Book it

Way back in early November, Erin tagged me with the book meme. It's been kicking around in my draft folder; time to post.

• One book that changed your life: a series—It was The Chroni [-Wha?-]cles of Narnia
• One book that you’d read more than once: Of several, I will mention The Education of Little Tree. I am aware of the controversy,* which makes for a disconnect with the sense of wonder I always got from reading the book as a child. (After reading this book, I chose a tree from the wooded block near our house and would talk to it.) Of course, this was the same age when I thought The Dukes of Hazzard was the best!show!ever! As a kid you don't worry about the Noble Savage construct and shades of gray. The book is still on my shelf. I should reread it. I should go back and find that tree.
• One book you’d want on a deserted island: Something long but companionful. Like The Namesake on steroids.
• One book that made you laugh: The Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood
• One book that made you cry: Most of them.
• One book you wish you’d written: The Bible. It’s the best-selling book EVAH and I’d be rich rich rich! It’s not without its problems, of course: A lot of the characters are inconsistent, a bit too much deus ex machina, and the ending is flaky. Overall there’s a lot of good stuff in there; maybe it just needs a good editor to tighten it up. (Oh, and clarify all that stuff that makes people rationalize being all judgmental and killing other people and all.)
• One book you wish had never been written: Books that glorify jerkitude, like Catcher in the Rye. I can see that it was radical in its time, which is cool. Still. Sometimes the difference between “profound” and “asinine” is simply marketing. 
       Also, The Magus. Wow, was that book bad.
• One book you’re currently reading: The Whole World Over by Julia Glass
• One book you’ve been meaning to read: The Brothers Karamazov
• Tag people: Anyone who wants to do this meme is welcome!

 *although some of the points made in that link are a bit of a stretch.

Comments

[Jennifer]

So, if I'm reading (ha! reading!) you right, you're saying that The Dukes of Hazzard *wasn't* in fact the best!show!ever!

Hmm. Now that you mention it? By golly, you may just be right.

Wow.

I'm gonna have to break it to my Dad, whose official line whenever he happened into the living room while it was on was always "that's *so* bad," but who never once succeeded in continuing on his way out the other side of the living room to do whatever it was he was actually doing.

He watched it standing behind the couch. Every time.

[Cath]

I always associate you with "The Lorax", Juliloquy - speaking for the trees!

Here's my book list:

# One book that changed your
life: For Whom the Bell Tolls - set me off one summer on reading all the classics (for fun, not for lit classes.)

# One book that you’d read more than once: The Little House Series - fun to read with a new generation! And now wrters are expanding on the franchise and writing similar-style fictional biographies of Laura's mother, grandmother and Laura's daughter. I haven't been able to get the new generation into Nancy Drew, even with the upcoming movie. I guess her sleuthing must seem old fashioned compared to Harry Potter.

# One book you’d want on a deserted island: A blank journal to write my own book (hopefully a writing utinsel would also be present and serveral bottles so my masterpiece could be serialized and I'd be famous, once discovered!) Or altertatively, Leon Uris' Trinity.

# One book that made you laugh: The Prince of Tides or alternatively (clearly I have trouble with the whole ONE thing!) David Sedaris' "Naked" LOL funny.

# One book that made you cry: Little Women. Spoiler alert: Beth (sniff) dies.

# One book you wish you’d written: The Source - Michener uses an omnibus structure in this tome set in an archiological dig in Israel. As each layer is uncovered (going way back - it's Michener!) an artifact is discovered and he takes you back in time and tells a story about when that artifact is "modern." At the end past and present merge in a surprising way and you've leared a lot about Jewish culture and history. Brilliant! This would be a good desert island read, too, btw.

# One book you wish had never been written: This is a very strong sentiment! Let's see, how about one I recently read - The Peppered Moth. It wasn't bad enough for me to stop reading but the main character was so unlikeable it was really a struggle. I was kind of mad at the end because my book-reading time is so precious and there are so many great, enjoyable books waiting to be read.

# One book you’re currently reading: "Reading Lolita in Tehran." Very interesting and has now inspired me to read or reread the classics discussed in the book. Lolita, The Great Gatsby, etc. I also just finished a GREAT book that I highly recommend for anyone: http://www.amazon.com/Inheritance-Loss-Kiran-Desai/dp/0802142818/sr=1-1/qid=1170034144/ref=pd_bbs_1/105-5829443-0359603?ie=UTF8&s=books
I love books where one can learn history and this one just completely transported me to the Darjeeling Province. This could also fall under "a book I'd read again." I wish I had taken notes of some of the excellent prose.

# One book you’ve been meaning to read: RLIT classics, see above and also David Copperfield. Somehow this one evaded me in all of my many English lit classes.