Book Meme

Anna invited me, and I really meant to do it, but I didn't; now abdul-walid has (though he had already invited himself and three others, so I don't know if it counts). I hate these things, because I know I'm not clever enough; and yet I feel tempted. So okay.

1. You're stuck inside Fahrenheit 451. Which book do you want to be?

The first thing that popped into my head was Penelope Lively's Moon Tiger. So let it remain. (But if it's taken, I'll be W. G. Sebald's The Rings of Saturn.)

2. Have you ever had a crush on a fictional character?

In childhood, many: Martin Pippin in the Apple Orchard; Rudolph Rassendyl from The Prisoner of Zenda (from a collection of pulp fiction of the turn of the century, which belonged to my grandmother); the Scarlet Pimpernel. Swashbucklers all. And one horse: the Black Stallion.

Of late: Arkady Renko, from any of Martin Cruz Smith's novels through which he slouches.

3. The last book you bought is?

Shamiana: The Mughal Tent, by Shireen Akbar

4. What are you currently reading?

Orhan Pamuk's Snow, John Busby's Drawing Birds, Stephen P. Cohen's The Idea of Pakistan

5. Five books you would take to a deserted island?

How could I possibly choose?

Some enormous compendium of poetry, which might include Gerard Manley Hopkins. Mary Oliver?

Some potboiler novel that I could read to forget the island - a long one. With one of those swashbucklers from my childhood, maybe.

Maybe some science fiction? Samuel R. Delaney's Triton?

I just don't know. More poetry. The Complete Works of Jane Austen. A wilderness survival manual. The ship would sink before I could decide.

6. Who are you going to pass this to (three persons) and why?

I think I'll leave it to anyone who would like to respond. How about you?

Here's one, thank you, from Chandrachoodan. And Dinesh.