Book Books Books
From smargot:
1. Total Number of Books Owned: Really tough to say since I refuse to count, but I'd estimate roughly 300.
2. The Last Book I Bought: I simultaneously purchased A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers (a gift for Morgan), Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides, and All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren. I jokingly compared my purchase (two Pulitzer Prize winners and the runner up to one of them) to Abby's purchase of I can't even remember what cartoonish thing geared toward certain sad 30-somethings (or the equivalent of some such thing, though she was purchasing it for a reason other than actual, serious interest). Really though, I was only buying one book. One was a gift, and I was replacing my copy of Warren's book, which I somehow lost and am quite upset about. The original copy had all my notes from my first reading, and I was so excited to reread it with those notes handy. Boo. Maybe I can convince Stephanie and Henry to recreate the atmosphere of the first reading...
3. The Last Book I Read: I'm not going to count anything I've read in my role as a teacher. Only extracurricular reading. The last book I finished was Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye, which I liked but was disappointed by. I expected too much from it, I suppose. I'm nearly finished with the Eggers book, which also differs from my expectation, but I'm greatly enjoying it.
4. Five Books that Mean a lot to Me: In no particular order...
Ordinary People by Judith Guest. This is the novel that solidified my desire to become an English major and, moreover, effectively killed any opposition to that idea that I might have had. I never had a second thought about my major. I'm currently teaching the book, which I've been excitedly awaiting all year, and in my sixth reading of the book I'm still blown away. The characterization is excellent and the dialogue sharply real. The narrative structure interestingly gives the full picture of two characters but wholly disregards the third, forcing the reader to accept the assumptions of the other characters and creating, in my opinion, one of the more fascinating aspects of the novel. It's not everybody's favorite, and I wouldn't call it the best novel, but it probably is my favorite.
All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren. I read this in AP Lit/Comp during the fall of my senior year in high school. I was fortunate enough to read it not only with an excellent teacher but also my most tried and true English compatriot, smargot. More than any other high school English experience, I think my reading of this novel was the first time I truly operated as an honest English student and approached the text analytically and thoughtfully. It was probably the experience that made selecting an English major click in my head, much like the previously noted novel thoroughly cemented it. Unlike the previous novel, though if I really sit and think I may reconsider, Warren's novel may be the best novel I've ever read. I can't get over the evolving philosophy that he weaves into such a complexly dechronologized (can I make that word?) narrative. Really, though, I was just blown away by his prose. Every page had sentences, paragraphs that read so brilliantly. He unquestionably won his Pulitzer.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl. This was my favorite book by my first favorite author. I must have read this book six times in elementary school. I grew up with the movie before I could read, and the book quickly followed the film. I remember being so engaged by the world that Dahl created and the way that he could create tension for a young audience (though I couldn't have articulated that second part at the time). I can't wait for the new movie. Who better to adapt this book than Tim Burton?
The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff. I read this book as part of an outside reading project during my junior year of high school, and I just remember reading it and thinking the whole time that it just made sense. Not even in a new way, though I hadn't read anything remotely broaching the subject. It somehow made sense as if I had always known it, which sounds really corny and probably isn't the most accurate description, but you'll have to take it. Subsequent readings have only produced the same effect. I don't call myself Taoist, though. I mean, what do I really know from this one book? One day I'll get around to reading the copy of the Tao teh Ching I bought at least five years ago.
As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner. I may not have had the same response to this book if I hadn't read it for a class in college. I don't think I would have taken the time to truly understand it. This was a book that really introduced me to a type of complex narration that, though requiring effort from readers, produced something truly remarkable. Also, the dead woman's commentary on the inefficiency of language to actually communicate and the resulting isolation is heart-wrenchingly beautiful. After recounting the truly soul-murdering details of her life, Addie comments on a neighbor who absently responds to all things with her faith, clearly never with any real thought: "One day I was talking to Cora. She prayed for me because she believed I was blind to sin, wanting me to kneel and pray too, because people to whom sin is just a matter of words, to them salvation is just words too."
5. Tag five people and have them fill this out on their ljs. Get to it muffskkg, khaoticme, nelbel, mina4breakfast, and any anonymous person who may have stumbled upon this and actually read to this point.
1. Total Number of Books Owned: Really tough to say since I refuse to count, but I'd estimate roughly 300.
2. The Last Book I Bought: I simultaneously purchased A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers (a gift for Morgan), Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides, and All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren. I jokingly compared my purchase (two Pulitzer Prize winners and the runner up to one of them) to Abby's purchase of I can't even remember what cartoonish thing geared toward certain sad 30-somethings (or the equivalent of some such thing, though she was purchasing it for a reason other than actual, serious interest). Really though, I was only buying one book. One was a gift, and I was replacing my copy of Warren's book, which I somehow lost and am quite upset about. The original copy had all my notes from my first reading, and I was so excited to reread it with those notes handy. Boo. Maybe I can convince Stephanie and Henry to recreate the atmosphere of the first reading...
3. The Last Book I Read: I'm not going to count anything I've read in my role as a teacher. Only extracurricular reading. The last book I finished was Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye, which I liked but was disappointed by. I expected too much from it, I suppose. I'm nearly finished with the Eggers book, which also differs from my expectation, but I'm greatly enjoying it.
4. Five Books that Mean a lot to Me: In no particular order...
Ordinary People by Judith Guest. This is the novel that solidified my desire to become an English major and, moreover, effectively killed any opposition to that idea that I might have had. I never had a second thought about my major. I'm currently teaching the book, which I've been excitedly awaiting all year, and in my sixth reading of the book I'm still blown away. The characterization is excellent and the dialogue sharply real. The narrative structure interestingly gives the full picture of two characters but wholly disregards the third, forcing the reader to accept the assumptions of the other characters and creating, in my opinion, one of the more fascinating aspects of the novel. It's not everybody's favorite, and I wouldn't call it the best novel, but it probably is my favorite.
All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren. I read this in AP Lit/Comp during the fall of my senior year in high school. I was fortunate enough to read it not only with an excellent teacher but also my most tried and true English compatriot, smargot. More than any other high school English experience, I think my reading of this novel was the first time I truly operated as an honest English student and approached the text analytically and thoughtfully. It was probably the experience that made selecting an English major click in my head, much like the previously noted novel thoroughly cemented it. Unlike the previous novel, though if I really sit and think I may reconsider, Warren's novel may be the best novel I've ever read. I can't get over the evolving philosophy that he weaves into such a complexly dechronologized (can I make that word?) narrative. Really, though, I was just blown away by his prose. Every page had sentences, paragraphs that read so brilliantly. He unquestionably won his Pulitzer.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl. This was my favorite book by my first favorite author. I must have read this book six times in elementary school. I grew up with the movie before I could read, and the book quickly followed the film. I remember being so engaged by the world that Dahl created and the way that he could create tension for a young audience (though I couldn't have articulated that second part at the time). I can't wait for the new movie. Who better to adapt this book than Tim Burton?
The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff. I read this book as part of an outside reading project during my junior year of high school, and I just remember reading it and thinking the whole time that it just made sense. Not even in a new way, though I hadn't read anything remotely broaching the subject. It somehow made sense as if I had always known it, which sounds really corny and probably isn't the most accurate description, but you'll have to take it. Subsequent readings have only produced the same effect. I don't call myself Taoist, though. I mean, what do I really know from this one book? One day I'll get around to reading the copy of the Tao teh Ching I bought at least five years ago.
As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner. I may not have had the same response to this book if I hadn't read it for a class in college. I don't think I would have taken the time to truly understand it. This was a book that really introduced me to a type of complex narration that, though requiring effort from readers, produced something truly remarkable. Also, the dead woman's commentary on the inefficiency of language to actually communicate and the resulting isolation is heart-wrenchingly beautiful. After recounting the truly soul-murdering details of her life, Addie comments on a neighbor who absently responds to all things with her faith, clearly never with any real thought: "One day I was talking to Cora. She prayed for me because she believed I was blind to sin, wanting me to kneel and pray too, because people to whom sin is just a matter of words, to them salvation is just words too."
5. Tag five people and have them fill this out on their ljs. Get to it muffskkg, khaoticme, nelbel, mina4breakfast, and any anonymous person who may have stumbled upon this and actually read to this point.