Book meme from Janet:
1. One book that changed your life?
Charles Darwin, The Origin of Species
2. One book you have read more than once?
Charles Darwin, The Origin of Species
3. One book you would want on a desert island?
The Complete Works of Plato
4. One book that made you laugh?
Anything written by ID supporters.
5. One book that made you cry?
Anything written by ID supporters.
6. One book you wish had been written?
Women: A Guide for the Perplexed
7. One book you wish had never had been written?
I don't know if I would wish that any book had never been written. As Oscar Wilde said, books are neither immoral or moral, simply badly written or well-written. Unfortunately, people tend to be attracted to badly written books when forming (or strengthening) ideologies.
8. One book you are currently reading?
Robert Fisk, The Great War for Civilization
9. One book you have been meaning to read?
Stephen Jay Gould, The Structure of Evolutionary Theory - I started it, multiple times, but Gould's prose is a little, eh, unwieldy.
I tag everyone!
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I would describe it as verbose. It's leaning against my chair and is only a little dusty but there are no other books on top or leaning against it so there's hope yet.
I have also started Gould's book several times and abandoned it each time... Has anyone actually read this through? The meaningful bits of content are embedded in endless seas of unnecessary verbage. Perhaps the text was intentionally crafted in this manner as an homage to the human genome's structure?
One book that changed your life?
Sharpe's Eagle by Bernard Cornwell by way of Masterpiece Theatre.
The Sharpe series of books and TV movies (currently being shown on BBC America through 9/3/06) got me interested in the Napoleonic War. I've been reading the books since '93 and have all twenty of them that have been published so far on my bookshelf. Sharpe's Fury comes out in September.
2. One book you have read more than once?
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
3. One book you would want on a desert island?
Towing Jehovah by James Morrow
4. One book that made you laugh?
Moab is My Washpot by Stephen Fry
5. One book that made you cry?
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis
Aslan's death set my lip aquiver (I was ten).
6. One book you wish had been written?
A second novel by John Kennedy Toole
7. One book you wish had never had been written?
Tale of the Body Thief by Anne Rice
8. One book you are currently reading?
Dembski's Intelligent Design though I use the term "reading" loosely.
One book you have been meaning to read?
There's two: The Confusion and The System of the World by Neal Stephenson
I just found out that A Confederacy of Dunces was John Kennedy Toole's second novel. The Neon Bible was written first but published after the success of A Confederacy of Dunces. So my answer to question six should really read another novel by John Kennedy Toole.
1. One book that changed your life?
Daniil Danin, "Story of quanta" (or similar title) - a popular book on quantum physics by a Russian writer which got me to study physics
2. One book you have read more than once?
There's more of them :) but to give the one which I really like to return to...
Tolkien, "Lord of the Rings"
3. One book you would want on a desert island?
"Analysis", Krzysztof Maurin - I would learn mathematics to avoid going crazy; and the topics are so difficult for me that nothing short of total seclusion would make me read it.
4. One book that made you laugh?
"Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy"
5. One book that made you cry?
I don't cry over books.
6. One book you wish had been written?
A history of Africa by Ryszard Kapuscinski.
7. One book you wish had never had been written?
"Das Kapital" (I thougt about "Mein Kampf", but Hitler promoted his views mainly through speeches and political campaigning, while Marx's works did poison a lot of minds and cause a lot of grief in the world).
8. One book you are currently reading?
Laurence Oliphant, "The Russian Shores of the Black Sea"
9. One book you have been meaning to read?
Steven Runciman, "History of the crusades"
Thanks for sharing your answers. Here are mine:
1. One book that changed your life?
"Letters from Earth" by Mark Twain and "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller both affected me deeply when I was changing from Catholic to Agnostic.
2. One book you have read more than once?
"The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" by Douglas Adams
3. One book you would want on a desert island?
"The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy" by Douglas Adams
4. One book that made you laugh?
"Dr. Tatiana's Sex Advice to All Creation" by Olivia Judson. A "Dear Abby" takeoff of advice to various kinds of creatures on their often strange sex lives.
5. One book that made you cry?
Not a book but the unbound writings of my daughter, Tonja, found after her death in an auto crash.
6. One book you wish had been written?
"I'm Sorry for Screwing Up the World" by George W. Bush.
7. One book you wish had never been written?
"The Protocols of the Elders of Zion"
8. One book you are currently reading?
"Evolution" by Douglas Futuyma. I've read many books and articles about aspects of evolution over the years. But never a comprehensive textbook. I decided it was time to fill in the holes in my knowledge on this important subject.
9. One book you have been meaning to read?
"The Covenant with Black America" with Introduction by Tavis Smiley.
1. One book that changed your life? Epictetus's Handbook
2. One book you have read more than once? Descartes, Meditations
3. One book you would want on a desert island? Clifford Ashley, Ashley Book of Knots
4. One book that made you laugh? Plato's Dialogues
5. One book that made you cry? Kurt Wise, Faith, Form, and Time
6. One book you wish had been written? Jesus Christ, The Gospel
7. One book you wish had never been written? NAMBLA, Boys Speak Out
8. One book you are currently reading? Bill Alston, The Reliability of Sense Perception
9. One book you have been meaning to read? Schleiermacher's The Christian Faith