We had so much fun answering last week's Q&A that we thought we'd make this a weekly tradition - a carpe diem to close out our hectic weeks, so to speak. Why not try this week's questions on for kicks? The answers may totally surprise you...THE HAPPY SCRIBE: The joys of reading with a glass of wine,
and the agony of Scarlett Johansson's "acting."1) Inspired by the NY Times article: What's the bigger deal-breaker in a romantic relationship: Guy Who Doesn’t Like to Read, or Guy Who Reads Too Many Pretentious Books and Wants You to Do the Same? Too many pretentious books, for sure - if he starts quoting The Fountainhead at me, THIS far down the line of the peak of its popularity/relevance, then I'm definitely on the bullshit alert. Other red flags: if his bookshelf is crammed with early (read: pre-repentant) Anne Rice and Anita Blake novels, with hardbound copies of Bram Stoker lying around. He probably sleeps with his hands folded across his chest. BEWARE!
2) In the same vein as #1: Would a similar issue be a deal-breaker for your friendships, as well? I never liked literature used as a way to lord over anyone. It's just tacky. Before the telly and reality shows, there were novels read for entertainment. Yes, some books change the world. Most of them are great paired with ice cream and/or a nice glass of wine.
3) Describe your ideal environment for reading. Rainy days curled up on my couch, with my cat purring next to me, are always wonderful. I also like to read before falling asleep. Some day, I'd like a little corner nook next to a huge window overlooking a garden.
4) How well do you take care of your own books? I'm getting better at this, since I borrow most of my books now from the library. When I used to buy more books, I do admit I did every heinous thing to them: folding pages, coffee accidents, and quite a few (when I had a tub) with water damage due to being knocked over in a warm lavendar bath.
5) What kinds of books did your parents like to read? Have you noticed any changes in their reading taste when you were growing up? My mother read a lot of mystical/philosophical books. My father always had histories - especially of ancient Rome. Now, they pretty much read magazines, cook books - if I give them a book, it has to be a practical one. They did read The Secret from cover to cover. And of course, they also read the Bible. Religiously. ;)
6) Strangest reason for not reading or finishing a literary classic. Catch-22 - I broke up with someone, and didn't want to read it anymore because it reminded me of him. I did eventually finish it - years later.7) Author whose works you deeply regret reading, now that you think of it in hindsight. I don't know if I have any regrets! I've read all kinds of books for research, and to inhabit another points of view. Ditto books that were literary requirements in school - Faulkner gives me a headache, but his language is beautiful, and I'm glad I DID read the required novels back then. They opened up the complexities of other books I hold dear.
8) Book(s) you’d wish somebody would just develop into a movie, already. Okay, I seriously need to see a Terry Pratchett movie PRONTO. Hey Hollywood - Shia could play Mort, and James Earl Jones could definitely voice Death's ALL CAPS WITH FINESSE.
9) Book(s) which you wish was (or were) never adapted for film in the first place. The Nanny Diaries, with the exception of Laura Linney's brittle Mrs. X, was a painful experience. Maybe because pneumatically mono-expressioned ScarJo was involved. I have issues. I wanted Anne Hathaway in that part, but she already did Devil Wears Prada. Oh...and the Sci-Fi Channel's Dune movie. Heinous!
10) Book(s) you would like to wish on your worst enemy, preferably on their birthday. The scenario would be, this would be the book they would have to read over and over and over in a small room.
So in THIS scenario, for odious people...Ulysses by James Joyce.
And then they have to write a 50 page essay. That'll get deleted once they reach page 49.
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MEIMEI: Revenge is a dish best served... with a generous helping of Dr. Phil. 1) Inspired by the NY Times article: What's the bigger deal-breaker in a romantic relationship: Guy Who Doesn’t Like to Read, or Guy Who Reads Too Many Pretentious Books and Wants You to Do the Same? Oh, I would DEFINITELY break up with Too Many Pretentious Books Guy. The main thing is, I don’t deal well with judgmental minds – regardless of whether or not they read - so if a guy wants to give me a hard time over my reading, or my indiscriminate tastes, it’s enough reason for me to tell him not to let the door hit his self-importance on the way out. I’m also more likely to break up with a guy over his CD collection… and if that’s the case, Ayn Rand novels – displayed prominently and quoted often – are the literary equivalent of Kid Rock’s Greatest Hits for me. Other deal-breakers: Mein Kampf, any book-of-the-dead/ Necronomicon-type stuff, vampire stories (yeah, I already dated that guy… in high school!), fundamentalist Christian/ right-wing tracts.
2) In the same vein as #1: Would a similar issue be a deal-breaker for your friendships, as well? Speaking as someone who was friends in college with Too Many Pretentious Books Person, I’d say that it does become a deal breaker in the long run. Like I’ve said, I hate being judged as much as the next person, so anyone who uses books to lord it over me (as opposed to gently recommending or giving something I’m not too crazy about) shouldn’t hope to stay friends with me very long. Although I’m still wondering what would happen if any of my friends stumbled upon my romance novels!
3) Describe your ideal environment for reading. On a bad day, I’d imagine a library – something like the den from Happy Scribe’s childhood home in Manila – with a comfortable couch, a soft blanket, and a fully stocked pot of tea. On a very good day, it would have to be a hammock and a quiet beach… or at least a fully-screened back yard. 4) How well do you take care of your own books? I used to be very bad – dog-eared pages, banged-up front covers and spines – but I’ve gotten better with making sure that all of my books are “gently used” rather than banged-up beyond recognition. A good reader, after all, should always remember the value of her own books.
5) What kinds of books did your parents like to read? Have you noticed any changes in their reading taste when you were growing up? My Dad is the king of the “airplane novel” – Clancys, Ludlums, Grishams, Le Carres, and Danielle Steels on paperback, with artfully broken spines for better reading on the plane. He was already in a mentally taxing job as an economist for a foreign-aid organization, which explains the mindless escapism. Mom was the more philosophical and literate one between the two of them; even as a devout Christian she never denied herself anything, especially when it came to Mary Higgins Clark or my reading list for IBH English. (I once caught her looking at my copy of Madame Bovary, to which she replied, “Darling, all the good books have been banned by the Church in one way or another.”) Since then, however, retirement has brought out more time to read, and while Dad still follows up with airplane books and best-sellers (which explains his fascination with Atonement and Barack Obama), both of them have been reading the same types of books, especially if they’ve been written by saints (e.g. Interior Castle by Saint Theresa of Avila) or mainstream Christian writers (yes, they both got The Purpose Driven Life and The Five Love Languages).
6) Strangest reason for not reading or finishing a literary classic. To Kill a Mockingbird – up until now I still haven’t finished the book or the movie, because every time I try to start it, I find myself taking a break… and the next thing I know, so much time has passed that I have to return it to the library. Also, I continue to resist Brideshead Revisited because of the miniseries... and in particular, certain Internet postings about the unintentional HoYay throughout the miniseries. 7) Author whose works you deeply regret reading, now that you think of it in hindsight. I do regret reading all those Sweet Dreams teen romances when I was growing up. I also regret being anywhere near vaguely interested in Judy Blume – yeah, yeah, Judy, I get it, Teh Sex is not Teh Evol, but did you have to keep harping on it? I’ll stick to learning about it in books with hot, repressed English noblemen in them, thanks.
8) Book(s) you’d wish somebody would just develop into a movie, already. For the longest time, I’ve been telling people that El Filibusterismo would make a great movie – take out the boring parts that spoke to the worst of Jose Rizal, and you’ve got a dark but very timely story about cultural identity, revolution, and revenge. On a more contemporary vein, I’m still waiting for Donna Tartt’s The Secret History - wasn't this supposedly in development ten years ago?
9) Book(s) which you wish was (or were) never adapted for film in the first place. The Cat in the Hat and He’s Just Not That Into You – why, God, why? I’m also annoyed with what Hollywood did to Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, The Scarlet Letter, and How to Make an American Quilt… and if what I’ve heard about the casting for Veronika Decides to Die does come true, I am going to be one very unhappy camper. Also, if we must talk about Filipino literature, I’m very disappointed by some of the Nick Joaquin adaptations I’ve seen on screen.
10) Book(s) you would like to wish on your worst enemy, preferably on their birthday. For this purpose, there is no finer gift in my eyes than the fatal combination of Finnegans Wake (ten million times more headache-inducing than Ulysses) and the complete works of Phillip C. McGraw, with an aperitif of vampire erotica.
Do you have examples of books more tortuous than a James Joyce novel? Can you come up with better reasons to recommend Brideshead Revisited? Any stories about dating non-readers? Let us know... by answering these questions on your blog, or leaving your comments for us! Hope you have a good weekend!
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