Friday, June 12, 2009

The Literary ABCs

I got this literary-themed meme from my friend Kaye.

List your favorite...

Austen (Jane) novel: Pride and Prejudice

Brontë sister’s novel: Jane Eyre

Clancy or Crichton novel and/or movie: Though I've heard it's nothing like the book, I really like the movie Timeline.

Dickens novel and/or film: This is a tough one...it's going to probably be a tie between the recent miniseries versions of Bleak House and Little Dorrit.

English class you took: Tragedies of Shakespeare (thank you, Dean McDaniel!)

Frequently read author: Georgette Heyer

Grisham novel and/or movie: Not really a fan...

Historical novel or era*: World War II era, hands down. Harder to choose a favorite book...I'll go with Vienna Prelude by Brock & Bodie Thoene to represent all of their WWII era novels.

Iconic fictional character: Sherlock Holmes

James Joyce or Henry James? Henry James

King in literature (i.e., a character who’s a king, real or fictional): King David

Lord of the Rings character: Aragorn, with Faramir a distant 2nd. ;-)

Movie made from classic literature: This is a tough category...for something different, I'll go with the modern version of Much Ado About Nothing from the ShakespeaRe-Told film series.

Newberry Medal–winning book: The Hero and the Crown by Robin McKinley (1985)

Oldest book you own (not necessarily “favorite,” just oldest): That honor goes to a book called Familiar Quotations given to me by my grandmother (mom's side), from 1883.

Pirate in literature: Captain Blood (from the novel of the same name by Rafael Sabatini)

Quiet place to read: In bed

Robin Hood version (which film/TV series?): The first version I ever saw of this story is far and away still my #1 favorite - the Errol Flynn film The Adventures of Robin Hood. The BBC television series would be #2, with the Disney film a distant 3rd.

Shakespeare play or poem: Much Ado About Nothing or Twelfth Night or The Tempest or King Lear or The Merchant of Venice or I could go on and on but I guess I'll stop now... ;-)

Twain (Mark) novel/story/essay: "The Invalid's Story" (short story)

USA Today Bestseller: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J. K. Rowling

Villain: Oh what the heck, I'll go with Voldemort.

Walt Whitman or William Wordsworth? Going to go with Wordsworth here because I H-A-T-E Whitman (except that poem he wrote in honor of Lincoln...that one is nice).

Xanthippe (an ill-tempered woman, a shrew): Katharina from Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew

Yawn-inducing bedtime read: Most recently, The Jungle by Upton Sinclair

Zealously protected book you’ll never part with: This is another tough choice. I'll go with my first edition copy of A Voice in the Wind by Francine Rivers. I LOVE the cover on the first edition and for sentimental reasons I just can't bear to part with it, even though I have copies of the newer editions (this is one of my FAVORITE novels, in case you couldn't tell!). ;-)

If you complete this meme, be sure to come back and leave a link to your post in the comments section!

3 comments:

Heidenkind said...

This looks fun! I think I'll do it. :)

Sally said...

Vienna Prelude is one of all-time favorites. I've read it about seven times now. It's been a few years, though, so I should break it out again.

Adventures of Robin Hood was just on one of those classic movie channels. I taped it for my kids--they loved it.

Olivia said...

I haven't read a lot of these books, that is very sad.