Ep 87: Which novel do you want to live in?

[Thomas]

Yes, that other topic on episode 87. Which novel would you want to live in? I really didn't give an answer on the podcast but I think I did realize that I would prefer to be a fly on the wall rather than actually be plopped down in the middle of it all and have to be an actual character.

And the more I think about it, the more I want to see the world of MaddAddam. Maybe because the planet is headed that way and I want to be one of those that survive.

[Ruthiella]

Thomas, would you consider living in a Barbara Pym novel?

Sometimes I think I would like to live in Miss Marple's village, St. Mary Mead, tending to my garden, gossiping with the neighbors, living of a fixed yet generous income, no job, lots of time to read. The downside would be of course becoming a potential murder victim.

I have only read Oryx and Crake, so I haven't gotten to MaddAddam yet. However, I don't think a fictional dystopian future is for me (unless of course, as The House of Rumour posits, I am already living in one). My skin isn't thick enough to handle it.

[Thomas]

That's quite a dark side to living in St. Mary Mead. Maybe you could be Miss Marple. She is the invincible one.

In some ways I think I would want to live in a Pym, but there are too many less than stellar living arrangements and too many frustrated lives. But I guess any book that isn't just totally a romantic idyll, is full of conflict (like life). I have a hard time wanting to trade lives with anyone. So I would go strictly as a fly on the wall--or a two week vacation.

[Louise]

Libriomancer - I love the concept of drawing magic from books, and the dryads are deliciously naughty :-)

[Ruthiella]

Hi Louise,

So what book(s) would you draw your magic from if you were living in Libriomancer? It is a series about being able to make books come alive, right? So what book(s) would you reach into if you were living in that world? Just curious :)

[Louise]

Well, the Babelfish from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - which they also use in Libriomancer - would be handy!

I'd love some of the magical spirit stuff from Charles de Lint's Newford series, or some of the weird inventions from Phoenix Rising - and I'd definitely be visiting the cemetery of lost books from Carlos Ruiz Zafón's books for my next read :-)

[Ruthiella]

OMG I would love a Babelfish!

[Elizabeth☮]

I have been thinking of this for some time and I am going to say that I would love to live in the Sandleford Warren in Watership Down. Obviously I would have to be a rabbit, but this book really has a great cast of characters and a most welcoming community.

[Ruthiella]

Oh Elizabeth, I think I would find being a rabbit in Watership Down frightening! I could only visit that book only with a gurantee that no human or fox or rival warren will mess with me while I visit!

[Elizabeth☮]

That's part of the excitement Ruth.

[Ruthiella]

Obviously my taste for adventure is limited to reading about it only.:)

[Marie]

First thought that came into my head: Middlemarch by George Eliot. I'm sure I could think of others, but hands down, Middlemarch is my top choice. :-)

[Thomas]

I've never read Middlemarch. I own it. I've read Mill on the Floss and liked it okay. Maybe 2014 will be a Middlemarch year for me.

[Esther]

I would love to live in a historical novel for the costumes - I love corsets and a flouncy skirt.
But of course I'd have to be rich. Jane Eyre is a wonderful role model but Blanche Ingram has a much easier life :0)
And I would love to play a small part in Pride and Prejudice if I could get to be friends with Lizzie Bennet.
Failing that, any book on a spaceship.