Day 239/365 [Year 2]

March is apparently question month. To ask me a question, post a
comment here: toddpage.livejournal.com/370916.html [comments are screened]

All questions: Here

Question 16: What is your favorite work of literature? Is there one
author you're drawn to more? Ditto with poetry.

Ooh. I love reading. Fun question. [As we've encountered, I almost
taught English]

You know, I've read The Giver 35 times? It's the book I usually list as my favorite book of all time. No, it's not a literary masterpiece. But I enjoy it, and reading it brings me back to the first time I read it. I think it's well written and interesting, and I love the concept. I think it's definetly my favorite utopian novel. [Fuck you, Anthem] However, I also consider A Confederacy Of Dunces to be on par with that. This book is amazing. I love it's style, it's well built characters, and the bold, fucked-up writing. I'm a sucker for Ignatius' antics, and the crazy world he inhabits... not to mention the complete lack of anything positive in the entire novel. Call me crazy.

I also love Don Quixote. I think it's a pretty awesome book, and I'm really glad I read it. Actually, ACOD is considered the American Don Quixote, so there is no surprise I have a high interest in both. And of course, because I comply to society, I love The Catcher In The Rye. I love how hatable the character is. Actually, I don't think he's hatable at all. I identify with him, which is probably not a good sign... What amuses me about everyone who reads The Catcher In The Rye, and often, those who claim to, or do, love it... is that they miss the most significant fact of the book. SPOILER ALERT: World: Holden Caulfield is crazy. He is writing the narration from a mental institution. This is the entire point. I don't know how so many people miss this... it's subtly mentioned in the first paragraph, but the entire last chapter is about his being there. Sorry, that's not really relevant, is it. I just had a rant there I needed to air. [And yes, I know it was involved in 3 assassinations/attempts] Oh, and my copy of Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy is being borrowed... but it should be in the front, too.

Authors I tend to follow? How do you define literature? I read anything and everything by Michael Connolly, I think he has great, great mysteries. I also read anything put out by David Sedaris and Augusten Burroughs. [Yeah, I'm gay. We covered that.] Ooh, ooh. Douglas Adams and Bill Watterson. Both are brilliant. I don't care if Bill Waterson's medium is sunday funnies. I count his collections as books. I'm also pretty drawn to Faulkner. And ... really... anything qualified as modern american literature. Oh, and Christopher Moore is hilarious. Always a good read. I'm going to end up thinking of, and adding, things all day long.

I don't read poetry in a deliberate manner very often. But I was especially intrigued by Siegfried Sassoon's War Poems. Which I accidentally did not place in this. I put Everyman's poetry... which is a collection I actually really dislike. I like Blake, and a few other poets. I have a collection called "Speaking fire at stones" that was given to me that I enjoyed. Most of the poetry I enjoy is modern, and less formatted. I think I'd probably read more if I took the time to collect more... er... collections. I like poetry, I just never go out of my way to find it. Oh, and Shel Silverstein rocks. No arguing.

Books above [Some of my favorites]:
Miguel Cervantes - Don Quixote
Michael Crichton - Jurassic Park
Michael Connolly - The Poet
Pietro Di Donato - Christ In Concrete
William Faulkner - As I Lay Dying
F. Scott Fitzgerald - The Great Gatsby
Victor Hugo - Les Miserables
David Hume - An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding
John Knowles - A Separate Peace
Lois Lowry - The Giver
Cynthia Ozick - The Shawl
J.D. Salinger - The Catcher In The Rye
Siegfried Sassoon - The War Poems of Siegfried Sassoon [I'm gonna pretend I put the right one in]
John Kennedy Toole - A Confederacy Of Dunces
Gertrude Chandler Warner - The Boxcar Children
Bill Watterson - The Authoritative Calvin and Hobbes
Virginia Woolfe - Mrs. Dalloway

[open]