Friday, August 11, 2006

Book Meme

1) One book that changed your life: Health and Illness. The first Rudolf Steiner book I read. It led me to anthroposophy and Waldorf education. Must have changed my life, I now live on campus at an anthroposophical college.
2) One book you've read more than once: I am an unrepentant book repeater.
Pure escapism: Harry Potter, The Golden Compass.
Slightly more intellectual escapism: The Roads to Sata, The Robber Bride, Red Mars.
For my edification: The Incarnating Child.
For practical reasons: Guide to Child Health.
Because I have more in common with my mom every day: Pride and Prejudice.
3) One book you'd want on a desert island: Any guide to the flora and fauna of my desert island. Maybe a survival manual too. Oh, and everything on #2, since those generally reflect my favorites.
4) One book that made you laugh: Anything by Wendell Berry.
5) One book that made you cry: Anything by Wendell Berry. Also, at the end of Riding the Iron Rooster, Paul Theroux talks about the inherent joy and nobility of the Tibetan people, and of their deep abiding love for the Dalai Lama. All they want is autonomy, and their god-king back home.
6) One book you wish had been written: Perhaps something about how to raise happy, healthy, respectful kids while pursuing fulfilling, well-paying work and losing weight effortlessly. It's good to dream.
7) One book you wish had never been written: Hmmm...free speech is very important. I could wish that some books weren't written because they offend me, but then I could just not read them. I could wish that hateful books weren't written because they inculcate more hatred in the world, but then there's that pesky concept of free will, too.
8) The book you are currently reading: Just finished What's Making You Angry?, The Minotaur, and most of Emma.
9) One book you've been meaning to read: I tried to read Middlemarch while on vacation but I just couldn't finish it. I'd like to read the Koran some day though I would be skeptical of the effects of translation.
10) Tag? No thanks.

3 comments:

Chris Hunt said...

An unrepentant book re-reader? More like a pathological book re-reader. She has a very dog-eared copy of Belinda, which Anne Rice felt a need to publish under the pseudonym Anne Rampling...

Chris Hunt said...

The Kim Stanley Robinson books are worth re-reading though, I will admit.

Henitsirk said...

Belinda is a trashy novel. But it has rich artists living internationally and finding true love. That's my kind of escapism.