You’re stuck inside Fahrenheit 451. Which book do you want to be?
Shirley Hazzard’s Transit of Venus, which still seems to me, a year after reading it, a crazily improbable object. Like the Easter Island statues or Falling Water–if it disappeared from existence and couldn’t be put in front of your face, you’d have to take it for myth.
Have you ever had a crush on a fictional character?
“In vain have I struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you.” Oh, if I must!
The last book you bought was…?
A one-two-three punch: The World According to Garp, Doctor Zhivago, and Saturday.
The last book you read was…?
I reread Thomas Harris’s Red Dragon.
What are you currently reading?
John Dufresne, Johnny Too Bad.
Five books you would take to a desert island…
The Wings of the Dove for love;
The Canterbury Tales for the crowd of voices;
Paradise Lost for insurance against exhausting my resources;
a Pogo collection for funny animals;
and, in a bit of a gamble, something I’ve never read…let’s say Lost Illusions.
Who are you passing this stick on to and why?
Kenneth at Back with Interest because our taste in books is so different;
Sam at Golden Rule Jones because I’m hungry for an update;
and Miguel at Modern Kicks because he’ll need some purely mental exercise after running the Boston Marathon today!