Book survey meme

[vilakins]

I wasn't going to do this because I just don't have good answers for a lot of the questions. But I decided I do have enough to make it worthwhile.

1. Which book has been on your shelves the longest?

I'm not sure, since my mother threw a lot of my stuff out when she moved while I was overseas. The Molesworth books, I think, or my Asterix books, acquired here when I was at uni, and overseas.

2. What is your last read, your current read, and the book you'll read next?

Last read: Spin by Robert Charles Wilson. This was great--interesting SF premise and characters--and I'm going to order the sequels from the library.

Current read: Strawberries with the Führer by Helga Tiscenko. This is a weird one. I got this purely on the strength of having known Helga when I was about 9 or 10. She was a friend of my parents and often came round to our place for dinner, and I thought her and her Russian husband Nick two of the most fascinating and exotic people I knew at that time (along with the Greek/Hungarian couple from Egypt whose kids I played with). Nick taught me some Russian, and I must have got at least one thump on the arm from my mother for Mentioning The War to Helga because I wouldn't have been able to resist. I don't remember her ever saying anything though, and that's hardly surprising now I've read most of her book. Wow, I had no idea. Her father was an SS general and both parents were party members, and she says it took her a very long time to come to terms with the beliefs of her beloved parents. The book's a fascinating read; she had an exciting and often scary life as a child and teenager during and after the war, and met a range of interesting and eccentric characters. As for Hitler, she met him twice. Yes, she did have strawberries with him as a child of about five, after giving him some flowers, and she shook his hand once as a teenager. I wonder if my parents knew; I doubt it very much. I was creeped out by her honest description of how she'd have died for him back then, not knowing what she knew later.

Next read: Unseen Academicals by Terry Pratchett. I'm finally at the top of the queue and I'm picking it up tomorrow.

3. What book did everyone like and you hated?

I'm not sure. I read a couple of chapters of an Anne Rice vampire book a friend pressed on me before I gave it back and said I hated it, but I wouldn't say everyone liked those.

4. Which book do you keep telling yourself you'll read, but you probably won't?

I can't think of any. I do have unread books I own, but I'll get to them.

5. Which book are you saving for retirement?

Why would I do that? If I want to read a book, I'll do so (if I can get hold of it). Roll on a standard book reader I can easily and cheaply download to.

6. Last page: read it first or wait till the end?

I will look at the last page if the book's so boring or unpleasant in some way that I doubt I can force myself to read any more. And Silvia Engdahl's Children of the Star was a very recent one (boring and long-winded and preachy) in spades.

7. Acknowledgements: waste of ink and paper or interesting aside?

I used to read those out of a sort of sense of duty, but I can't be bothered now unless they're short and pithy and catch my eye.

8. Which book character would you switch places with?

I'd have said none, but I realise that I'd swap with the one I was named after: Nicola Marlow. She's intelligent and good at sport and competent and only has the rigours of school to deal with, and does so fairly well too. I'm not sure how I'd handle having an adolescence spanning decades though, Forest having set each successive book in the then current time.

9. Do you have a book that reminds you of something specific in your life (a person, a place, a time)?

Asterix? The German ones remind me of when I lived there, and the earliest ones of when I used to go baby-sitting when I was a uni, as that's where I first came across them.

10. Name a book you acquired in some interesting way.

Pass. Unless you count swapping one SF book for The Dispossessed in a Roman pensione catering to young people; they had a book swap shelf.

11. Have you ever given away a book for a special reason to a special person?

I gave a pop-up Star Trek book to a friend after her step-father died, just to give her a smile.

12. Which book has been with you to the most places?

The Asterix books I bought in Germany, since they've been half-way round the world with me.

13. Any "required reading" you hated in high school that wasn't so bad ten years later?

I was lucky that I quite liked the books I read, except for Lord of the Flies which I loathed. I never read it again because I wouldn't like it any better.

14. What is the strangest item you've ever found in a book?

I don't think I have.

15. Used or brand new?

I mainly read used because I go to the library for most of my fiction, but I'll buy books I know I'll read again.

16. Stephen King: Literary genius or opiate of the masses?

I've never read any of his. I don't like horror.

17. Have you ever seen a movie you liked better than the book?

I know I have, but can I think of it now?

18. Conversely, which book should NEVER have been introduced to celluloid?

I like most of the films I've seen, and can't really speak for the ones I haven't.

19. Have you ever read a book that's made you hungry, cookbooks being excluded from this question?

Those books by people who go and live in Provence or Tuscany.

20. Who is the person whose book advice you'll always take?

Everyone's tastes are different, but I'll read anyone's rec or book posts, even if the reasons they like something are the ones I'd hate it.

Comments

[snowgrouse.livejournal.com]

Oh, fuck, I forgot about Lord of the Flies. They forced that on us in school as well and I hate it so much. If there's one thing worse than someone trying to preach that all humans are born hierarchical and violent, it's the people who endorse the sort of material that promotes that view. Ugh.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Not only did they make it read the sodding thing, they made us watch the film. WTH? Why would they want teenagers to absorb that sort of violence and bleak and hopeless message? I still have images in my head from the book and film (and others from other sources) I'd pay the Federation to wipe.

[sallymn.livejournal.com]

It wasn't the bleak and hopeless that turned me off, it was the dull and boring cardboardness of the whole thing. Vastly overrated, that one...

But I got a buzz from your mentioning Asterix and Molesworth (when we were in Paris, I bought quite a few Asterix souvenirs :)

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I also have a set of figures. :-D Damn, I notice the cats have nicked one of them.

[sheenaghpugh]

And Vitalstatistix was worried about the sky falling in!

I always thought the Asterix books were way funnier in English than in French. What are they like in German?

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Luckily I don't have a Vitalstatistics to fear the coming of the giant mutant cat. I've lost a centurion so Caesar is all alone against the Gauls.

Not as funny as English (though it's a pity they didn't get the same translator to do the films). English just lends itself so well to wonderfully punny names with all its adjectives ending in -ous and -ic. The Germans had to resort to -isch for the Gauls, and the Romans didn't get very good ones at all, names like Kurzschluss and Apfelmuss (short circuit and apple sauce) whereas in English you get Vexatius Sinusitis, the tower guards Sendervictorius and Appianglorius, and the chariot breakdown service run by Nervus Illnus. THe names are a sheer joy in English.

[vjezkova.livejournal.com]

FOrtunately the Czech translation of Asterix is perfect and all the juice remains there. You might hear a mighty laughter from our bathroom /toilet - my son and I read there and enjoy ourselves:-)

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Oh, the German translations was funny in itself; it just missed out on the rich humour of the English names. Does Czech give the characters funny names which are plays on words?

[vjezkova.livejournal.com]

Yes, it does, the names are little gems:-)

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

So you have lots of words ending in -ik or -us?

[vjezkova.livejournal.com]

No, no - haha, the translator left the Latin suffix and used Czech word for the name, and this is extremely funny: Zánětnervus, Šelmicus, Tlemix etc.

[pet-lunatic.livejournal.com]

It's weird how Stephen King is dichotomised as a saint or demon - I like his books, but I think they're very flawed.

Interesting meme! *steals*

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I really know very little about the guy except that he writes horror, which I avoid.

[pet-lunatic.livejournal.com]

He writes fantasy, too, though it's usually pretty grim fantasy.

I like some modern horror, but I mainly prefer Victorian and Edwardian era ghost stories.

[sheenaghpugh]

FWIW, I used to know a niece or great-niece, can't recall which, of Golding's at uni, who said her uncle had pretty much gone off that book too and reckoned he had done far better work. Some of his short stories are quite sharp.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I hated the book and its basic idea so much, I doubt I'd read anything else of his.

[bigdamnxenafan.livejournal.com]

I thought your answers were quite good. You made me hungry just by mentioning Tuscany. lol You are obviously very well read, more so than I. I think I shall give the meme a try, though. :D

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I read around 70 books a year, but I wouldn't say well-read. I keep to what I like rather than what might improve me. I'm stroppy that way; always have been.

[astrogirl2.livejournal.com]

But reading books you like does improve you! It's good for the mind and the soul, that's what I say. :)

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I read mainly fiction for the entertainment value, but I know you read a lot of non. You do improve your mind! :-)

And that Delta blues icon was an accident. I have no idea now which one I was going for,

[astrogirl2.livejournal.com]

but I know you read a lot of non.

Also for the entertainment value. :)

And that Delta blues icon was an accident. I have no idea now which one I was going for,

It's kind of reassuring to know that I'm not the only one who does that. :)

[astrogirl2.livejournal.com]

and I'm going to order the sequels from the library.

A word of warning: Don't go into Axis expecting something equally as good as Spin. I found Axis vastly disappointing by comparison and kind of wished I'd just stuck with the first one.

I'm not sure. I read a couple of chapters of an Anne Rice vampire book a friend pressed on me before I gave it back and said I hated it, but I wouldn't say everyone liked those.

I think they range from "guilty pleasure" to "complete crap," myself. :)

I gave a pop-up Star Trek book to a friend after her step-father died, just to give her a smile.

Awww. *feels all warm and happy*

even if the reasons they like something are the ones I'd hate it.

I've also read a few book reviews where the reasons the person hated it are the reasons I'd like it. :)

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Have you read the third oe, Vortex, I think it is? I didn't like Wilson's Darwinia much because I just couldn't bring myself to give a damn for the characters who were flat and lifeless, but I really enjoyed Spin and Blind Lake. The latter's fairly short compared to the others and has some really interesting ideas, and characters he does a brilliant job of getting into, esp two female ones.

Do you still pop it up? I bought three of those because they were so much fun, with the intention of giving two away, and I have. The other one went to a fannish friend here.

I've also read a few book reviews where the reasons the person hated it are the reasons I'd like it. :)

That's happened too, though not as often. I have a few people on my flist who like things I really, really don't (like extreme violence and abuse and non-con) but I'll still read their reviews just in case. One of them led me to Blind Lake.

[astrogirl2.livejournal.com]

I haven't read the third one, and probably won't after the second, but I thought Spin was one of the best SF novels I've read, and Blind Lake is definitely on my wishlist. I also read his Mysterium, which didn't impress me all that much, so maybe he's just kind of hit-and-miss. I've heard good things about The Chronoliths.

Do you still pop it up?

I haven't pulled it out recently at all, but now I have the urge to. :)

{ETA: I just grabbed it down off the shelf. It is still awesome. :)]

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I did too, and it so is! There's even a Big Swirly Thing In Space. [loves] I like playing with the tags too, turning Picard into Locutus and Odo into a melting pool. :-D

[astrogirl2.livejournal.com]

I, too, love the Swirly Thing In Space. :)

[acanthaster.livejournal.com]

What a great meme! Maybe I'll do it too, if I get a chance.

I read Lord of the Flies when I was in Middle School and didn't hate it. But it wasn't an assigned school thing... my dad's cousin-in-law (husband of his cousin), who was a pen pal and writing mentor to me when I was that age, gave it to me, so maybe that's why. I usually read and liked most of the stuff he gave me, and used the paperbacks he passed down to me as sources for most of my middle school book reports! Can't remember if I did one on Lord of the Flies or not.

I used to read a lot when I was school-aged, but I really don't read that much anymore. I don't know why not. Probably because I spend too much time on the computer!

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

I'm sure there were people who liked LotF; after all, they made a film people went to see, presumably because they liked the book.

I read heaps as a kid, around 6 books a week. One of the teachers told my father that my name was on the cards of most of the books in my primary school library, which was why I had graduated to adult books well before I was ready for the emotional impact. I sobbed over books about the Holocaust, and I still remember them very clearly.

It's more like 1-2 books a week now, partly due to having other interests like online friendships, but I've noticed that if I go for too long without a novel, I feel deprived and lacking in something important and need to get a fix.

[astrogirl2.livejournal.com]

but I've noticed that if I go for too long without a novel, I feel deprived and lacking in something important and need to get a fix.

I quickly realized that, myself, when I was in college. No matter how much coursework I had, and how much I had to read for class, if I didn't get at least half an hour a day of pleasure reading in, bad, bad things would happen to my brain.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

Yep. We have similar brains in some ways: that, and having it disconnected by song lyrics and others' conversation.

[luinielle.livejournal.com]

I like this meme - I might give it a shot later. :o)

I didn't like Lord of the Flies either. I didn't loathe it, but it was definitely a book that was very quickly forgotten about after being read for class.

Spin sounds interesting - I think I'll take a look at the library and see if they have it.

[vilakins.livejournal.com]

it was definitely a book that was very quickly forgotten
You're lucky. There are scenes I can still remember.

I also enjoyed his Blind Lake.