Friday, July 22, 2005

Reading


Jonathan Safran Foer
Originally uploaded by Sødeste.
My friend Elina asked me to answer a list of questions on reading. And because I love when I get to speak about me (hey, why do you think I am writing a blog?), here we go.

But to be honest and serious, this is a highly interesting set of questions. It is sometimes even a bit frightening how much reading tells about you. The book shelf is one of the first thing I want to see when going to someone's home.

How many books do you own? Montako kirjaa omistat?
Well, when I moved to Amsterdam I had to pack all my books into boxes. Most of them are in Helsinki at the attic of my parents. I think there were 4 big boxes. Here in Amsterdam I (already) have approximately 40-50 books.

Whats the last book you bought? Minkä kirjan ostit viimeksi?
Everything Bad Is Good For You by Steven Johnson. And some paperbacks.

Whats the last book you read? Minkä kirjan luit viimeksi?
I just love Flickr. It is absolutely amazing. How can it be that there was a picture of the last book I read? Jonathan Safran Foer's (amazing site!) Everything Is Illuminated. Bought it because my friend Jurjen recommended it. Before that I read Asko Sahlberg's Yhdyntä (Intercourse), which was sent to me by my dear friend Sanna.

Currently reading? Mitä luet juuri nyt?
I finished E.I.I. yesterday so I am sort of between books. I have four options: Abram de Swaan's Words of the World (linguistics, sociology),
Federico Garcia Lorca's House of Bernardo Alba, Paulo Coelho's The Alchemist and Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time. I also consider Narnia for a while but it is too obvious now, just before the film.

A book you've been reading for a long time but never got around to finishing? Mitä kirjaa olet lukenut kauan, mutta et ole saanut luettua loppuun?
Well, I have two. Jeremy Rifkin's The European Dream and Dietrich Schwanitz's Handbook of Bildung. I know I SHOULD read them but I always find something more interesting.

What 5 books have meant the most to you? Mitkä viisi kirjaa ovat olleet sinulle tärkeimpiä?
This is difficult but let's try.
Günter Grass: The Tin Drum (personal approach on war, beautiful language)
Charles Leadbeater: Up The Down Escalator - Why The Global Pessimists Are Wrong? (excellent approach on life that I am trying to adopt)
Eduard Uspenski: Down The Magic River (The Book of my childhood)
Tove Jansson: Muumipappa ja meri (Moominpappa at Sea) (a new approach on children's literature)
Norman Fairclough: New Labour, New Language? (inspiration to rhetorics)

Who would you like to book tag? Kuka on kirjahippa?
I have to say a few people: PG, my sister Teea and the brilliant woman behind Shirley blog.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi! We're on vacation at "mökki" so I haven't been able to read your blog regularly. How great that on the day that I read it, you mention me on the days post!? I'm so flattered that I'm answering the book questions straight away.
1. How many books do you own?
Because I'm married I get to claim ownership also on the books that my husband has bought us right? So then the answer is roughly 300. "My" share is definitely less than half.
2. Whats the last book you bought?
I was too late to get the new Harry Potter, so the last ones are Perfume by Patrick Süskind and The Curious Incident of the Night-Time Dog that you still hadn't read.
3. Whats the last book you read?
Perfume. Such a wierd mix of literary talent that sucks you into the story, but also utter revolsion towards the main character.
4. Currently reading?
American Gods by Neil Gaiman. I'm nearly at the end, and it has been a very entertaining ride. What becomes of gods that people forget? Some apparently become taxi drivers.
5. The book you never got to finishing?
Propably too many of these. The most embarrassing ones are Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoi and Sinuhe by Mika Waltari.
6. Five books that have meant the most to you?
I'm not going to think about this for too long: Jane Eyre by Emily Bronte, The Lord of the Rings ofcourse, Life of Pi by Yann Martel, Flicker by Theodore Roszak and The Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams.
7. Book tag:
I'm not sure its appropriate to tag anybody on someone elses blog.

That no6 question is a bad one. Don't hold my from-the-top-of-my-head-answers against me.

Best wishes,
Teea

Anonymous said...

I'll take your advice on the book on New Labours language then. Counterinspiration. Liked Everything is illuminated then, my girlfriend just finished it, which gives it a great little re-run in my head.

PS. This a deep enough entry to react on? ;-)

Tommi Laitio said...

Yes, Jurjen, literature is deep enough a subject to react on. Fairclough´s approach is somewhat (to put it mildly) leftish and highly critical. So as an ex-LSVb (www.lsvb.nl) that tone could be quite familiar to you, eh?

Tommi

Anonymous said...

:-) right on the money. But, as you see by the new link, I have matured so much ;-)

Tommi Laitio said...

For those understanding Finnish I would recommend following the book tag to Shirley´s answers in her blog: http://valiton.blogspot.com