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15 books in 15 minutes
A neat little meme I saw on Cardigrl's journal. You are, in 15 minutes, to name the first 15 books that you love/that come to mind/that influenced you. So here are mine:
1. J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings
What can I say? As a child, I loved the characters, the setting, the language and the adventure. As an adult, I still love all that, and more - the deep sorrow in these books, and the compassion, and the imagination and heart. They are not perfect, and Tolkien was a man of his time and culture, but they are very, very great.
2. C. S. Lewis, Till We Have Faces Orual! What a great, great character! I love her, identify with her, am occasionally horrified by her - and she is a true protagonist and true heroine.
3. William Golding, The Inhertitors The encounter between a small family of Neanderthals and modern humans, as witnessed by the dullest Neanderthal. Astonishing, beautiful, deeply tragic - I fell in love with this book at 15, and still have my copy that I got then.
4. Madeleine L'Engle, A Wrinkle in Time
This, even more than Lewis and Tolkien, might be the book that made me think I would be a writer. Here was a fantastic adventure about a girl exactly like me, not in some of the details, but in essence. Meg rules!
5. Ursula Le Guin, The Left Hand of Darkness . I just gave this one to a teen who had the same reaction as I did in college. Amazing society; amazing and gripping adventure - and, at heart, it's a love story.
6. Walter Miller, Jr. A Canticle for Liebowitz
Tragicomic and thought provoking, and I love Brother Francis.
7. Alexander Key, The Forgotten Door
Children's SF, but still relevant. What if a young member of a truly advanced civilization found himself on earth, having lost his memory? If that sounds intriguing, it is!
8. L.M. Boston, The Children of Green Knowe
Simply some of the mos beautiful writing you will come across anywhere. A small boy spends Christmas in the Fens with his great-grandmother - and three children who lived in the manor of Green Knowe three hundred years before he was born.
9. Ann Holm, I am David
David, 12, has been given the chance to escape the communist concentration camp where he has spent his entire life. He knows only that he must make his way from Italy to Denmark.
10. Kate Seredy, The Singing Tree
Sequel to The Good Master - Teens Jancsi and Kate, along with their friend Lily and Jancsi's mother, are left alone to manage the farm during WWI, all their fathers having been called away. Still a wonderful plea for love, tolerance and humanity - and Seredy evokes time and place so well!
11. Mary O'Hara My Friend Flicka
An American ranch this time, and a small boy and a wild filly. The reverse of sentimental - tough, truthful prose and a terrific evocation of place and characters.
12. Charlotte Bronte Jane Eyre
Well, everyone knows this one! Still very relevant about what it means to live your life with integrity - Jane's got that, in spades. Also, of course, a seminal gothic romance.
13 Charles Dickens, Great Expectations
I've read this one over and over - perhaps my favorite Dickens novel.
14. James Thurber, My Life and Hard times
Simply the funniest book I've ever read.
15. G. K. Chesterton, The Man Who Was Thursday
A poet infiltrates a council of anarchists plotting an assassination - and nothing is what it seems. Someone should make a movie of this - but only if they could do it right, and capture the dreamlike atmosphere and zany plot and characters.
Obviously, this took me a lot longer than 15 minutes! Anyone who wants to can steal this meme.
15.
1. J.R.R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings
What can I say? As a child, I loved the characters, the setting, the language and the adventure. As an adult, I still love all that, and more - the deep sorrow in these books, and the compassion, and the imagination and heart. They are not perfect, and Tolkien was a man of his time and culture, but they are very, very great.
2. C. S. Lewis, Till We Have Faces Orual! What a great, great character! I love her, identify with her, am occasionally horrified by her - and she is a true protagonist and true heroine.
3. William Golding, The Inhertitors The encounter between a small family of Neanderthals and modern humans, as witnessed by the dullest Neanderthal. Astonishing, beautiful, deeply tragic - I fell in love with this book at 15, and still have my copy that I got then.
4. Madeleine L'Engle, A Wrinkle in Time
This, even more than Lewis and Tolkien, might be the book that made me think I would be a writer. Here was a fantastic adventure about a girl exactly like me, not in some of the details, but in essence. Meg rules!
5. Ursula Le Guin, The Left Hand of Darkness . I just gave this one to a teen who had the same reaction as I did in college. Amazing society; amazing and gripping adventure - and, at heart, it's a love story.
6. Walter Miller, Jr. A Canticle for Liebowitz
Tragicomic and thought provoking, and I love Brother Francis.
7. Alexander Key, The Forgotten Door
Children's SF, but still relevant. What if a young member of a truly advanced civilization found himself on earth, having lost his memory? If that sounds intriguing, it is!
8. L.M. Boston, The Children of Green Knowe
Simply some of the mos beautiful writing you will come across anywhere. A small boy spends Christmas in the Fens with his great-grandmother - and three children who lived in the manor of Green Knowe three hundred years before he was born.
9. Ann Holm, I am David
David, 12, has been given the chance to escape the communist concentration camp where he has spent his entire life. He knows only that he must make his way from Italy to Denmark.
10. Kate Seredy, The Singing Tree
Sequel to The Good Master - Teens Jancsi and Kate, along with their friend Lily and Jancsi's mother, are left alone to manage the farm during WWI, all their fathers having been called away. Still a wonderful plea for love, tolerance and humanity - and Seredy evokes time and place so well!
11. Mary O'Hara My Friend Flicka
An American ranch this time, and a small boy and a wild filly. The reverse of sentimental - tough, truthful prose and a terrific evocation of place and characters.
12. Charlotte Bronte Jane Eyre
Well, everyone knows this one! Still very relevant about what it means to live your life with integrity - Jane's got that, in spades. Also, of course, a seminal gothic romance.
13 Charles Dickens, Great Expectations
I've read this one over and over - perhaps my favorite Dickens novel.
14. James Thurber, My Life and Hard times
Simply the funniest book I've ever read.
15. G. K. Chesterton, The Man Who Was Thursday
A poet infiltrates a council of anarchists plotting an assassination - and nothing is what it seems. Someone should make a movie of this - but only if they could do it right, and capture the dreamlike atmosphere and zany plot and characters.
Obviously, this took me a lot longer than 15 minutes! Anyone who wants to can steal this meme.
15.
no subject