Book Guilt Meme

[rj_anderson]

Crossposted from my blog. Thanks to Jemima for starting this one:

Name three classics mouldering on your shelves:
1. The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan. I started, got stuck in the Slough of Despond, couldn't finish. Sad, really, since I loved Little Pilgrim's Progress as a kid.
2. Paradise Lost by John Milton. See above, except alas, there isn't any Little Paradise Lost. (Unless the Bible counts. But really, the idea of the Bible as "Milton lite" is just so wrong.)
3. Don Quixote by Cervantes. Fortunately, I'm not alone in this -- seemag had the same problem.

Name three works of modern literature you managed to avoid:
1. Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. Opted out of it in high school English.
2. The Edible Woman by Margaret Atwood. Same as above. Except then I got nailed with The Handmaid's Tale in university. Bah.
3. The Stone Angel by Margaret Lawrence. I am still not sure how I managed to avoid this one, seeing as most Canadian high school students in my age group had to read it, but mercifully it was never assigned in any of my classes.

Name three novels you read but wish you hadn't:
1. The Female Man by Joanna Russ. Between this and the Atwood, my radical-feminist university SF professor has a lot to answer for. I can't remember the last time I read a book that made me so furious.
2. Fifth Business by Robertson Davies. This was probably the least boring work of Canadian literature I had to read in high school, but "intriguingly quirky" rapidly turned into "squicky" for me, and I can't say I enjoyed it.
3. Tehanu by Ursula K. LeGuin. This was agony, since I was so looking forward to another Earthsea novel. I am still trying to mentally block out this one.

Name three books you skimmed your way through or never finished:
1. The Complete Works of Robert Browning. I wanted to like Browning, I really did. I tried so very hard. But I have come to the conclusion that where poetry is concerned, I am pretty much a philisitne anyway. You can't speed-read poetry and yet that's what I always try to do.
2. The Silmarillion by Tolkien. I've skimmed it twice now. Parts of it are excellent. Parts of it bore me to death.
3. The Game of Kings by Dorothy Dunnett. I really need to re-read this, now that I've got the Lymond thing figured out. You really can't skim Dunnett.

Name three famous fanfics you've always meant to read:
1. The Long Road to Damascus by Morrighan. I did start this a couple years ago, but I can't remember how much I've actually read...
2. Hermione, Queen of Witches by Arabella
3. Memories of Tomorrow / Dreams of Yesterday by Jedi Boadicea

Comments

Literary Regrets

[avarill.livejournal.com]

That's a fascinating list, I can think of some of my own. But first, at the risk of being out of the know -- what's a meme?

Re: Literary Regrets

[rj-anderson.livejournal.com]

A meme is a sort of viral idea -- something that starts with one person but it's catchy and before long, it's everywhere.

[taiamu.livejournal.com]

Also, a meme is just that: All about 'me'. It's kind of...a gratuitous self-post. ::shrug::

Hey, how's it going on that Jack-archive? :)

Happy holidays!

Tai.