Friday, May 09, 2008

The Just One Book Meme

Thanks (?) to Diane, who gives the rules as:

Books are scarce in the world. They are illegal in some provinces. They are not easily replaced if not impossible to replace if lost in many if not most circumstances. If you can replace a book or buy one it is usually through the black market at astronomical costs that you cannot afford. Yet you have been able to maintain one of the best collections in the world. If your entire library was about to burn up (think of the firefighters in Fahrenheit 451 invading your home) and you could only have one* book to take with you other than the Bible, what would that be and why?

Simple Rules: Answer the question. Offer one quote that resonates with you. Tag five people whose response is of genuine interest to you and inform him or her that they have been tagged. Cheers!

*And it cannot be an entire series of something, that’s cheating.

Arrgh!

Has to be Julian of Norwich, in Sheila Upjohn's tremendous translation, All Shall Be Well. Can't be anyone else, really. Not even St. Francis, or St. Isaac of Nineveh, or Thomas Traherne, or Charles Williams, or Tolkien, or Philip Pullman, or Br. Ramon, or, or, or...

Enough!

But I'm not going to tag anyone, Diane. I never can. So if anyone reading this wishes to put themselves through this utterly miserable experience, be my guest. Just let me know whom I've haunted with this horrible thought, so I can offer appropriate penance...

4 comments:

Diane M. Roth said...

It IS hard, isn't it? I tried to avoid it for about 3 weeks, and then finally dug in. I knew you'd have something good, though.

I am not as familiar with Julian as I am with The Cloud of Unknowing, so now I have something new to discover.

really --- thanks for playing.

Jan said...

Mike, you're reminding me that Diane tagged me, too. It's too hard to decide on just one!

Ruth Hull Chatlien said...

My husband just told me at breakfast that he wants to read Julian of Norwich. Now I have a specific book to tell him about. Thanks. (He loves her saying "All shall be well," so the other day I printed off three blogs that talked about her, including yours. That was what prompted the comment at breakfast.)

Anonymous said...

Ah, what a wonderful choice! I have to say I haven't read that translation, though. I'll have to check it out.