Tag... pass it on

Ms. Gough tagged me, so I guess that makes me "it"... temporarily, anyway...

1. One book that changed my life:
Where to begin. I'm one of those people who is highly influenced by words.... powerful words, meaningful words, emotion-inducing-beautiful words, stern words.

I too, was often moved by words at a younger age, more than now, but I still get right into the fiction I read in a big way. I think when I was younger, a few books had major impacts on me. Orwell's 1984 was a big one inspiring my cynical political paranoia stage that I didn't indulge in for long but went through all the same. Umm... Life After God by Douglas Coupland was another one that a good friend turned me onto (after I'd actually read Shampoo Planet by the same author, which has it's own little story that I may tell later). Poisonwood Bible and a book of Kingsolver's essays was pretty important to me as well. How about... um.... oh! C.S. Lewis and Mere Christianity. That was a big one that I still quote to this day... "For the longest way 'round is the shortest way home". He did some pretty good things with words and ideas, even though I don't think his arguments are as irrefutable as he thought. I guess the last one would be "No One Here Gets Out Alive"... the Jim Morrison biography done by his old manager. I didn't ever get into The Doors music, but that was a damn fine book.

2. One book that I've read more than once:
Life After God has been one I've gone through at least a couple of times. I've reread Thomas King's collection of stories, "One Good Story, That One", as well as his non-fiction Massey lecture series collection called "The Truth About Stories", which I'll always love. I can't get his words out of my head when thinking about fiction... "... Just don't say that you haven't heard [the story]... you've heard it now". Some other short stories I can read and reread and not get bored... Orwell's "Shooting an Elephant" or Valgardson's "Identities" and a host of others. And lots of E.A. Poe and Nathanial Hawthorne. Lucky for me, I've taken on a career where I can actually teach these texts to students and hopefully inspire a love for words in them that I've acquired. Oh, and I've definitely read the Pelican Brief (Grisham) a couple of times... I used to be a big fan until I realized that his books are all the same with different court cases and character names. For the most part anyway... :)

3. One book I'd want on a desert island:
Uh... can I ask for two? I'm one of those people who needs balance. I'd say something along the lines of "Poisonwood Bible", paired with something more intensely cynical like "A Brave New World" or some Rushdie. Getting down to one would be tough... maybe even a classic like The Odyssey or The Iliad, since you can spend hours on that stuff and always find something new at a different time of day or a different mood. These classics also have heroism, deceit, mayhem, disasters, love stories, etc. The whole kit'n'kaboodle. Not really sure which part is the kit and which is the kaboodle, but if it involves it all, I'd be happy.

4. One book that made me laugh:
The first one that takes the cake is "Why I Hate Canadians" by Will Ferguson. I've already mentioned my somewhat obsessive love for this man, but I'll state it again. The guy is freakin' hilarious. I can't wait to get a hold of "Bastards and Boneheads" or his anthology of Canadian humour. Another good one is Stephen Leacock's "Sunshine Sketches of a Small Town" or "Literary Lapses".

5. One book that made me cry:
Um... I'm not a big crier in books... movies yes, commercials and TV ads, sometimes... but not usually books. I'd say Kingsolver's books would probably come close (Poisonwood Bible, Prodigal Summer". So would "White Oleander", which I still remember quite well.

6. One book that I wish had been written:
I have to mimic Ms. Gough and say my own. I've always had lofty ambitions of doing some serious writing, even though I'm pretty sure I'm a complete hack in every sense of the word. And I'm definitely not that interesting. It seems like many of the great writers have led tough lives or maintain a lot of existential angst, but other than my not-so-frequent middle-child-syndrome, I think I've lead a pretty uneventful and enjoyable life.

7. One book that I wish had never been written:
I read it all the way through while I was in Europe. Now, I should put up a disclaimer here, because some people have told me that, as an educated person in the area of literature, I should not hate this book. But here it is: "Of Human Bondage" by W.S. Maugham. It darn near killed me while I was on the train, but I'm one of those stubborn people who can't just leave it if it's not enjoyable... I have to get through it. I don't even remember it, but I remember the feeling of sheer and utter relief when I was done. I almost want to go and reread it in hopes of salvaging it from this very list. But for now, it should be burned during a camping trip, so it had the good use of contributing to my golden-brown-marshmellow roasting.

8. One book that I am currently reading:
Well, the grade 10 history text that our school provides... umm.... I'm STILL reading Rushdie's Shalimar the Clown... it's wonderful, but I'm terrible at making time to read. When I'm tired, I watch TV, not dive into dense, intense prose.

9. One book I've been meaning to read:
This would take hours... for starters, Tristam Shandy, which my uncle from Victoria gave me 3 years ago and I still haven't read... Teacher Man by Frank McCourt, Dante and Milton (everything and anything, because it's important), The Satanic Verses (since it's so controversial and another important read), some T.S. Eliot, more Vonnegut, the Qur'an, The Handmaid's Tale, Oryx and Crake... okay, I'll leave the list here... I could go on for decades.

10. Tagging two people to continue this thang:
I'd have to say Miss J.G. and Mr. K.S., since they're my other bloggers in crime.

Tag, you're it!

- T