BOOKS THAT I HAVE LOVED...OR NOT

GAUTAMI TRIPATHY, who claims to be a fast runner, would have been like the turtle to the hare as soon as I read that she had tagged me for this book meme thing that's been going around.

I left her in the dust, actually, in Delhi (a beautiful, magical city, by the way).

I thank her for the honor, of course. But the fact is, despite the fact I write for a living, I do NOT actually read all that much and do not have the voracious appetite for books that might seem to be automatic.

Professionally, I actually find it's a GOOD thing I don't read so much. Because when I interview people, I'm not necessarily asking them things I already know about or have formed an opinion about from previous reading.

I have a curiosity and a lack of bias. And I find people appreciate and respect that and open up more as a result. Anyway, that's my rationale and I'm sticking to it.

Nonetheless, I HAVE read many books. And here is my response to the questions in the meme...

1. Name a book that's changed your life.


I'm not sure ANY book has really "changed my life" but if there is one, this is it. I first read it when I was up in northern Canada working at a fish plant, processing fish caught in South Indian Lake by aboriginals.

I had plenty of time in between shifts, waiting for the fish to be flown in on a float plane. Then we'd work for 12 hours straight. This book talks all about the predictable stages of our life cycle in a very human, feeling way. It was groundbreaking at the time (the late 70s/early 80s).

The timing probably had a lot to do with its impact on me. I had just returned from a landmark event of discovery in my life, a five-month overland bus trip from England to India and back, and I was starting to figure out what I wanted and who I was.

I read it twice that summer, so this book is also the answer to question No. 2, Name a book you've read more than once. Weirdly enough, I have also now started reading it again, before Gautami tagged me for this meme.

(Another strange twist is that Delhi, where Gautami lives, is one of the most incredible places I visited and got to know a bit on that trip, which was spent for the most part travelling throughout India).

3. Name one book you'd like to have on a desert island.

I don't give two hoots about all the goofy controversy over this work of art and Christianity's attempts to knock it off the block. I was gripped by it right from the get-go and would read it again in a heartbeat. I could not put it down.

4. Name a book that made you laugh.

I've since gotten a little tired with his style, but if you're in the mood and have the kind of sense of humor I do, you can't help but snicker all your way through this.

5. Name a book that made you cry.

And many others like it as my marriage broke up out of the blue several years ago, but in retrospect not really so out of the blue. I needed answers and perspective. I'm now divorced. I'm single, although happily that way now and enjoying being involved with other women.

Child support is a huge financial burden and I don't see my kids on a daily basis. I'm a part-time dad. Enough said.

6. Name a book you wish had been written.

This book probably HAS been written, but I just haven't stumbled upon it:

DIGGING TOO DEEP

Why people complicate their lives by planting their seeds so far underground they'll never germinate and give them the growth or answers they're thirsting for

7. Name a book you wish had never been written (you might want to go on to No. 8 if you are a devoutly religious person).

My intent is not to offend. But this is my honest response, and I was raised in a Catholic family and was an altar boy in a Roman Catholic church.

The Bible, the Bhagavad Gita, the Koran and any other volume that was written centuries ago that people in the year 2006 use as the basis for their religious faith is included in my list, although I can only truly speak about the Bible, which I have not read in its entirety.

And never would.

My problems with any religious texts are many. Who wrote them, how accurate are they, that was then this is now, the fear factor (believe THIS or you'll go to hell), the competition among the religions, how these words using "thou" and all can be germaine in the 21st Century.

But most of all, how they can strip every individual of their freedom and responsibility to make their own observations about what's true and false or right and wrong and act accordingly, rather than having it dictated to them by scripture of unproven origin or logic in today's world.

8. Name a book you're currently reading.

Actually, the reading material I find myself most with are things like National Geographic, Men's Health, Psychology Today and Time. But a book I'm currently re-reading is the following:

It's not a religion so much as a way of life that makes some sense to me. My dad amazed me a couple of years ago by actually having this book in his collection. He gave it to me. And I like the message.

9. Name a book you've been meaning to read.

I wonder what differences there are between Passages and Men's Passages. We'll find out.