One Book Meme

Stefanie has tagged me with the one book meme.

1. One book that changed your life.
   Anna Karenina. I read it at exactly the right time, three years ago. I can't really say in what way it was life-changing, but I felt changed after I reading it.
   
   
2. One book that you've read more than once.
   The Notebooks of Malte Laurids Brigge. I read it once when a favorite teacher gave it to me, then a few week ago when I decided to read it the way I should have the first time around.
   


3. One book you'd want on a desert island.
   In Search of Lost Time. On a desert island there would be no other books to feel guilty about neglecting, so I would have no problem starting from the beginning all over again.
   


4. One book that made you laugh.
   The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, Michael Chabon. To paraphrase one of my favorite exchanges:
   Q: "Are there many Jews in Japan?"
   A: "Jujitsu."
   


5. One book that made you cry.
   I can't remember the last time I cried over a book, but the one that came closest recently was Philip Gourevitch's We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families, which is about the Rwanda genocide. Not only the tragedy, but the world's response (or lack thereof) left me desolate for weeks.
   


6. One book that you wish had been written.
   Whatever Thomas Hardy might have written had he continued to write novels after Jude the Obscure.
   


7. One book that you wish had never been written.
   HE: Understanding Masculine Psychology by Robert A. Johnson. I had to read it for English. Not that masculine psychology isn't important, but this book is an overly simplistic, archetypal approach. And I had to use it several times as 'criticism.' Yuck.
   
   
8. One book you're currently reading.
   Under the Volcano, Malcolm Lowry. Just started it last night.
   


9. One book you've been meaning to read.
   (Only one?) Kafka's The Trial. I've started it twice over the past four years and kept getting sidetracked.
   


10. Now tag five people.
    Danielle, Bloglily, Litlove, Scott, and Arash (if you ever send me your URL!)