I have stolen this from A Striped Armchair since I never get tagged for anything. (It’s okay, I’m around pretty sporadically.) I thought it looked like fun.
The book that’s been on your shelves the longest: I think mine, as well, is an old, beaten-up copy of Little Women. When my great-aunt was alive, she had a copy that was over 100 years old, which I thought was the coolest thing ever. So I made a conscious effort to hang onto my copy until it turned 100. I think I’m looking at another 30 years or so.
A book that reminds you of something specific in your life (a person, a place, a time, etc.): The “Great Love” of my life – not the one that counts, but the one that sets the precedent for the rest – requested that I read Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. This was his way of telling me that I had always understood him. Long story, don’t hold it against me.
A book you acquired in some interesting way (gift, serendipity in a used bookstore, prize, etc.): Hm. Off the top of my head, Tropic of Capricorn. It was one of those bittersweet moments when, after my boyfriend gave me a sweater for Christmas that his mother had picked out, his best friend, who was crazy about me, gave me a copy of Tropic of Capricorn after watching me pour over books on Anais Nin and Henry Miller and finally finish a copy of Tropic of Cancer. Put the nature of the books out of your head – it was sweet.
The most recent addition to your shelves: Probably New Moon. I was going to hold off for a while after having finished Twilight, but one of my students started on it right away and demanded that I join her.
The book whose loss would traumatise you the most: Good question. The loss of any book would traumatize me. Let’s say, again off the top of my head, the David Lodge book that Professor Mathur gave to me when I graduated. I miss her.
A book that’s been with you to the most places: Another good question. There are probably others that have been more places with me, but I’m going to say Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie Queene makes the most sense, only because I was working on that damn paper for so long. It went with me EVERYWHERE for four or five months.
A bonus book that you want to talk about but doesn’t fit into the other questions: Mick Foley stopped the line at the signing to chat with me about his novel Tietam Brown. That was pretty awesome. Good book, by the way.
Isn’t “The Faerie Queene” like 1,500 pages long? Sheesh. As much as I love big books, even I’m daunted by something like that.
I read Mick Foley’s first book years ago. Good read, isn’t it?
Comment by Brandon — December 5, 2008 @ 4:05 pm
Thank you! So I’m NOT the only person on the planet who’s read it. Good to know :p
And yes, The Faerie Queene is a bazillion pages long, but I studied it for my Independent Study on Edmund Spenser and Elizabethan Court Politics my last semester of college. Best thing I ever did.
Comment by elitist — December 5, 2008 @ 5:45 pm