The book meme comes to the deblog...

I've been tagged by Maxine! I think I'm the last person in the northern hemisphere not to have done this one yet. Here goes:

1. One book that changed your life
Has any book? Changed my life as in affected my outlook dramatically or influenced my actions.... The only thing I can think of is this, but the book didn't really affect me qua book. It was because of a blurb on the back of James Sharpe's The Bewitching of Anne Gunter that I got the idea for writing Trying Neaira. Sharpe's book itself was lacking: he left a lot of questions unasked that I would have thought interesting, and the book was filled with boring, unnecessary historical details. But it arguably had a significant impact on my life nonetheless. Indirectly.

2. One book you have read more than once?
Hermann Hesse's Narcissus and Goldmund, but not in the last twenty-plus years. I remember it as being a beautifully written, coming-of-ageish sort of novel.

3. One book you would want on a desert island?
I'm with Maxine: Proust's A la recherche du temps perdu. It's long--a big plus--and complex and capable of entertaining indefinitely.

4. One book that made you cry?
Most recently, I confess, Mary Sharratt's The Vanishing Point.

5. One book that made you laugh?
Mil Millington's Things My Girlfriend and I Have Argued About.

6. One book you wish had been written?
Hmmmm. Thucydides' autobiography.

7. One book you wish had never had been written?
This is hard, wishing something out of existence. It ought to be something historically important, to ill effect, but I can't think of what.

8. One book you are currently reading?
Maxine responds, mysteriously, "Can't reveal this just now." Curious.... I myself just finished Tasha Alexander's And Only to Deceive last night. Must write the review today. And next, I'm not sure yet. I'll go to my burgeoning TBR shelves later to pick something out, a process I enjoy very much.

9. One book you have been meaning to read?
Pyeh. About three hundred or so. To pick one.... Well, it's shameful that I haven't yet gotten to Clare Dudman's One Day the Ice Will Reveal All its Dead. In fact, maybe that's what should come next.

10. Now tag five people
Right. Has anyone not done this yet? Susan? Lee? (No, Maxine's tagged him.) I don't think Clare has done it yet. Melanie Lynne Hauser mayhap? And anyone else who feels like it....

Comments

[Clare]

1.

Sorry, Debra, I'm afraid I have (been tagged I mean). There's no one left, no one at all...I wonder why this one's been so popular? Thanks for mentioning my book!

[Debra Hamel]

2.

That's a good question. It was a fun meme to answer, but still: why did it spread so effectively? Somewhere, someone is thinking in terms of a doctoral dissertation now.