MEME | One Book Meme

Because a meme is just another excuse for nothing to blog about. From Chris

One book you’re currently reading: Regenesis by C.J. Cherryh. I really want to finish this one for Carl's Sci Fi Experience.

One book that changed your life: Anger by Thich Nhat Hanh. When we talk about changing a life, it's a very personal thing. Even now, I find it difficult to talk about it to my friends. They know a few details, but not everything. 

The story goes like this:  one night, I was reading Anger, and something within me clicked. I put down the book to sit; I was meditating for the first time in my life. I sat in the "proper position" and counted my breath like I was taught in the book. At first, nothing happened. Then unexpectedly, my heart broke and I couldn't stop my tears. In that single, profound moment, I saw the damages I have wrought in my life. That I was as much to blame for the pain in my life. That was the first step to a kind of healing.

One book that you’ll want on a deserted island: This is a hard one. I would pick In Search of Lost Time – because it's really 7 volumes (depending on your translation) and that would mean a lot of toilet paper. Look - if I'm really stuck on an island, I'm looking at something practical.

One book you’ve read more than once: The Snow Leopard by Peter Matthiessen

One book you’ve never been able to finish: You all heard about my experience with the Big Whale Book. So I'll name Dostoevsky's The Idiot instead. 

One book that made you laugh:  A Hat Full of Sky by Terry Pratchett. Or Wintersmith. I know it's a one book meme – but does anyone remember which book was it that Tiffany Aching gave Granny Weatherwax the cute little white kitten? That was the sweetest bit in the whole Tiffany Aching and Granny Weatherwax relationship. 

It's A Hat Full of Sky, right? 

One book that made you cry: Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay. There were a few other books that made me cry - but I wanted to single out Tigana, because it is a beautiful example of the excellent lyrical authors that work within the fantasy genre. Fantasy has been far too badly maligned, in my opinion. Tigana (as well as Kay's Fionavar Tapestry trilogy) is a beautifully written story. The language is lush, the characters deeply human and sympathetic. A world where there is no easy villains, and when all is done, there is just the taste of ashes in your mouth. It is not an easy book to read at time, and I wept for the characters, and what had been done to them. 

But if I was not restricted to just one book, I would pick Kay's Fionavar Tapestry as the series that made me cry. You have to read it yourself.

One book you keep rereading: It would have to be Jeanette Winterson's The Passion. Even after all these years, I read it with the memory of all my failed love affairs. Some books are just like that. They serve as a sort of bookmark to our lives.

One book you’ve been meaning to read: The Great War for Civilisation by Robert Fisk. I feel that I need to know more about the world.

One book you believe everyone should read: The Rebel Angels by Robertson Davies. But then again, more people should read Robertson Davies.

Finally,

Grab the nearest book. Open it to page 56. Find the fifth sentence.

"I said get me another. …" 

Well, that wsn't very helpful. It's from Regenesis. Yes, the Cherryh book.