Centroids :
Here is an interesting puzzle. What are the three books you
wish you had written ?
For the moment I don't have a list that comes immediately to
mind, but
it is worth thinking about as a sort of self critique and as
a means
of telling others what our ideals are and what we would like
others to consider for their own lives.
The nice thing about this exercise is that it is open to all
comers.
My three choices aren't the only right answers, nor are
anyone else's.
And someone else's choices may influence me or you or
whomever,
all for the good. That is, it is non zero-sum and win / win.
For your consideration
Billy
============================================================
Washington Post / September 15, 2009
Some years ago I read an essay by the critic Denis Donoghue
in which he mentioned the three books he would most like to have
written himself: Italo Svevo’s Confessions of Zeno, Kenneth
Burke’s Toward a Better Life, and Robert K. Merton’s On
the Shoulders of Giants. I’ve read all threeâ€â€though I
was disappointed in the Burkeâ€â€and see an ironic, self-aware and
playful voice as the common element among them.
Naturally, I wondered which three of the world’s books I might
like to have written. Obviously, the memoirs of Casanova would be at
the head of the list, followed by the autobiography of Bill Gates, and
the Declaration of Independence. Hmm, does that last count as a book?
Just kidding, folks. Well, maybe not about the Casanova.
In fact, I suspect my choices would be: Cyril Connolly’s
“The Unquiet Graveâ€Ââ€â€a little volume of plangent
meditations and quotations about life; Robert Graves’s crazed
handbook of poetic myth, “The White Goddessâ€Â; and Denis
Diderot’s “Rameau’s Nephew,†his sprightly
dialogue with a consummate rogue and charlatan.
Of course, tomorrow or next week I might choose three completely
different works. But how about you? What three of the world’s
books would you most like to have written? Which give at least a
partial portrait of your soul?
