I have greatly enjoyed reading everyone's answers to the current book survey. Here's mine.
Books next to your bed right now: Britten and Brulightly, Hannah Berry; Manhood for Amateurs, Michael Chabon; Talk Dirty Yiddish, Ilene Schneider
Favorite series: My favorite series hasn't been written yet. But it's in the works.
Favorite book: Another Roadside Attraction, Tom Robbins
The one book you would have with you if stranded on a desert island: And to Think that I Saw it on Mulberry Street, Dr. Seuss
Book/series you would take with you on a long flight: The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Klay, Michael Chabon (the best book I never seem to finish)
Worst book you were made to read in school: anything from the syllabus of my college class in modern European literature (it's amazing what terrible things a professor can do to good literature)
Book that everyone should be made to read in school: To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
Book that everyone should read, period: anything by Kurt Vonnegut published between 1961 - 1969 (Mother Night, Cat's Cradle, God Bless You Mr. Rosewater, Slaughterhouse Five)
Favorite character: Monkey, in Monkey by Wu Cheng-En
Best villain: Livia, in I Claudius by Robert Graves
Favorite concept series: Hard Case Crime
Favorite invented world: The Cyberiad: Fables for a Cybernetic Age, Stanislaw Lem
Most beautifully written book: Shipwrecks, Akira Yoshimura
Funniest book: A Confederacy of Dunces, John Kennedy O'Toole
Comments (23)
this is a great list, too. Love Vonnegut, and I believe To Kill a Mockingbird IS taught in every school (as it should be)...The best part of this, is that I keep finding books I haven't read and yet and am now going to ! Thanks.
Sandra
Monkey is a good choice...I should have picked that one....I actually read that by the way as per your suggestion...I enjoyed it...
I have heard the name "I Claudius" before...but where?
My old e-mail address used to be Wu_kung because I was so enamored with Wu Cheng-en's character - like a simian Groucho Marx. And I swear that reading Slaughterhouse Five as a seventh grader altered my mind forever. Great picks.
Do not own a television. Never have. My parents did not, and I don't. My goodness, spend way too much money on books, and I pass them along. all good choices you made
@BianchiStreet - I've been jotting down book titles as I make the rounds of the book surveys. My to-be-read list is multiplying dangerously.
@youandwhosearmy - Perhaps you've seen I Claudius on Masterpiece Theater. Quite possibly the best thing ever on television (except perhaps Fawlty Towers).
great list! I totally agree with you on the Vonnegut stuff, and may steal your answer if I decide to do this list. Just a heads up.
@Shahrazad1973 - I know how you feel about Vonnegut. And you're not wrong.
@Gunner_Poole - Monkey is one of those books that grabs hold of you and refuses to let go.
An interesting list!
I'll have to check out your list. So many I haven't read..
Interesting list.
I have 2 sons and one has an upstairs library at the top of the stairs and the other one-I said to hubby,"something is odd about this house" and he said,"I noticed it ,too; no books."
Very interesting I like these lists. Just finished the Cyberiad a couple weeks ago and enjoyed it immensely (again). Our library has four Akira Yoshimura books, including Shipwrecks. Gonna have to look into him.
I have Confederacy of Dunces, but haven't read it, yet. This is the second time I've seen Shipwrecks on a list. hmm.
To Kill a Mockingbird is a great choice! I totally forgot about that one.
I read--or tried to read--A Confederacy of Dunces, but I couldn't get through it.
Books! Awesome.
-from a book lover, too. ;)
To Kill a Mockingbird is one of my favorite classics. Amazing that it was her only book she ever wrote
@heidenkind - Three books that I left off my list that really deserve a spot were A Prayer for Owen Meany, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Lonesome Dove.
Hmmm...Livia? She was a beeyotch to be sure but I would think that Tiberius was worse. Especially since HE was the one who created the monster that was Caligula.
@JVRCisMe - Yes, but it all starts with Livia.
THE TYRANNY OF EDUCATION
Many years ago, I found an old piano. It was out of tune and in disrepair. With time on my hands and a sound in my head I started banging away. I enjoyed myself immensely and with no one to disturb me, I made the sounds I wanted, according to rhythms I felt. I was inventive and people responded. Then one day, a musician with a folk guitar came to town. He wanted to play.
‘Sure,’ said I.
‘Can you play Heart of Gold?’ said he.
‘No,’ said I.
‘I’ll teach you,’ said he, and he did.
In no time at all I became a very mediocre piano player. We played bars and small town halls for a while until one day I hit a note that I liked.
‘That’s out of tune,’ said he. ‘It’s the wrong note.’
‘Yes,’ said I. ‘It is.’
I don’t play Heart of Gold any more.
Gray Dourman
http://magichelix.com/
Oh I must get that book Shipwrecks by Akira Yoshimura. Excellent book choices.