fifteen books meme!
gacked from wesleysgirl:
Name fifteen books you've read that will always stay with you, and don't take too much time to think about it (the first fifteen you can recall in no more than 15 minutes). Copy this into your own post. (and just like WG I have included the first lines of each in my own description, because, well, it was awesome to go revisit them... and linked to their Barnes and Noble profiles because Amazon is still evil even if it is convenient)
1. The Last Samurai by Helen DeWitt
Do Samurai Speak Penguin Japanese? There are 60 million people in Britian. There are 200 million in America. (Can that be right?) How many millions of English-speakers other nations might add to the total I cannot even guess. I would not be willin to bet, though, that in all those hundreds of millions not more than 50, at the outside, have read A. Roemer, Aristarchs Athetesen in der Homerkritik (Leipzig, 1912), a work untranslated from its native German and destined to remain so till the end of time. I joined that tiny band in 1985. I was 23.
2. A Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin
A great city is nothing more than a portrait of itself, and yet when all is said and done, its arsenals of scenes and images are part of a deeply moving plan.
3. Dhalgren by Samuel Delany
to wound the autumnal city. So howled out for the world to give him a name. The in-dark answered with wind. All you know I know: careening astronauts and bank clerks glancing at the clock before lunch; actresses cowling at light-ringed mirrors and freight elevator operators grinding a thumbful of grease on a steel handle; student riots; know that dark women in bodegas shook their heads last week because in six months prices have risen outlandishly; how coffee tastes after you've held it in your mouth, cold, a whole minute.
4. The Hero and the Crown by Robyn McKinley
She could not remember a time when she had not known the story; she had grown up knowing it.
5. Synners by Pat Cadigan
"I'm going to die," said Jones. The statuesque tattoo artist paused between the lotuses she was applying to the arm of the space case lolling half-conscious in the chair. "What, again?"
6. Diary of a Mad Old Man by Tanizaki Junichiro
:( couldn't find a preview and the books are packed
7. Hebi ni piasu by Kanehara Hitomi
"Know what a split tongue is?"
"Tongues like snakes and lizards have. People too, they get tongues like that, you know."
8. The Elephant Vanishes by Murakami Haruki
I'm in the kitchen cooking spaghetti when the woman calls. Another moment until the spaghetti is done; there I am, whistling the prelude to Rossini's La Gazza Ladra along with the FM radio. Perfect spaghetti-cooking music.
9. The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester
He was one hundred and seventy days dying and not yet dead. He fought for survival with the passion of a beast in a trap.
10. Dr. Adder by KW Jeter
again, couldn't find a preview online and all the books are packed .... grrr
11. Tombs of Atuan by Ursula Le Guin
One high horn shrilled and ceased. The silence that followed was shaken only by the sound of many footsteps keeping time with a drum struck softly at a slow heart-pace. Through cracks in the roof of the Hall of the Throne, gaps between columns where a whole section of masonry and tile had collapsed, unsteady sunlight shone aslant.
12. Youth in Revolt by CD Payne
WEDNESDAY, July 18 - My name is Nick. Someday, if I grow up to become a gangster, perhaps I will be known as Nick the Prick. This may cause some embarrassment for my family, but when your don gives you your mafia sobriquet you don't ask questions.
13. Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk
Where you're supposed to be is some big West Hills wedding reception in a big manor house with flower arrangements and stuffed mushrooms all over the house. This is called scene setting: where everybody is, who's alive, who's dead. This is Evie Cottrell's big wedding reception moment. Evie is standing halfway down the big staircase in the manor house foyer, naked inside what's left of her wedding dress, still holding her rifle.
14. Masks by Fumiko Enchi
Tsuneo Ibuki and Toyoki Mikame sat facing one another in a booth in a coffee shop on the second floor of Kyoto Station.
15. Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins
The citadel was dark, and the heroes were sleeping. When they breathed, it sounded as if they were testing the air for dragon smoke.
The Wrapup
Female main characters - 5/15
Male main characters - 7/15
Ensemble or alternating male/female POV - 3
Themes (some overlap)
Post-apoc theme - 3/15
Sci Fi - 3/15
Fantasy - 2/15
Young Adult - 2/15
Out of print - 2/15
I was most surprised that there wasn't more sci-fi on here. I don't know if it's just that I haven't been reading it lately because of the whole urban fantasy thing, or what. I mean, there are scifi books on here, don't get me wrong, but I guess I'm a more eclectic reader than I thought. And if you want to know more about any of them, just ask and I'm happy to go ad nasueum.
Name fifteen books you've read that will always stay with you, and don't take too much time to think about it (the first fifteen you can recall in no more than 15 minutes). Copy this into your own post. (and just like WG I have included the first lines of each in my own description, because, well, it was awesome to go revisit them... and linked to their Barnes and Noble profiles because Amazon is still evil even if it is convenient)
1. The Last Samurai by Helen DeWitt
Do Samurai Speak Penguin Japanese? There are 60 million people in Britian. There are 200 million in America. (Can that be right?) How many millions of English-speakers other nations might add to the total I cannot even guess. I would not be willin to bet, though, that in all those hundreds of millions not more than 50, at the outside, have read A. Roemer, Aristarchs Athetesen in der Homerkritik (Leipzig, 1912), a work untranslated from its native German and destined to remain so till the end of time. I joined that tiny band in 1985. I was 23.
2. A Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin
A great city is nothing more than a portrait of itself, and yet when all is said and done, its arsenals of scenes and images are part of a deeply moving plan.
3. Dhalgren by Samuel Delany
to wound the autumnal city. So howled out for the world to give him a name. The in-dark answered with wind. All you know I know: careening astronauts and bank clerks glancing at the clock before lunch; actresses cowling at light-ringed mirrors and freight elevator operators grinding a thumbful of grease on a steel handle; student riots; know that dark women in bodegas shook their heads last week because in six months prices have risen outlandishly; how coffee tastes after you've held it in your mouth, cold, a whole minute.
4. The Hero and the Crown by Robyn McKinley
She could not remember a time when she had not known the story; she had grown up knowing it.
5. Synners by Pat Cadigan
"I'm going to die," said Jones. The statuesque tattoo artist paused between the lotuses she was applying to the arm of the space case lolling half-conscious in the chair. "What, again?"
6. Diary of a Mad Old Man by Tanizaki Junichiro
:( couldn't find a preview and the books are packed
7. Hebi ni piasu by Kanehara Hitomi
"Know what a split tongue is?"
"Tongues like snakes and lizards have. People too, they get tongues like that, you know."
8. The Elephant Vanishes by Murakami Haruki
I'm in the kitchen cooking spaghetti when the woman calls. Another moment until the spaghetti is done; there I am, whistling the prelude to Rossini's La Gazza Ladra along with the FM radio. Perfect spaghetti-cooking music.
9. The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester
He was one hundred and seventy days dying and not yet dead. He fought for survival with the passion of a beast in a trap.
10. Dr. Adder by KW Jeter
again, couldn't find a preview online and all the books are packed .... grrr
11. Tombs of Atuan by Ursula Le Guin
One high horn shrilled and ceased. The silence that followed was shaken only by the sound of many footsteps keeping time with a drum struck softly at a slow heart-pace. Through cracks in the roof of the Hall of the Throne, gaps between columns where a whole section of masonry and tile had collapsed, unsteady sunlight shone aslant.
12. Youth in Revolt by CD Payne
WEDNESDAY, July 18 - My name is Nick. Someday, if I grow up to become a gangster, perhaps I will be known as Nick the Prick. This may cause some embarrassment for my family, but when your don gives you your mafia sobriquet you don't ask questions.
13. Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk
Where you're supposed to be is some big West Hills wedding reception in a big manor house with flower arrangements and stuffed mushrooms all over the house. This is called scene setting: where everybody is, who's alive, who's dead. This is Evie Cottrell's big wedding reception moment. Evie is standing halfway down the big staircase in the manor house foyer, naked inside what's left of her wedding dress, still holding her rifle.
14. Masks by Fumiko Enchi
Tsuneo Ibuki and Toyoki Mikame sat facing one another in a booth in a coffee shop on the second floor of Kyoto Station.
15. Jitterbug Perfume by Tom Robbins
The citadel was dark, and the heroes were sleeping. When they breathed, it sounded as if they were testing the air for dragon smoke.
The Wrapup
Female main characters - 5/15
Male main characters - 7/15
Ensemble or alternating male/female POV - 3
Themes (some overlap)
Post-apoc theme - 3/15
Sci Fi - 3/15
Fantasy - 2/15
Young Adult - 2/15
Out of print - 2/15
I was most surprised that there wasn't more sci-fi on here. I don't know if it's just that I haven't been reading it lately because of the whole urban fantasy thing, or what. I mean, there are scifi books on here, don't get me wrong, but I guess I'm a more eclectic reader than I thought. And if you want to know more about any of them, just ask and I'm happy to go ad nasueum.