Backtagging
My daily magazine carries a nice long literary suppliment called P.Age on Sundays. As you can see in the post below, I was tagged. There were a few others whom I wasn't able tag because someone had already done it. I am, and I suggest you do too, tag the person who tagged you, and another whom you wanted to, but weren't able to tag. These questions are from P.Age. Here goes:
Which is your favourite reading spot
The bed. Usually, with the curtains drawn and just the bedside lamp on. Sometimes, though, I roll over onto the floor (ouch) and read there.
Who is your favourite literary character?
Marvin the paranoid android from The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. Also, Clovis Sangrail from Saki's short stories.
Which is your favourite childrens book?
Folks of the Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton. I loved the entire series, more than any other Enid Blyton series. And what really surprised me was that others in Blogland thought so too. Nobody I knew seemed to like them.
Which is the most over-rated book?
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. While I had liked the book when I read it, as a fable, I really could never understand what ALL THE FUSS was about. People were recommending it left, right and center, since, I suppose, it was the thing to do. I don't go about dissing it because I don't think it was all that bad, but definitely not half as good as the hype claimed.
I'd like to digress and post two - I thought 'Surely you're joking Mr. Feynman' by Richard Feynman was over-rated. A recco I wish I had not received. Nothing particularly amusing about the entire thing, yet quote a few people claimed it was among the funniest ever. I disagree.
Which is the most under-rated book?
Is any book ever under-rated? I think they're either hyped or not hyped, in which case, I think one book which deserved the hype but didn't get it is Kiran Nagarkar's Ravan & Eddie. The Bibliophile in the P.Age also mentions it. Just the irony of the situation, and the life in the chawls, the RSS shakha's. Plotwise, it was brilliant, albeit filmy. I picked it up at Fort two years go.
Which classics do you want to read?
Nausea by Sartre, The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, 1984 by George Orwell, 2001: a space odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke, The Trial by Kafka...this could go on forever.
Who is your ideal character for a dining companion?
Gollum. He'd eat all the fish and leave the rest to me. Also, Marvin the paranoid android. He's be in a corner, recharging, and leave all the food to me. Sauron, the floating eye. I'd put eyedrops for him and eat all the food. Jeeves from Wodehouse. He'd stand aside while I eat all the food. The Wicked Witch of the East - she's probably still under the house, and I can eat all I want. MWHAHAHA.
Jokes apart - I think the Steppenwolf would be interesting to talk to.
Which book changed your life?
I don't think any book has had a life-changing impact on me. There are a few that have impacted my thinking - De Bono's Masterthinker's Handbook and Lateral Thinking. Atlas Shrugged changed me for two weeks before the effect wore out. The New Buffetology impacted my investment strategies...nothing has changed my life, 'cept my own decisions.
Which is the funniest book that you have ever read?
Without doubt - The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.
Which poem can you recite by heart?
I'm not a poetry person. The I can recite two poems, both my own (I don't remember the rest). A haiku called Cherry Red and a poem that was a part of my first story, called 'The Awakening'.
Which book did you want never to end?
Demian by Herman Hesse. The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams.
Which book would you make compulsory reading?
The Masterthinker's Handbook by Edward de Bono. Structure, Structure, Structure.
Which school/college text did you enjoy most?
The World War bits in the History text for Xth. I've since become a history buff. I try not to miss Biography every weekday. I must confess that I think the History Channel got it all wrong when they made Diana Hayden the host. Fake accent and switching to hindi ad hoc irritates me.
Okay. Now for the backtags:
First up - Black Mamba, who had tagged me. Also on the radar - Samita.
Tags:
books
Lists
Which is your favourite reading spot
The bed. Usually, with the curtains drawn and just the bedside lamp on. Sometimes, though, I roll over onto the floor (ouch) and read there.
Who is your favourite literary character?
Marvin the paranoid android from The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. Also, Clovis Sangrail from Saki's short stories.
Which is your favourite childrens book?
Folks of the Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton. I loved the entire series, more than any other Enid Blyton series. And what really surprised me was that others in Blogland thought so too. Nobody I knew seemed to like them.
Which is the most over-rated book?
The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. While I had liked the book when I read it, as a fable, I really could never understand what ALL THE FUSS was about. People were recommending it left, right and center, since, I suppose, it was the thing to do. I don't go about dissing it because I don't think it was all that bad, but definitely not half as good as the hype claimed.
I'd like to digress and post two - I thought 'Surely you're joking Mr. Feynman' by Richard Feynman was over-rated. A recco I wish I had not received. Nothing particularly amusing about the entire thing, yet quote a few people claimed it was among the funniest ever. I disagree.
Which is the most under-rated book?
Is any book ever under-rated? I think they're either hyped or not hyped, in which case, I think one book which deserved the hype but didn't get it is Kiran Nagarkar's Ravan & Eddie. The Bibliophile in the P.Age also mentions it. Just the irony of the situation, and the life in the chawls, the RSS shakha's. Plotwise, it was brilliant, albeit filmy. I picked it up at Fort two years go.
Which classics do you want to read?
Nausea by Sartre, The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, 1984 by George Orwell, 2001: a space odyssey by Arthur C. Clarke, The Trial by Kafka...this could go on forever.
Who is your ideal character for a dining companion?
Gollum. He'd eat all the fish and leave the rest to me. Also, Marvin the paranoid android. He's be in a corner, recharging, and leave all the food to me. Sauron, the floating eye. I'd put eyedrops for him and eat all the food. Jeeves from Wodehouse. He'd stand aside while I eat all the food. The Wicked Witch of the East - she's probably still under the house, and I can eat all I want. MWHAHAHA.
Jokes apart - I think the Steppenwolf would be interesting to talk to.
Which book changed your life?
I don't think any book has had a life-changing impact on me. There are a few that have impacted my thinking - De Bono's Masterthinker's Handbook and Lateral Thinking. Atlas Shrugged changed me for two weeks before the effect wore out. The New Buffetology impacted my investment strategies...nothing has changed my life, 'cept my own decisions.
Which is the funniest book that you have ever read?
Without doubt - The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.
Which poem can you recite by heart?
I'm not a poetry person. The I can recite two poems, both my own (I don't remember the rest). A haiku called Cherry Red and a poem that was a part of my first story, called 'The Awakening'.
Which book did you want never to end?
Demian by Herman Hesse. The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams.
Which book would you make compulsory reading?
The Masterthinker's Handbook by Edward de Bono. Structure, Structure, Structure.
Which school/college text did you enjoy most?
The World War bits in the History text for Xth. I've since become a history buff. I try not to miss Biography every weekday. I must confess that I think the History Channel got it all wrong when they made Diana Hayden the host. Fake accent and switching to hindi ad hoc irritates me.
Okay. Now for the backtags:
First up - Black Mamba, who had tagged me. Also on the radar - Samita.
Tags:
books
Lists
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