and Noble?
Posted by: fry at May 7, 2005 01:19 PMOooh, I don't care if sets and collections count. I'm just want to borrow your E.M. Forester collection when you're done with it. :-)
Posted by: Jenny at May 8, 2005 08:54 AMCorrection E.M. Forster
Posted by: Jenny at May 8, 2005 08:55 AMLa vida es sueño.
Posted by: Asa at May 8, 2005 02:13 PMSo what happened to your "Spotlight Book of the Month Reading Item that I Do Not Necessarily Like But Still Have a Lot to Say About" feature (or whatever you called it)? Man, I miss that so much. I just miss it, man.
Posted by: Andrushka at May 10, 2005 12:17 AMDitto
Posted by: Fry at May 10, 2005 09:37 AM