Wednesday, August 02, 2006

The Joy of Reading

This little “Meme” about books came from Kevin Stilley. The only rule is that you can’t use the Bible (I suppose this is to keep us from attempting to out sanctify each other). It seems like the perfect thing to work on when I don't feel like writing what I need to be writing...

1. One book that changed your life: Paul Woodruff, Reverence: Renewing a Forgotten Virtue

2. One book that you've read more than once: Herman Hesse, Siddhartha

3. One book you'd want on a desert island: Roy Blount’s Book of Southern Humor (I suppose I should chose a book on shipbuilding, but I never claimed to be smart)

4. One book that made you laugh: Guy Owen, The Ballard of the Flim-flam Man

5. One book that made you cry: Willie Morris, Taps (I also laughed some, you can’t help but laugh reading Morris)

6. One book that you wish had been written: Long Strides and J Stokes: Decades of Hiking and Canoeing by Sage

7. One book that you wish had never been written: Jane Austin, Pride and Prejudice (That’s my sarcastic answer. I only nominated it because of memories of having to read it in the 10th grade. This is the hardest question here to answer and deserves some philosophical discussion. There are few books I’ve read that I hate enough that they shouldn’t be written since I would stop reading them if they’re that bad. Then there are books that have misled mass groups of people and inspired evil and caused great tragedies, such as the The Protocols of the Elders of Zion or Mien Kempf. Then there are books like Elie Wiesel’s Night and Iris Chang’s The Rape of Naking which are very important, but I wish they were not written because I wish the events they describe had not take place. But since the events occurred, I’m glad the books stand as a witness to what happened.)

8. One book you're currently reading: Taylor Branch, Parting the Waters: American in the King Years, 1954-1963 (I've been reading this one for several weeks and have completed several other books while reading it)

9. One book you've been meaning to read: George Marsden, Jonathan Edwards: A Life.

10. Now tag four people: I don’t believe in tagging folks, but if you’d like to be tagged, let me know and I’ll put your name here, in bold letters! Okay, here is one: JADEDPRIMADONNA

10 comments:

  1. Sage, I agree with #2, I have read it several times too - and I need to again!

    Re your comment: Be careful of a lap top that gets hot in the batttery area. I've read several articles lately about them catching on fire!! They explode too.

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  2. 1. One book that changed your life: The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko
    2. One book that you've read more than once: Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey

    3. One book you'd want on a desert island: An Island To Oneself by Tom Neale

    4. One book that made you laugh: A Walk In the Woods by Bill Bryson (hysterically laughing at times)

    5. One book that made you cry: Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls (why did Little Ann have to die?)

    6. One book that you wish had been written: The Long Walk: One Man's Travels Around the World written by myself

    7. One book that you wish had never been written: I honestly can't think of one. I suppose they all mean something to at least one person.

    8. One book you're currently reading: The Last Run: A True Story of Rescue and Redemption On the Alaska Seas by Todd Lewan

    9. One book you've been meaning to read: Any book that I haven't yet read on this list: http://blogoflists.blogspot.com/2005/04/100-greatest-adventure-books-of-all.html

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  3. I'll post answers on my blog - when I think of them. This is no throw it out there at the drop of the hate meme - requires a lot of thought!

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  4. Something I noticed is that, aside from Jane Austen (whom you used in a negative context), all of the books are written by men. Are there any books written by women that would fit these areas?

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  5. Kenju, I use to be a big Hesse fan, and I've also heard those reports on laptops and keep meaning to take mine in and have it checked. According to what I've found out, a lot of people complain about the heat on this one.

    Ed, Abbey just didn't fit into these requirements--but I agree with Solatire as being a very important book, but I only read parts more than once. I've read "The Fools Progress" a couple of times.

    Jaded, I'll look for your thoughtful post! As an English prof type, it'll be interesting to see what you pick. (Another requirement--all books should be in English! lol

    Murf, In one of those many Bibles you own, see if you can one in which the 9th Commandment isn't marked out! ;-)

    Dawn, you're right, it was conscience and I often read women's work. I debated, under books that make you cry, to put Doris Betts, "Souls Raised from the Dead." I also thought about Annie Dillard's "Pilgrim at Tinker Creek" for one of the books that meant the most to me. And in a day or two I'll post a review on a book by Candace Millard which I enjoyed--"The River of Doubt."

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  6. My problem is that I only ever remember the book I'm currently reading. Right now it's Word Freak. Scrabble anyone?

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  7. A very interesting list. There are several books on it that I now feel I must check out. However, I don't think I could ever read Siddhartha a second time. Maybe it was just the time in which I read it the first time, but I found it to be very...frustrating.

    Dawn, a very interesting challenge. Every single title on my list was written by a man. Now I must go back and ask myself what titles I would list if I could only list books written by women.

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  8. Colleen, you must be concentrating too much on finding "high valued" words--those with x's and z's and stuff!

    Kevin, I discovered Hesse in High School and by the time I was a year or two out of college had read almost everything he wrote. Older now, I don't find myself going back to him to read, but the role of the river in Siddhartha has always intrigued me. But I don't think it's his best book, it's a bit humorous for a German to write about Eastern traditions.

    Murf, I was trying to be sarcastically humorous too! I hope you know that.

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  9. however, Murf, if you were out of the Lutheran Tradition, I think it would be the eighth commandment ;)

    and of course, we could debate just what bearing false witness really means when it comes to overstating one's realliance upon the Bible.

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