Book Meme!

Bronteana has tagged me for a Book meme! Thank you Bronteana! :)

1. One book that changed your life:

Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy. I read it for my Victorian Literature class two years ago, and the book affected me in many ways afterward. I was very moved by Tess's plight, her will to survive despite any obstacle, and the forces (both of the self and Nature) that can tear lives apart. Hardy's descripion of landscape, its tendency to regenerate as well as its cruelty to annihilate, seemed to me a metaphor that extends beyond the precincts of the novel into the depths of human consciousness. I watched the movie (the BBC version starring Justine Waddell) over and over again and people wondered how I could bear to watch something that was, in their opinion, so "depressing". Watching the film showed me that the film (and the novel), wasn't entirely about Tess, or her plight. It was about writing, dialogue, and Art. Somehow Tess's fate didn't seem so gloomy because the novel made her triumph in a strange fashion, in the words between the lines. I was then drawn to Jude the Obscure, although I had been warned that it was "the saddest book in the world". The perserverance of Tess and Sue, their struggle against the obstacles imposed upon them, resonated with me very strongly. It was at this point that I gained more interest in Feminist Literature. Tess of the d'Urbervilles allowed me to ask questions of Jane Eyre, and see it in a different light than what I had been used to previously. This different reading of Jane Eyre lead to reading (and rereading) other works of the Brontes, as their works combined rich landscapes, Nature (both interior and exterior), and acute study of women's inner (and outer) lives. I then wished to pursue Bronte studies.

2. One book that you’ve read more than once:

Several. Most recently, Possession by A.S. Byatt.

3. One book you’d want on a desert island:

Jane Eyre, obviously! :)

4. One book that made you laugh:

About a Boy by Nick Hornby.

5. One book that made you cry:

Tess of the d'Urbervilles

6. One book that you wish had been written.

I wish Charlotte Bronte had finished Emma, for I too found the opening chapters very intriguing. I also wish I could have read Emily's second novel.

7. One book that you wish had never been written.

I think there is a lot to be learnt from any book, so I'd be in support of books being written always, one must read good and bad literature to discern the differences between them.
However, if I had to choose, I'd wish that Claire Boylan had not tried to finish Charlotte Bronte's Emma. I did not like Boylan's re-writing. I believe that perhaps she had rather left Emma alone, for it is indeed possible for a book to be complete in its state of incompletion.

8. One book you’re currently reading:

I generally end up reading several at once. Currently, I capture the Castle by Dodie Smith, Sugar and other stories by A.S. Byatt, and The Arabian Nights.

9. One book you’ve been meaning to read:

Juliet Barker's biography of the Brontes, and I hope to get started on this once I am settled.

10. Now tag five people: I tag Mandy, Cristina, Sophia, Holly, and Frankengirl.