"Much study is a vexation."

Philalethes passes this to me, and I don't really know what to do with it.

You’re stuck inside Fahrenheit 451, which book do you want to be?

I'll get back to you on that one.
(Humming: "Proust in his first book wrote about, wrote about...Proust in his first book wrote about, he wrote about...!")

Have you ever had a crush on a fictional character?

Yes. Thursday Next, from the series by Jasper Fforde. And Jennifer Government, from the eponymous novel by Max Barry.

But alas, it wasn't meant to be.

The last book you bought is:

I'll have to go look. I'll get back to you on that, too.

The last book you read:

Zorro, by Isabelle Allende. And Dante's Inferno. Incompleteness: The Proof and Paradox of Kurt Gödel, by Rebecca Goldstein. I never read one book at a time.

What are you currently reading?

The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana, by Umberto Eco. Given Time, by Jacques Derrida. For Self-Examination, by Kierkegaard. Re-reading Fear and Trembling, too. And one of the new books, but I don't remember which one. Let me check.

Five books you would take to a deserted island:

Big ones. Starting with the Annotated Sherlock Holmes. And the complete Shakespeare. Upholding Mystery, I think, which is a wonderful volume of poetry. Time to get serious, the ship sails soon. Hmmmm....The Dark Knight Returns, by Frank Miller. One more? Holy the Firm, by Annie Dillard. Or...no, I'll stick with that.

Although I'd sneak in Ten Ever-Lovin' Blue Eyed Years with Pogo. And the Last Whole Earth Catolog. They're the same size, almost, no one would notice. And scratch Upholding Mystery, replace it with Thomas Merton's Wisdom of the Desert Fathers.

Okay, I'm ready to sail now.

Who are you going to pass this stick to (3 persons)? And Why?

You assume I have three friends. With blogs. I'm afraid that buck may stop here.

If I come up with anyone, I'll let you know.

Oh, getting back to the Fahrenheit 451 question: tough to decide. Either The Martian Chronicles, by Ray Bradbury. Or A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeline L'Engle. Or A Day with Wilbur Robinson, by William Joyce (though it's not the same without the pictures). Or probably, Montag's choice: Ecclesiastes.

After all, all is vanity. And of the making of books there is no end.

P.S. Last book(s) I bought: The Hermeneutics of the Subject, by Michel Foucault. Two Worlds are Ours: An Introduction to Christian Mysticism, by John Macquarrie, and A World Without Time: The Forgotten Legacy of Gödel and Einstein, by Palle Yourgrau.

Returning to the scene of the crime, or: Concluding Unscientific Postscript:

Who are you going to pass this stick to (3 persons)? And Why?

Athenae, at First Draft.
Rexroth's Daughter, at Dharma Bums.
Watertiger, at Dependable Renegade.

And Why?

Because it is bitter, and because it is my heart.

No, wait, that's not the right answer. What was the question again?

Oh, yeah. Because I think the answers would be fascinating. And because Thersites pulled rank on me and already chose NYMary (and I'm not telling who the substitute is!).

And because I think the answers would be fascinating. And I have hopes they will come by and see they have been selected.

Now when do I get my $10.00?