Update note:
Good heavens, books get burned in Fahrenheit 451! I misunderstood the situation. Yikes! Caroline Knapp may definitely not be a book in it! In fact - no book is allowed in there ...
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Before I get started on my first ever "meme" (would someone please tell me what is a meme?) sent to me by Ronni, I thought you might like to see this.
And not to be forgotten: this.
Oh yes, and this is the month of birthdays of people close be, at home, far away or gone forever but who are in my heart one way or the other: Tom, Janna, Tammy, Joe, Geli, Jack, Sherry, Anna, Zach ... and me (not today).
And now to my Meme!
THE READING MEME
1. You're stuck inside Fahrenheit 451. Which book do you want to be?
[Appetites]: Why Women Want, by Caroline Knapp. One of the best books I have read in the past four years. See update!
2. Have you ever had a crush on a fictional character?
Yes, Jo from Little Women. Especially for her ability to go out and seek what she really wanted to do with her life and, of course, because she was a writer.
[I had never thought of any of this until this meme!]
3. The last book you bought was...?
Books. These last ten days I have bought a number of books - not just one. The very last one is: Open to Desire: Embracing a Lust for Life: Insights from Buddhism and Psychotherapy, by Mark Epstein. But that one just arrived recently from Amazon. From a bookstore, the last one I bought is Jane Fonda: My Life So Far, by Jane Fonda.
4. The last book you read was...?
Books. Again, I read a few of them at the same time! Scolding: Why it Hurts More than it Helps, by Erik Sigsgaard; The Same Sea, by Amos Oz; and Sudden Collapses in Public Places, by Julia Darling.
5. What are you currently reading?
Jane Fonda: My Life So Far and Auto Da Fay: A Memoir, by Fay Weldon.
6. Five books you would take to a desert island...
Well, these would have to include books I have just bought and not got to yet, especially if suddenly/right now I had to go to a desert island. [Appetites]: Why Women Want, by Caroline Knapp just because I want to keep her near me always. The Change, by Germaine Greer because I also want her near me, plus I think this is a literary, beautifully, brilliantly written book. A Tale of Love and Darkness, by Amos Oz. Yann Martel's The Life of Pi, so that I would know how to cope on a desert island. Won't I be dead by the fifth book? I must have Natalie Goldberg close by too, so I would take Wild Mind: Living the Writer's Life.
Oh wait - may I take a sixth? After all a couple of these books are not very thick or cumbersome to carry. I need Virginia Wolf's, A Room of One's Own and Prisons we Choose to Live Inside, by Dorris Lessing and, of course Kushner's play Angels in America. But now I have completely overdone it, and, have not answered the question as it was initially put to me.
Oh dear. Why won't I just follow directions?
7. Who are you passing this stick on to and why?
Now this is a very difficult question. I so hate to choose any one person over another. It forces me to exclude so many interesting and wonderful people.
Recently Danny Miller wrote about two books he is reading,and Behind Glass wrote about books she bought - so I won't ask them - although they can if they want!
I would love to ask Stepping Stone but I fear he might be too busy ... hey Matt, what do you say?
So let me make it international: This Too, from England, Richard Cohen, from Texas (we must have a Texas "relativist," and Nappy 40 will forgive me if I choose Richard, won't she - although she is welcome to join in only if she really wants?), and Plumbing the Deeps, from Australia (by the way, her latest post coincidentally is about cats!). Wait! We have to have someone from NYC - that's like a country all its own.
Plus aren't you all curious what Amba would say?
Hmm ... if I leave out True Ancestor, he will definitely do his whaaaa thing ... so, T.A., what do you say?
Have I left out anyone? Ah yes, The Lady from Monkey Town. Am so curious what Musty thinks about books ...
Will you accept this stickly-meme from me, fellow and sister bloggers?
Musty is VERY excited about completing his first meme! He wants me to help him when I get home from work today.
Posted by: The Lady | May 01, 2005 at 08:11 AM
Yes, thanks for the invitation. I surely will complete the "meme" as soon as I can. (I've been working on my final paper for school for about a week now, and have been away from the blog.) Thanks for thinking of me!
Posted by: Matt | May 01, 2005 at 08:20 AM
'Twould be my pleasure! Shall post Monday evening (my time).
Posted by: Julie | May 01, 2005 at 08:23 AM
I don't know what a meme is either, but I'd be glad to learn by doing.
Posted by: Richard Lawrence Cohen | May 01, 2005 at 09:13 AM
Now that you've taken away my reason for whining, I suppose I must participate. **sigh**... oops... whining again...
Posted by: david | May 01, 2005 at 10:01 AM
Clarification on the Fahrenheit 451 reference:
In that book, it's true, books get burned, but there's an underground cult of people who preserve books by memorizing them, one book per person. So, for example, one person "is" ROBINSON CRUSOE, another person "is" BLEAK HOUSE, etc. So the question means, "Which book would you want to memorize?" So you gave a good answer without understanding the question -- which is how I always did so well on tests.
I've seen others misunderstand this question, and in fact it's a poorly written question, in my opinion as a professional educational writer.
Posted by: Richard Lawrence Cohen | May 01, 2005 at 10:18 AM
Oh wonderful! Thanks for the clarification, Richard, and good luck to all of you "meme-ing" out there!
Posted by: Tamar | May 01, 2005 at 10:29 AM
A "meme" is a double "me." Meaning, that the writer of a meme is going to tell all about "me" -- in spades. In other words, it's all about "me! me!". Ain't that cute?
Posted by: Old Horsetail Snake | May 01, 2005 at 11:16 AM
That is certainly very cute! Thanks for stopping by Old Horsetail Snake Am honored.
Posted by: Tamar | May 01, 2005 at 11:54 AM
Hi Boss!
re: Cat Blogs-- I have been reading this cat's blog (Abbie and sometimes Martha, actual cats) for a few years: http://abbie.blogspot.com/
meme defined: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meme
Coincidentally, I just read an interesting Salon article/interview about/with Richard Dawkins, the guy who came up with the word "meme" ("The atheist--Evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins explains why God is a delusion, religion is a virus, and America has slipped back into the Dark Ages"). Interesting bit about children and religion in it. http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2005/04/30/dawkins/index.html
Posted by: Janna | May 01, 2005 at 12:02 PM