Everyone claims they don't like Memes, but I am perfectly happy to have the opportunity for you to glimpse how I have become the person (writer/reader in this case) I am.
One book that changed your life? hmmm, well that could be several actually. Books change your life in different and often subtle ways. If you mean what books inspired me to write, I can narrow that down for you to the following:
I know I've said in the past that it was H.G. Wells's biography that inspired me to write Science Fiction. That is still true. Actually the writing bug got me much earlier than that I think with a biography of Benjamin Franklin. I read this book, Russell Baker's Growing Up, at about age 14, well after reading Wells. This book really cemented for me a desire to be a writer. Just afterward I started reading quite a bit of Ray Bradbury. With Baker's inspiring prose about his personal and professional life and Ballard's other worldliness tickling my creative centre the idea to write became firmly centred in my brain and it was at this time that I started putting to pen whole formed story ideas. I would say this book, in conjunction with a few others, was part of the waking the writer within.
One book you have to read more than once? When I was a kid had to see films over and over again. I think most kids do this. You can watch the same episodes of television shows a hundred times with as much interest as if you have never seen them before. Films are the same. You sort of feel like you are living in that world for that brief time and when you are very young, two hours seems like an eternity. Books on the other hand are harder to do this with. Very few, even books I really enjoy, make me want to read them over and over. Usually I have to wait at least a decade before I can contemplate reading a book again. Good books stay fresh in your mind. Their meanings and intriguing nuances stay with you always. When I was a kid I read Little Women and Heidi about five times each. That's the most I've ever read any one book. Not since then have I ever read a book more than twice, at least not as yet. There are a few I would say I will most definitely re-read in my lifetime.
Robert Graves's I, Claudius is an exception to my own rule I think as I read it twice in the space of two years a couple of years ago. I had also read it in my twenties. I am also in love with the television production and have watched it nearly every year for the past six or seven years. Yes I'm a little mental when it comes to this book. I even named one of my cats Caesar, the intention being to call him Claudius (he has a limp leg btw that was not intentional), but had to compromise with my husband. I could probably read this book another ten times at least. Yes I have a love of history, but Graves does play with it a bit here. This is indeed a novel and not a biography. He takes poetic license with the lives of his characters. The narrative does follow true events in the proper time-line. However, Graves weaves a spellbinding tale of murder and political intrigue that is not such much a record of the past, but more a mirror of it. The reader is so entwined with poor Claudius that you simply cannot put this book down. It is filled with wry wit and a perseverance of spirit that is rarely rivalled in reality or fiction. Claudius is not just an unwilling and witless participant in the forging of a dynasty. He is a survivor of the blackest depths that men (and women) will trawl to obtain power. This book brought me back to reading. I spent a few years not reading much or half heartedly. However, when I cracked this book I found my love of books again and through it my love of writing. It is certainly one of the books that changed my life and look forward to reading it again with immense 'relish'.
One book you'd want on a desert island? The above book certainly goes into this category. Presumably if you had only one book with you on desert island it would have to be something you wanted to read over and over. In that case it should also be a substantial book. I could say something like Shakespeare's complete plays or something of that nature. That would be an excellent volume to have on a desert island. It would certainly keep you going for quite a while. But I'm not going to say that.
The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien is a book I've read a few times. Not in quite a while, but certainly as a teen and in my twenties. A lot of people hate this book. I do not, obviously. To me it is as much a history as it is a collection of tales. You cannot read this book like a novel. It's a collection of ideas and bits of world building that are not necessarily linear. I've always been fascinated by this book. It has lots of hidden gems and bits of secret knowledge about Middle Earth and Tolkien's elves. In many ways I find it far more interesting than Lord of The Rings. It shows the darker side of some of the characters who appear in LOTR as benevolent beings. In fact it makes them far more human. It seems like a strange book to wish for on a desert island, but I reckon I could spend many a good hour picking this book apart. Teasing out the small anecdotes into larger more vibrant dramas.
Two books that made you laugh?I've certainly had a fair few chuckles whilst reading books of all kinds. These are two of my all time favourites though.
I read this at about age 15. I was doing summer courses and one of them was creative writing. Along with above mentioned books that inspired me in writing this is certainly one of them. It was completely impossible not to fall into Keillor's quaint storytelling style which has been subtly referenced many times in popular culture (narrator for the musical in Waiting for Guffman, Peter begins a tale in the prison episode of Family Guy etc). For those of you unfamiliar with Garrison Keillor's Lake Wobegon Days, Keillor had a radio show called 'A prairie home companion'. It was a variety show that featured music and drama. One regular feature was 'News from Lake Wobegon'. A fictional place where "all the women are strong, all the men are good looking, and all the children are above average". I believe this was the first collection of stories in novelised form. It's reminiscent of 'Our Town' without the overwhelming sadness. It's a poignant and hilarious look at small town life in America based on Keillor's own experiences growing up in the northern mid-west of America. The radio show ended for a brief period in the late eighties, but returned to the air only a few years later and can now be heard round the world.
I debated about this one, originally I thought I would put Gateway by Frederik Pohl. It's brimming with a New Yorkers sardonic wit, however it is also complex and dramatic and not exactly a side-splitting type of novel. Although, someone has beaten me to it I simply cannot put anything other than The Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. Even if you aren't a sci-fi geek like me, this novel is just one paragraph of hilarity after another. That dry british wit and self-effacing humour is pervasive throughout the text. However, Adams's sardonic misadventure is not only a parody of genre, but in general of modern life. With particular emphasis on bureaucracy of all kinds and the power of the scientific communities. Simply put, it is brilliant.
One book that made you cry? Being quite an emotional person, a little drama and evocative emotion from a character will probably make me cry, but the one that still sticks out in my mind is the following:
Dan Simmons's Hyperion is his best work in my opinion. Full of drama, intrigue, adventure and action it is rich and complex. A beautifully woven portmanteau of seven characters making a deep space voyage and crossing an alien planet to reach a terrifying conclusion. Although it's part of a series, I was sadly disappointed by the sequel and other of Simmon's books. This book however is a triumph. Not all the personal stories will make you cry, but Simmons creates characters with such depth and pulls you into their stories so fully that you cannot help but become immersed in the tidal wave of emotions that tears through this book. It effected me so deeply that I had to stop reading it in public or else risk becoming so overwhelmed by emotion I would have an outburst. Seriously, I was practically bawling on the bust one morning on the way to work.
One book you wish you'd written? To be honest, I wish I had written nearly all the books on this list. To have such creative talent, to reach such perfection (in my estimation anyway) of storytelling ability and style that these authors possess would fulfil all my writing fantasies. But, since I can pick only one for the purposes of this meme here it goes...
J.G. Ballard's High Rise is one of my all time favourite novels and one I've read more than once. Ballard's brilliance, in this novel in particular, is taking something mundane, everyday and ordinaryand breaking it down into something dystopian. The human spirit is degraded in this novel, not through sex or violence but through class struggle. The high rise becomes a metaphor for a stratified society and within it the residents create a microcosm of the larger society that becomes twisted and fouled by human greed and lust for dominance. It's a truly gripping and powerful novel. One I could easily say I wish I had written.
One book that you wish had never been written?Originally I was going to say Fall of Hyperion the sequel to Hyperion above. It was such a disappointment and shattered all my illusions about the brilliance of Dan Simmons, who I easily could have become a love slave to based on that one book alone. However, it struck me that long before I fell out of love with Dan there was another writer who greatly disappointed me and perhaps far more deeply and irrevocably.
Stephen King's Insomnia was the book that ended my love affair with Stephen King. It also cemented in my mind that he should quit trying to write paranormal/horror and just write ordinary fiction that is a little twisted or dark. Insomnia sounded like a good idea and began with King's usual flare for character building and setting, but nearly a quarter of the way through not very much had happened or was happening besides an old man finding it hard to sleep. I did not have that problem and the first time in my life actually fell asleep with a book in my hands whilst reading. At this point I became fed up with the dual nature of King's writing. On the one hand he is utterly brilliant at writing a character and creating a setting. You really do get immersed in the world he creates, however, several of his more supposedly horrific or alien based plots just end up disappointing. After investing many hours into reading a huge novel one expects the effort to be rewarded with a stunning pay-off, but this is rarely so with Stephen King novels particularly after a certain point. To this day my favourite King novels are the regular fiction ones such as Delores Claiborne, Gerald's Game and Misery. Both The Shinning andThe Dead Zone, although technically paranormal do not rely on these as be-all end-all plot devices and the Eyes of The Dragon is possibly one of the best fantasy novels I have ever read.
Two books you are reading at the moment? I don't know if reading is the right word more struggling through. I've been trying really hard these days not to start a new book before I have finished the previous one or abandoned it all together. However, this meme catches me at a moment when I started reading a new book because the first book was getting on my nerves, although I have not abandoned it. Unfortunately the second book is not entirely what I hoped although I persevere.
The first of these is Alastair Reynold's Revelation Space. I have been wanting to read one of his books for some time as I've heard them exalted repeatedly by other genre lovers. However, it was not long into the reading of this book that I began to notice a distinct lack of style to the writing. I think the thing that annoyed me the most were the overuse of adverbs and week, passive narrative. Something I am acutely sensitive too since I've been told not to do it in my own writing. So it kind of annoys me that the very thing I've been given negative feedback for has not only been published but considered "best of genre". Beyond the quibbles about writing style, the narrative also lacks very little momentum. I do not mean there is no action, because there is, but in this multi-pov peppered story I find it very difficult to care about the main character and caring only slightly more about one of the others. At times the drama and tension and even the emotion is quite forced. I am about half way through and not really relishing reading the rest.
The second book is Nights of Villjamur by Mark Charan Newton. This book has been on my wishlist since it was published. Having finally purchased a copy I was hoping that 1-it would relieve my disappointment over Revelation Space and 2-would help me get over my disinterest for most fantasy. So far it hasn't been able to do either. I'm only into the first chapter after reading the prologue and so far, although there have been flashes of exceptional description there has been little else to capture my attention. I will press on in the hopes that this changes. It's not entirely bad though, there are some weird quirks like rarely using the posessive form (he she it). I should point out that I am not a huge fantasy fan though, however, if a book is written well that should not entirely matter. We'll see what happens.
One book you've been meaning to read? There are quite a few of those. So many books on my wish list and so many books I read as a teenager or young twenty-something that I would like to read again, because at the time I am not entirely sure if I understood them or appreciated them. Or simply because I cannot remember them.
Mockingbird by Walter S. Tevis is one of those novels that has been on my wishlist for decades. I'm not sure why I've been almost afraid to read it. It's supposed to be powerful and haunting. A novel about the dangers of failing literacy inspired by Tevis's own experiences as a professor of English. A novel set in a grim New York, my birthplace, of the future where knowledge is the provence of machines and man is just little more than an animal. Perhaps I am afraid of the prophetic nature of such a novel. Even though I have never read it, I can see it's influence in other works that followed. In some ways it sounds similar to Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, a favourite of mine, and perhaps I am afraid it will somehow spoil or perhaps not live up to my expectation based on that comparison. Whatever the reason is remains a book I wish to read and lingers on my Amazon, Waterstones and Barnes&Noble wish lists.
So there you have some of the books that have shaped me, some of the books I am reading and one I really should. Like to see what others have said in response to this meme? here are a few:
AL Rutter
My God It's Raining
Adam Christopher
An interesting point with Graves's I, Claudius is that by holding a mirror up to the truth, he's continuing a long tradition of history through drama. Tacitus's Annals of Imperial Rome do exactly the same thing, and much for the same reason; it's a much better read than a simple recanting of the events.
Good choices - I'll need to pick up Hyperion at some point.
Posted by: Mygoditsraining | 08/03/2010 at 07:15 PM