Oh, why not?
Feb. 7th, 2013 04:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
steepholmFrom around LJ:
1. Libraries or Bookshops.
My work necessitates a good many libraries, but in leisure hours I don't go to either as often as I should. (Having said that, I'm about to go to the library right now for an children's lit event.)
2. Pens or Pencils.
Cheap biros, for the five minutes until I lose them.
3. Handwritten or Typed.
Handwritten first draft, if we're talking fiction/poetry, followed by on-screen revision.
4. Thesaurus or Dictionary.
The online OED, usually. I don't have much recourse to the thesaurus, but sometimes get Word to brainstorm me some synonyms.
5. Kindle et al or Print Book.
I don't own a Kindle. I keep thinking it would be nice to have one for travelling, but it's not been a priority.
6. Wikipedia or Encyclopaedia.
I seldom if ever consult a general printed encyclopaedia (more specialized ones, yes). Wiki, as I tell my students, is a great place to start one's research, but a bad place to finish it: all the same, it's become invaluable.
7. Radio Play or Television Drama.
I love everything about Radio 4 except the plays (and Thought for the Day, of course, the only virtue of which is it makes me get out of bed and run retching for the bathroom). Occasionally I hear a very good one, but only about one in twenty. Having said that, I barely watch television drama. The last one I saw was an episode of Borgen, which I thought predictable and dull.
8. Poetry or Prose.
I can't conceive of this as a choice.
9. Fiction or Non-Fiction.
Or this.
10. Novels or Short stories.
I prefer novels, generally - but not very long ones (on account of being a slow reader).
11. Fantasy or Commercial/Literary Fiction.
I've never been sure what literary fiction is, so can't really answer as to that. Isn't all published fiction literary and commercial, in fact? But I enjoy fantasy more than the kind of thing I see advertised on posters in railway stations.
12. The Grapes of Wrath or Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit.
I read GoW when young (along with a lot of Steinbeck), and found it good, if depressing. The Winterson I've not read. I suspect I'd like it, and would rather not discover otherwise.
13. The Odyssey or The Road.
I've not read The Road, but I think it's a bit hard on anyone to be put up against The Odyssey!
14. Tipping the Velvet or The Well of Loneliness.
Not read either - but I'm slightly more tempted by Tipping the Velvet.
15. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland or Winnie-the-Pooh.
For a re-read? Pooh every time. Both however are in my literary DNA.
16. Frankenstein or Dracula.
Not read either, but far more tempted by Dracula.
17. Charles Perrault or The Brothers Grimm.
Of the two, Grimm.
18. William Shakespeare or William Blake.
Shakespeare has to win this one (sorry, Blake).
19. Virginia Woolf or Katherine Mansfield.
A hard one. I like Mansfield a lot - and find some Woolf impossible to finish - but that style of hers can be mesmerizing, so she wins by a hair.
20. Philip Pullman or JK Rowling.
To read, Pullman; to meet, Rowling.
21. Emily Dickinson or Sylvia Plath.
I like both, but would find it hard to choose. I see that someone else went for Stevie Smith - I'd second that.
1. Libraries or Bookshops.
My work necessitates a good many libraries, but in leisure hours I don't go to either as often as I should. (Having said that, I'm about to go to the library right now for an children's lit event.)
2. Pens or Pencils.
Cheap biros, for the five minutes until I lose them.
3. Handwritten or Typed.
Handwritten first draft, if we're talking fiction/poetry, followed by on-screen revision.
4. Thesaurus or Dictionary.
The online OED, usually. I don't have much recourse to the thesaurus, but sometimes get Word to brainstorm me some synonyms.
5. Kindle et al or Print Book.
I don't own a Kindle. I keep thinking it would be nice to have one for travelling, but it's not been a priority.
6. Wikipedia or Encyclopaedia.
I seldom if ever consult a general printed encyclopaedia (more specialized ones, yes). Wiki, as I tell my students, is a great place to start one's research, but a bad place to finish it: all the same, it's become invaluable.
7. Radio Play or Television Drama.
I love everything about Radio 4 except the plays (and Thought for the Day, of course, the only virtue of which is it makes me get out of bed and run retching for the bathroom). Occasionally I hear a very good one, but only about one in twenty. Having said that, I barely watch television drama. The last one I saw was an episode of Borgen, which I thought predictable and dull.
8. Poetry or Prose.
I can't conceive of this as a choice.
9. Fiction or Non-Fiction.
Or this.
10. Novels or Short stories.
I prefer novels, generally - but not very long ones (on account of being a slow reader).
11. Fantasy or Commercial/Literary Fiction.
I've never been sure what literary fiction is, so can't really answer as to that. Isn't all published fiction literary and commercial, in fact? But I enjoy fantasy more than the kind of thing I see advertised on posters in railway stations.
12. The Grapes of Wrath or Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit.
I read GoW when young (along with a lot of Steinbeck), and found it good, if depressing. The Winterson I've not read. I suspect I'd like it, and would rather not discover otherwise.
13. The Odyssey or The Road.
I've not read The Road, but I think it's a bit hard on anyone to be put up against The Odyssey!
14. Tipping the Velvet or The Well of Loneliness.
Not read either - but I'm slightly more tempted by Tipping the Velvet.
15. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland or Winnie-the-Pooh.
For a re-read? Pooh every time. Both however are in my literary DNA.
16. Frankenstein or Dracula.
Not read either, but far more tempted by Dracula.
17. Charles Perrault or The Brothers Grimm.
Of the two, Grimm.
18. William Shakespeare or William Blake.
Shakespeare has to win this one (sorry, Blake).
19. Virginia Woolf or Katherine Mansfield.
A hard one. I like Mansfield a lot - and find some Woolf impossible to finish - but that style of hers can be mesmerizing, so she wins by a hair.
20. Philip Pullman or JK Rowling.
To read, Pullman; to meet, Rowling.
21. Emily Dickinson or Sylvia Plath.
I like both, but would find it hard to choose. I see that someone else went for Stevie Smith - I'd second that.