Tuesday, August 22, 2006

That book meme thing.

Crimeficreader got me.

1. One book that changed your life?
That would have to be Crime and Punishment by Dostoevsky.

2. One book you have read more than once?
That would have to be Crime and Punishment by Dostoevsky.

3. One book you would want on a desert island?
I was going to say Life of Pi but that might start to freak me out, particularly the island bit, so I’ll go for Proust’s A la recherche du temps perdu, in French with a dictionary. That should keep me busy.


4. One book that made you cry?
Going back to Life of Pi, I had to get it in somewhere. I don’t know if I actually shed wet man tears, but I did find it incredibly moving, which took me by surprise. I always crumple in soppy films, by the way.

5. One book that made you laugh?
Recently, King of the Road by Charlie Williams.

6. One book you wish had been written?
A golden age whodunit detective novel featuring Porfiry Petrovich from Crime and Punishment. Ah, maybe I’ll have to write it myself. Maybe I will. (Maybe I already have!)

7. One book you wish had never been written?
Don’t like this question but if you push me, Amsterdam by Ian McEwan. Put me off Ian McEwan, to whom I was quite favorably disposed. I thought it was shallow and cynical and, frankly, rubbish.

8. One book you are currently reading?
To the Hermitage by Malcolm Bradbury. St Petersburg in the time of Catherine the Great, the French philosopher Diderot pays her a visit, intercut with a modern day academic junket to St P for what I take to be usual Bradbury shenanigans. Interestingly, the book has a blurb quote from Brian Martin, my fellow MNW author, from his book review days. It is also described by Auberon Waugh as the funniest book ever written. Not so sure about that as I haven’t laughed once yet, so Charlie Williams wins there. It is very clever though.

9. One book you have been meaning to read?
Too many to mention, but American Psycho by Brett Easton Ellis seems overdue.

10. Now tag five people...
I’m going to pass on this bit, because I think this meme is near the end of its life and almost everyone I know has already done it! Sorry. What I'll do instead is add one book I think everyone should buy. I think you probably already know the answer to that.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Well Mr Morris, you had me laughing when you got your plug in there! And you're right, this is now and old one...
I'd be interested in that novel you feel should be written too!

Roger Morris said...

I didn't want to disappoint.

As for the other thing, if you'd be interested that's a good sign. Maybe other people will be interested too?

Anonymous said...

You're not missing much if you haven't read "American Psycho".

Roger Morris said...

May - you can say that because you've read it!