Okay, I’ve been thinking for days over this meme posted by Sweet Salty Kate. On Hallowe’en night, there will be a random draw of respondents for a chance to win a signed copy of her upcoming book The Dread Crew: Pirates of the Backwoods signed by the author, and a spot in the reviewer’s circle on the author’s blog at kateinglis.com. But don’t do it. The more people who do this meme, the lower my chances are of winning, and why would you want to do that to me? Why?
Anyway, here it is! I feel like there should be a list of honourable mentions at the bottom, I left out so many of my favourite books…
1) You are facing an epic journey. You may choose one companion, one tool and one vehicle from any book or film to accompany you. Or just one of the three. It’s up to you. What do you choose?
Okay. I have decided to take Westley, aka The Man In Black, from Goldman’s Princess Bride because the man is witty AND unstoppable. Inconceivable! Then I would chose Pullman’s altheiometre as my tool, because that’s just dang handy AND pretty. But… I don’t want a vehicle. I would instead prefer a trusty mount. I can’t decide whether I would rather have Bree, from A Horse and His Boy (definitely handy and intelligent, but perhaps a tad too smug) or Artax from The Neverending Story (pleasingly servile, but quick to give up in difficult circumstances). Hmm…
2) You can escape to the insides of any book. Where do you go, and why?
I know it’s terribly trite, but… Harry Potter. I mean, COME ON. I want to worship at Dumbledore’s feet and then get Hagrid to introduce me to some unicorns. I also want a pet as smart as Hedwig or Crookshanks.
3) You can bring one literary character into your current life. Who do you choose, and why?
I think I would bring Stargirl into my life. She would make me want to be a better person and there would never be a dull moment with her around.
4) __Where The Heart Is__ or ___Good Night Mr. Tom____ is my go-to book. I could read that book fifty-seven times in a row without a break for food or a pee and not be remotely bored. In fact I’ve already done that but it wasn’t fifty-seven times. It was sixty-four.
5) Of all the literary or film characters that made an impression on you as a kid, who was the most enviable?
Ooh… this is a toughy. I could pick Hazel, from Watership Down, who gets to have adventures AND be Chief Rabbit, plus he gets to be a rabbit, which I thought was pretty awesome to begin with. Or Meg from A Wrinkle In Time, who despite being a total brat not only wins the love of the intelligent and protective Calvin, but gets an ADORABLE little brother (I would have killed for a smart, thoughtful, adoring baby brother) AND gets to be babied and cuddled by Aunt Beast. I love being babied. Then there’s White Fang. Man, I used to spend hours pretending that I was White Fang’s side kick, hunting rabbits and stuff and fighting with him for the Love Master. White Fang was KICK ASS.
6) Of all the literary or film characters that made an impression on you as a kid, who was the most frightening?
E.T. Even though I knew he was nice, I was still terrified that an evil E.T. would appear under my desk and come at me, arms flailing and gibbering.
7) Every time I read ____His Dark Materials_______, I see something in it that I haven’t seen before. Those books have so many levels, man.
8) It is imperative that ___The Giver_____ be made into a movie. Now. I am already picketing Hollywood for this—but if they cast ____a sixteen year old_____ as ____Jonas______, I will not be happy. I will, however, be appeased if they cast ___Hugh Laurie as the Giver, though they’d have to give him a beard and age him a bit_____.
9) ___The Water Babies______ is a book that should never be made (or should have never been made) into a film.
10) After all these years, the __kid being trapped in the closet with the dead dude_____ scene in the book/movie ______The Goonies______ still manages to give me the queebs. Although that’s tied with the scene in Hatchet where the kid finds the skeleton of the dead pilot underwater and it has bits on it and it wobbles.
11) After all these years, the ___Stone Table/Aslan Resurrection_____ scene in the book/movie ___The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe______ still manages to give me a thrill.
12) If I could corner the author ____James Herriot_____________, here’s what I’d say to them one minute or less about their book(s), __…pretty much everything he ever wrote_______________: Your stories are amazing, and funny, and heartwarming, and I love your self deprecating humour and I found studying veterinary technology SO much easier because of reading your books – I already knew all this veterinary medicine from when I was a small child. Want to have dinner? TELL ME MORE STORIES.
13) The coolest non-fiction book I’ve ever read is __A Short History of Nearly Everything___. Every time I flip through it, it makes me want to ____read it out loud to my future children because it is hilarious in its informativeness_____________.
If By Yes 