Book/Reading Survey

[catscradle]

From alighiera, a book/reading survey

Which books are you reading now?

Everything that Rises Must Converge, short stories by Flannery O'Connor and Almanac of the Dead by Leslie Marmon Silko.

When is your favourite time to read?

Anytime I have a spare moment these days, but preferably at night.

Where is your favourite place to read?

Either in bed or in my home office.

What is the first book you remember reading?

The Pokey Little Puppy

What is your favourite quotation?

"There are plenty of good reasons for fighting," I said, "but no good reason ever to hate without reservation, to imagine that God Almighty Himself hates with you, too. Where's evil? It's that large part of every man that wants to hate without limit, that wants to hate with God on his side. It's that part of every man that finds all kinds of ugliness so attractive.
"It's that part of an imbecile," I said, "that punishes and vilifies and makes war gladly." --Mother Night, Kurt Vonnegut


"In this world we spent our time killing or adoring, or both together. 'I hate you! I adore you!' We keep going, we fuel and refuel, we pass on our life to a biped of the next century, with frenzy, or any cost, as if it were the greatest of pleasures to perpetuate ourselves, as if, when all's said and done, it would make us immortal. One way or another, kissing is as indispensable as scratching." --Journey to the End of the Night, Louis-Ferdinand Celine

Who is your favourite novelist?

Kurt Vonnegut

Which school text did you most enjoy?

The Catcher in the Rye

What is the most difficult book you have ever read?

I think The Illuminatus Trilogy by Robert Anton Wilson and Robert Shea was the most difficult in terms of melting the brain. It's also one of my favorites. Though right now I think Almanac of the Dead is going to surpass it.

What is the most erotic book you have read?

I don't tend to read erotica, so I guess A Cry to Heaven or Love in Vein. Now I'm embarrassed.

What is your funniest book?

Either the Hitchhikker Guide series or Good Omens.

And saddest?

All Quiet on the Western Front. I was paralyzed after reading that book.

What is your favourite children's book?

I can't remember the name of the one I want to say - it was a book about 10 Chinese brothers. They each did something cool, but one of them swallowed the whole sea and there was a picture of it. That was neat. But since I can't remember the name, I'll say Millicent the Monster. It was about a little girl that pretended she was a monster and terrorized her family *g*


What is your most overrated book?

On the Road, by Jack Kerouac. I started reading it expecting some great revolutionary thinking and walked away wondering what all the fuss was about.

Name your most underrated book.

Beowulf. No one ever quotes Beowulf, so I will:

Grendel's hatred began,
the monster relished his savage war
On the Danes, keeping the bloody feud
Alive, seeking no peace, offering
No truce, accepting no settlement, no price
In gold or land, and paying the living
For one crime only with another. No one
Waited for reparation from his plundering claws:
That shadow of death hunted in the darkness,
Stalked Hrothgar's warriors.

Is it Grendal or George W. Bush?


Who is your favourite character?

This is a hard one - I like so many characters. I guess Zoey, of Franny & Zoey fame, ranks up there along with Holden Caulfield from Catcher in the Rye. Howard W. Campbell Jr. of Mother Night is one of the most compelling characters in American liturature. Mathieu in Sartre's The Age of Reason is neat in a passive putz type way. I love the sarcasm and anti-hero nature of Ferdinand Bardamu in Celine's Journey to the End of the Night (Voyage Au Bout de la Nuit).

Which characters do you hate most?

Poorly written ones. I try not to read books with them, so I can't remember any.

With which character do you most identify?

Rabo Karabekian from Blue Beard. He was mediocre in his trade as an artist - remembered only because of a grand mistake rather than any of the good he did. I think it's something most people fear


With which character would you most like to have an affair?

Can't say any character ever made me mad with desire. I've become attached to characters and care about them, but I like them in the context of their own environment.

What is the worst screen adaptation?

I was about to say I couldn't think of one when I remembered Queen of the Damned. We all wish we could forget it though ;) Did Anne Rice actually allow her name on that tripe? There are a couple of horrid Huckleberry Finns out there too.

What is your most embarrassing passage?

The entire Beauty series from Anne Rice. Not because of the subject matter, I just found the writing godawful. I laughed through it.

Name three desert island choices?

The Illuminatus Trilogy, The Schodinger's Cat Trilogy and my entire Kurt Vonnegut collection (Mother Night, God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater, Galapagos, Blue Beard, etc...).


Which book changed your life?

The Catcher in the Rye got me hooked on reading. I consider myself illiterate before that book.

Which book would you make compulsory reading?

All Quiet on the Western Front - WWI told from the viewpoint of a German soldier. When questioned later, many of the readers didn't realize that the protagonist was the enemy. I find material like that important given today's world.