Ive been challenged by Douwe Reimerink to provide a list of ten books that have spoken to me in some way. Im tagging ten more people to accept this challenge as well. Dont take more than a few moments and dont think too hard. There are no right books or major works (i.e.: dont try sound too impressive, haha), just books that have affected you (mentally/emotionally/spiritually--all three or more). I then urge you to tag ten of your friends to do this challenge. Maybe well all gain some insight about each other! Apropos of any order of preference: 1. One Hundred and One Dalmatians - Dodie Smith; in my early teens I may have read this as many times as the number in the title. Love, struggle, the protection and caring of parents all spoke to me and the simple whimsical charm of the story made it a favourite. 2. I, Robot - Isaac Asimov; this one is more representative than a specific book. I cant remember the first Sci Fi novel that I read, it would have been a young teen targeted thing rather than classic lit., but it served as a gateway. Discovering Asimov, Heinlein, Wyndham, et al. opened up so many, many worlds. I devoured as many of Asimovs novels as I could, with the Robot series being favourites. 3. Lord of the Rings - J.R.R. Tolkein; when time and sensibility shifted away from Sci Fi, I went on a heavy Fantasy kick, looking for more like this trilogy. I dont think that I ever found anything that could compare to these six books, but for many years I strayed around in the Fantasy genre searching, inspired by Tolkeins work. 4. Neuromancer - William Gibson; eventually Fantasy paled for me and I wanted something different. Neuromancer was the book that brought me back to Sci Fi and made me a lifelong devotee of the Cyberpunk subgenre, the Cyberpunk roleplaying game, and a number of other Cyberpunk authors, notably Wlter Jon williams, Bruce Sterling, George Alec Effinger and Vernor Vinge. 5. Blueberry Girl - Neil Gaiman; while I adore so much of Gaimans writing, from the seminal Sandman (esp. Men of Good Fortune and Three Septembers and a January), Anansi Boys, The Day I Swapped My Dad for Two Goldfish, The Graveyard Book, Wolves in the Walls and so many more, this one is just a beautiful, beautiful book in execution and sentiment. Tears for any Dad. 6. Appleseed (Books 1-4) - Shirow Masamune; one of my first forays into manga, and such is the depth of Shirows writing that it has borne up under rereading many times over the years since the 1980s. Like Neuromancer, each pass seems to unveil another level of nuance in the dialogue or characterisation making it such a rewarding series of books to come back to. Shirow also brought such strong female lead characters to the genre, that he sometimes almost crosses into shoujo. 7. Mage: the Ascension - (Satyros) Phil Brucato; while Vampire: the Masquerade was so radically transformational to the roleplaying hobby, I truly believe that the World of Darkness really hit its stride with Mage, and the editions under the auspices of Phil Dr Volcano were just masterful, paling the first and third (Revised) in comparison. Still playing and hugely anticipating the M20 Twentieth Anniversary edition! 8. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep - Phillip K. Dick; so different from the Blade Runner movie adaptation as to be incomparable, this was one of my first introductions to Dicks brain-burned & brain-burning writing and I really need to get back to it again some day soon. 9. Brave New World - Aldous Huxley; I was dragged along almost unwillingly towards the gut-punch conclusion that stunned a sixteen year old me. 10. Word & Object - W.V.O. Quine; another more representative than specific choice. Quine and Quines writing dominated a significant portion of my life in the late 2000s-early this decade as I struggled to master philosophy that I wasnt well trained in, and needed the gentle guidance of S.G. Greg OHair to navigate through. Quines writing, once youre into it is clever, concise, penetrating, compelling and at times whimsically amusing. Time well spent. (Honourable mention for being pretentious time!) Being and Event - Alain Badiou; full disclosure - Ive never achieved reading this in fullness, but for mental impact it continuously reminds me of my inadequate comprehension of continental philosophy. I nominate: Emma ODea Peter Storer Kerann Cooper (who would be disappointed if I didnt) Brendan White Derek Weber Vlad Dzundza (cheekily!) Satyros Phil Brucato Adrian Herber Rodney Mifsud Timothy Hulsinga
Posted on: Fri, 12 Sep 2014 08:53:18 +0000
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