The Serpent's Books Part 1
25/06/2008 08:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
izmeinaLazy Izzie has been procrastinating again. But finally got back to the Cat's evil questionses
The first question was -
What 5 books had influenced you most of all in your life?
But a book junkie such as Izzie could never choose just five. Gone greedy and grabbed a dozen but even that is being most restrained indeed
Decided that it would be best to do this in chronological order as obviously the books you've read first have had a longer time to cast their magical spell
1 The Faber Book of Greek Legends (edited by Kathleen Lines)
Found this as seven or eight year old flobberworm while slinking around in the ma and pa's bedroom looking for Playboy magazines. This was the book that got Izzie hooked on big fat grand epic stories. Remembers raiding the local public libraries to get all the gossip on those gorgeous Greek Gods and Goddesses. Came across the Egyptian ones too and before long goblins, witches and other assorted monsters got added to the menagerie
2 A Man Never Dies (at Amazon under another title)
Izzie's first real grown ups book. Uncle Vernon got this from a friend at work. Was in grade 4 at the time so must have been 9 or 10. It was about a 16 year old Rumanian who got snatched by Russian soldiers while he was on the way to school and got shipped to the coal mines of Siberia. (well - the Ukraine actually)
Aside from starting a fascination with Stalin and stories about concentration camps and great escapes, this was the book that led to the decision to never ever touch a cigarette. Was never one to care about being cool - being most definitely NOT with the in crowd but smoking was so normal in those days
The smokers in those camps would sell their souls for a cigarette and Izzie never wanted to go near a substance that could have such a scary effect on the mind
3 "Animal Farm" George Orwell
Got introduced to this one by a religion teacher at the age of 13. It was love at first sight. Even to this day, there's a certain spot in the story that the Izzie has got to get the hankies out and that's most rare indeed for this unsentimental cruel heartless serpent. The previous obsession with Hitler, Stalin, Genghis Khan and other assorted power freaks only added to the appreciation of the more subtle details.
Been a fan of satire and allegories ever since.
4 How to develop a super power memory" Harry Lorrayne
There were two particular tricks in this book - the phonetic system for remembering numbers - (the one with d and t representing the digit 1) and the calendar that particularly intrigued this serpent.
Due to the crazy compulsion to use the calendar trick to calculate the day that any given date falls on (works only for the 1900s and present century)- and there's been lots of 40th anniversaries to practice on this year - that's what gets it such a high place on the list.
5 "The Vegetarian Alternative" Viktor Sussman
The Izzie sister bought this book for a school project. No book ever entered the Dursley's Den without being gobbled by the Izzie and this one was no exception. But it did leave a bit of an aftertaste. The stuff about factory farming was truly disgusting. Decided that it was not acceptable to expect others to do the dirty work so that if Izzie wanted any meaty snacks in future - they would either have to be from certified organic sources or DIY. Organic was simply unaffordable for a poor serpent and going out and killing it rather messy and nasty. (Plucking the feathers off an old hen that the ma had strangled was revolting enough and there wasn't even any blood involved just a warm limp and very yellow bird)
6 How the Other Half Dies" Susan George
More politics and power. This one goes well with the last one. Read it way back in 1982 or so. It was about the real causes of world hunger, the unintended side effects of the so called Green Revolution and the Izzie's first introduction to certain seed companies. Probably the first step on the evil green path and also the source of a continuing fascination with the Dark Side of capitalism. While all the other giggly girls in Izzie's class would be drooling over Sting in the pop magazines, Izzie would have her nose stuck in huge heavy tomes with titles such as "Multinational Corporations and the Control of Culture" and this book was the one that began it all
The first question was -
What 5 books had influenced you most of all in your life?
But a book junkie such as Izzie could never choose just five. Gone greedy and grabbed a dozen but even that is being most restrained indeed
Decided that it would be best to do this in chronological order as obviously the books you've read first have had a longer time to cast their magical spell
1 The Faber Book of Greek Legends (edited by Kathleen Lines)
Found this as seven or eight year old flobberworm while slinking around in the ma and pa's bedroom looking for Playboy magazines. This was the book that got Izzie hooked on big fat grand epic stories. Remembers raiding the local public libraries to get all the gossip on those gorgeous Greek Gods and Goddesses. Came across the Egyptian ones too and before long goblins, witches and other assorted monsters got added to the menagerie
2 A Man Never Dies (at Amazon under another title)
Izzie's first real grown ups book. Uncle Vernon got this from a friend at work. Was in grade 4 at the time so must have been 9 or 10. It was about a 16 year old Rumanian who got snatched by Russian soldiers while he was on the way to school and got shipped to the coal mines of Siberia. (well - the Ukraine actually)
Aside from starting a fascination with Stalin and stories about concentration camps and great escapes, this was the book that led to the decision to never ever touch a cigarette. Was never one to care about being cool - being most definitely NOT with the in crowd but smoking was so normal in those days
The smokers in those camps would sell their souls for a cigarette and Izzie never wanted to go near a substance that could have such a scary effect on the mind
3 "Animal Farm" George Orwell
Got introduced to this one by a religion teacher at the age of 13. It was love at first sight. Even to this day, there's a certain spot in the story that the Izzie has got to get the hankies out and that's most rare indeed for this unsentimental cruel heartless serpent. The previous obsession with Hitler, Stalin, Genghis Khan and other assorted power freaks only added to the appreciation of the more subtle details.
Been a fan of satire and allegories ever since.
4 How to develop a super power memory" Harry Lorrayne
There were two particular tricks in this book - the phonetic system for remembering numbers - (the one with d and t representing the digit 1) and the calendar that particularly intrigued this serpent.
Due to the crazy compulsion to use the calendar trick to calculate the day that any given date falls on (works only for the 1900s and present century)- and there's been lots of 40th anniversaries to practice on this year - that's what gets it such a high place on the list.
5 "The Vegetarian Alternative" Viktor Sussman
The Izzie sister bought this book for a school project. No book ever entered the Dursley's Den without being gobbled by the Izzie and this one was no exception. But it did leave a bit of an aftertaste. The stuff about factory farming was truly disgusting. Decided that it was not acceptable to expect others to do the dirty work so that if Izzie wanted any meaty snacks in future - they would either have to be from certified organic sources or DIY. Organic was simply unaffordable for a poor serpent and going out and killing it rather messy and nasty. (Plucking the feathers off an old hen that the ma had strangled was revolting enough and there wasn't even any blood involved just a warm limp and very yellow bird)
6 How the Other Half Dies" Susan George
More politics and power. This one goes well with the last one. Read it way back in 1982 or so. It was about the real causes of world hunger, the unintended side effects of the so called Green Revolution and the Izzie's first introduction to certain seed companies. Probably the first step on the evil green path and also the source of a continuing fascination with the Dark Side of capitalism. While all the other giggly girls in Izzie's class would be drooling over Sting in the pop magazines, Izzie would have her nose stuck in huge heavy tomes with titles such as "Multinational Corporations and the Control of Culture" and this book was the one that began it all
