Book meme

This meme was passed to me by Kakariki

1) You're stuck inside Fahrenheit 451 (explanation; plot) which book do you want to be?
George Orwell - 1984. I would imagine that a number of people would be anxious at the end of a period of totalitarian rule, even if they did not necessarily support the repressive government. The themes in Orwell's book may be familiar to people, and at the same time promote discussion on the nature of repression and why it should be challenged.

2) Have you ever had a crush on a fictional character?
No. If I was asked if I ever had a crush on a celebrity I would probably give the same answer, as I don't see a great deal of difference between how celebrities are presented in the media and fictional characters. Often human beings ability to idealise real things acts as the starting point for fiction.

3) The last book you bought is:
Karl Marx - Capital. Have read bits of Marx without reading one of his complete works, so I was really happy to find a complete three volume set of Capital in a second hand bookshop for $30. So much has been written about Marx I admit I am a little wary of relying on secondary sources that may have an agenda of their own - I want to read the man himself, particularly his exposition and critique of capitalism.

4) The last book you finished is?
Elsie Locke - Peace People
Peter Enderwich (ed) foreign Investment: The New Zealand Experience

5) What are you currently reading?
Eric Hobsbawn - Age of Extremes: The Short Twentieth Century. A thoughtful trail though the 20C from a leftie historian. I take ages to read a book, often putting one book down while I start to read another.

6) Five Books you would take to a deserted island:
Bertrand Russell - History of Western Philosophy
J. R. Tolkien - The Lord of the Rings
Various - Gothic Treasury of the Supernatural - A collection of classic gothic horror novels including Frankenstein, Dracula and the Castle of Ontranto
Michael King - The Penguin History of New Zealand - just in case I got homesick.

Assuming I came to the deserted island with a few friends - the D & D Players guide - if you were stuck there for a long time, imagining yourself to be somewhere else would be reassuring as well as a good way to pass the time (just to prove I have no shame!). Any ideas on how to make dice from local materials? The 20 sided die could be a little tricky.

7) Who are you going to pass this stick to (3 persons) and why?
Hmmm...Quite a few people have done this already....Resistant Soy - someone I just added to my links list; Rich at Observationz ; and my mate Victor Billot - something to post in your original blog Victor!