Monday, July 31, 2006

I really hate these things...

....but I love Meme Therapy, so here goes:

1. One book that changed your life?

The Illuminatus! Trilogy by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson. I started the book a lapsed Christian and ended it an atheist (now an agnostic, which was more in keeping with the point of the book, I think). Really changed my life and helped me deprogram from 12 years of fundamentalist Christian education. That I was 23 when I read it will make sense to those in the know.

2. One book you have read more than once?

My favorite book of all time, The World According to Garp by John Irving. One of the few books I’ve read twice, and the book that made me want to get into this whole writing/publishing life to begin with (though I saw the movie first). Incidentally, either book in question 1 & 2 could be substituted for the other.

3. One book you would want on a desert island?

The complete Time Life Do-It-Yourself series. Don't own that now, but could see how it could have come in handy on Gilligan's Ilsand. Failing that, the Baroque Cycle, since it would take me years to get through.

4. One book that made you laugh?

Hitchhiker's Guide.

5. One book that made you cry?

The Child Garden, by Geoff Ryman.

6. One book you wish had been written?

Babylon 5. Really, a five-book series. As it was meant to be, without network interference or absentee actors necessitating plot changes.

7. One book you wish had never had been written?

Revelations.

8. One book you are currently reading?

Jim Butcher's Proven Guilty.

9. One book you have been meaning to read?

Greg Keyes' The Charnel Prince. Or John Scalzi's The Ghost Brigades.

10. Now tag five people.


David Louis Edelman
Chris Roberson
Joel Shepherd
Eric Spitznagel
Sean Williams

6 comments:

Lou Anders said...

I will hold this against you, you realize.

Anonymous said...

Does that, like, mean I have to do it now?

Lou Anders said...

Hey, I'm only kidding (sort of, I may force you to buy a round of drinks one day for this).

And, it's made me think. For instance, I must have no sense of humor if the only funny book I can think of is HITCHHIKER'S. Though it's interesting I'm in SF, given that the Irving is my #1 fav book of all time.

I think if I weren't in SF, I'd be working on books like TRAINSPOTTING, FIGHT CLUB, etc...

David Louis Edelman said...

Hey Lou, I had no idea you were such a big fan of Garp. That's one of my faves too. Since you tagged me, I'll post some answers right here...

1. Book that changed my life: The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster.

2. Book read more than once: Dune by Frank Herbert. Obviously.

3. Book I want on a desert island: Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon.

4. Book that made me laugh: Old Man's War by John Scalzi.

5. Book that made me cry: A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin. (Don't laugh... the Red Wedding scene?)

6. Book I wish I'd written: The Gold Bug Variations by Richard Powers.

7. Book I wish had never been written: The Da Vinci Code by Whatsisface.

8. Book you're reading now: Spin by Robert Charles Wilson.

9. Book you've been meaning to read: Sean Williams and Shane Dix' Geodesica: Descent, because, well, the first one was so damn good.

10. Tag five people: I'll spare the world. :-)

Anonymous said...

Now at my website - http://www.joelshepherd.com/blog.htm

Lou Anders said...

Hey, thanks for being a good sport. I promise never to do this again.

There's something interesting here about memes that spread naturally from blog to blog and ones that are artificially (or deliberately) propagated...