Georg has a book challenge for me (passed on from Kirsty), and I’ve got to take him up on it as it’s a really nice challenge to do.
1. The book that changed my life.
Catch 22 by Joseph Heller. I was really ill working in Madras when I started reading this. When I finished I felt much better and somehow changed.
2. The book that I have read more than once.
There aren’t many of these, maybe about four or five in my entire life. Two stick out though Maybe Pride and Predudice by Jane Austin. I think we had to read it at school. I finished and read it again and then everything else by Jane Austin. A great book for the settings and the insight into human actions all wrapped up with a little romance.
The other one would be Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino a book of amazing prose beauty.
3. The book I would take on a desert island.
Touching the Void by Joe Simpson. Because someone is always worse off than you and it reminds you of the awesome power of nature compared to a human and the feelings of being alone.
4. The book that made me silly.
The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. It must have had some lasting effects…..
5. The book that made me cry.
Cats Cradle (sometimes Ice 9) by Kurt Vonnegut a deeply powerful book. In the end we have only ourselves to blame.
6. The book I would like to see written.
The one that’s in your head now….go on write it!
7. The book I hoped would never be written…..but should be read.
OK This is the book I hoped would never be written- but should be read. The Cap or the Price of a Life by Roman Frister . A holocaust survival book like no other. One night in the camp, Frister is raped by a fellow prisoner, who then steals his cap. Anyone who lines up for morning roll-call without his cap was immediately shot. And so, to survive, Frister stole the cap of another prisoner–who was then shot dead in his place.
8. The book I am currently reading.
Northern Shores: A History of the Baltic Sea and Its Peoples (Paperback) by Alan Palmer. Did you know that Tallinn is named after the Danes?
9. The book I’ve been meaning to read.
For Architecture p0rn it would be KM3 the New Book from MVRDV Architects, ready to drool over the images, projects, videos etc…..otherwise perhaps Albert Camus ‘ L’Etranger.
10. I challenge the following bloggers;
Jon
Jukka
Darren
Igor
Christoph
Looking back at this list I’ve missed out so many essential books because they didn’t quite fit into a category or I am remembering once again, I only see mistakes or am temped into making lots of sub lists. All these great books can change your life a little bit I think.