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Response/Christina: reading, (zaibatsu), 12/31/2018
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User christina at C.S. posed some good questions relative to
the joy that comes from reading[1]. Here are a few
responses:
"What is the first book you remember loving?"
I recall the first time I felt like I had read a "real book"
all by myself. It was "That Game From Outer Space" by
Stephen Manes. I still have the actual copy that I had as a
kid (salvaged it from my mother's house years ago.) The
feeling of becoming engrossed in a plot, identifying with
the protagonist, and impatiently plowing through instead of
doing other things was entirely new to me. I delighted in
those novel feelings, and adore them still today long after
the novelty has passed.
(As an aside, I reached out to Stephen Manes recently, to
thank him for his book, and received a beautiful reply.
People are quite wonderful!)
"What book/series would you like to see adapted to film?"
I would dearly love to see a solid, well-funded, true
adaptation of the book "Michael O'Halloran" by Gene
Stratton-Porter. When a movie makes me cry, I am often
annoyed; it's usually too contrived, almost as if it were
an emotional manipulation. When a book makes me cry, I am
usually grateful for the beauty and depth I have found.
Perhaps I'm watching the wrong movies and reading the right
books.
"Who are your favourite protagonists?"
I'll throw out two somewhat obscure characters that I really
find amusing: Doyle's Professor Challenger, and Chesterton's
Gabriel Syme. Challenger is boisterous and ill-behaved, yet
full of passion, knowledge, and experience. Syme is a
fearless detective trapped in an impossible mystery. I love
their confidence.
"Who are your favourite antagonists?"
Perhaps the Count of Monte Cristo (Edward Dantes). Arguably
he is both the protagonist and the antagonist, and this
duality is, I feel, quite engrossing. The other possible
antagonists in the book are so weak by comparison as to be
nothing more than cowering whelps. Watching as Edward wends
his way toward an understanding of God and justice and
revenge and love is awesome. It's also, for me, more
believable than the evil-for-evil-sake antagonists.
"What is your favourite film adaptation of a book?"
I'm not sure it's my favourite, but the one that comes to
mind right away is the '83 adaptation of Jane Eyre with
Timothy Dalton and Zelah Clarke. For whatever reason, I just
enjoy watching it over and over.
"What books have you read the most times?"
Holy books, I guess. Apart from those, I enjoy reading
Sherlock Holmes. I've read "The White Company" several
times, and a few others. I don't tend to re-read books as
much as I re-watch movies. I'm not sure what's wrong with
me.
"What fictional world or novel's setting would you like to
live in?"
None, I think. I kid myself that I'd have been a great
plainsman or settler, or that I would love "the simple
life." In reality, I'm not sure how well I would have fared.
I prefer to stick with the devil I know, here in the 2000's.
[1]
gopher://zaibatsu.circumlunar.space:70/0/~christina/ReadingQuestions.txt
