Book meme! Passed on…
Passed to me from MJ…
You're stuck inside Fahrenheit 451, which book do you want to be?
Charles Bukowski’s The Most Beautiful Woman in Town. Defined differently by nearly everyone who’s read me, I’d go to the flame a mystery, further etching my place in American letters. I am the work of either a drunken, talentless hack or a tortured genius. Regardless, I am immensely entertaining and they love me in Germany.
Have you ever had a crush on a fictional character?
Well I always wanted to sleep with Jessica Rabbit until Elastigirl (Incredibles) came on the scene. And I still have a tremendous crush on Natalie Portman’s Marty in Beautiful Girls. So at first blush I am either a freak or a pedophile.
I could think this one to death and not come up with a satisfactory answer. I’m sure I have though. Perhaps Larry Brown’s Fay. Tough, self-sufficient, needy, beautiful, sexual, naive, intelligent, unlucky, hypnotic, strong, and soft.
The last book you bought is:
Tom Perrotta’s Little Children. He wrote Joe College, Election, and Bad Haircut. Got this with a Borders gift certificate received for my birthday.
The last book you read:
A re-reading of Barry Hannah’s Ray. A brilliant tiny book that leaves me reeling each time I read it. Like so many others, this is akin to visiting an old friend. A deceptively deep work.
What are you currently reading?
William Gay’s I Hate to See That Evening Sun Go Down. Tom Perrotta’s Little Children. An (as yet) unpublished first draft of Against the Clock by Don Hoesel. It typically takes me months to find time to read a single book, so I find it a wise move to begin several at once. Always thinking.
Five books you would take to a deserted island:
A nearly impossible question for me to answer. It’s like asking which of your children you would choose. But here goes:
1. The Sun Also Rises, Ernest Hemingway. I count this as my favorite book of all time. Just when I convince myself it has lost a little of its luster with age, I reread it and am swept away once again. In all of literature, I find Jake Barnes the most tortured of all creations. He is not necessarily as complex as Hemingway intended, but Goddamn he comes close. As I get older I can no longer pretend the anti-Semitism is not there. It is not nearly so pervasive as some scholars would have you believe, but it is certainly there. This alone, is the closest thing to a flaw the book offers. I do not make excuses for the anti-Semitism but nor do I think it minimizes a masterpiece. It is born of the narrator and is a subtle glimpse into his character. Now we can argue narrator versus author in another post.
2. Joe by Larry Brown. The first in what was to be a trilogy before Mr. Brown passed away late last year. This is the quintessential Southern novel and is Brown’s masterpiece. The language and creation of place is nothing less than stellar. Characters you will love, loathe, and (if you’ve been around the block a time or two) absolutely recognize.
3. The Risk Pool by Richard Russo. Another one I revisit every few years. This book makes me convulse with laughter and reduces me to tears at once. A brilliant, brilliant book. Will make you recall John Irving in its perfection of characters drawn. I found this many years ago in a bargain bin at the mall. Best dollar I ever spent.
4. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. I’m not generally a fan of the English novel, but this one gets me every time. I first read it in high school (Marion Wash’s class—He thought my name was “Royal” for the first six weeks). Simply a wonderful epic of love, loss, and everything that goes with it. How I do love me some Pip. My original copy was left in the rain by a girl I was trying to impress about a hundred years ago. I still miss that book.
5. Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. While The Sun Also Rises is my favorite book, this true masterpiece is undoubtedly the finest piece of fiction in American literature. I’ve never read a more noble, entertaining, or important book. Ever. Huck’s singular, spectacular act of selflessness—he gives up his soul for Jim—ranks tops among the most moving moments in fiction, film, or any other fucking medium. I don’t know that a better book will ever be written.
Who are you going to pass this stick to (3 persons) and why?
1. Phil (Scroggett). If not for him, I would not have begun blogging. Now, I don’t know how to stop.
2. Samantha. I like her take on stuff; and her “finish” is always moving. Don’t know you, Samantha, but hope you’ll play along.
3. Don Hoesel. I know he stops by from time to time. If nothing else, perhaps this will make him update his blog for the first time since he created it.
You're stuck inside Fahrenheit 451, which book do you want to be?
Charles Bukowski’s The Most Beautiful Woman in Town. Defined differently by nearly everyone who’s read me, I’d go to the flame a mystery, further etching my place in American letters. I am the work of either a drunken, talentless hack or a tortured genius. Regardless, I am immensely entertaining and they love me in Germany.
Have you ever had a crush on a fictional character?
Well I always wanted to sleep with Jessica Rabbit until Elastigirl (Incredibles) came on the scene. And I still have a tremendous crush on Natalie Portman’s Marty in Beautiful Girls. So at first blush I am either a freak or a pedophile.
I could think this one to death and not come up with a satisfactory answer. I’m sure I have though. Perhaps Larry Brown’s Fay. Tough, self-sufficient, needy, beautiful, sexual, naive, intelligent, unlucky, hypnotic, strong, and soft.
The last book you bought is:
Tom Perrotta’s Little Children. He wrote Joe College, Election, and Bad Haircut. Got this with a Borders gift certificate received for my birthday.
The last book you read:
A re-reading of Barry Hannah’s Ray. A brilliant tiny book that leaves me reeling each time I read it. Like so many others, this is akin to visiting an old friend. A deceptively deep work.
What are you currently reading?
William Gay’s I Hate to See That Evening Sun Go Down. Tom Perrotta’s Little Children. An (as yet) unpublished first draft of Against the Clock by Don Hoesel. It typically takes me months to find time to read a single book, so I find it a wise move to begin several at once. Always thinking.
Five books you would take to a deserted island:
A nearly impossible question for me to answer. It’s like asking which of your children you would choose. But here goes:
1. The Sun Also Rises, Ernest Hemingway. I count this as my favorite book of all time. Just when I convince myself it has lost a little of its luster with age, I reread it and am swept away once again. In all of literature, I find Jake Barnes the most tortured of all creations. He is not necessarily as complex as Hemingway intended, but Goddamn he comes close. As I get older I can no longer pretend the anti-Semitism is not there. It is not nearly so pervasive as some scholars would have you believe, but it is certainly there. This alone, is the closest thing to a flaw the book offers. I do not make excuses for the anti-Semitism but nor do I think it minimizes a masterpiece. It is born of the narrator and is a subtle glimpse into his character. Now we can argue narrator versus author in another post.
2. Joe by Larry Brown. The first in what was to be a trilogy before Mr. Brown passed away late last year. This is the quintessential Southern novel and is Brown’s masterpiece. The language and creation of place is nothing less than stellar. Characters you will love, loathe, and (if you’ve been around the block a time or two) absolutely recognize.
3. The Risk Pool by Richard Russo. Another one I revisit every few years. This book makes me convulse with laughter and reduces me to tears at once. A brilliant, brilliant book. Will make you recall John Irving in its perfection of characters drawn. I found this many years ago in a bargain bin at the mall. Best dollar I ever spent.
4. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. I’m not generally a fan of the English novel, but this one gets me every time. I first read it in high school (Marion Wash’s class—He thought my name was “Royal” for the first six weeks). Simply a wonderful epic of love, loss, and everything that goes with it. How I do love me some Pip. My original copy was left in the rain by a girl I was trying to impress about a hundred years ago. I still miss that book.
5. Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. While The Sun Also Rises is my favorite book, this true masterpiece is undoubtedly the finest piece of fiction in American literature. I’ve never read a more noble, entertaining, or important book. Ever. Huck’s singular, spectacular act of selflessness—he gives up his soul for Jim—ranks tops among the most moving moments in fiction, film, or any other fucking medium. I don’t know that a better book will ever be written.
Who are you going to pass this stick to (3 persons) and why?
1. Phil (Scroggett). If not for him, I would not have begun blogging. Now, I don’t know how to stop.
2. Samantha. I like her take on stuff; and her “finish” is always moving. Don’t know you, Samantha, but hope you’ll play along.
3. Don Hoesel. I know he stops by from time to time. If nothing else, perhaps this will make him update his blog for the first time since he created it.
posted by Ryan at 11:39 PM
3 Comments:
Nice job. (Let's admit it, it was somewhat of a chore, wasn't it.) I liked your approach to #1. If God was the great author, what character would you be?
Oh no. Pressure!
But, I'm proud to see that I share the pressure with Samantha. She's good people.
- Scr.
Yes, it was a hell of a chore. But an enjoyable one. What character? Another unanswerable question. I would like to be as noble and deserving of repsect as Atticus Finch; I often feel as distanced and sad and twisted as Jake Barnes; I have a little bit of Larry Brown's Joe inside me sans the toughness and grit; I am often Winnie the Pooh. I tend to show up in better than half of all Raymond Carver's work. In short, I just don't know. And you, MJ?
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