a meme via loki

Disclaimer designed to show I'm better read than this post suggests I am:

I've tried to avoid compilations, though I have a few by Raymond Chandler, Micheal Moorcock and James Lee Burke that cry out to be included. The selection is purely prose based, as including poetry made it too complicated, and it's purely fiction so I'm excluding books from my sports and military history collection. The selection is also restricted to books I've already read.

You’re stuck inside Fahrenheit 450. Which book do you want to be?:

Anything by Noam Chomsky/ Naomi Klein etc. That way I don't have to be constantly reminded that people don't mind been lied to as long as it fits in with their views. And I can be spared the breathless sentences that start with "here if you had read [ currently fashionable distorter ], you would know those bloody American/ fucking globalisation..." by people wearing levis, who are sleeping with their partners out of wedlock and drinking designer coffee.

That's something that is nearly as annoying as Muslims talking about the Jihad and how they'd like to help evict the Americans from the Holy Land, while they're drinking single malt whiskey.


Have you ever had a crush on a fictional character?:

Aenea from the last two Hyperion books. I actually had a few online journals, back in the day, titled 'Aenea dreams' or variations on that.


The last book you bought is?:

Two sci-fi classics, which I bought today:

A Case of Conscience - James Blish

The Forever War - Joe Haldeman


Five books you would take to a deserted island?:

Lonesome Dove - Larry McMurtry
A lyrical and odd combination of myth-busting, yet an epic narrative. The sheer quality of the story telling takes my breath away.

The Rise of Endymion - Dan Simmons
I'd like to take the whole series and I acknowledge that first two were perhaps better written, but the love and longing mixed with epic sci-fi in the last two books is something I can't resist. And the end made me cry.

Phases of Gravity - Dan Simmons
I think this book is one reason I'm not afraid of growing old.


The Catcher in the Rye - J. D. Salinger
My favourite book ever. I know that's a bit like saying 'Smells like teen spirit' is your favourite rock song (it's not)- hugely cliched - but it really is.

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil - John Berendt
Because I first read this book in the equivalent of a desert island. I once ended up working for a resort hotel and due to an administrative mistake was stuck in the regular staff quarters. I was sharing a room with four other guys who spent their time wondering why this rich kid was slumming it with them, while I spent my time wondering if this was really what three years in law school was meant to lead me to.


Who are you going to pass this to (three persons) and why?:

I don't really know anyone who is active online except for the conclave members, so if anyone of you guys would like to have shot please feel free.

mail : bigreg at budweiser dot com