Oh, no, it’s another meme! No worries, though — this one is pretty short, only five questions about books…
- You’re stuck in Fahrenheit 451. Which book would you be?
Two things before I answer: first, in case you don’t know, Fahrenheit 451 is a Ray Bradbury novel set in a near-future world where books are illegal and firemen are duty-bound to destroy them whenever any are found. Second, I would guess, given the premise of F451, that this question really ought to be “which book would you save?”, since “which book would you be?” doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. My answer to the question is appropriately high-minded and literary: The Complete Works of William Shakespeare. While I don’t particularly enjoy reading ol’ Wild Bill — his words were intended to be read by actors on stage, not people in wing chairs — I do believe his work addresses just about every major theme there is in an absolutely unique voice, thus giving it the artistic merit a “book-to-be-saved” requires. Also, Shakespeare formed the basis of our modern literature once; it could do so again following the collapse of whatever tiny-brained regime that would be so monumentally ignorant as to declare books illegal. - Have you ever had a crush on a fictional character?
Assuming this question refers only to literary characters, i.e., someone in a book, no. I have, however, developed crushes on plenty of movie and TV characters. Maybe some afternoon when I’m feeling really exhibitionistic, I’ll do a blog entry on that… - What is the last book you bought?
Not counting a diet book I picked up for my mom, the last thing I bought was the Revenge of the Sith novelization by Matthew Stover. (No, I haven’t read it yet. It is safely locked away until after I see the movie, so as not to reveal any secrets I don’t want to know about.) Prior to that, I bought Public Enemies: America’s Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933-34 by Bryan Burrough. - What are you currently reading?
Steve Hodel’s Black Dahlia Avenger, a true-crime story that reads much like a Raymond Chandler detective novel. It’s a half-memoir, half-investigation by a former LAPD detective who has come to believe that his own father was responsible for an infamous Hollywood murder that occurred in 1947. - What five books would you take to a deserted island?
If I was taking this question literally, I’d have to include the U.S. Army Ranger’s Survival Manual. However, I think the idea here is to list my favorite books of all time. This is a tricky one. I consider myself a pretty well-read and literary chap; however, when I think about the books I’ve really, really loved, the ones I’ve read multiple times and suspect I will one day want to pick up again… well, it’s not such a distinguished list:- The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers (a really nifty — and literary! — fantasy novel involving time-travel, ancient Egyptian magic, and werewolves, among other things)
- Han Solo at Star’s End by Brian Daley (one of the first Star Wars spin-offs and still among the best, as far as I’m concerned)
- Star Wars by George Lucas (yes, I know he didn’t really write the novelization of his own movie — it was actually Alan Dean Foster — but Lucas’ name is on the cover)
- Christine by Stephen King (admittedly not his best work, but it is my favorite among his canon, for reasons I won’t go into here)
- The North and South trilogy by John Jakes (sprawling soap-opera set against the backdrop of the Civil War, much better than any of the three TV miniseries based upon it; also long enough to eat up lots of desert island downtime)
With these answers, I guess I’ll never qualify for the International Association of Literary Snobs. Still, it’s not like I never read the good stuff… no, really, it’s not. Really.
