Book Meme

I found a 'meme' on a Blogspot blog called 'Faith and Theology'. The author created this one himself, after being introduced to the idea of the meme, which originated in Richard Dawkins' book, "The Selfish Gene", as a 'unit of cultural transmission' or some such definition. In practical terms, it's a list of questions or directions that gets passed around and evolves over time. I've seen lists of various favorite things; tests to determine what playing card, animal, romantic type, etc., you are; geeky, Hollywood, silly, snobby, poetry, and word memes. One girl's blog has a meme list of words that always look misspelled to her.

Anyway, I liked this one. Although it is on a clearly Christian blog, and most of the answers posted in the comments section appear to involve people trying to impress each other with their knowledge of arcane writings, the questions themselves are fun to answer, and will make you think. I've added a few categories of my own.

1. One book that changed your life: Myths to Live By, Joseph Campbell

2. One book that you’ve read more than once: Holy the Firm, Annie Dillard

3. One book you’d want on a desert island: Egyptian Book of the Dead, Wallis Budge translation

4. One book that made you laugh: Me Talk Pretty One Day, David Sedaris

5. One book that made you cry: The Diary of Anne Frank

6. One book that you wish had been written: We're Only Human, anonymous quotes by fallible people (this is the one I put on the Christian blog, but I'd like to add: Grow Up, Dammit, by anyone who's been through sufficient pain to know what they're asking)

7. One book that you wish had never been written: An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith (I never read this, I just hate his economic philosophy and what it did to destroy any social conscience the U.S. may have developed)

8. One book you’re currently reading: The Secret Life of Bees, Sue Monk Kidd

9. One book you’ve been meaning to read: Beloved, Toni Morrison (God, I feel so guilty, I haven't done that yet!!)

10. One book you think everyone should read: Sabbath Poems, Wendell Berry

11. One book I wish I'd written: Memoirs

12. Now tag five people.

I don't know how to do that linking back thing, so I'll just send this to some bloggers I know. Feel free to list your own here, in the comments section, or copy and paste into your own blog/email.

May