Reading Meme

1. You're stuck inside Farenheit 451.  Which book do you want to be?

Try as I might, this concept is too abstract for me.

2. Have you ever had a crush on a fictional character?

'George', the tomboy member of Enid Blyton's 'Famous Five'.

3. The last book you bought was .... ?

'Form and Foliage Guide to Planting', by Jennifer Stackhouse and Helen Young (Murdoch Books).

4. The last book you read was ... ?

'Recycled Spaces', by Viny Lee.

5. What are you currently reading?

Three books - 'One Hundred Philosophers', by Peter J King, 'Latham's World: The New Politics of the Outsiders', a 2004 Quarterly Essay, by Margaret Simons, and 'The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady', by Edith Holden (a Mothers' Day gift).

6. Five books you would take to a desert island ...

A decent English dictionary - so that I could master a page or two of new words every day.

A comprehensive book on the various paths of yoga - to keep physically and mentally fit.

(Ever practical, I wouldn't consider taking anything I'd already read. These three hefty volumes have sat in my shelves unread for too many years.)

Shakespeare's Complete Works,  Manning Clark's 'History of Australia', and 'Wild Swans', by Jung Chang.

7. Who are you passing this stick on to and why?

One of the Centralian bloggers I like to read, Elsewhere, in Alice Springs, because she has expressed interest in this meme and she is likely to come up with something interesting.

Comments

[Richard Lawrence Cohen]

I'd probably liek to read WILD SWANS, judging from the title alone.

That first question is poorly worded -- needs more explanation. Fahrenheit 451 is about a future in which books are banned. but there's an underground cult of dissenters who preserve books by memorizing them. So the question means, "What one book would you choose to preserve by memorizing it?"

[Tjilpi]

I have seen this meme before on other blogs but never understood the first question until now. Now that I understand it, I think I'd go with "Dr Dan the Bandage Man" - all 20 pages of it!

[Jude]

Welcome back to the blogosphere, Tj. Now that you have been giving it some thought, I think you should tackle the reading meme as well. I would have passed the stick to you earlier, but it seemed that you had gone into retirement there for a while. So see if you can beat El to the draw now, with your list.

[Jude]

Richard - yes do check out Wild Swans. It's non-fiction of course - a personal historical view of events in China's 20th century history. All the reviews and several personal recommendations have been very impressive. The book was banned for sale in China when I was last there - not sure about now.