10 Questions about Books:

I found this while reading one of the Star-Tribune's better blogs and was intrigued by it enough to throw it up all over my website. Unsurprisingly, most of the selections below are out of the extensive catalog that is Russian literature. So...here goes. (oh, before I get going, how 'bout those Twins last night?)

1. One book that changed your life?: Walking Since Daybreak by Modris Eksteins

I know most of you (especially those from Victoria) have heard me go on at length about how much I love this book, but I need to do it again. I love this book. Not so much for its content, though that in itself is certainly interesting, but in the way that it was written. This book, more than any other, influenced what and I wanted to do with my life. It deals with the history of Eastern Europe and World War II which, despite what Vlad Putin would like you to believe, really WAS the greatest geo-political catastrophe of the 20th Century.

2. One book you've read more than once?: The Heart of a Dog by Mikhail Bulgakov

Not as well known as his tour de force, Master and Margarita (which is probably the 2nd best novel I've ever read), this short novel still shows off Bulgakov's witty and cynical humour and what Akhmatova referred to as his "magnificent disdain" for what the Soviet Union had become by the late 1920's. This book could easily be read in less than a week (and probably in one day if you were really hard up for things to do), which might have something to do with why I've read it twice, because, well, I don't like reading most books more than once.

3. What book would you want on a desert island?: SAS Survival Book: How to Survive in the Wild, in Any Climate, on Land or At Sea.

I mean, really, why wouldn't you want this book? Plus survival books are a fascinating read in their own right.

4. One book that made you laugh?: Any Herman collection by Jim Unger

I guess it's kind of cheating to use a collection of comic strips, but seriously, this guy is Far Side on steroids...and I don't read that many humourous novels...and I've already used up my Bulgakov card.

5. One book that made you cry?: Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls

I've never actually cried as a result of reading a book, but this one came close. I had to read it for school and while the tears did not actually flow, I was emotionally affected for quite some time afterwards. Those of you who have read it are probably not surprised.

6. One book you wish you had written?: The Boys of Summer by Roger Kahn

Not a great feat of American literature, but writing it would have meant that I would have spent three years as beat writer for the Brooklyn Dodgers during the early 50s. Who wouldn't want to write about that? Probably one of the best baseball books I've ever read.

7. One book you wish you hadn't written?: Notes From the Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky

I'm going to paraphrase a quote made earlier this week by Ichiro Suzuki. "If I ever say that I like this book, I'd punch myself in the face because I'd be lying." It's basically page after page of a reclusive and mean clerk spouting Dostoevsky's philosophy, which I don't think even makes interesting reading for philosophy majors. It probably would have worked better as a treatise rather than as a syndicated novel.

8. One book you're currently reading?: Oh man, there's a few. Let's do it chronologically:

Over 1 month: Cement by Fyodor Gladkov
Over 6 months: Time, Forward! by Valentin Kataev
Over 1 year: A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce
Over 2 years: Scotland in the Late Middle Ages by A.A.M. Duncan

9. One book you've been meaning to read?: Metahistory by Hayden White

This book set the standard for historical theory thirty years ago and is still an essential for anyone who wants to do any sort of historical research and writing. It's heavy stuff (both literally and metaphorically), but it's just sitting on my bookshelf waiting for me and I don't think I'm going to be able to get through grad school without having to read it, so it's just a matter of when. Fortunately, I find that I agree with a lot of what White has to say and have learned a lot from some of his other writings. I doubt that this book would be any different.

10. Six people to "tag" (i.e. people who also have blogs who you want to also do these 10 questions): Well, no doubt Ryan will have to comment. Zakcq as well. I wouldn't mind hearing what Russ has to say. Or Bigga Bro. I'm going to add Leah and Rachel just because one of them doesn't write in her blog anymore and the other one is wanting to start again. There. That's six. Happy reading.

Posted by ben on June 14, 2007 11:41 AM