Book Meme

Jun. 14th, 2009 08:35 pm
jducoeur: (Default)
[personal profile] jducoeur
[Yes, yes -- as always, I'm late to the meme. But I always like this sort of thing. Courtesy [livejournal.com profile] herooftheage, although I see that a lot of others have picked it up. Answering before I read other peoples' lists.]

List 15 books you've read that will always stick with you: list the first 15 you can recall in 15 minutes. Don't take too long to think about it.

(Italicized commentary added afterwards.)

1. 1984 -- The book that scarred me and influenced my thinking more than any other. That was made even worse by reading It Can't Happen Here shortly after: the two books synergize scarily.
2. The 21 Balloons -- A young reader's book that isn't nearly well enough known.
3. I, Robot -- Okay, in retrospect Foundation probably made more of an impression, but this was the first to come to mind. I was a big Asimov fan as a young teen.
4. The Tripods trilogy -- Detecting my fondness for paranoid SF?
5. The Warrior's Apprentice -- Not the best of the Vorkosigan books, but delightful.
6. The Humanoids -- Completed the path started by 1984. One of the creepiest books I've ever read.
7. Francis Willughby's Book of Games -- Gotta get some SCA-topical stuff in here, and this is my absolute favorite on games.
8. Illuminatus! -- The reason I became a Mason. Seriously.
9. Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator -- Arguably my very favorite book of my childhood.
10. Sandman -- Have to include *some* graphic novel.
11. Orchesography -- Not the best period dances, but the best period book *about* dance.
12. Inferno -- I *adore* it, and have many editions, although I am especially fond of the down-to-earth Ciardi translation. (Especially the footnotes, which appeal to the student of politics in me.)
13. Amphigory -- I wanted a humor book; I'm curiously amused that this was the first one to come to mind.
14. Inherit the Wind -- One of my two or three favorite plays, and one that made an especially deep impression.
15. To Your Scattered Bodies Go -- Okay, no, I don't know why. But it did stick with me: indeed, that slang "Yaas" I use so often comes directly from Mark Twain in the Riverworld series.

Not by any means a deep list of the books that made the deepest impressions on me, but not a bad off-the-cuff collection of ones that have made a real impact...

(no subject)

Date: 2009-06-15 11:22 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] bess.livejournal.com
I LOVED The 21 Baloons! I need to find a copy for Ira!

(no subject)

Date: 2009-06-15 12:12 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] new-man.livejournal.com
You (both of you -- Bess and Justin) have read Peter Graves right? No, it's not a biography of the actor from Misson: Impossible, it's a lesser known Pene du Bois book.

(no subject)

Date: 2009-06-15 12:59 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] bess.livejournal.com
No, I don't think I have. I'll have to go find it. Thanks!

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