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I know when I was little I read lots of dr seuss and go dog go, but I don't have an actual memory of doing so. I also know I read a couple of books I got from the public library, Indians of the east, and Indians of the west, but I don't remember that specifically either. so the memories are too vague for me to say in all honesty, "I remember reading that." same for most things in high school but I can make an exception for ethan frome, which I distinctly remember because I read it in one day, while listening to the toys in the attic album by aerosmith over and over all day long.
the next one might have been, post college years, reading never cry wolf all in one sitting when I was tent bound in Alaska.
what are a few cover versions of some of your favorite songs that you've really enjoyed?
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My goodness, Pen, you are an old reb, aren't you? :)
Mine was 1966, by the way. I have scattered memories before that--some quite vivid--but from 1966 on my life is an unbroken narrative.
Almost nothing for covers. Janis Joplin did a (mostly) superior version of Kris Kristofferson's "Me and Bobby McGee," I guess, but by and large I go for originals.
What book "turned you" into a reader?
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Catcher in the Rye.
Same question
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The Lost World by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Changed my life. :)
What was the longest crappy book you ever made it through?
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I basically only read classics and generally I enjoy pretty much everything I read to a large extent. When I read The Idiot I remember not enjoying the first half very much... but then I quite liked the second half and it's a book I need to reread.
The book that turned me into a reader (of serious literature, because I've always read) was Crime and Punishment.
Which philosopher would you feel most comfortable with as a life coach who also had control of your finances and power of attorney?
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Plato as life coach.
Confucius as financial advisor.
Jesus as power of attorney (friends in high places).
That was fun. Same question.
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Schopenhauer can have all three I suppose. I tried to think of independent ones for each category, maybe Kant should be my financial advisor or power of attorney though.
What book would you have everyone on Earth read if you had the power to do so and if you don't pick a book you explode.
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Oh wait, fire Confucius. Adam Smith for financial advisor.
I dunno, maybe A Christmas Carol. It probably wouldn't help, but it couldn't hurt.
Sorry for the lack of creativity today, but I'm curious: same question.
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Haha I'll take Adam Smith too, I was racking my mind to think of a 'philosopher' with financial sense and I forgot all about economists. Think I'll take John Stewart Mill as life coach while we're at it.
I didn't have anything in mind, but either The Compete Calvin and Hobbes if children are reading it, or else The Brothers Karamazov for adults.
Do you have very strong opinions about literature (like Bloom or Nabokov do)?
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My approach to literature (like my approach to religion) is intensely personal. Literary orthodoxies (a la Bloom) like religious orthodoxies are--ironically--anathema to me. So my feelings about literature are strong but--eccentric?
Which Grimm brothers or Disney heroine would you most like to, um, date?
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Who else but Belle? (well... Jasmine for the "um" part)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=JHBAUxllzpU
What literary heroine (she doesn't have to be the main character or anything, Avdotya Romanovna is a valid pick, for example) would you agree to marry (catch, you are transported to her world instead of the other way around).
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Haha watching that clip I wonder how it never struck me that a bookstore can stay in business in a town where a person is considered a dangerous eccentric for even reading a book in the first place.
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Well, Natasha is the obvious answer, although I wouldn't want to live through the French invasion of Russia. Plus Natasha sort of stopped being Natasha after she married Pierre. So, I dunno, maybe Sophia Western from Tom Jones--smart, tough, beautiful (but pre-feminist). And I would love to live the life of an 18th century country squire. On my bad days, I'm way too much like her father (Squire Western) in the first place.
Same question.
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Natasha is a hoe. And it would be cheating to say Susan Pevensie just because I want to get to Narnia and uh... she looks like this,https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images...5806/image.jpg
Based on character I'll marry... Esmeralda from Notre Dame.
What is your favourite single myth or legend (not epic, keep it short).
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Definitely Sun Wukong's war against Heaven.
Venus or Diana?
