Cowboy Caleb the liberal arts, grown-up stuff & random mischief

The Literati Baton

First it was the musical baton – now I’ve been thrown the literati baton by Alkacid.

1) Total number of books I’ve owned:
Not many. I grew up in a poor family. All of my Enid Blytons were stolen by my mom from some family who had to emigrate to Australia in a hurry because they had offended the Sultan. Even my school textbooks were on loan from the government. I usually get my books from the library or from 2nd hand bookshops that loan out books. I’m a voracious speed reader, and can easily finish any paperback novel in one 2 hour sitting.

I’ve owned probably more then 20, but less then 50 books so far.

2) The last book I bought:
The Rule of Four by Ian Caldwell & Dustin Thomason
I strongly discourage you from wasting your time on it. Give me the 1.5 hours of my life back.

3) The last book I read:
1,000 Places to See Before You Die by Patricia Schultz
I pop into any good bookshop when I pass one and read a few pages of this book at a time. So far, I’ve read nearly 1/2 of it. El Cheapo strikes again.

4) 5 books that mean a lot to me:
The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene
Some people have the bible. Others have the Quran. I have this book to live my life by.

The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
First read it when I was 12. Now I’m 27. And I still read it from time to time. Moral of the story. Be true to yourself.

Foucault’s Pendulum by Umberto Eco
Found this book in a dusty corner of the library at age 14. It introduced to me the wacky world of occult and esoteric fetishes.

Millroy the Magician by Paul Theroux
Imagine Jesus in the guise of a health food guru with a penchant for paedophilism. An amazing tale that will blow your socks off.

The Broken God by David Zindell
The most beautiful book I have ever read. Blends religion, philosophy, math, science and literature into one epic and moving that will change the way you view the world.

5) Tag 5 people and have them fill this out on their blogs:

Pikachooo I choose you!
Adri
Jean
Jim
Flea
Faith

I always thought the Da Vinci code was a ripoff of Foucault’s pendulum.

I like reading toblerone bars too.

Elia: i think it’s not Foucalt’s Pendulum but Name Of The Rose that was ripped off, and if my memory serves right, Dan Brown was sued and they settled out of court.

Wandie: Same here…. but eating them is a lot better ;)

I didn’t know that.

But I still think that The Da Vinci Code is really watered-down, compared to Foucault’s Pendulum. While the details are nominally the same, there are too many common themes for me to just ignore the similarities…

Elia > I don’t really see the link between Pendulum and Da Vinci. Dan Brown writes for a totally different audience. And rosicrucian theories have been floating around zillions of books for ages.

wandie > yeah the list of ingredients on the toblerone wrapper is fascinating

ivan > Dan got sued? Well, success comes with a price. Wonder why Umberto descended to such tactics. His books are widely respected and are on a different plane of existence.

DEH!

Gagh… literati baton some more!?! What next? Sex Baton? Food baton? Brazilian baton?

Hi, being reading your blog for quite sometime, must say it is really “painful” to read sometime cos it gives me stitches from unstoppable laughing.

“The Rule of Four – I strongly discourage you from wasting your time on it. Give me the 1.5 hours of my life back.” – shit, i just ordered this book online.

you read Judith McNaught…??!! Its in the photo..! Hersheys are nicer than Toblerones…

[...] ; Colgate has the answers Literati Baton I don’t care that this is a blog chain mail. All I care is : I was noticed b [...]

haha…funny you know. i gave the fountainhead to alkacid to read and she hated it, especially roark. great book though. be true indeed.

Ayn Rand is not for everybody. It provokes violent emotional responses.

‘Wonder why Umberto descended to such tactics. His books are widely respected and are on a different plane of existence.’

I never heard about the case before this, but in the absence of evidence to the contrary, I’d assume he did that because he genuinely felt that he’d been ripped off.

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I don’t think our tastes overlap much, but huh! Millroy the Magician. I loved that book; this is actually the first time I’ve seen anyone else mention it without my bringing it up. Unfortunately I followed it up by reading O-Zone, which blew. Haven’t touched a Theroux book since.

I kinda liked O-zone as well. It’s one of those books that kinda grows on you with repeated readings. I was stuck with it on a roadtrip with nothing else to read.

true true…while i did not enjoy atlas shrugged as much, it did have it’s moments of brilliance and i could see some of her points. interesting auhor and philospher.

yes i hated the fountainhead and i think howard roark is a wuss.
but that’s just my opinion.
thanks caleb, for taking up the baton.
come visit again soon.

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Caleb, I finally caught the baton.
June 6th, 2005

Via Cowboy Caleb 1) Total number of books I’ve owned: Thousa [...]