Life in (A Different Kind of) Text
Tagged by Dooey.
1. One book that changed your life?
Go, Dog, Go! by P.D. Eastman. Little-known fact about yours truly: I taught my brother to read. I was six; he was four. My parents didn't want to pressure him into reading, as he had cerebral palsy and was another two and a half years from starting kindergarten. Of course, I knew nothing of this, so I insisted to him that he learn to read. This was the book.
2. One book you have read more than once?
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (and Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There, by extension) by Lewis Carroll. I know this book inside and out. I bet I've read it forty times. I have a collection of twenty or so (and growing) different editions, and most of the text of The Annotated Alice is forever embedded in my brain. Alice is one of my areas of expertise.
3. One book you would want on a desert island?
Hmm...the Bible. I've never read it (bad Catholic!), there are lots of pictures, and it's long. I hear the boredom is awful on a desert island. Also, if I ended up going crazy and starting my own religion, it would be a fitting ceremonial fire.
4. One book that made you laugh?
Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut. The most I have ever laughed while reading was in reaction to this two-sentence bit at the end; there's a religion that is "looking for Jesus," and every time they meet, they have to search under the table, pick up their plates and check the bottoms, etc., in case Jesus might be there. It's genius, and it's just this total throwaway idea. (I'm having a sudden fit of doubt in myself; if this is a different Vonnegut book to which I refer, let me know. I read several Vonneguts in a row, and I'm wondering if I'm mixing religions.)
5. One book that made you cry?
Hmm. Oh, okay, In Country by Bobbie Ann Mason. This book was stupid, and I didn't enjoy it at all--almost. I had to read it for a lit class, and at the end, there's a scene when the little old lady is at the Vietnam Wall, and she's trying to find her long-dead son's name. When she finds it, she wants to touch it, and she can't reach, so they find her a stool and--Good lord, I'm tearing up a little as I type. Worthless book, though, for the most part.
6. One book you wish had been written?
How Weird, Short, Horrendously Ugly Men Can Get Women to Fight Over Them by Flavor Flav. Granted, it would be three words long ("Get insanely rich"), but maybe he could fill the rest of the pages with something interesting. Like how he's actually a god come to save us from another planet. Or how he gets his magical Powers of Relevance from a three-headed dog that lives in his bathroom. Because he's Flav. And he's weird.
7. One book you wish had never been written?
Part of me wants to say the Bible, but it's not the book that's the problem; it's the morons that get the wrong message. I do wish it had come with a disclaimer ("Ye that taketh this all literallyeth shall burn in the hellfires of idiocyeth eternally and God shall thinketh ye are a biggeth poopyface"). Maybe Brothers by William Goldman. Worst. Sequel. EVER. Good God. We all know I'm a Marathon Man freak (see the quote at the top of this page), so this book was beyond awful for me. Scylla's alive again? Cool! He's not gay anymore? What? Assorted bad plot twists? Oh, Mr. Goldman. (OOH, big digression here--I wish the film Marathon Man had also never existed. I'm all for Dustin Hoffman, but the film kills the book's two biggest plot twists. Scylla and Doc are the same person? Ack! JANEY'S A MAN? My Lord)
...Um, also Catcher in the Rye. Yes, that's two, but since when am I good at rules? Catcher is the most overrated piece of crap on this planet, and JD Salinger deserves to swim eternally in a pool of lepers' vomit for inflicting this literary travesty on society. But I do want his PR guy. Whoever managed to convince people that this was a good book is a miracle worker.
8. One book you are currently reading?
Endless Night by Richard Laymon. I always go for popcorn books in the summer (light and fun), and horror is my favorite genre of these. I thoroughly recommend Laymon. He's amazingly cringe-inducing. The guy makes Stephen King look like a little girl. With no evil powers. Just a tea set and a teddy bear named Wiggly Woo.
9. One book you have been meaning to read?
C.S. Lewis' Case for the Christian Faith. Joe stole it. Blame him for my non-intellectualness.
10. Tag five people.
Um, no. I don't know five people with blogs. So there.
1. One book that changed your life?
Go, Dog, Go! by P.D. Eastman. Little-known fact about yours truly: I taught my brother to read. I was six; he was four. My parents didn't want to pressure him into reading, as he had cerebral palsy and was another two and a half years from starting kindergarten. Of course, I knew nothing of this, so I insisted to him that he learn to read. This was the book.
2. One book you have read more than once?
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (and Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There, by extension) by Lewis Carroll. I know this book inside and out. I bet I've read it forty times. I have a collection of twenty or so (and growing) different editions, and most of the text of The Annotated Alice is forever embedded in my brain. Alice is one of my areas of expertise.
3. One book you would want on a desert island?
Hmm...the Bible. I've never read it (bad Catholic!), there are lots of pictures, and it's long. I hear the boredom is awful on a desert island. Also, if I ended up going crazy and starting my own religion, it would be a fitting ceremonial fire.
4. One book that made you laugh?
Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut. The most I have ever laughed while reading was in reaction to this two-sentence bit at the end; there's a religion that is "looking for Jesus," and every time they meet, they have to search under the table, pick up their plates and check the bottoms, etc., in case Jesus might be there. It's genius, and it's just this total throwaway idea. (I'm having a sudden fit of doubt in myself; if this is a different Vonnegut book to which I refer, let me know. I read several Vonneguts in a row, and I'm wondering if I'm mixing religions.)
5. One book that made you cry?
Hmm. Oh, okay, In Country by Bobbie Ann Mason. This book was stupid, and I didn't enjoy it at all--almost. I had to read it for a lit class, and at the end, there's a scene when the little old lady is at the Vietnam Wall, and she's trying to find her long-dead son's name. When she finds it, she wants to touch it, and she can't reach, so they find her a stool and--Good lord, I'm tearing up a little as I type. Worthless book, though, for the most part.
6. One book you wish had been written?
How Weird, Short, Horrendously Ugly Men Can Get Women to Fight Over Them by Flavor Flav. Granted, it would be three words long ("Get insanely rich"), but maybe he could fill the rest of the pages with something interesting. Like how he's actually a god come to save us from another planet. Or how he gets his magical Powers of Relevance from a three-headed dog that lives in his bathroom. Because he's Flav. And he's weird.
7. One book you wish had never been written?
Part of me wants to say the Bible, but it's not the book that's the problem; it's the morons that get the wrong message. I do wish it had come with a disclaimer ("Ye that taketh this all literallyeth shall burn in the hellfires of idiocyeth eternally and God shall thinketh ye are a biggeth poopyface"). Maybe Brothers by William Goldman. Worst. Sequel. EVER. Good God. We all know I'm a Marathon Man freak (see the quote at the top of this page), so this book was beyond awful for me. Scylla's alive again? Cool! He's not gay anymore? What? Assorted bad plot twists? Oh, Mr. Goldman. (OOH, big digression here--I wish the film Marathon Man had also never existed. I'm all for Dustin Hoffman, but the film kills the book's two biggest plot twists. Scylla and Doc are the same person? Ack! JANEY'S A MAN? My Lord)
...Um, also Catcher in the Rye. Yes, that's two, but since when am I good at rules? Catcher is the most overrated piece of crap on this planet, and JD Salinger deserves to swim eternally in a pool of lepers' vomit for inflicting this literary travesty on society. But I do want his PR guy. Whoever managed to convince people that this was a good book is a miracle worker.
8. One book you are currently reading?
Endless Night by Richard Laymon. I always go for popcorn books in the summer (light and fun), and horror is my favorite genre of these. I thoroughly recommend Laymon. He's amazingly cringe-inducing. The guy makes Stephen King look like a little girl. With no evil powers. Just a tea set and a teddy bear named Wiggly Woo.
9. One book you have been meaning to read?
C.S. Lewis' Case for the Christian Faith. Joe stole it. Blame him for my non-intellectualness.
10. Tag five people.
Um, no. I don't know five people with blogs. So there.
posted by Allison at
11:11 AM
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