August 18, 2006

Book Meme Thingy

This little survey has been floating around on some conservative blogs I read. Nice folks all. I got called out by Anna Venger, so I'm gonna do my best to get on the bandwagon with some answers...

  1. One book that changed your life:
    I'm with anonymous in that I don't really feel like books have that kind of drastic influence on me, but the Bible changes my life because I actively work for it to do so.
  2. One book that you've read more than once:
    Dune. The whole series actually. I'll probably read them again someday, because they are that good. The first book just gets you going, and the others get increasingly better through the final book. I just wish they came in some kind of nice collector's edition. Oh, and don't fall for the trap of buying the newer Dune expansions by Brian Herbert. No comparison.
  3. One book you’d want on a desert island:
    The Bible. Outside the realm of faith, I would probably go with The Complete Calvin and Hobbes. I don't own it, but man do I want to!
  4. One book that made you laugh:
    The Dilbert Principle is absolutely hilarious. I loaned it out and I don't know who has it anymore.
  5. One book that made you cry:
    Xenocide by Orson Scott Card. The ending really reached me in a profound way. On a sillier note, I believe I also cried reading one of the later Harry Potter books.
  6. One book that you wish had been written:
    How to Live and Find Love with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
  7. One book that you wish had never been written:
    Mein Kampf
  8. One book you’re currently reading:
    I can't read much right now, but I read two pages of my King James Bible every night before bed, and more on Sundays.
  9. One book you’ve been meaning to read:
    There are way too many to list here to be honest. I would have probably read an encyclopedia by now if I had been provided with the ability to do so. One thing that has been on my mind a while is to read the Qur'an. I want to cut right to the chase and see the message for myself.
  10. Tag five others.
    1. DQ, want to give this a shot?
    2. Heather, I bet you could fill this out easily enough once you have a computer again, and your responses would likely be very different than my own.
    3. Joe, here's an exciting new topic for the circle of blogging!
    4. Other Joe, I've seen you cover a lot of similar topics. Care to try this one out?
    5. Amanda, my CFS buddy from Washington state, have at it!

Heck, this survey was a drop in the bucket compared to my mother of all self-imposed surveys, the 100 Things About Me. Maybe some of you guys want to try that out! Not likely, I know, but it's more interesting to embark on that adventure that you might think.

Posted by Andy at August 18, 2006 05:23 PM to the General category
Comments

More power to you if you can weed through the KJV. I gave up long ago. Actually, when I was in hs I felt that reading KJV was beneficial because I understood the Shakespearean language usage better, but I prefer modern English.

And I've thought of reading the Qur'an for myself too, but with limited reading time it's never made it to the top of my list. Just to see it for myself and figure out how it motivates some of the stuff it does. However, I hear that if you don't read it in Arabic you haven't really read it.

Enjoyed reading your answers. Thanks.

Posted by: Anna Venger at August 19, 2006 01:15 AM

I find the King James to be more poetic, and it's also the closest to the original any of us are gonna get as far as I know. I've only had long-term problems when reading through Paul's letters on account of his scholarly writing style combined with the outmoded language.

I still need to get myself a newer version for comparisons here and there. For instance, a week or two ago I read through the life of King David in one of the Samuels. The only sin the Bible ever says he commits is that he "numbers the people" right at the end of his life. His followers hem and haw, then carry out the order, which results in a plague. What the heck does this mean that I am not understanding? Maybe another version has the answer.

I'm not all that happy with the New International Version that I have. Since I just learned of the New King James, I might have to grab one of those. Maybe I can find one with both or something. You know, one of those ones that's pocket sized but with reasonably large print and a hard cover. :)

Regarding the Qur'an, I wonder if the Arabic to English translation is really any different than the Hebrew and Greek to English in the Bible. I bet Muslims just tend to be more concerned with the oral tradition and thus place more significance on the difference than we do.

Posted by: Andy at August 19, 2006 02:41 PM

Hey Andy!

I've been way slacking lately, but thank you for calling me out. It's been a strange summer and school kicked my bum. But I'll fill this out on my journal for ya. I certainly enjoyed reading this. I own Dune but haven't read it yet. I'll have to get on that too! Hope this finds you well.

~Amanda

Posted by: Amanda at August 27, 2006 01:14 AM
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