Book tag! {part 12 through 16}

12. Book borrowing – do you use the library? Do you prefer to try before you buy? What about lending your books to friends? Are you a good borrower, do you remember to return books?

I love the library--I have (almost) nothing but good memories of libraries.  I generally prefer to borrow before buying, just to be on the safe side...  And I haven't yet had an opportunity to lend books to anyone, outside of my family.

13. Do you reread a lot? Why (not)? Name a book you have reread many times.

These days, not a lot.  I like to move on to something new, especially since my reading list is 20000 leagues long.  When I was a kid, there were numerous books (Narnia, for instance) which I liked to re-read.

14. What is the best book you’ve read in the past year?

It's not a new book to me, but still:  Kidnapped, by Robert Louis Stevenson.  I don't know if it's the amazing prose, my (albeit fractional) Scottish heritage, or what; but there's something about this book with which I can strongly connect.  And it's the sort of book I think I could re-read every year without tiring of it.  Maybe because it's almost a "day in the life" kind of book--it's not like Alan "rids the world of evil" or Davey "gets married and lives happily ever after"...but rather, it's about imperfect people, imperfect friendships, and continuous struggles against injustice.  A very "grey" book, with glimmerings of a fairytale.  Just like real life.

As for new books, the best would probably be Eugene Onegin, the epically romantic "novel-in-verse" by Alexander Pushkin.  Full of ambiguity, subtlety, depth, and drama... 

15. Do you recommend books to other people? If you could force everyone you know to read one book, what would it be?

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes!  It's the only fictional book which I could wholeheartedly recommend to anyone.

I also think The Metamorphosis and The Lord of the Flies are well-deserved classics.  I wouldn't recommend them to everyone; but they're certainly worthwhile, especially if you have an interest in analysis and psychology/human nature.

16. Adaptation: What book would you most like to see made into a film? Do you like to read the book first or see the film? Any books you have read after seeing the film version?

My entire movie wishlist is too long to be named here.  ;)  But it includes: Eugene Onegin, Sherlock Holmes (accuracy, accuracy!), The Heir of Redclyffe, and The Blithedale Romance.

I prefer being a book-firster, in general--there's a lot that just can't be portrayed on screen, especially when it comes to the Brontes or books like Heart of Darkness, which involve a heavy emphasis on the human mind, not "action" or spoken words.  I did watch Moby-Dick (1956) before reading the book, though.  The inevitable abridgment of the story, coupled with the excellent portrayals of Ahab and Starbuck, definitely made me want to the read the book.  Also, certain stories have been made into better films than books, such as The Wizard of Oz or even North and South.  I've read both of those, but I do think that the films were more worthwhile.