Just another false alarm...

Well, I've been away from blogging so long that I haven't really been paying attention to this particular infestation. But since Chris has passed the stick along, I'd better run with it.

You're stuck inside Fahrenheit 451, which book do you want to be?

I first took this question to be a way of asking me how quickly I wanted to get burned, and thought of Mills & Boon - this way my death would at least be mercifully quick, as thousands of librarians enthusiastically chuck them on the fire. But since it seems to be a question about what I'd save, it'd probably be Plato's Republic. Then if everything else was burned, we could at least start over again. But since I always liked my totalitarian states deep fried, so I might go for something frivolous like the complete works of Dorothy Parker instead.

Have you ever had a crush on a fictional character?

No, but my parents tell me I idolised Dennis The Menace when I was about 6, if that counts.

What are you currently reading?

Well, I'm almost entirely on work books right now. But the book I've been on for some time now, and will probably remain reading a page at a time until early June, is Umberto Eco's The Name Of The Rose. It's absolutely brilliant, though, so maybe one day I'll finish it and post a twenty five years too late review here.

The last book you bought is:

"Cities Of Tomorrow: An Intellectual History of Urban Planning and Design in the Twentieth Century" by Peter Hall. It was one of those slightly self-interested birthday presents that I hope to borrow back from its recipient at some point.

Five books you would take to a deserted island:

I'd be tempted to take one book in five different languages, and spend the time learning the languages by comparison. However, I can't think of any book I could really bear to do that with, though the Bible or the Communist Manifesto are obvious - but unattractive - choices.

So I'll go for: Thomas Mann - The Magic Mountain, because in about a dozen attempts I've never managed beyond 20 pages of it, and I've been told it's wonderful; James Joyce - Ulysses, ditto; Aquinas's Summa Theologiae, assuming I'll be there for a very long time; Arthur Miller - Death Of A Salesman, still my favourite play to read, though I know there are many better; and, for viewing pleasure, "The Singular Art Of Julian Murphy".

Who are you going to pass this stick to (3 persons) and why?

Hmm... Most people seem to have done this already, and I'm feeling too lazy to find out who hasn't. Perhaps John B , that staunch campaigner against the theocratic junta? Otherwise, I think I'll broadcast that these sticks are up for grabs, as Norm did, to be democratic (and lazy). And if you want a more personal invitation, just ask me and I'll edit this post to pretend I passed it on to you in the first place...

UPDATE: I've been told to pass it on to Matthew Turner too!
UPDATE 2: And Michael Brooke, who, like me, seems to have given in to the temptation to do a bit of blogging again (though no doubt he had better reasons than me for stopping)