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You know...
20 April 2004 12:39 am...though I swore never to post WIPs in MFU, the impetus it gives me in the other fandom to finish stuff has tempted me, I admit. I do have a few MFUs languishing (whilst I cheat on Napoleon and Illya with certain dark haired wizards) that might benefit from posting and having kind-hearted people (talk about fucking ego!) say "Post more!" (At least it works in the other fandom).
That ponder on the back burner...10 books... I lump series as one thing, so here's more than 10...
1. Lord of the Rings, no contest. So very much of what I think and do as a writer and reader came from LotR.
2. The Silmarillion (same reason)
3. Sherlock Holmes (the whole canon). I can't stress enough the extent to which I, a 14 year old, fell in love with this man. I don't particularly like mysteries (and these aren't particularly good mysteries, I suppose) but Holmes! Holmes! Holmes! How can you not love such a complex, brilliant, flawed, irritating man?
4. The Wizard of Earthsea (trilogy) because this was the book that started me writing fiction. I didn't want it to end, so I continued it. (Ursula LeGuin)
5. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (all of 'em) Because I read them so many times that to this day 80 percent of my clever remarks are ripped off from HHG. (Douglas Adams)
6. The Amber series by Roger Zelazny. Made me obsessed with clean-lined, plainly written fantasy and interesting family dynamics, which reflects my original fiction to this day. All his stuff is good, and like Douglas Adams, he died too damn' early.
7. Pride and Prejudice. My favorite of Jane Austen's simply for her keen observations into human nature and social structure -- all phrased so darn' politely. If only we all had such keen wits and such courteous tongues.
8. Bambi (Felix Salten) I read this as a kid and refused to return it to the school library for about a year. I read it over and over. I obsessed. It taught me about detail in writing and about the appeal of not fully understanding what's being said in a story (now I'm an adult, of course, I find the translation a bit heavy handed at the end, but at the time I was mystified, pained by the grief woven throughout the story, sure I was missing something crucial at the end and deeply fascinated because of that).
9. 101 Dalmatians (Dodi Smith) Much of the imagery I love profoundly to this day came from this book -- yes, folks, as with Bambi, there is a book. It's a kids' book,yes, and not deep. In fact it's silly and sexist, but hell, I was a little kid and to this day I occasionally reread it for the scenes that are permanent in my head; hot buttered toast and sweet milky tea ...
10. Riddle of Stars (Patricia McKillip) The emotion in this trilogy still makes me cry. Emotion emotion emotion. Looking back, I see the slashy element... *g*
That's more than 10, of course, but these are the books that formed my writerly world, if not my "real" world. Then again, aren't they one and the same?
That ponder on the back burner...10 books... I lump series as one thing, so here's more than 10...
1. Lord of the Rings, no contest. So very much of what I think and do as a writer and reader came from LotR.
2. The Silmarillion (same reason)
3. Sherlock Holmes (the whole canon). I can't stress enough the extent to which I, a 14 year old, fell in love with this man. I don't particularly like mysteries (and these aren't particularly good mysteries, I suppose) but Holmes! Holmes! Holmes! How can you not love such a complex, brilliant, flawed, irritating man?
4. The Wizard of Earthsea (trilogy) because this was the book that started me writing fiction. I didn't want it to end, so I continued it. (Ursula LeGuin)
5. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (all of 'em) Because I read them so many times that to this day 80 percent of my clever remarks are ripped off from HHG. (Douglas Adams)
6. The Amber series by Roger Zelazny. Made me obsessed with clean-lined, plainly written fantasy and interesting family dynamics, which reflects my original fiction to this day. All his stuff is good, and like Douglas Adams, he died too damn' early.
7. Pride and Prejudice. My favorite of Jane Austen's simply for her keen observations into human nature and social structure -- all phrased so darn' politely. If only we all had such keen wits and such courteous tongues.
8. Bambi (Felix Salten) I read this as a kid and refused to return it to the school library for about a year. I read it over and over. I obsessed. It taught me about detail in writing and about the appeal of not fully understanding what's being said in a story (now I'm an adult, of course, I find the translation a bit heavy handed at the end, but at the time I was mystified, pained by the grief woven throughout the story, sure I was missing something crucial at the end and deeply fascinated because of that).
9. 101 Dalmatians (Dodi Smith) Much of the imagery I love profoundly to this day came from this book -- yes, folks, as with Bambi, there is a book. It's a kids' book,yes, and not deep. In fact it's silly and sexist, but hell, I was a little kid and to this day I occasionally reread it for the scenes that are permanent in my head; hot buttered toast and sweet milky tea ...
10. Riddle of Stars (Patricia McKillip) The emotion in this trilogy still makes me cry. Emotion emotion emotion. Looking back, I see the slashy element... *g*
That's more than 10, of course, but these are the books that formed my writerly world, if not my "real" world. Then again, aren't they one and the same?