book meme
I've been more-or-less ignoring LJ for a while now, but shrff14 summoned me back ;P
1. Estimate the total number of books you've owned in your life.
I don't like owning things, so I prefer to borrow books from friends or libraries, or read things online. So these days, I really only buy books as a last resort. When I was younger, I once had as much as four shelves of books. Currently, I'm down to one shelf, and I'll likely get rid of many of those soon.
2. What's the last book you bought?
The Uncheese Cookbook A handy thing to have around, although I haven't used it much, because at about the same time I bought it, I realized how overrated cheese is.
3. What's the last book you read?
I'm currently reading I Should be Extremely Happy in Your Company: A Novel of Lewis and Clark, by Brian Hall. In addition to having the most cumbersome title in the history of novelhood, it's stupid. The point of view is split between Lewis, Clark, and Sacagawea, and even though it's narrated in the third person, the author tries to imitate the voice of each for their respective sections. Hall makes Lewis speak in the manner in which he wrote in his journals, which simply isn't believable. More ludicrous is Sacagawea's voice, because Hall tries to incorporate some of the grammar of her native tongue and throws in a few random direct translations, like "this one" instead of "she." He doesn't capitalize any proper names, to reflect how "many Native American personal and geographical names...[arise] from practical circumstances and [are] liable to change." Keep in mind that these names are in the form of adjectives and nouns relating to common elements in their lives. With the unnecessarily peculiar and clumsy grammar, it can be difficult to even identify which words are supposed to be proper nouns. Some may argue, but I don't think this adds anything to the novel. Also, Hall makes a big deal out of Lewis' depression (hypothesized by some historians), but his understanding of depression is nauseatingly ignorant and disrespectful. I could go on...
4. List 5 books that mean a lot to you.
I've moved beyond some of them now, but these are books that were important to me at some time in my life:
1. The Woman Who Loved Reindeer, Meredith Ann Pierce
2. Form and Space of Japanese Architecture, Norman F. Carver, Jr., 1st ed. (unfortunately rare)
3. Paddle Whispers, Douglas Wood
4. The Awakening, Kate Chopin
5. Desert Solitaire, Edward Abbey
I'm supposed to tag five other people with the same questions.
abbyinparis
horndude
sarmonster
shostakovich14
totalx21
1. Estimate the total number of books you've owned in your life.
I don't like owning things, so I prefer to borrow books from friends or libraries, or read things online. So these days, I really only buy books as a last resort. When I was younger, I once had as much as four shelves of books. Currently, I'm down to one shelf, and I'll likely get rid of many of those soon.
2. What's the last book you bought?
The Uncheese Cookbook A handy thing to have around, although I haven't used it much, because at about the same time I bought it, I realized how overrated cheese is.
3. What's the last book you read?
I'm currently reading I Should be Extremely Happy in Your Company: A Novel of Lewis and Clark, by Brian Hall. In addition to having the most cumbersome title in the history of novelhood, it's stupid. The point of view is split between Lewis, Clark, and Sacagawea, and even though it's narrated in the third person, the author tries to imitate the voice of each for their respective sections. Hall makes Lewis speak in the manner in which he wrote in his journals, which simply isn't believable. More ludicrous is Sacagawea's voice, because Hall tries to incorporate some of the grammar of her native tongue and throws in a few random direct translations, like "this one" instead of "she." He doesn't capitalize any proper names, to reflect how "many Native American personal and geographical names...[arise] from practical circumstances and [are] liable to change." Keep in mind that these names are in the form of adjectives and nouns relating to common elements in their lives. With the unnecessarily peculiar and clumsy grammar, it can be difficult to even identify which words are supposed to be proper nouns. Some may argue, but I don't think this adds anything to the novel. Also, Hall makes a big deal out of Lewis' depression (hypothesized by some historians), but his understanding of depression is nauseatingly ignorant and disrespectful. I could go on...
4. List 5 books that mean a lot to you.
I've moved beyond some of them now, but these are books that were important to me at some time in my life:
1. The Woman Who Loved Reindeer, Meredith Ann Pierce
2. Form and Space of Japanese Architecture, Norman F. Carver, Jr., 1st ed. (unfortunately rare)
3. Paddle Whispers, Douglas Wood
4. The Awakening, Kate Chopin
5. Desert Solitaire, Edward Abbey
I'm supposed to tag five other people with the same questions.
abbyinparis
horndude
sarmonster
shostakovich14
totalx21