Stick It Game

This is the latest meme I've encountered. Saw it first on Mike Snider's web-log, then noticed it on a few others. I thought about answering the questions on my own, but then Sam "tagged" me.

1. You're stuck inside Fahrenheit 451; which book do you want to be?
   It may help to remember the set-up of Ray Bradbury's novel. It is set in a dystopian future in which all books are banned. There are renegades on the margins of society who have memorized the classics of western literature (one book per person). Obviously, if you memorize a work, you would come to know it pretty well. And wanting to memorize a work would imply a special love of it.
   
   I'm tempted to be coy, and answer Fehrenheit 451 (which I haven't read since junior high school). But I think the Selected Poems of Emily Dickinson would be more satisfying over the long haul.
   
   By the way, I do remember the opening line of Fahrenheit 451, as it's one of my favorite first lines of all time: "It was a pleasure to burn."


2. Have you ever had a crush on a fictional character?
   I liked Sam's answer, "Everyone I've ever had a crush on has turned out to be fictional."
   
   Does Betty, from Archie Comics, count? There's a number of actresses I've had crushes on, as well, which certainly counts as fictional. As for a character from a novel, none comes to mind.


3. The last book you bought was:
   The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. I intend to lead a reading group on this book in the near future.


4. The last book you read:
   The Rabbi of 84th Street : The Extraordinary Life of Haskel Besser, by Warren Kozak; I'm pretty sure that's the last book I finished reading.


5. What are you currently reading?
   The Brothers Karamazov, by Fyodor Doestevsky
   A Great Deliverance, by Elizabeth George
   It's rather fun, reading two mystery novels at once. Don't ask how I manage to keep them straight, though.


6. Five books you would take to a desert island:
1. Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson
2. Mister God, This is Anna, by Flynn
3. Oxford English Dictionary
4. The Dharma Bums, by Jack Keroauc
5. A blank book, and Waterman pen

Of the responses I've read to date, I'm the first to consider taking the means to create my own book. I should think that would almost be a necessity, for us inveterate scribblers (whether that scribbling be on blog or on paper).

If they choose to play the game, I nominate Michael Wells, Augustine, and Reverend Mother. I was happy to play, because – frankly – I've had a bit of writer's block lately, and it was helpful to have a topic.