Gratuitous Llama Literary Meme

There was a time not all that long ago when I would jump with both feet on every meme that came down the pike. Of late, I simply haven't been tempted as much. Why? Who knows. Go figure. However, since both Basil and "Chip" are in on this one, and since I really don't have anything original to say at the moment, I'm going to play today:

1. One book that changed your life.

I think I must have been a freshman in high school when I first read Tom Wolfe's Radical Chic & Mau-Mauing the Flak-Catchers. This book has always stood out in my mind because it was my first real exposure to the uglier side of politics, the kind of thing you don't get in middle school social studies. It immediately appealed to my already-blossoming cynicism and was probably responsible, in part, for my having never gone through a period of starry-eyed belief in the inherent "goodness" of modern Liberalism.

2. One book you have read more than once.

Like some of the other chaps who've answered, I have a stable of authors whose works I cycle through repeatedly on a more or less yearly basis. Among them are Evelyn Waugh, P.G. Wodehouse, Patrick O'Brian, Robert Graves, J.R.R. Tolkien and P.J. O'Rourke. Many other books I've read two, three or four times, my philosophy being that if a book is worth reading once it's worth reading multiple times. (And before you say, "Well, duh," I would mention that I was once talking with a fairly senior partner in my firm about reading habits and he was astounded that I would read any book more than once. 'Course, I suspect his own reading was confined to books on the NYT bestsellers list, so perhaps there was some reason behind his disbelief.)

3. One book you would want on a desert island.

1001 Recipes for Sand.

4. One book that made you cry.

Moab Is My Washpot, Stephen Fry's amazing autobiography of his younger years. In case you weren't aware, Fry took some very bad turns as a kid and damn near ruined his life permanently. The narrowness of his escape, the effort to pull himself together and his description of the first fruits of that effort...well, let's just say that I kept getting some dust or something under my contacts, because my eyes kept filling up.

5. One book that made you laugh.

Oh, gorsh. Their name is Legion. I love humorous books. On reflection, I'd have to say that the book at which I laughed the hardest - and I'm talking eyes streaming, nose running, lung-busting helpless paroxisms - was the Harvard Lampoon's Bored of the Rings.

'Course, that was a few years back. The most recent guffaw I've had probably was in rereading the epic battle between Apthorpe and Ben Ritchie-Hook over the former's thunder-box in Waugh's Men at Arms. Biffed, indeed.

6. One book you wish had been written.

How I Was Able To Retire At 35, by Robbo T. Llamabutcher.

7. One book you wish had never been written.

Walden by Henry David Thoreau. Peej O'Rourke has described Thoreau as the proto-type of the Sanctimonious Beaknik and I think this is exactly right. Friends, I tell you truly that this book is a load of crap and I'm still bitter about the amount of time I was forced to waste reading it.

8. One book you are currently reading

I'm working my way through Churchill's memoirs of WWII. At the moment, I am in the thick of The Hinge of Fate. It's 1942, Tobruk has just fallen and Rommel is on his way to Cairo, Kraut U-boats are crawling all over the Atlantic, the Brits are reeling from the loss of Singapore, "Uncle Joe" Stalin and his fellow-travellers are screaming "Second Front Now!" and a few members of Parliament infected with Churchill Derangement Syndrome are calling for the Old Boy's head. Think Winnie'll knuckle under? Not bloody likely.

9. One book you have been meaning to read

Again, their name is Legion. However, as soon as I finish up the latest volume of Churchill, I've promised myself that I am going to insert into the evening read The Meaning of Jesus, a theological debate between N.T. Wright (sensible candidate) and Marcus Borg (very silly candidate). It isn't so much that I expect my outlook to be altered, but I want to get a deeper understanding of the theological and intellectual underpinnings of the debate. Apart from the inherent merits of edification, it seems to me this is pretty important given the unrest my Church is going through at the moment.

UPDATE: Answering No. 8 above reminds me that I wanted to ask our readers for any recommendations for a really good biography of Rommel. Thankee!

UPDATE DEUX: I'm going to add a new question to the meme here by asking:

10. One book new to you -

And here's my answer:

McElligot's Pool by Dr. Seuss. Evidently one of his earlier works, I'd never even heard of it until the Llama-ettes picked it up at the local library. Now the four year old and I are having a great time reading it. She especially likes the Eskimo fish and the checkerboard fish.