a few questions about books

In response to ‘s request of me in March, here’s a bit about my reading habits

You’re stuck inside Fahrenheit 451, which book do you want to be?

• I’ve never read Fahrenheit 451, so I’m not quite sure how to interpret this question, but based on context clues, it seems to be asking, what fictional work do I most admire? This is a tough one for me. In terms of sheer quality (going by authors), it’d be George R R Martin, hands down. I’ve found his work to be pretty consistently excellent. Second would probably be Lois McMaster Bujold. Then Dave Duncan. His universes are more hopeful, and his world more dynamic, yet simultaneously suffer from the realism of a comic book series. Finally, I’d round it out with Octavia Butler’s work, whose work is by far the darkest of the authors listed, yet the hope therein shines the brighter for it. It’s worth noting that was the one who recommended both Bujold and Butler to me. I need to follow up on her suggestions more quickly and more often. Speaking of which, any more suggestions, Laura? (other than the parables series of Butler, and Bujold’s mirror dance and paladin of souls, I think I’ve caught up with those authors.)

Have you ever had a crush on a fictional character?

• I’ve yearned with all my heart to be fictional characters, but that’s not exactly the same thing. I think the wanting to be generally crowded out any notion of having a crush on the charaters. Raistlin would probably be the first one where that desire was so well formed. Of course, I’d be a very different him, but still somehow, I identified with him. On first reading the pawn of magic, I was shocked by the degree to which I identified with the protagonist. Smart gay kid growing up in the middle of nowhere surrounded by unsupportive environment. Flees to city. Finds love. Things get complicated. It didn’t help that his older sister’s name was Lissa (My older sister is Elizabeth, but we mostly call her Liz) and his mother is Terisa (and my mom is Theresa, but generally goes by Terri). There have been many others. One of the neat things about my current favorite authors is that I neither envy nor crush on their characters, but still enjoy reading about them.

  By the time I stopped wanting to be characters more than I wanted them in my life, I’d dramatically slowed down my pace of reading in favor of a richer life in other facets. So, a qualified but firm ‘no’

The last book you bought is:

• Well, if we’re counting graphic novels it would be Lenore: Wedgies, The Invisibles 1 (recommended to me by a friendster contact, not recommended by me), and Planetes 1 (recommended by and pretty good to my mind). I think I purchased curse of chalion at the same time, but that doesn’t really count because I’ve read it before. I just want to reread before getting paladin of souls. The book buying binge I remember before that was in chicago with and , where I got “A Wild Sheep Chase”, “The Wasp Factory”, and “Collapse”.

The last book you read:

• Last book I finished for the first time? That might be “The Wasp Factory” by Iain Banks. Or Maybe it was “Memory” by Bujold. I forget. 😉

What are you currently reading?

• Books I’m in the middle of include: “Collapse” by Jared Diamond (he’s living up to my expectations thus far), The Rise of the Creative Class (roundly and reasonably dissed by my workforce development prof), and a number of books I haven’t touched in awhile. My non-school reading habits have been to buy a fiction book before a flight, and read it on the trip. Thus my having almost entirely caught up with Bujold’s work. =) Other books that I intend to getting around to reading more of and/or finishing include “The unschooled mind” by howard gardener and “A people’s history of the united states” by Zinn.

Five books you would take to a deserted island:

• A wilderness survival manual (sadly, the closest thing I own is my boy scout handbook and I realize how pathetically inadequate that would be), “Into the Wild” by Jon Krakauer for thematic relatedness, “The living god” by duncan for when I needed escapist pick me ups, “adulthood rites” by butler for something to keep me going when hope fails, and “Collapse” both so I can finish it, and to help me recognize the signs of potential ecological damage to my environment.

Who are you going to pass this stick to (3 persons) and why?

• You are all grownups, you can decide whether or not you want to do this. I’m kinda curious as to what would say because her taste has led me to good places, because our tastes are in many ways similar and I want a closer look at who I’m living with, and finally, , the oldnewoldnew kid in town and object of generalized curiosity.