A meme! A meme.
I can never say no to susansugarspun, so I'm doing this book meme even though you're all going to think less of me now that you know what a shallow illiterate moron I am.
1. One book that changed your life.
Encountering God: A Spiritual Journey from Bozeman to Benares. My senior year of college, I took a course with the author of this book on Hindu mythology. It was a fabulous class -- one of those experiences that could have radically altered the course of my undergraduate education had I taken it my freshman year. Anyway, I got so interested in the subject that I decided to read all of Prof. Eck's books. Encountering God is her personal history of religious discovery, first as a lifelong and committed Methodist, then as a scholar of historical and modern Hinduism, and finally as a major player in the ecumenical movement, as a delegate to the World Council of Churches and the director of the Pluralism Project. So on the one hand, it's a spiritual autobiography and an insightful peek into the mind of a deeply religious woman who happens to be way smarter than stereotypes of Christian conservatives would suggest. On the other hand, it's a comment on American politics that points out that democracy only works when mutually incompatible belief structures (Christian/Muslim, Democrat/Republican, Comedy Central/Fox News) move past "tolerance" to active engagement and dialogue. It changed the way I think about political discourse in a functioning democracy. It also made me realize that all of the stereotypical baggage I was carrying about religious people was really wrong-headed, and that the contempt that most atheists show towards Christians in this country is essentially the same sort of intolerance that we tend to decry in other countries' internecine conflicts.
2. One book you have read more than once.
Um. I'm just very quickly going to say Anne of Green Gables and hope nobody notices that I am a bigger gay homo pansy than you already thought.
3. One book you would want on a desert island.
How to Get Your Doomed Ass Off a Desert Island. Ha ha. No, seriously. I think I would want something very long and very light. How about the Chronicles of Prydain? Can I call that one book? No? Okay. Then I would take The Return of the King, because I think I could spend a whole lifetime studying the bit about the Elvish languages in the appendix. I was one of those kids who used the chart in the back to transliterate the tengwar on the title page and then got all upset that it was English and not Sindarin.
4. One book that made you laugh.
This is for Columbine: The Satanic Verses is really hilarious in the parts where it's hilarious. The other parts are, okay, not funny, but they're not supposed to be.
5. One book that made you cry.
The Lost Language of Cranes. Oh god, that was one depressing book. Mostly because I read that right before I came out to everybody, and so I thought that my sex life was going to be all about dirty motel rooms and hand jobs in yucky porno theaters. Actually, any of the books that I read during that time could be in this category -- Dancer from the Dance, The Swimming Pool Library, Giovanni's Room, etc. If you knew me during that sad, angry period between sophomore and junior year, I apologize for my constant storm cloud mood. I blame the books.
6. One book you wish had been written.
I wish my great-uncle would write an autobiography. This is the one who lives in California, who is so deeply ashamed of his past that he forged papers to emigrate to this country from Korea and has been pretending to be a Japanese citizen for almost thirty years. He has constructed an incredibly complex fictional history for himself, and he is a fairly prominent member of the Japanese community there. I used to harbor fantasies of writing this book for him, but I think he would be mortified if the details of his life became public knowledge.
7. One book you wish had never been written.
The Fountainhead, first because I want that month of my life back, please. And second, because all those people who fucking read the book and decided they were goddamn Objectivists need to please bite me and stop being such tragic assholes.
8. One book you are currently reading.
HA HA HA HA. I don't have time to read, people. I've had The Wind Up Bird Chronicles sitting next to my bed for two months. I've read the first two pages about fifty times now, and it's still not sticking.
9. One book you have been meaning to read.
I really enjoyed The Tipping Point, so I think I'll probably buy Blink when I ever get a free minute. I believe I have a free minute scheduled sometime in 2009.
10. Ooh, the bit where I tag people and guilt them into playing along. Okay, saltbox, pylduck, columbina, jenfu, and superplin. Make magic!
1. One book that changed your life.
Encountering God: A Spiritual Journey from Bozeman to Benares. My senior year of college, I took a course with the author of this book on Hindu mythology. It was a fabulous class -- one of those experiences that could have radically altered the course of my undergraduate education had I taken it my freshman year. Anyway, I got so interested in the subject that I decided to read all of Prof. Eck's books. Encountering God is her personal history of religious discovery, first as a lifelong and committed Methodist, then as a scholar of historical and modern Hinduism, and finally as a major player in the ecumenical movement, as a delegate to the World Council of Churches and the director of the Pluralism Project. So on the one hand, it's a spiritual autobiography and an insightful peek into the mind of a deeply religious woman who happens to be way smarter than stereotypes of Christian conservatives would suggest. On the other hand, it's a comment on American politics that points out that democracy only works when mutually incompatible belief structures (Christian/Muslim, Democrat/Republican, Comedy Central/Fox News) move past "tolerance" to active engagement and dialogue. It changed the way I think about political discourse in a functioning democracy. It also made me realize that all of the stereotypical baggage I was carrying about religious people was really wrong-headed, and that the contempt that most atheists show towards Christians in this country is essentially the same sort of intolerance that we tend to decry in other countries' internecine conflicts.
2. One book you have read more than once.
Um. I'm just very quickly going to say Anne of Green Gables and hope nobody notices that I am a bigger gay homo pansy than you already thought.
3. One book you would want on a desert island.
How to Get Your Doomed Ass Off a Desert Island. Ha ha. No, seriously. I think I would want something very long and very light. How about the Chronicles of Prydain? Can I call that one book? No? Okay. Then I would take The Return of the King, because I think I could spend a whole lifetime studying the bit about the Elvish languages in the appendix. I was one of those kids who used the chart in the back to transliterate the tengwar on the title page and then got all upset that it was English and not Sindarin.
4. One book that made you laugh.
This is for Columbine: The Satanic Verses is really hilarious in the parts where it's hilarious. The other parts are, okay, not funny, but they're not supposed to be.
5. One book that made you cry.
The Lost Language of Cranes. Oh god, that was one depressing book. Mostly because I read that right before I came out to everybody, and so I thought that my sex life was going to be all about dirty motel rooms and hand jobs in yucky porno theaters. Actually, any of the books that I read during that time could be in this category -- Dancer from the Dance, The Swimming Pool Library, Giovanni's Room, etc. If you knew me during that sad, angry period between sophomore and junior year, I apologize for my constant storm cloud mood. I blame the books.
6. One book you wish had been written.
I wish my great-uncle would write an autobiography. This is the one who lives in California, who is so deeply ashamed of his past that he forged papers to emigrate to this country from Korea and has been pretending to be a Japanese citizen for almost thirty years. He has constructed an incredibly complex fictional history for himself, and he is a fairly prominent member of the Japanese community there. I used to harbor fantasies of writing this book for him, but I think he would be mortified if the details of his life became public knowledge.
7. One book you wish had never been written.
The Fountainhead, first because I want that month of my life back, please. And second, because all those people who fucking read the book and decided they were goddamn Objectivists need to please bite me and stop being such tragic assholes.
8. One book you are currently reading.
HA HA HA HA. I don't have time to read, people. I've had The Wind Up Bird Chronicles sitting next to my bed for two months. I've read the first two pages about fifty times now, and it's still not sticking.
9. One book you have been meaning to read.
I really enjoyed The Tipping Point, so I think I'll probably buy Blink when I ever get a free minute. I believe I have a free minute scheduled sometime in 2009.
10. Ooh, the bit where I tag people and guilt them into playing along. Okay, saltbox, pylduck, columbina, jenfu, and superplin. Make magic!