Literary Meme

[poliphilo]

cmcmck as this meme about literary habits. I couldn't resist

1. Libraries or Bookshops.
These days I go to the library. It's cheaper

2. Pens or Pencils
Pencils for doing crosswords, pens for everything else.

3. Handwritten or Typed.
I've used a keyboard for 40 years

4. Thesaurus or Dictionary
The Thesaurus for crosswords, the Dictionary for checking my spelling (which seems to be deteriorating with age).

5. Kindle et al or Print Book
Not bothered. It's the text that matters

6. Wikipedia or Encyclopaedia.
Wikipedia. So much handier and constantly updated.

7. Radio Play or Television Drama
I only ever listen to the radio in the car.

8. Poetry or Prose
Stupid question

9. Fiction or Non-Fiction
Fiction mainly.

10. Novels or Short stories
There are fewer great short stories than great novels- so novels, I suppose.

11. Fantasy or Commercial/Literary Fiction
I read more literary fiction than anything else. My genre of choice is detective fiction

12. The Grapes of Wrath or Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit.
Haven't read either. G o W is a pretty good movie, but then I liked the TV version of Oranges too.

13. The Odyssey or The Road.
Haven't read either

14. Tipping the Velvet or The Well of Loneliness.
Haven't read either

15. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland or Winnie-the-Pooh
I'm fond of Pooh but Alice is a work of genius

16. Frankenstein or Dracula
Frankenstein is turgid. I enjoyed Dracula. I'd trade in both for The Ghost Stories of an Antiquary.

17. Charles Perrault or The Brothers Grimm.
Grimm

18. William Shakespeare or William Blake.
Shakespeare. Blake (though I love him dearly) is a minor figure by comparison- and most of his stuff is unreadable. 

19. Virginia Woolf or Katherine Mansfield
Haven't read Mansfield. Woolf is wonderful but only in parts.

20. Philip Pullman or JK Rowling
Philip Reeve

21. Emily Dickinson or Sylvia Plath.
Stevie Smith

Comments

[cmcmck.livejournal.com]

Blame readthisandweep as I got it from her! :o)

[zoe-1418.livejournal.com]

I love your answers to 20 and 21.

And in the case of 21, I share your preference.

[davesmusictank.livejournal.com]

I had to take a punt as well

[chochiyo-sama.livejournal.com]

Answered it on my own journal. Interesting stuff.

[sorenr.livejournal.com]

I don't like the binary nature of these questions; why does it have to be "either/or", when you could just read both?

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Stevie Smith should be far better known. I think she's magical.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

It's hard not to, isn't it!

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

And fun, I think...

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Why indeed? It seems to be a human compulsion to grade things and list them in order of merit. For some reason its makes us happy.

[readthisandweep.livejournal.com]

Because it's a meme! It isn't meant to be taken seriously! It's Live b***** Journal, not Oxbridge! You can just read both if you want to!

Having had one of my choice options described as 'stupid' & now this, well, I can see nothing else for it. 'Pass me my whip, Marjorie, I can feel some self-flagellation coming on...'

[sorenr.livejournal.com]

I didn't mean to cause offence, and I'm actually sorry to have offended you. I DO think it's an interesting meme, but not only because of the questions it asks but also because of the questions it might accidentally cause to arise. And I meant my comment in that sense; the meme made me think twice about some things, and I guess I could have made that reflection clearer in my comment to it. The fact that the meme made me even reflect on the choices of literature to read is, surely, a reason why it actually has value.

(As it happens, I've got a high school diploma as my highest finished education, and I have a great love of popular literature. I'm decidedly "middle-brow" in my choice of literature, and I'm very sorry if I came across as poncey. I do read Dante, but also loads of Phillippa Gregory and Ken Follett.)

[sorenr.livejournal.com]

We all have to prioritise, and while I would hate to actually rate literature in order of "merit" - because I think the merit of art, including literature, is whether it carries meaning for the individual - I do agree that we all make choices. For better, for worse.

It's not just that we are happy making choices; it's that we always have to prioritise. I just happen to prioritise books - of all sorts - above most other things.

[readthisandweep.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I appreciate you taking the time to write this.

I wasn't in fact offended. Just a bit irritated. LJ sometimes does that & it had been 'one of those days.' Please don't worry about it.

The meme was a bit of fun - it honestly arose because I began making up puns in my head. The Road/The Odyssey - Oranges versus Grapes. That sort of thing. I'm an English scholar so of course, I could have gone anywhere with it.

My author of choice would always be Virginia Woolf - I do like a bit of Alice Hoffman & Joanne Harris too. ;)

[sorenr.livejournal.com]

I just never want to offend anybody unintentionally. (I might occasionally do so intentionally, but this wasn't one of those incidents.)

And while I do like a bit of Virginia Wolf - when we looked for a new apartment I specifically demanded "a room of one's own" in the apartment - I must say my favourite writer will have to be Dante. I just love the Divine Comedy, and I have it in the original Italian, English (with the Gustave Dorée etchings that I love) and a wonderful translation into my native Danish.

So I guess we're patched up, right?

Anyway, you actually sound interesting, so I hope you won't be offended if I choose to follow your LJ

[readthisandweep.livejournal.com]

Not at all - & I really am difficult to offend!

My journal is largely concerned with my personal writing process. You are welcome.