Ten Books

Winston and Moff posted this I thought I'd tag along.

1. One book that changed my life: Mark Hedsel and David Ovason's Zelator, a book about hermeticism and mystery schools. Steered me in a different path in trying to discover who he was writing about. Turns out to be mainly about Gurdjieff, with alchemy, etymology, cathedrals and the mysterious Green Language thrown in for good measure.

2. One book I have read more than once: A few. The one that gets constantly re-read and has copious amounts of notes in the margins and any spare piece of blank paper is Fulcanelli's Mystery of the Cathedrals. I found out about this from the above Zelator and have been to several cathedrals in France to see the "books written in stone" aspect myself. It's a true Da Vinci Code primer.

3. One book I would want on a desert island: I'd say Joyce's Ulysses. I'd still be no closer to figuring it out by the time I was rescued. Bloody difficult read that keeps me occupied for hours. Either that or Robert Hughes Shock of the New which is a well written and beautifully illustrated account by an art expert about the impact of modern art.....written very much in empathy for the artistic layman.

4. One book that made me laugh: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. That and Trudeau's compilation of Uncle Duke based on Hunter S. Thompson Action Figure, the life and times of Uncle Duke.

5. One book that made me cry: Can't say I can recall one that did. Schindlers Ark and Leon Uris' Trinity were powerfully emotive books though.

6. One book I wish I had written: Kahil Gibran's The Prophet from a wisdom point of view, Manly Palmer Hall's Secret Teachings of all Ages which would have required years of research in many old and rare esoteric books in libraries around the world. I have an original 1928 first printing of Hall's massive volume which was the first thing I bought when I was divorced.

7. One book I wish had never been written: Machiavelli's The Prince. The blueprint for many of the ills we are experiencing now, although they may have already been in practice...... it's just Machiavelli documented it first. Mein Kampf would be up there too.

8. One book I am currently reading: Walden by Thoreau. I'd never heard of it until I was introduced recently by a dear friend. Also reading Ouspensky's In Search of the Miraculous. My bedside table has about four or five books on the go at one time.

9. One book I have been meaning to read: Gödel, Escher, Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid There's a copy at the post office, waiting for my signature, as I type..... waiting to be re-tried again. I shared a house with an IBM hacker who had a copy, I tried reading it but fell short. I think I may be ready for it now.

10. Tag five people: I'm leaving Winston's comments here untouched.

When tagged by a respected fellow blogger, I usually grumble along and participate, and actually have a little fun with these meme things. But I made a rule when my pod landed that I would not tag others. So it is writ, so let it be.

Johnno: Free will and all that.....same goes for me!