Okay, I've been tagged! Thanks Abi. At least it is on a subject I actually care about - books. One of the (many) odd things about me is that I almost go into panic mode if I don't have a book close by.
A book that changed my life: A Study of History by Arnold Toynbee. It depicts the rise of every known civilization as the result of extraordinary creative responses to physical and social challenges. As if that is not enough, Toynbee made some fairly strong points on what we are doing to our environment, and that was back in the '80s.
A book I've read more than once: Except for reference I rarely go back, there is just too much available to read. Henry Lawson, an Australian poet and rat-bag. First read his collected works at age ten and have never stopped.
A book I would take with me if I were stuck on a desert island: Solzhenitsyn's Gulag Archipelago. Mainly because as often as I try I cannot read it with the distractions of life, it seems to need total concentration.
A book that I wish had been written: A Narrative of the Expedition to Botany Bay - Watkin Tench, written during the first convict settlement in Australia in 1788. He was a marine officer with a remarkable social outlook and 'modern' writing style, given the time. An Aussie scientist, Tim Flannagan got the privilege of prepping the books rerelease a couple of years back..
A book I wish had never been written: Two come to mind, for different reasons. Lord of the Rings, because a brilliant work has been totally trivialized. The Da Vinci Code because it is trivial twaddle purporting to have merit.
A book I've been meaning to read: I'm still looking for the last of Gore Vidal's US president's series. I know, they are formula, but I was deprived of a lot of American writers downunder, and I really enjoyed the first four.
I'm currently reading: Congo - Michael Crichton. Lately I've been taking pot luck at the local thrift shop. Nothing to lose and I occasionally discover a gem. This isn't one of them.
A book that made me laugh: Any of the works of Spike Milligan, English tragi-comic. His little books have made me laugh and cry at the same time, his mastery of nonsense is legendary.
A book that made me cry: Okay, I can't cite the last... Solzhenitsyn, August 1914. I can't recall any one passage, but his writing conveyed such a depth of grief and passion in parts, I became pretty well immersed.
Oh so many potential victims, but I would like to know what an English teacher reads reality-based educator
4 comments:
Everybody's book list reminds me how far behind I am in my reading.
That was fast! I'm years behind. Which suits me, I'll never run out :)
Great job, cartledge.
Funny about Dan Brown. I read The Da Vinci Code, and I just read Deception Point. He's really not a very good writer, but he's a great storyteller. Couldn't put either book down, although I found myself cringing at times over some clumsy phrasing and embarrassing dialog.
abi, the code was kicking around the house for a while. I did the dip test and it failed. Mind you, there were other books to read ;)
kvatch, I keep starting GA, but it soo rich I end up leaving it aside until a time I have no distractions.
It's the sort of book I want to absorb slowly.
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