It's spread like... wildfire... since then, featured on thousands of blogs--and now this one, because the Teacher/Ref/Poet passed it on to me. So here goes.
You are stuck inside Fahrenheit 451. What book would you be?
At first, the question seems weird, maybe even nonsensical. Au contraire. Back to the source:
To explain, in Fahrenheit 451 firemen are people who burn books instead of putting out fires. Because they are living in a culture that is destroying all the great works of literature, people have gotten together and they are memorizing books so that they can be passed down to future generations who hopefully will not live in a culture which despises books. When the protagonist meets these people they are introduced to him as being the books they have memorized: This is Jane Eyre, That is Heart of Darkness. The point of the question is, if you could only SAVE one book from being forgotten forever which book would you save?
I'd be The Idiot, by Dostoyevsky, simply because no one else would want to memorize it. (If Google is to be trusted, I'm right so far.)
Have you ever had a crush on a fictional character?
No. Sorry.
What was the last book you bought?
Ought I be ashamed? I bought a perfect copy of The Plot Against America at Goodwill for $2.50, thinking I'd read it, but then I poked around on half.com and saw that I could resell it for $10.00, which I did. I'll check it out from the library one of these days.
What are you currently reading?
Song of Solomon, Toni Morrison, again. It's an almost-Dickensian mystery, complex, satisfying, sensuous, and evocative. It's beyond adjectives, really. The one-star reviews on Amazon are reason enough to read it. And I quote:
This book has nothing to do with the title, "Song of Solomon." After reading just three chapters I had become nauseated and refused to continue. If do not want your mind invaded and your spirit contaminated you will not read this book. I am appauled of how a person could make a mockery of the Bible and may God have mercy on her. If you decide to read this book or is assigned to read this book and you feel uncomfortable and offended please do not hesitate to refuse to read this book and let the board of education know about it and warn others not to read this book. Regardless is if Oprah has this listed on her book club or that Toni Morrison has been praise to be a important Author, Don't Be Fooled!
This book is too Dense and should not be read or taught at the high school level!
I read this book 2 years ago and couldn't tell you what I read. Tried it again and got halfway through, but decided I didn't have time to RE-READ sections over again just to figure what the hoot is going on??? Very typical of Morrison's work. She is a great writer, but there are too many other good books that one can get by without digging, deciphering, dissecting and re-reading. Too bad!!
What five books would you take to a deserted island?
Jules Verne's The Mysterious Island, Oliver Sacks's The Island of the Colorblind, Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island, Aldous Huxley's Island, and Charles Darwin's Geological Observations on the Volcanic Island and Parts of South America Visited During the Voyage of H M S Beagle. Should keep me busy.
Whom are you going to pass this book meme to and why?
My brother Matt, because he has so much free time; Theomorph, because he seems well-read; Jenny D, because I don't think she's reading this, so no harm done.
I am glad you tracked it down to its origin. When I wrote mine, I ended with the plea that someone makes a chart or list or tree of all the participants, to see who stopped, who forwarded to more or less than 3 'offspring", etc. You made a good start towards that goal.
ReplyDeleteFrom my very brief research, it appears that the tree has grown to the point that such a task would be so time-consuming as to be practically impossible. This meme is all over the place, and it's still spreading.
ReplyDeleteI need to write a book. The Pleasure of One-Star Reviews or something like that. When I'm trying to decide on a book, one of the very first things I do is go to Amazon.com and read all the one-star reviews. It's great fun.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I shall try to carry your meme into a post of my own in the next day or so.
Cool and I did try to keep track of it but as Jim pointed out it just got too widespread. Honestly I started it on a whim because I had just done the "how much space is taken up by mp3s on your computer?" stick.
ReplyDelete