Karen’s Meme *

Perhaps the interesting point to preface this list with, is that the majority of the books I’ve been reading recently are non-fiction, looking particularly at the Church. Again I guess that confirms that the most important thing for me in a book is the ideas they contain.

1. If you could be any character from a book, who would you be and why?

Sometimes I would like to be Jack Ryan (CIA) of the Tom Clancy books, or Sparhawk of the Elenium, and Tamuli (David Eddings). I don’t think I’d mind being Val Jean from Les Miserables, or Faramir in Lord of the Rings.

2. Which book do you wish you had written and why?

Les Miserables, because of the ideas and character is it. Lord of the Rings, there is something impressive in manner in which Tolkein created the world from scratch. Perhaps also the four books in the Ender’s Game series.

3. What book(s) have you wanted to change the ending of?

Not sure … The Diary of Anne Frank. (unfortunately that’s based on history) so yeah. That means that perhaps I need to see human hearts changed.

4. What is most important to you in a book and why?

I’m generally looking for a read that is more than simply entertainment; a read that either reveals more about me and the world in which we live. In some ways the is inexorable linked in with character. The events of the ideas, perhaps more than the plot, shape, mold, challenge and convict the characters. So perhaps in order, Ideas, Character, Plot, language.

5. In your opinion, who is the writer who is best at:

• ideas?: Victor Hugo, Orson Scott Card.
• character – JRR Tolkien
• plot – I quite like the political situations that Grisham, Clancy create, because they come across as real, or plausible.
• language – toughie, I guess I don’t really notice language a great deal.
  

6. Which book(s) have you most wanted to burn/obliterate the memory of off the face of the planet?

None, yes this is perhaps a lame answer. But as much as I don’t want to read particular genre’s or particular books, they all have the right to exists.

7. Describe your favourite place to read (plus essential accompaniments, etc. tea).

Solely from hours spent, I’ve found it great to read in transit on the train. More generally curled up in bed, with a cup of freshly brewed coffee, or outside near the beach, or overlooking some great scenery.

8. Which books are your “comfort” books? (ie. the ones you keep coming back to to read over and over again because you enjoy them so much each time.)

Lord of the Rings / A Time to Kill / The Sum of All Fears / Enders Game / any of the four David Eddings series / The Chronicles of Narnia.
By enlarge these are books that I can simply pick up, open, and start reading.

9. What attracts you about your favourite genre?

What I like about Science Fiction, which a lot of these books can fall into, is that Science Fiction gives you a context within which you can write about trends in society, you can write about the future, and in doing so challenge society.

I’m also particular partial to some of the political thriller type genre. I guess because some talk about historical events, and reshape them, asking the what if questions of history, and others, are sometimes too close to reality

I’ve not really got in deeply with Fantasy. Could someone who is reading this clarify the distinction between fantasy and science fiction?

10. Which book has had the biggest impact on you/completely changed your life? (apart from the Bible)
Knowing God, Knowing God is a challenging read, but it details the nature and character of our Maker, and of who we are as his creation.

11. Which book do you most want to see as a movie done well which has not been turned into a movie already?
I would love to see the Ender’s Game series made in films, and If I was forced to pick one either Xenocide, or Speaker for the Dead.

NB: The answers to these questions, are current, at 3.4.05, and subject to change.