The book meme

I was tagged....puts hand to throat, idly wonders whether self-strangulation would work. And be less painful.

Thank you so much Jams

1: One book that changed your life:

I can't think of a single book that changed my life, and I'm not really sure that there's any that even stand out as having a major influence on me. I could cite Business Accounting by Frank Wood, but it's so long since I've done any financial accounting I'm not sure even I even know my debits from my credits any more. There are books that stand out as being profound or enjoyable but they all go into the melting pot I call my brain, in a Hegelian dialectical process. Not that I've ever read any Hegel.

2: One book you have read more than once:

There's a lot of books I have read more than once, starting with Puppies and Kittens in about 1972, including many books studied over the years, and ones I keep going back to because of their greatness. But I will cite Alan Paton's Cry the Beloved Country and Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë (I had to google to remember which Brontë...) as ones I go back to because of the sheer beauty of the language.

3: One book you would want on a desert island:

Assuming I get The Bible and the Complete Works of William Shakespeare, I would opt for a history of political philosophy especially if it covered in reasonable depth all the philosophers I half studied in my Theories of Politics and Political Thought courses at University. Greatest regret? Going to University too young to appreciate the opportunity to study and using the time instead to hack. I would say party but I did more hanging out than partying...

If I could only have one book it would be the Bible. Probably the King James Version. Dunno, what do I know about the bible? Had the Jerusalem Bible at home as a child - not great; used the New English Bible at school (still sits in the living room now) - shocking abuse of language; and I also have a New International Version called the bible in one year, or something. Seemed like a great idea when I bought it. Never really got through it. Occasionally make resolutions to try again. I'd like to read the Koran, too.

4: One book that made you laugh:

Adrian Mole, the Cappuccino Years. I remember it well. Lunchtime RBKC. I laughed so hard I spat a prawn onto my computer screen. All the Adrian Mole books, really.

5: One book you wish had been written:

Archduke Franz-Ferdinand: The Forgotten Aristocrat

6: One book you wish had never had been written:

Round the blogosphere, the best answers have been Mein Kampf and A Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela. I can't really better those.

7: One book that made you cry:

Lots of books have made me cry. Generally late at night in private. But Captain Corelli's Mandolin and The Grapes of Wrath had me crying in public. CCM on the District Line en route to Ealing Broadway. I got empathetic nods and smiles from sisters who'd been there. Crying at CCM, I mean, not Ealing Broadway.

8: One book you are currently reading:

More than one, and yet, none...Albion by Peter Ackroyd; Muriel Spark Omnibus; Tales from Ovid - Ted Hughes; The Private Lives of the Three Tenors (two far less interesting than one....look I got it second hand, okay, yes it's badly written...) - by Monica Lewinsky's mother.

9: One book you have been meaning to read:

Fanny Hill; The Diary of Anais Nin

10. Tag 5 people. I don't tag, but what the heck, if you're not a blogger, my comments box is your platform...

Comments

[your sister]

What about Ballet Shoes or the Chalet School series...???

[jamsodonnell]

Great choices Gert. I'm sure you will extract some awful revenge on me for this!

[Silverfin]

You should read Fanny Hill. It made me laugh out loud.

[Faye]

The book I've read the most is Wuvverin Ights (as we call it in Essex). I must have read it about 12 times and I never get bored with it - it also makes me cry, especially when Caffy is dying like.

Faye

P.S: Apologies, I've been drinking ce soir

[Faye]

The funniest book I ever read was one by David Icke who was going on about how Prince Charles was really a lizard from an alien planet or something. I would seriously recommend it, its a hilarious pile of drivel

[Gert]

My sister, I don't recall you being a reader either of Ballet Shoes or the Chalet School...