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Date Posted: Saturday, August 20, 10:12:16pm
Author: AurraSing
Author Host/IP: d207-216-56-8.bchsia.telus.net / 207.216.56.8
Subject: Book meme

I enjoyed filling out Chani's request so much, I went looking for another....

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.

My five would have to be...

1. Pride and Prejudice. I think I first read this sometime after college, most likely when PBS was running one of those 80's adaptations. Since then I have found myself rereading it every so often. There is a part of me that will always be a little bit of a hopeless romantic and while I normally avoid anything more angsty than the occasional bit of Chick-Lit, the novel and several of the adaptations (Bridget Jones,etc) really resonate with me for some reason.

2. The Foreigner series by CJ Cherryh. Overall my favorite SF author, this series deals with a human who serves as the only envoy to the humanoid species who live on the planet his ancestors crash landed on a few hundred years ago. He walks a fine line between helping the humans who now live solely on a large island and the atevi, who lack our ability to form friendships or alliances without some kind of biochemical changes occurring. Assasination is a perfectly legit form of dealing with issues and political intrigue is everywhere; the atevi society in some ways resembles feudal Japan. I enjoy this series for many reasons, one of which is the structure of atevi life vs human interaction and another is the concept of learning to live and breath a foreign culture while dealing with some very human emotions.

3. Case Histories by Kate Atkinson. A murder mystery with a oddly lyrical bent, this book was my introduction to one of my favourite authors. Everything is a just a tad twisted and the resolution left me breathless....my kind of mystery!

4. Most any of Garrison Keillor's Lake Wobegon books. Growing up on the prairies, these are the people I knew and loved, just moreso. Plus I LOVE to laugh.

5. The Assassin trilogy by Robin Hobb. I will be the first one to admit this author's writing has really gone downhill the past few years but this series was truly a gem of low fantasy. The story of a royal bastard ("Fitz") raised to be the King's silent form of justice, this series dealt with the reality of being different as a both a curse and a blessing, the ties of family and friendship plus how life rarely has a happy ending. Not always a very happy read (I recall crying at an event near the beginning of the second book) but inevitably a memorable one. Very accessible and the relationship between Fitz and his partner Nighteyes is simply wonderful, resonated with me in so very many ways, since I could not picture my life without my animal friends...

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[> Cool ! -- Chani, Sunday, August 21, 06:59:55am (81-65-192-252.rev.numericable.fr/81.65.192.252)

Ok my five would be:

1) Fictions by Jorge Luis Borges. I was 15 when I read it the first time and it changed my life. It seemed that I had found a kindred spirit! Borges then became my favourite author and still is. The short stories in Fictions are pure gem, so clever and so deep. 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.

2)Dune(and Dune Messiah, etc)by Franck Herbert. Still one of my favourite books and one that has been with me since I was 13. 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 the man could write! Unlike the two clowns who, lately, have been stealing the notes he left, releasing poorly written novels and exploiting the money-spinner...

3) Foundation cycle by Isaac Asimov. Asimoc had a real talent for short stories and maybe it is what he was the best at but Foundation remains my favourite work of his for I love the idea of psycho-history, I love the characters, I love the twist concerning the Second Foundation! I enjoy rereading it from time to time (usully there's a gap of several years between each reading). It is what SF should be. I mean, a fictional science is what the whole thing is based on!

4)Les Faux Monnayeurs by André Gide. It is simply the best French novel IMO. I love its structure, the subversive notions it tackles (very subversive for the 20's but still for nowadays), 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's probably bizarre for a woman to love this book so much given that it's mostly a men's universe and the "hero", like Gide himself, is an homosexual whose ideal love isn't something that is supposed to resonate with me, but this is powerful stuff.

5) El Siglo de las Luces by Alejo Carpentier. I read it when I was in Hypokhâgnes for my Literature course 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', 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!


I guess that the choice of both Borges and Carpentier (my two favourite Latin-American writers) kinda shows my Spanish 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 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, Dune being the most recent work.


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