Book Meme!

[chomiji]

Ganked from vierran45:

1. One book that changed your life.
Passages: A Guide for Pilgrims of the Mind introduced me to meditation, self-hypnosis, and trance states in my teens.

2. One book that you've read more than once.
Peter Dickinson's mystery One Foot in the Grave. Yes, already know "who done it," but the wry humor, brilliant characterization. and vivid dialog keep me coming back.

3. One book you'd want on a desert island.
Cyteen by C.J. Cherryh: a big, fat SF doorstop with twisted, creepy politics and insights into what it's like to grow up as a genius and what it takes to be human.

4. One book that made you laugh.
The Tough Guide to Fantasyland by Diana Wynne Jones. OK, the humor is wry and dry, and so I mostly chuckled rather than roared. But it is funny, funny, funny for anyone who's annoyed with multi-volume Tolkien-clone fantasy epics.

5. One book that made you cry.
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. The waterworks turn on like a tap every time I come to the parts where Scout realizes who has rescued her and (at the very end) where Atticus reassures her that most people are indeed "real nice" once you get to know them.

6. One book that you wish had been written.
Any additional Master Li/Number 10 Ox stories. Apparently something Very Bad happened between author Barry Hughart and his publisher, and he stopped after writing only three books in the series.

7. One book that you wish had never been written.
American Psycho by Brad Easton Ellis. I never read it, but the extract that Newsweek included in their review haunted me for years afterwards, floating up in my mind's eye to freak me out over and over again.

8. One book you're currently reading.
I'm re-reading Little, Big by John Crowley.

9. One book you've been meaning to read.
I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith, which has been recommended to me over and over again by like-minded fantasy fans - even though the book is not, per se, a fantasy.

Bonus question: What book scared you the most?
Not a novel, but a short story: "I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream" by Harlan Ellison. Eeeeeeeek!

 

Comments

[kispexi2.livejournal.com]

Oh god, the S&H told me about your scary book a couple of years ago and, though I've never read it, the concept haunts me. I can't imagine anything bleaker.

[chomiji]

It's a very well-crafted story, but I rather wish I'd never read it!

[vierran45.livejournal.com]

4. I agree with your reaction to the Tough Guide: it has plenty of chuckle-worthy entries, especially if you've read even a few books of modern fantasy. I've actually been recommending it to all young (Finnish) wannabe-writers every time the subject of writing fantasy comes up on various discussion boards :).

9. I thought I Capture the Castle was an okay read, but nothing too special. I had also see it recommended everywhere which is why I finally decided to check it out through the library.

[chomiji]

From the revoiews on Amazon, it sounds like the enjoyment of I Capture the Castle would depend a lot of whether the reader was able to buy into the family as charmingly eccentric. Well, a paperback might be worth the purchase.

DWJ is a lot of fun, although IMO, she hasn't written anything really, really good since Deep Secret.

[despina-moon.livejournal.com]

Little, Big huh? I found that book to be something of a chore to read. I prefer Charles de Lint to John Crowley for fairy-tale fantasy stuff.

I rarely find others that even know who Master Li and Number Ten Ox are! Woot!

Cyteen was awesome!

The book that frightened me the most was Summer of Night by Dan Simmons. That is some scary crap!

Thank you for sharing!