In keeping with Nicole's post, I thought I'd answer the same bookish questions. Only problem was, I often couldn't choose just one. And even so, I'm leaving out so many!
1. One book that changed your life
Macbeth, by William Shakespeare (because I realized for the first time that I didn’t just love reading; I loved literature)
Les Miserables, by Victor Hugo (for its profound presentation on justice versus mercy…and not for Waterloo!)
A Prayer for Owen Meany, by John Irving (because I learned that a book can have objectionable content in it and still be profoundly worth reading)
Descent into Hell, by Charles Williams (because I have never in my life had to work so hard to understand a book, and because I’ve never had a more clear revelation of the idea that we actually can bear one another’s burdens)
2. One book that you’ve read more than once
Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott (I wore it out as a kid)
3. One book you’d want on a desert island
The Bible in its original languages…and a stack of Hebrew and Greek lexicons and grammars (because what better activity is there?)
4. One book that made you laugh
Catch-22, by Joseph Heller (though sometimes his insight makes it less funny)
Cosmicomics, by Italo Calvino (though it’s really weird)
5. One book that made you cry
Inferno, by Dante Alighieri (I’m probably the only person in the universe, but the end was so beautiful, after so much darkness and horror, that I wept. I actually wept.)
6. One book that you wish had never been written
The Notebook, by Nicholas Sparks (because that’s an hour of my life that I’ll never get back)
7. One book you’re currently reading
Lilith, by George MacDonald (yes, Nicole, I'm still not finished...but I highly recommend it)
8. One book you’ve been meaning to read
The Scarlet Letter, by Nathanial Hawthorne (because I feel like my literary training is incomplete without it)
The House of the Seven Gables, by Nathaniel Hawthorne (because my American Lit. professor insisted that it was better than The Scarlet Letter, even though it’s less famous)
9. Book that you bought but haven’t read
The Elegant Universe, by Brian Greene (most happily a birthday present, so now I don’t have to feel guilty about those times when I renewed it from the library and didn't read it; now I can read it anytime I want!)
10. Book everyone should own
Walking on Water, by Madeleine L’Engle (because her insights are fresh no matter how many times you read them)
4 comments:
I agree with you on all except a couple: My #6 is Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vaughnegut (whose name I can never spell, but because of his books, he does not deserve to have his name spelled correctly), and my #5 was Where the Red Fern Grows, and I'm ashamed to say I've forgotten who wrote it. And don't laugh, I was about 10 when I read it.
Okay, I still haven't read Macbeth or Les Mis, but they're on the "meaning to" list.
Don't get me started on Charles Williams.
Little Women, still on the "meaning to" list, too.
Don't get me started on your love for Dante.
And I totally agree with you about The Notebook, and Message in a Bottle for that matter.
So, Lilith is good? I do MacDonald.
Both Hawthorne books are also on my list, and I've just added the L'Engle book you mentioned. She is a fantastic writer!
Good list, by the way!
Ruth: I remember sitting on the floor in my third-grade classroom while my teacher read Where the Red Fern Grows to us. I had enjoyed the book quite a lot, but when we got to the sad part, everyone in my class started crying--even the boys! I remember actually putting my head down and working up a couple token tears so I wouldn't be the only person in the room not crying. Ah, childhood. But it was a great story.
Nicole: It's ok that we agree to disagree on Dante and Charles Williams. At least I don't argue with your Great Divorce reasoning any more.... And ditto on Message in a Bottle. I should have known from reading that one that there wasn't any hope for The Notebook to be any good. Oh well. We read; we learn.
It's different reading it yourself than in a group. I never could work up tears in front of people.
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