For some reason, this feels like cheating...probably because it doesn't require a great deal of thought. Maybe it is. But then, it's my blog, is it not?
In any case, "this" is a questionnaire about books; a worthy subject, even if writing a blog post on a questionnaire is suspect. But time evades me, and horizontality calls, so I will cut to the heart of the matter.
I suppose it would be prudent here to ad the aside "with the exception of
The Gawgon and the Boy or
Ishmael," much like
Shamus Young does with the Bible, as they would be an applicable (if increasingly bland) answers to all of the questions, with the possible exceptions of 7, 8, and 9 -- I love the books, and would never wish nonexistence on them, sadly, I am reading many other things at the moment, and have no spare time (or processing power) to add them to "the list," at the moment. Nine is debatable, because it could be argued that I've been meaning to read them for a while; whenever I feel at a loss for something to do or read, I contemplate picking one of them up, but then usually get distracted by something else, such as Robo being finished with the computer, another book, possibly mindless (
Harry Potter, for instance*), or some such thing. Although, really, I suppose, they don't apply to nine, because I haven't made any active plans or intents to read them.
Other books that should be excluded on similar grounds:
The Story of BMy IshmaelHis Dark Materials (trilogy)On with the show!
1. One book that changed your life:
Hard to say; probably either
The Hobbit or
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone**, because those were two of the first fantasy books I ever read (I suppose one could also include on that list
Dragons of Autumn Twilight, but in doing so, my answer strays yet further from the caveat of the question "one book"), both of which I have latched onto. As time progressed I have become more inclined towards
The Lord of the Rings, and similar epic fantasies, rather than the light-hearted tomfoolery of Bilbo and the dwarves, but much of fantasy harks back to LOTR, which in turn harks back to
The Hobbit -- I also would probably never have read the
Lord of the Rings without having read
The Hobbit. So, in short, it would suffice to answer the question with simply
The Hobbit; amazing as
Potter is, and influential as it has been (mostly to other people), I wouldn't say it has changed my life a great deal, at least not to the degree that others have (see the increasing list of books excepted from the answers).
2. One book that you’ve read more than once:
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Of nearly all series and books, the
Potter series is the one I reread the most, probably because of it's light prose, and the compulsiveness of the story; even having read them many times (I've lost count at this point), one still wants to experience it again, to follow Harry through every step of becoming a wizard, and perhaps more importantly, a man.
That said,
Half-Blood Prince is, for some reason, my favorite so far (although
Deathly Hallows may challenge that), because it seems to be the point at which things actually begin to *happen*. Throughout the first five books, JK sets up certain mysteries, questions for the obsessive fans to ask, and finally, with HBP, she begins to answer them.
Also (and I'm somewhat embarrassed to admit it), I like to see Harry have a girlfriend, if just for a short time.
*cough*... I'm not a fanboy -- it's just an easy read, hardly great literature.
3. One book you’d want on a desert island:
Des Cartes'
Meditations on First Philosophy, partly because I would be able to read it and take it in fully, with no distractions -- a feat that has become increasingly difficult with the all-pervasiveness of modern society
-- and because it discusses skepticism and the question of existence, and where better to question the existence of the world than on a desert island?
4. One book that made you laugh:The Hitchhikers' Guide to the Galaxy. In seventh grade English, we had a portion of the class set aside for individual reading, supposedly to promote such practices outside of the classroom. "Codswollop, in my opinion." Those who will read, will read anyways, and those who won't will hardly be changed by that. In any case, during one such session, I had chosen
Hitchhikers' to read, and upon opening it, began giggling, chuckling and perhaps snorting in what must have been a rather unseemly manner, as I began to attract funny looks from my neighbors, who were all probably immersed in deep literature (read as: books on the level of
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants). Of course, I rather resented the attention, but the book was so absurdly funny -- and this was not, I will hasten to add, even the first time I had read it, merely the most dramatic -- that I couldn't help but continue to do so, in spite of the side effects. And that was just the first page. Literally.
5. One book that made you cry:I cannot recall a book that has made me cry. Not because I haven't read books that would incite that; describing sad or horrible things -- Elie Wiesel's
Night, for example, should have made me cry, but for whatever reason, I don't cry at books. Nor movies. Call me cold, if it strikes your fancy, but media just doesn't seem to bring out that kind of reaction in me.
6. One book that you wish had been written:
Sun Tzu's Art of Peace. Because peace is much harder to maintain successfully than war, and I don't know of any really famous books on the philosophy of peacekeeping, and it would be rather less straightforward than one on war -- more subtlety is required, and it would be interesting to see one such great mind tackle such a problem.
7. One book that you wish had never been written:
This is a bit of a tricky question, because although there are certainly books that have caused, or been the focus of no end of suffering (
Mein Kompf, various religious texts,
and anything on the ninth grade reading list, to give a few examples), there have assuredly been positive outcomes of nearly all literature, and even those without even that saving grace are legitimate exercises of freedom of speech, and to deprive the world of any ideas, however horrible, is always a loss -- perhaps one would quibble over some of the morals promoted in books that may have been found in the library of Alexandria, but one could never deny that it burning was a loss to the world. Likewise, I would argue that one should never destroy ideas or prevent them from occurring, merely prevent the dangerous ones from gaining too strong a hold upon the world.
8. One book you’re currently reading:
Sun Tzu's Art of War -- but only partially. I have a tenancy to start books and not finish them. Then, if it strikes my fancy, I'll pick up where I left off, some months later. Of course, it's rather short, so if I was so inclined, I could finish it in no great length of time. Some things about it irritate me: his continually citing very specific numbers (If you do X, you will lose 3/8 of your troops, if you do Y, 2/3 of the enemy's army will flee, etc), and his continual use of the units "Li" -- a measurement of distance to which I have nothing to compare. Of course, this is not something that he could necessarily have been avoided; it was simply the units in use at the time, but it manages to irk me nonetheless.
That aside, the book is very good for what it is; it makes statements that one might complain are obvious, but if kept in mind, are likely to procure one an advantage. A good example of this is: "Attack where your enemy can not possibly defend, and only hold where he can not possibly attack," or something to that effect. You can find it (and hundreds of other public domain books) as free ebooks at
Project Gutenberg.
9. One book you’ve been meaning to read:
Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell. Again. That is, I've been meaning to reread it. For some reason, I've always been attracted to stories detailing the development of powers of one sort or another (thus explaining my infatuation with both the
Harry Potter series and Robert Heinlin's
Starship Troopers -- the book of course; I've heard the movie was terrible), and the entire section of the story that concerns Strange, which is about 3/4 of the book is, to some degree, concerned with that; he becomes exponentially more powerful as the story progresses, and always in very interesting ways -- walking in the paths behind mirrors, to name an example -- thus making the book of perpetual interest to me. Also, it is insanely long; eight hundred some-odd pages in type about half the size of the
Potter books, which allows it to meander at a rather slower pace than many other books, and to take sidetracks and tangents that only someone interested in the development of the setting (which is awesome, by the way, if it happens to be your cup of 800 page tea) would enjoy. Overall, it is rather more fulfilling than much of the fantasy I find is being produced nowadays -- actually, more than most of the literature of any sort being produced nowadays. I await the sequel.
In retrospect...I'm long winded. One other thing I wanted to mention in this post is that a friend of mine has begun his own blog:
Hedgeblog. Bear in mind that he is a newb, not a noob (the difference is explained
here), and has not yet reached the peak of his literary prowess. Trust me though, when he does, it will be one hell of a peak.
That's all for now.
PLaATJ,
--Gazebo
* This is not intended to be a snipe at the
Harry Potter books; I am as much of an obsessive fan as any of you, and love them dearly. However, they are certainly light reading, and require little thought to enjoy them as passive reading (overanalyzing, however, requires a rather closer read...).
** To any and all Brits reading this (who am I kidding? -- I know who reads this...): I'm fully aware of the proper title of the book...however,
*I*
read
Sorcerer's Stone.
