OK, OK, I got tagged
I'm mopey today. I have tons to do. So here's a good way to avoid my responsibilities: Jenn LoveGrove tagged for this one-book thingamajig. I still have no idea how to create links -- I don't get any link icon on my page, but here goes anyhow.
1. One book that changed your life:
Hollywood from Vietnam to Reagan, by Robin Wood. Robin was my film-theory prof during my undistinguished career at York U/Atkinson College. He changed how I read books, viewed movies, listened to music.
2. One book you've read more than once:
Toujours L'Amour, by Ron Padgett. I think this was the first Padgett book I discovered. It's one of the most wonderful poetry books ever created. And as I age, it does different things to me, so I keep reading, keep learning, keep discovering.
3. One book you'd want on a desert island
Commentary on the Torah, by Richard Elliott. Friedman. I've been looking for a big wide space of time to work my way through this one. Is there a particular flight I should take to wind up on a desert island?
4. One book that made you laugh
CivilWarLand in Bad Decline and Other Stories, by George Saunders. It's chilling, but funny as fuck.
5. One book that made you cry
Just about anything makes me cry these days, but the first one was The Outsiders, by S.E. Hinton. That part where Johnnycake runs into the burning church to rescue the kids.
6. One book that you wish had been written
My Afternoon with Buster Keaton, by Samuel Beckett.
7. One book that you wish had never been written
The Protocols of the Elders of Zion. I can't believe they gave away all our secrets!
8. One book you're currently reading
Paula, by Isabel Allende (trans. Margaret Sayers Peden). A memoir by the Chilean novelist about her daughter's death. I imagine it will make me cry. So far, I like it better than her fiction. David McFadden gave me this book. Thanks, Dave.
9. One book you've been meaning to read
Soldiers of Salamis, by Javier Cercas (trans. Anne McLean). I can't believe I haven't read this through yet. My dear friend Anne translated it, and she's a brilliant reader and translator and I feel terrible I haven't read this yet! I feel terrible! But I'll read it!
OK, I'm supposed to tag five people now. I don't read enough blogs to know who has done this thing and who hasn't. So I'll tag some people who've commented on my blog: Rox, debby, Dana Plato, Pearly, and Kev. Feel free to run your lists as comments here.
Over and out.
posted by Razovsky @ 6:46 pm
5 Comments
5 Comments:
1. One book that changed your life:
autobiography of a yogi, paramahansa yogananda
although previous i’d read dozens of books on buddhism and zen, this was the one that really opened wide those doors of perception for me. eventually, i took self-realization correspondence courses, became a vegetarian, learned to meditate, spent six months in asia, walked the annapurna circuit, visited tibet, chanted with the dalai lama on my and buddha’s birthday on a full moon lunar eclipse, experienced telepathic conversation, rowed the ganges with the oldest living man india, beamed to outer space at deer park, and the usual stuff associated with cosmic life. yeah, it’s a mind blower. for me.
2. One book you've read more than once:
waiting for godot, samuel beckett
i’ve also seen about 14 productions of the play, although none better than in dublin
(1983 ) in a decrepid downtown theatre that sat no more than fifty, all around the stage, and we were so close i could see dirt under toenails and actually smell vladimir and estragon. very sam. so true. it.
3. One book you'd want on a desert island:
in praise of idleness, bretrand russell
there’s no better antidote to tail chasing. trust me.
4. One book that made you laugh:
a confederacy of dunces, john kennedy toole
if you don’t know about this book, do yourself a favor (yeah i know you’ve heard this before) and read it. although the story of it’s author may make you cry, the content of this book will crack you up, unless of course you disagree and in that case it’s okay but you might want to get on antidepressants or something stronger.
5. One book that made you cry:
dear theo, vincent van gogh (edited by irving stone)
i read this when i was nine years old, soon after my mother took me to see an exhibition of over 100 of vincent’s drawings in toledo, ohio (1962). i was hooked on van gogh at an early age and the impression never let go. i highly recommend robert altman’s “vincent and theo” and as a sightlight (because i’ve drifted into movies...) “wolf at the door” starring donald sutherland as paul gauguin.
6. One book that you wish had been written:
tie (if that’s acceptable)
at swim-two-birds, flann o’brien
james joyce called him” a comic genius.” i call this book a masterpiece of invention
and perpetual delight.
leaves of grass (first edition), walt whitman
from the man who kicked out the jams 4 free verse poetry and introduced america to eastern philosophy, i return to it more than any other book of poetry.
7. One book that you wish had never been written:
genesis, god
what a load of crock: let there be light and blame it all on a woman. more proof that either god is sexist or man is a blind pig. go figure.
8. One book you're currently reading:
paradise lost, john milton
god should have hired milty to write genesis. makes me feel sorry for satan. helps me better understand the folly of the fallen and the energy of the beast. perhaps i should be reading orwell or kafka, but milton (for the time being), for better or worse, it is.
9. One book you've been meaning to read:
anothing by debby florence, stu ross, or (alison forbid) jeff pew. they’re all fantabulous and i crave their new books. where and when are they?
funny, i read number six about 50 times (sober and otherwise) and in my dyslexic head i thought it said: "one book you wish you had written."
so, to answer the real question:
6. One book you wish had been written:
the end of war, desire and materialism in five easy steps, so attractive, simple and painless even george bush can comprehend it and put it into practice or come to think of it, perhaps it's already been written and it's called the dhammapada. damn. foiled again.
Hi Stu! How are you keeping?
Nobody's mentioning children's books. Take The Little Red Hen. All the barnyard animals ignore her pleas for help in sowing the field, reaping the field, baking the bread. They all volunteer to eat it though. And guess what? None for them! That'll serve 'em. I've spent time being the Hen and being the barnyard, and either side sucks to an extent. Yep. Children's lit. Changes you before you've developed defenses vs. pedants.
Then there was Anne of Green Gables. Teaches you all sorts of cute things to say when you're caught mouthing off.
hello from Brim Blog, _ the idea of Beckett and Keaton does have some basis in 'fact' and you may already know this:there are some amusing anecdotes of Beckett's various encounters with Keaton inthe 3 Beckett biographies. Three biographies,for the three Becketts? Cheers
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