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Of books and books

Disclaimer: The questions seem a bit vague to me, so I will exploit this every bit.
To start with, I will consider "books" refer to literary works. No technicals, no manuals, no gastronomical, no psychological, no "help yourself" or "do it yourself" works. Those aren't books.


1. What's the best book you've ever read?
Well, let's change the question to "What's your alltime favourite book?".
The answer would be "Dune" (including all Frank Herbert sequels).

2. Have you ever given books as gifts?
Rarely. Most of my close friends are not readers. Just a fragment of conversation to illustrate:
"Wow, they look so shiny, I would buy them just for the covers!"
"Dude, when was the last time you bought a book?"
"Like... never?"
"Well. Then you should know, they usually have pretty colors"

3. What's the future of literature?
No, really, is this a question? Are you taping this?
Literature doesn't have a beginning, doesn't have an end. People will find all the time something to write about. No police action will go unnoticed, no spaceship will be described accurately enough, no skin will be painted in the most erotic description. Ever. They (the writers) will always have something to improve, to communicate, to share with the rest of us. They will always find a better way to... to "literate".
Future of literature as in written, old-fashioned paperback blackish inscriptions with some embellishments? Key word: old-fashioned. Guess that makes me old-fashioned as well...

4. What languages have you read books in?
Romanian, English, a bit of French, a bit of German. Would like French, Italian, German, Spanish (meaning from cover to cover), but I guess I should actually learn those languages first... I love the way Arabian and Japanese sound, but I seriousely doubt I would ever get to actually read a book in any of those languages...

5. What famous books did you dislike?
Famous aka Blockbusters / Bestsellers / Marketed books: I don't read that. I just enjoy browsing through them. I only read a book if I find it interesting enough, which kinda' leaves out the "dislike" part. Ok, maybe I can say I wasn't impressed too much by The DaVinci Code (read it in about 2 days...).
Famous aka Time-proven books? As I said before, I only read a book if the first 10 pages or 10 minutes of lecture really gets me (I could be wrong). I don't give a damn if it's a part of a trend, if it's generally accepted as a "good book", or if it's centuries old. It's really difficult to get me impressed, yet both "Dune" and "The girl with Oranges" ("Appelsinkin" - Jostein Gaarder) had an equally interesting impact on me.

6. What country produced the best literature?
Oh, c'mon, you've got to be kidding me. How can one answer that?
Each country, no, no, no, each writer has his/her own style, you can't compare that!!!
If it's only for statistics, I guess French people own some spots, English as well, and Italians too (them being the first of most literary/cultural trends), yet I enjoy American writers just as much, Germans, Scandinavians; personally, I would go for the Orient: although I haven't actually read them, Omar Khayyam and Rabindranath Tagore seem to fascinate me.

7. Do you take notes when reading?
Usually no. I'd rather use my own words than produce an actual quotation.

8. How many books have you read until now?
Let me get my Babbage computer... I've got that info stored somewhere...

9. What books bored you to sleep?
I can't go to sleep in 10 minutes. (ref: question no. 5)

10. What do books mean to you?
Evading the reality.

11. What's the most expensive book you've ever bought?
Probably G. R. R. Martin's "A Song of Ice and Fire" series: one book (2 volumes) is about 25-30 EUR (today's currency exchange rate).

12. What's the best ending of a book?
Vague. Best ending I liked? Best ending of a book I read? Best ending I'd like to read?
Bad guys die, good guys win. And they keep the girls.
No, really, I can't define "best ending".

13. Most influential book you've ever read?
Ghaaa... You're killin' me with these questions... Most influential for me? For others?
"Dune" is my favourite. I can't say one book or another can influence me to... to what? To act differently? To be differently?
For cryin' out loud, look at the Bible (or correspondents in other religions or beliefs)!!! That's the most influential and probably the most vague writing of all times! And I still believe in GOD!
(meaning I don't listen to people praising the Bible, nor to those denigrating it - in my humble opinion, the Bible is a collection of teachings, most based on certain facts, which should be treated carefully - yet, I don't consider the Bible a "book" as stated in the initial disclaimer)

14. What writer influenced you the most?
Iiiiin what? Please go to question number 10 and read the answer again...
I DO differenciate between reality and... well... non-reality...

15. How fast can you read a book?
My threshold is 10 pages in 10 minutes (yes, I like the number 10, because it's made up by 3 and 7), of a regular book, with a regular font. If I can't read the first 10 pages in 10 minutes, the book's not appealing or too deep for me: in the first case I give up reading, the second case has 50% chances that I would go on reading. If I can read the first 10 pages in less than 10 minutes, the book goes straight to the "favourite" list.

16. Can literature change the world?
Name a book, and I'll tell you how it changed me.


Thanks for bearing with me and my intricate mind, I'm not tagging anyone, yet if you seemed interested by this post, feel free to tag yourself or to at least leave a comment...


4 pareri:

Xelomon spunea...

Ahamz... depinde cum definesti carte.
Daca o carte = semne scrise pe hartie, atunci carti sunt si cele de IRA, DCE, IS, plus Biblia, cartile motivationale.
Btw, cele motivationale de ce nu sunt carti?

d.orin spunea...

Pai...
Carte, in principiu, inseamna semne scrise pe hartie.
CARTE, in sensul in care am inteles eu intrebarile de fata, inseamna un lucru care te schimba. Un lucru care te marcheaza. Care te face sa visezi, sa iubesti, sa urasti, sa speri, sa...
Si asta fara sa iti dai seama. O CARTE nu iti spune "acum o sa te schimb". "Acum o sa devii mai bun".

O carte motivationala (da, si astea sunt carti, adica semne pe hartie) nu este o CARTE. E un lucru care iti atrage de la inceput atentia asupra SCHIMBARII. Te voi face sa devii mai bun. Te incadrezi in tiparul asta. Esti un procent dintr-o statistica, si eu (cartea motivationala) o sa te trec intr-un alt procent dintr-o alta statistica.

Atunci cand citesti o CARTE, nu te vei gandi niciodata "aceasta CARTE/scriere/poezie/roman ma va schimba, dar chiar vreau sa ma schimb? Ce inseamna schimbarea?".

O carte motivationala iti spune de cele mai multe ori ca esti un exemplar nereusit (sau, ma rog, ca ai cel putin o trasatura in afara standardelor obtinute prin alte statistici), si iti arata de la inceput ca TE VA SCHIMBA. Ori, CHIAR E NEVOIE DE ACEA SCHIMBARE? Este chiar nevoie de acea schimbare VENITA DIN ACEA CARTE?

Nu cartile motivationale ne schimba. Viata ne schimba. Comunicarea cu ceilalti, schimbul de idei, de conceptii, de stiluri de viata, de iubire, de orice. Astea nu apar in carti motivationale. Astea apar in CARTI.


Stiu, probabil se va zice ca unele CARTI sunt pur si simplu fantezii. Mai ales cele cu Fat Frumos si Ileana Cosanzeana. Nimic mai adevarat. Secretul sta in a face diferenta dintre realitatea unei CARTI si realitatea vietii.

Evident, si intre realitatea unei CARTI si cea a unei carti motivationale...
Dar deja am scris prea mult...

Xelomon spunea...

:) bre, nush altii cum sunt, dar io, cand mi-am luat o carte motivationala, stiam ca voiam sa schimb ceva si identificasem ceea ce voiam sa schimb, asa ca m-am dus si am luat cartea respectiva.
Cartea aia a lui Dale Carnegie e pur si simplu "Codul bunelor maniere" fara ipocrizie - tot ce faci: politetea, amabilitatea, analiza ta asupra ta si a altora, toate astea sa le faci SINCER si pasandu-ti de altii. E un ghid de viata care-ti spune ca, indiferent de unde vrei sa ajungi (mare afacerist, om de cultura, mai bun pe plan social) tre' sa-ti cultivi relatiile interumane. Si de ce nu am incepe cu noi? Sa recunoastem cand gresim, sa ne cerem scuze, sa fim si sa aratam mai mult interes fata de altii... bun simt, nu?
Sau asa mi s-a parut cartea la vremea respectiva.

Cu procentul - suntem deja niste procente din orice. Io fac parte din procentul consumatorilor aproape zilnici de ciocolata, tu faci parte din procentul celor carora nu le place ciocolata prea mult :P

d.orin spunea...

Ideea asupra careia vroiam sa insist in comentariul de la inceputul postarii este aceea ca nu am luat in considerare cartile motivationale pentru intrebari.

Doi la mana, daca tot am ajuns la chestia asta legata de cartile motivationale, da-mi voie sa te citez:
"politetea, amabilitatea, analiza ta asupra ta si a altora, toate astea sa le faci SINCER si pasandu-ti de altii. E un ghid de viata care-ti spune ca, indiferent de unde vrei sa ajungi (mare afacerist, om de cultura, mai bun pe plan social) tre' sa-ti cultivi relatiile interumane. Si de ce nu am incepe cu noi? Sa recunoastem cand gresim, sa ne cerem scuze, sa fim si sa aratam mai mult interes fata de altii... bun simt, nu?"

Tot ce apare in fragmentul citat... nu are nevoie de ceva scris. Nu ce apare scris acolo este un ghid. Nu trebuie sa citesti intr-o carte cum sa recunosti cand ai gresit, cum sa ceri scuze, cum sa spui te rog, sau multumesc, sau scuze ca te intrerup, sau scuza-ma, ai doua minute la dispozitie?.

Lucrurile astea nu din carti motivationale se invata...
Mai mult, cand STII ce anume vrei, nu carti ai de cumparat, ci lucruri de facut. Telefoane de dat, mailuri de scris, telegrame, posta old-fashioned, o plimbare, un sms in noapte, o pietricica in geam, sau pur si simplu... un gand.

Lucrurile astea... nu din carti motivationale se invata...

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