Yet another meme
Aug. 21st, 2011 01:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chaniThis one was inspired by an internet friend who isn't on LJ so I don't think it's going on around here, but I might be wrong.
Suggest up to five books that would help define you; that is, by reading them you would get a sense about the member who chose them. What books would you suggest, that tell something about you? Explain a little about why you picked the book.
I think it's an interesting meme because it isn't your usual "5 favourite somethings" , it's about picking books you think that they would define yourself, so it's as much about your tastes and books you love as about the way you see yourself or the way you'd like to be...
So it's probably way too much revealing but hell, here we go!
1) Fictions by Jorge Luis Borges. I was 15 when I read it the first time and it simply changed my life. It seemed that I had found the right music that would echo and magnify the silent melody inside of me; the right voice behind the words; the right inquiring mind that would lead me to Wonderland. Borges, then, became my favourite author and still is. He's both my "white rabbit" and a sort of kindred spirit. I own his complete works and I love many other books of his but the short stories in Fictions are pure jewels, so clever and so deep, so subtle and thoughtful. I love everything about it: the classical style, the philosophical depth, the dark humour, the storytelling, the fantasy in the tales. It is the epitome of what works for me. Yes, it is very intellectual, but also extremely poetical. Reading Fictions as a teenager "prepared" me for seeing/seeking connections between works and enjoying tv shows like Buffy, Deadwood or even Stephen Moffat's work on Doctor Who.
2) Dune (and Dune Messiah)by Franck Herbert. You know, before the series became a saga. Still one of my favourite books and one that has been with me since I was 13. I owe it my Internet screen name, Chani, so it definitely helps to define me. I like how Herbert did something new with old myths/storylines, made up a whole universe and questioned his own mythology while creating touching characters (yes I fell in love with Paul the first time I read it) and exploring serious matters (ecology, economics, social organization, religion...)within "a few words" (the first two novels aren't that thick). Each page is like The Doctor's Tardis, bigger on the inside! And there are lovely pieces of writing in them. Damn the man could write! Unlike the two clowns who, lately, have been stealing the notes he left, releasing poorly written novels and exploiting themoney-spinner franchise...
3) Foundation series(especially the first trilogy but I've read it all until the last book, that is a prequel, Forward Foundation) by Isaac Asimov. Asimov had a real talent for short stories and maybe it is what he was best at, but Foundation remains my favourite work of his for I love the idea of Hari Seldon's psycho-history, I love the characters (the Mule!)and I love the twist concerning the Second Foundation! There's a puzzle-like side to it that I love and I enjoy rereading it from time to time in spite of knowing the resolution (usully there's a gap of several years between each reading). I love Science Fiction and it is what SF should be. I mean, a fictional SCIENCE is what the whole thing is based on! There's obviously a wannabe-scientist in me that is still there even though I have made choices that led me elsewhere in real life.
4) Les Faux Monnayeurs by André Gide which is simply the best French novel IMO, and it is very French. I love its perfect yet non-linear structure, the subversive notions it tackles (very subversive for the 20's but still for nowadays, I guess), the dark places it dares to go to, and André Gide's superb style. I reread it every couple of years (usually in one single night!)and the magic is still there. If I had to give an example of what Literature is (as opposed to just, you know...books), I would pick this novel. It probably seems bizarre for a woman to love this book so much given that it's mostly about a men's world and the "hero", like Gide himself, is an homosexual whose ideal love (a man and his much younger nephew) and negative view on heterosexual relationships(in the novel they are all bad in one way or another) aren't something that is supposed to resonate with me, but this is powerful stuff and the nonconformist in me must see the appeal. Or maybe I'm just a gay man from the 20's in a 2011 woman's body.
5) El Siglo de las Luces by Alejo Carpentier. I read it for my Literature course as I was in Hypokhâgne (yes I'm the product of a quite elitist educational system), before I specialised in History, and it was a revelation. Historical novels are a tricky matter (being a historian I'm hard to please and I rarely like them) but this is true masterpiece that isn't well known enough. Carpentier's baroque style is nothing like Borges' simple one, but it's terrific. His use of metaphors and pictural elements in the novel (there's a painting that is a sort of leitmotiv throughout) is amazing. And I love the way he tells the story of the French Revolution from a Cuban point of view, changing the usual angle and scope, and how he intertwins the Grand History with the personal tragedy of his characters --all fictional but one, Victor Hugues who we know did exist and were politically involved but that's all we know about him so Carpentier could use him as he wished. I was competely drawn to that character he re-created! The literary, historical and political aspects of the novel still resonate a lot with me and those are three adjectives that define me quite well.
They are all books I can reread anytime and enjoy myself (actually this meme makes me want to reread them all!). I guess that the choice of both Borges and Carpentier (my two favourite Latin-American writers) kinda shows my Hispanic (Spanish in my case) roots, and that most of my picks mean that I am not into "fun stuff" but into complexity (which doesn't mean it isn't highly entertaining IMO) and that I am very sensitive to aesthetics and style. I also notice that all my choices are from the XXth Century but nothing post 60's (apart from the Foundation's later sequels written in the 80's), Dune being the most recent work. I was tempted to pick Galatea 2.2 by Richard Powers for I adore the book and the writer but I wasn't sure it defined me, even though liking it probably does...
That's it, I now feel like I have posted pictures of me naked!
Now tell me, what are your five books?
Suggest up to five books that would help define you; that is, by reading them you would get a sense about the member who chose them. What books would you suggest, that tell something about you? Explain a little about why you picked the book.
I think it's an interesting meme because it isn't your usual "5 favourite somethings" , it's about picking books you think that they would define yourself, so it's as much about your tastes and books you love as about the way you see yourself or the way you'd like to be...
So it's probably way too much revealing but hell, here we go!
1) Fictions by Jorge Luis Borges. I was 15 when I read it the first time and it simply changed my life. It seemed that I had found the right music that would echo and magnify the silent melody inside of me; the right voice behind the words; the right inquiring mind that would lead me to Wonderland. Borges, then, became my favourite author and still is. He's both my "white rabbit" and a sort of kindred spirit. I own his complete works and I love many other books of his but the short stories in Fictions are pure jewels, so clever and so deep, so subtle and thoughtful. I love everything about it: the classical style, the philosophical depth, the dark humour, the storytelling, the fantasy in the tales. It is the epitome of what works for me. Yes, it is very intellectual, but also extremely poetical. Reading Fictions as a teenager "prepared" me for seeing/seeking connections between works and enjoying tv shows like Buffy, Deadwood or even Stephen Moffat's work on Doctor Who.
2) Dune (and Dune Messiah)by Franck Herbert. You know, before the series became a saga. Still one of my favourite books and one that has been with me since I was 13. I owe it my Internet screen name, Chani, so it definitely helps to define me. I like how Herbert did something new with old myths/storylines, made up a whole universe and questioned his own mythology while creating touching characters (yes I fell in love with Paul the first time I read it) and exploring serious matters (ecology, economics, social organization, religion...)within "a few words" (the first two novels aren't that thick). Each page is like The Doctor's Tardis, bigger on the inside! And there are lovely pieces of writing in them. Damn the man could write! Unlike the two clowns who, lately, have been stealing the notes he left, releasing poorly written novels and exploiting the
3) Foundation series(especially the first trilogy but I've read it all until the last book, that is a prequel, Forward Foundation) by Isaac Asimov. Asimov had a real talent for short stories and maybe it is what he was best at, but Foundation remains my favourite work of his for I love the idea of Hari Seldon's psycho-history, I love the characters (the Mule!)and I love the twist concerning the Second Foundation! There's a puzzle-like side to it that I love and I enjoy rereading it from time to time in spite of knowing the resolution (usully there's a gap of several years between each reading). I love Science Fiction and it is what SF should be. I mean, a fictional SCIENCE is what the whole thing is based on! There's obviously a wannabe-scientist in me that is still there even though I have made choices that led me elsewhere in real life.
4) Les Faux Monnayeurs by André Gide which is simply the best French novel IMO, and it is very French. I love its perfect yet non-linear structure, the subversive notions it tackles (very subversive for the 20's but still for nowadays, I guess), the dark places it dares to go to, and André Gide's superb style. I reread it every couple of years (usually in one single night!)and the magic is still there. If I had to give an example of what Literature is (as opposed to just, you know...books), I would pick this novel. It probably seems bizarre for a woman to love this book so much given that it's mostly about a men's world and the "hero", like Gide himself, is an homosexual whose ideal love (a man and his much younger nephew) and negative view on heterosexual relationships(in the novel they are all bad in one way or another) aren't something that is supposed to resonate with me, but this is powerful stuff and the nonconformist in me must see the appeal. Or maybe I'm just a gay man from the 20's in a 2011 woman's body.
5) El Siglo de las Luces by Alejo Carpentier. I read it for my Literature course as I was in Hypokhâgne (yes I'm the product of a quite elitist educational system), before I specialised in History, and it was a revelation. Historical novels are a tricky matter (being a historian I'm hard to please and I rarely like them) but this is true masterpiece that isn't well known enough. Carpentier's baroque style is nothing like Borges' simple one, but it's terrific. His use of metaphors and pictural elements in the novel (there's a painting that is a sort of leitmotiv throughout) is amazing. And I love the way he tells the story of the French Revolution from a Cuban point of view, changing the usual angle and scope, and how he intertwins the Grand History with the personal tragedy of his characters --all fictional but one, Victor Hugues who we know did exist and were politically involved but that's all we know about him so Carpentier could use him as he wished. I was competely drawn to that character he re-created! The literary, historical and political aspects of the novel still resonate a lot with me and those are three adjectives that define me quite well.
They are all books I can reread anytime and enjoy myself (actually this meme makes me want to reread them all!). I guess that the choice of both Borges and Carpentier (my two favourite Latin-American writers) kinda shows my Hispanic (Spanish in my case) roots, and that most of my picks mean that I am not into "fun stuff" but into complexity (which doesn't mean it isn't highly entertaining IMO) and that I am very sensitive to aesthetics and style. I also notice that all my choices are from the XXth Century but nothing post 60's (apart from the Foundation's later sequels written in the 80's), Dune being the most recent work. I was tempted to pick Galatea 2.2 by Richard Powers for I adore the book and the writer but I wasn't sure it defined me, even though liking it probably does...
That's it, I now feel like I have posted pictures of me naked!
Now tell me, what are your five books?