I have been tagged, nay commanded, to participate in the Eleven Questions Meme and when one is commanded to do something, well … in most cases I just pretend I didn’t know about it but in this case it doesn’t hurt to play along.
The rules are as follows:
- Post the Rules.
- Answer the eleven questions that were asked of you by the person who tagged you.
- Make up eleven new questions and tag eleven new people to do the meme.
- Let them know you tagged them.
Here are the questions that Emily made up and my answers:
- Have you ever liked a movie more than the book? If so, what movie(s)?
The Princess Bride. I saw the movie before I ever knew it was a book and I have tried twice to read the book but can never get past the first 20 pages. Inconceivable! - ________ opening for __________ would be a dream concert. Fill in the blanks. (You can fill them in with performers dead or alive.)
Uh. I’ve never been much of a concert goer. If I were polydactyl I could count them all on one hand. I find concerts too loud and too crowded and so very exhausting. The last concert I went to was in 2006 when Bookman surprised me with tickets to see Cyndi Lauper at a small venue. That was a good concert. Some local band I don’t even remember the name of opened for her. I suppose it would be fun to see Eric Clapton in concert or Melissa Etheridge but I don’t really care if I ever do. - If you’re making dinner and don’t need to take into account anyone else’s tastes but your own, what do you find yourself having over and over again?
Cereal. Thank goodness Bookman does the cooking! - You get to interview the author of the book you are reading right now. What’s the first question you’d ask?
Since I’ve got several books on the go I have to figure out which one to choose from. Ok, I’d like to ask Borges if he ever thought about writing a novel, why or why not? - If the world becomes one in which all new novels are only published in digital format, what will you miss most?
I don’t think I’d know how to decorate all the walls that are currently covered in bookshelves. Also. I’d really miss bookmarks and the fun of trying to match my bookmark with my book. - If you had been gifted to play any musical instrument brilliantly, what would you choose to play? (Or maybe you are so-gifted. If so, what do you play?)
I do not play any instruments. For a very very long time I wanted to learn how to play the piano. Currently I’d like to someday learn how to play the fiddle. It’s much smaller and more portable. But then again, if #5 comes true I could put a piano against one of those empty walls. - The “war between the sexes” has been around since the beginning of time. What do you think is the biggest problem between the sexes today?
Men’s reluctance to share the power tools and read assembly instructions. - If you could switch places with any celebrity for three months, with whom would you like to switch places?
Uh. I think I will pass on this. I’d never ever want to be a celebrity. I like my peace and quiet way too much and being followed around and having unflattering photos taken of me just is not appealing. Even the thought of being Nancy Pearl for three months makes me cringe. - You can eat at any restaurant in the world. Where would you eat?
A delicious meal cooked in my own kitchen by my wonderful husband. No restaurant anywhere can make me a meal seasoned with as much love and caring as he gives it. - What book do you wish you hadn’t wasted your time reading last year?
Death Comes to Pemberly by P.D. James. - Would you like me to answer all these questions myself?
But of course!
Here are my eleven questions:
- What is the first book you remember reading?
- What book on your shelves have you owned the longest?
- What is the oldest book on your shelves in terms of when that particular edition was published?
- If you could meet a character from any book, what character would you like to meet?
- What no longer living author do you wish were alive to write just one more book?
- Where is your favorite place to read?
- Do you like to snack while reading?
- Do you read with music playing or the television on?
- Has the internet shortened your attention span and made it harder to read books as cultural critics claim, or is your ability for sustained reading just as good or better than it ever was?
- Do you belong to a book group?
- What book or author haven’t you read yet and are always saying you’d like to get around to “someday”?
As for tagging eleven people, well, here I break the rules. Please play along if you’d like and just let me know so I am sure to not miss your answers!
1. What is the first book you remember reading? Camille by Alexander Dumas
2. What book on your shelves have you owned the longest? The Dialogues of Plato
3. What is the oldest book on your shelves in terms of when that particular edition was published? Several first editions of Hemingway
4. If you could meet a character from any book, what character would you like to meet? Simon Heywood in Elliot Perlman’s Seven Types of Ambiguity
5. What no longer living author do you wish were alive to write just one more book? Ernest Hemingway at his best
6. Where is your favorite place to read? Everywhere
7. Do you like to snack while reading? Never
8. Do you read with music playing or the television on? Never
9. Has the internet shortened your attention span and made it harder to read books as cultural critics claim, or is your ability for sustained reading just as good or better than it ever was? Same as always
10. Do you belong to a book group? No
11. What book or author haven’t you read yet and are always saying you’d like to get around to “someday”? Melville
“cereal” LOL! I agree about the Princess Bride. I read the whole book (just stubborn, I guess) and it was terrible. Not just that it’s nothing like the movie but it is cynical and sarcastic and mostly about the author, or so it seemed. Similar situation to Sex and the City and perhaps Bridget Jones as well.
Fun meme, I’ll give it a whirl on my blog.
What is the first book you remember reading? FUN WITH DICK AND JANE. I tried to check a ‘history of the world book’ out of the library when I was in 1st grade but the librarian and my mother laughed at me and made me put it back.
What book on your shelves have you owned the longest? My mother had books when I was growing up and I still have them. Jane Eyre; Louis Untermeyer’s Treasury of Great Poems and a collection of Shakespeare’s plays – all date back to the 1940′s.
What is the oldest book on your shelves in terms of when that particular edition was published? Don’t know for sure- Probably the Jane Eyre.
If you could meet a character from any book, what character would you like to meet? I’ve been reading Hans Kung’s memoirs. I would love to meet him.
What no longer living author do you wish were alive to write just one more book?
Where is your favorite place to read? I have a reading chair in our ‘library’ ‘study’ – good light – intimate atmosphere.
Do you like to snack while reading? Not usually. It’s too messy and I don’t want to get books greasy or smeared. I do read during breakfast – and would read at every meal if my husband weren’t with me.
Do you read with music playing or the television on? NO!! Way too distracting.
Has the internet shortened your attention span and made it harder to read books as cultural critics claim, or is your ability for sustained reading just as good or better than it ever was? I’m afraid playing computer games has shortened my attention span. I love Wordgrid – and play probably 10 games/day.
Do you belong to a book group? YES! I belong to a Great Books group. I’m kind of reading snob and don’t like groups where people choose their favorite chick lit and think it’s literature. Someone told a friend of mine that ‘they should have a Danielle Steele book group. My friend replied, “what would you talk about’. I think that’s priceless!
What book or author haven’t you read yet and are always saying you’d like to get around to “someday”? I want to reread The Odyssey and The Illiad. I loved these in high school. Also, Dante’s Divine Comedy. I read the first part of The Inferno – and was so taken by the opening lines – that I gave up reading to just think about the first lines.
As for tagging eleven people, well, here I break the rules. Please play along if you’d like and just let me know so I am sure to not miss your answers!
THANKS FOR GREAT QUESTIONS. I’M LOOKING FORWARD TO READING OTHER PEOPLE’S ANSWERS.
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Oh dear, I don’t do memes either! So, I’m going to do yours here because it is fun:
1. What is the first book you remember reading? That’s really hard but my earliest memory is of a picture book about Jiminy Cricket. My dad would always feign fear when I’d present it to him to read to me.
2. What book on your shelves have you owned the longest? A falling apart book of Heidi … though there is a Golden Book of Puppies that my parents gave away (after I left home and they were moving house.) Some time later they found it, still with my name in it, in a second hand bookshop. They bought it back and gave it to me. I still have it. How could I not.
3. What is the oldest book on your shelves in terms of when that particular edition was published? Excluding my mother-in-law’s books which we are currently processing as part of her estate, it’s probably Heidi described above.
4. If you could meet a character from any book, what character would you like to meet? Lily Bart so I could tell her not to be a fool and marry the man.
5. What no longer living author do you wish were alive to write just one more book? Jane Austen.
6. Where is your favorite place to read? Spread out on one of the sofas in our house or in a comfy chair on our verandah on a nice day.
7. Do you like to snack while reading? Yep, coffee and chocolate or a glass or wine or sitting on the verandah eating whatever is my lunch.
8. Do you read with music playing or the television on? Not often … I like to focus on the book.
9. Has the internet shortened your attention span and made it harder to read books as cultural critics claim, or is your ability for sustained reading just as good or better than it ever was? About the same but the internet has reduced the time I give to reading.
10. Do you belong to a book group? Yes, a few including some online ones. My original face-to-face one will be 25 years old next year and is still going strong with several original members.
11. What book or author haven’t you read yet and are always saying you’d like to get around to “someday”? Henry Handel Richardson’s The fortunes of Richard Mahony.
Yay – love your answers (the one about sharing power tools cracked me up). I’ve been tagged by Emily and will do this too. It’s fun to have some memes going around – it’s been a while! And when one’s brain is fried by other things, I do appreciate some straightforward questions to be answered!
Richard, you’ve got a couple 1st edition Hemingways? That’s pretty cool. I didn’t realize you were such a Hemingway fan.
Sylvia, oh I am so glad I am not the only one who who doesn’t like the book of Princess Bride. I operate under the assumption that the book is always better than the movie so when the book failed me and seemed to be so very different than the movie my world was turned upside down. Ok that’s exaggerating, but you know what I mean
Kathleen, oh I love your answers! I think it’s really neat you have books that used to belong to you mom. Had to laugh at your friend’s reply to the Danielle Steele book group suggestion. I must say, I agree! And now you have me intrigued regarding the opening lines of the Inferno!
Whisperinggums, enjoyed your answers! Somehow I wasn’t surprised that you’d like another book by Jane Austen
And what a great story about the Golden Book of Puppies! I am also in agreement with you that coffee and chocolate make a fantastic snack while reading!
Litlove, heh, there have been some words a few times at my house on that score. Looking forward to your meme answers and questions!
Thanks for playing along and great answers! I guess I shouldn’t attempt to read The Princess Bride (never have, although I loved the movie when it came out). Then again, I’m reading Death Comes to Pemberly and liking it very much, so perhaps I’d love Princess Bride? That restaurant of yours sounds like the best! Does it sometimes serve cereal (which I happen to think makes a very good dinner, just not every night).
What is the first book you remember reading?
What book on your shelves have you owned the longest?
What is the oldest book on your shelves in terms of when that particular edition was published?
If you could meet a character from any book, what character would you like to meet?
What no longer living author do you wish were alive to write just one more book?
Where is your favorite place to read?
Do you like to snack while reading?
Do you read with music playing or the television on?
Has the internet shortened your attention span and made it harder to read books as cultural critics claim, or is your ability for sustained reading just as good or better than it ever was?
Do you belong to a book group?
What book or author haven’t you read yet and are always saying you’d like to get around to “someday”?
Ha! Sorry. Here’s my real reply:
What is the first book you remember reading? I learned to read Golden Books and those I Can Read Seuss books. I loved Are You My Mother?
What book on your shelves have you owned the longest? I have a lot of my old children’s books. One of my favorite is a very old edition of The Princess and the Goblin.
What is the oldest book on your shelves in terms of when that particular edition was published? Hmm. I don’t know, but probably that MacDonald book. It seems very old.
If you could meet a character from any book, what character would you like to meet? Hmm. Maybe Jo March.
What no longer living author do you wish were alive to write just one more book? David Foster Wallace.
Where is your favorite place to read? On the couch, with a giant down comforter and a cat.
Do you like to snack while reading? Not usually, but sometimes something like crackers and cheese or popcorn.
Do you read with music playing or the television on? Not usually, but I can always read if someone else has music or the TV on. I tune out distractions pretty well while reading.
Has the internet shortened your attention span and made it harder to read books as cultural critics claim, or is your ability for sustained reading just as good or better than it ever was? I think it’s just as good. I don’t notice it with reading — I still love to read, and the longer a period, the better. I do notice that I get impatient with tidbit-type articles and won’t even bother if they don’t look “meaty” so maybe that’s an influence?
Do you belong to a book group? Yes, for about 13 years now!!
What book or author haven’t you read yet and are always saying you’d like to get around to “someday”? Goodness, that’s a long list. More Dickens. Wouldn’t mind trying Ulysses again someday. Flannery O’Connor.
Emily, if you love the Princess Bride movie then it might be best to just skip the book. As for Death comes to Pemberley, I am glad you are enjoying it, I just couldn’t. On rare occasions my favorite restaurant will serve cereal in the evening but it’s pretty desperate when it does.
Daphne, I didn’t know you were a David Foster Wallace fan! He’s on my list for question 11. As for your answer to 11, Flannery O’Connor is awesome and I know you would absolutely love her. Hopefully that helps motivate you to read her
OK, in a light spirit, here I go:
1. There were many books before this one, but I remember reading and rereading Indro Montanelli’s “Storia di Roma” (translated as “Romans Without Laurels.”) Even now it makes me smile…
2. Currently, “Obras Completas de Jorge Luis Borges.” (1981).
3. A first edition of “Casas Muertas” (Miguel Otero Silva, 1955).
4. Ludovico Settembrini, of Mann’s “Magic Mountain.” Meet, say, once a month, eat, converse, feel that civilization exists and is well and worth working for…
5. I wish the likes of the Venezuelan authors Miguel Otero Silva, Arturo Uslar Pietri and Ignacio Cabrujas were here to make sense of Hugo Chávez.
6. Comfy couch… and really anywhere
7. Strong coffee, or a drink
8. Yes music, no TV
9. Not the Internet… just age?
10. No
11. The Road to Reality: A Complete Guide to the Laws of the Universe (2004, ISBN 0-224-04447-8 (hardcover), ISBN 0-09-944068-7 (paperback)) by physicist Roger Penrose… Someday…
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Pedrodavid, strong coffee is a wonderful thing to have while reading! Your someday read sounds both intriguing and challenging. Maybe you just need to leap in?
What fun. I may have to answer your questions at a later date!
And do you know I actually really like cereal and have acquired a taste for oatmeal (with raisins dates and walnuts-yum).
Bookman loves oatmeal and I find it ok, but much prefer cereal because the crunch is so much more satisfying