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Book Survey
Monday, February 9th, 2004 17:53First seen in ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
politzania's journal:
What is your favorite book now?
"The Sea Road" by Margaret Elphinstone, a novel about the travels of an Icelandic woman to Greenland, Vinland and Rome, based on old norse sagas.
...10 years ago?
That was about the time I first read "Last Call" by Tim Powers, which is still one of my favourites. I was getting fed up with formulaic never-ending fantasy series of which the local library would only have books 1, 7 & 13 so Tim Powers came as a revelation.
...20 years ago?
I don't really remember, but probably something mythological like "The Corn King and the Spring Queen" by Naomi Mitchison or "The King Must Die" by Mary Renault.
What book made you laugh out loud?
Robert Rankin's Brentford Trilogy - luckily I have never come across anyone with the look of a young Jack Palance and a curious smell of creosote around here.
What book shocked you?
I can't think of anything at the moment. Perhaps I was so shocked that I have suppressed all memory of it : )
What book have you thrown across the room? Wanted to throw?
"The Magus" by John Fowles. I liked it a lot until I got to the ending which was so infuriating that I wanted to drop the book off the side of the ship into the sea (I was on holiday at the time). But what I actually did was give it to another holidaymaker.
What book were you unable to finish?
The last one was "Cradle" by Arthur C. Clarke and Gentry Lee, which I received as a Secret Santa at Christmas. I found the characterisation unbelievably bad. The things the characters said and thought and the way they reacted (or over-reacted) to each other didn't ring true at all. I have just checked the position of my bookmark and I made it to page 58 of 373 before giving up in disgust.
What book have you reread the most?
I don't keep a count, but I tend to re-read humorous books more often, e.g. Robert Rankin, Douglas Adams, Sue Townsend, Murial Sparks and Armistead Maupin.
What book did you like once, but now can't stand?
I tend to get bored if series go on to long, as the author's pet phrases get irritating. Give me a good stand-alone book any time. So I am fed up with Anne Rice and Laurell K. Hamilton, but I wouldn't say I can't stand them.
What book most made your life what it is today?
Ah, if only I could blame it all on a book!
What is your favorite book by your favorite author?
Probably "Time and the Hunter", a book of short stories by Italo Calvino.
What book must you really read someday?
"Remembrance of Times Past" by Proust. I actually bought all six volumes a couple of years ago because I found it with pretty pink and orange covers (I really shouldn't be let loose in bookshops) and it was on my must read sometime list. Perhaps I should take them to work for my lunchtime reading. How long do you think it would take to read the whole thing at an average of 0.5 hours a day, 5 days a week?
What's on top of the nearest to-read pile?
My non-fiction TBRs are closest to my desk and the top book is "Fairy Paths and Spirit Roads" by Paul Devereux, which my father gave me for Christmas. It is a field guide to corpse roads, dreaming tracks and spirit ways in Europe, Australia and the Americas.
What book made you want to jump off a bridge?
None of them.
What book made you want to write?
None really.
What book changed you?
Maybe my liking for dystopian novels has made me more cynical and less likely to take things at face value, but on the other hand I could be like that anywhere and that's why I like dystopias.
What was the first book you bought?
I have no idea, but I distinctly remember being very cross that my parents let my sister buy "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" when I was buying another of the Narnia books, as it meant that I wouldn't have the full set. I acquired and read them totally out of order. Although one of my primary school teachers read "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" to my class when I was about seven, the first one I was given was "The Horse and His Boy".
What was the most recent book you bought?
"The Woman in Black" by Susan Hill, this month's book for the Motley Fool Book Club. I'm looking forward to it as it is a really frightening ghost story and I haven't read one of those for ages.
What books are you currently reading?
"A Time of Gifts", an account of Patrick Leigh Fermor's walk across Europe from Holland to Turkey, starting as an 18-year-old in 1933. This book and its sequel have been waiting for me to get round to them since I bought them in 1990! Better late than never.
What was your most recent read?
I have just read Aldous Huxley's first novel, "Crome Yellow". It is a tale of intellectual conversations, story-telling and unrequited love at a country house party in the 1920s.
politzania's journal:What is your favorite book now?
"The Sea Road" by Margaret Elphinstone, a novel about the travels of an Icelandic woman to Greenland, Vinland and Rome, based on old norse sagas.
...10 years ago?
That was about the time I first read "Last Call" by Tim Powers, which is still one of my favourites. I was getting fed up with formulaic never-ending fantasy series of which the local library would only have books 1, 7 & 13 so Tim Powers came as a revelation.
...20 years ago?
I don't really remember, but probably something mythological like "The Corn King and the Spring Queen" by Naomi Mitchison or "The King Must Die" by Mary Renault.
What book made you laugh out loud?
Robert Rankin's Brentford Trilogy - luckily I have never come across anyone with the look of a young Jack Palance and a curious smell of creosote around here.
What book shocked you?
I can't think of anything at the moment. Perhaps I was so shocked that I have suppressed all memory of it : )
What book have you thrown across the room? Wanted to throw?
"The Magus" by John Fowles. I liked it a lot until I got to the ending which was so infuriating that I wanted to drop the book off the side of the ship into the sea (I was on holiday at the time). But what I actually did was give it to another holidaymaker.
What book were you unable to finish?
The last one was "Cradle" by Arthur C. Clarke and Gentry Lee, which I received as a Secret Santa at Christmas. I found the characterisation unbelievably bad. The things the characters said and thought and the way they reacted (or over-reacted) to each other didn't ring true at all. I have just checked the position of my bookmark and I made it to page 58 of 373 before giving up in disgust.
What book have you reread the most?
I don't keep a count, but I tend to re-read humorous books more often, e.g. Robert Rankin, Douglas Adams, Sue Townsend, Murial Sparks and Armistead Maupin.
What book did you like once, but now can't stand?
I tend to get bored if series go on to long, as the author's pet phrases get irritating. Give me a good stand-alone book any time. So I am fed up with Anne Rice and Laurell K. Hamilton, but I wouldn't say I can't stand them.
What book most made your life what it is today?
Ah, if only I could blame it all on a book!
What is your favorite book by your favorite author?
Probably "Time and the Hunter", a book of short stories by Italo Calvino.
What book must you really read someday?
"Remembrance of Times Past" by Proust. I actually bought all six volumes a couple of years ago because I found it with pretty pink and orange covers (I really shouldn't be let loose in bookshops) and it was on my must read sometime list. Perhaps I should take them to work for my lunchtime reading. How long do you think it would take to read the whole thing at an average of 0.5 hours a day, 5 days a week?
What's on top of the nearest to-read pile?
My non-fiction TBRs are closest to my desk and the top book is "Fairy Paths and Spirit Roads" by Paul Devereux, which my father gave me for Christmas. It is a field guide to corpse roads, dreaming tracks and spirit ways in Europe, Australia and the Americas.
What book made you want to jump off a bridge?
None of them.
What book made you want to write?
None really.
What book changed you?
Maybe my liking for dystopian novels has made me more cynical and less likely to take things at face value, but on the other hand I could be like that anywhere and that's why I like dystopias.
What was the first book you bought?
I have no idea, but I distinctly remember being very cross that my parents let my sister buy "The Voyage of the Dawn Treader" when I was buying another of the Narnia books, as it meant that I wouldn't have the full set. I acquired and read them totally out of order. Although one of my primary school teachers read "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" to my class when I was about seven, the first one I was given was "The Horse and His Boy".
What was the most recent book you bought?
"The Woman in Black" by Susan Hill, this month's book for the Motley Fool Book Club. I'm looking forward to it as it is a really frightening ghost story and I haven't read one of those for ages.
What books are you currently reading?
"A Time of Gifts", an account of Patrick Leigh Fermor's walk across Europe from Holland to Turkey, starting as an 18-year-old in 1933. This book and its sequel have been waiting for me to get round to them since I bought them in 1990! Better late than never.
What was your most recent read?
I have just read Aldous Huxley's first novel, "Crome Yellow". It is a tale of intellectual conversations, story-telling and unrequited love at a country house party in the 1920s.
