You are not what you read (but you can have favorites)
Years before he became the Oscar frontrunner with The Social Network, filmmaker David Fincher made the serial killer thriller Se7en. One very scary sequence takes place not at a crime scene but in a public library where Morgan Freeman has gone to look up the killer’s literary allusions. He tells Brad Pitt that the FBI “flags” certain books, Dante’s Inferno among them, and checks up on the people who borrow them. The idea that one could become a suspect because she’d read certain books was terrifying. If this were true then everyone I know should be hauled away in chains.
I remembered the movie recently when pundits started discussing the reading list of the suspect in the Arizona shootings. They made much of the fact that his YouTube profile mentioned the dystopian classics Brave New World and Animal Farm, among others, as his favorite books. Reading Aldous Huxley and George Orwell may be indicative of an anti-government streak, even paranoia, the straw-clutchers went on.
Only if the readers are empty vessels who will take everything they read literally — without independent thought, context, or a sense of irony. Your favorite books will not turn you into a killer. You are not a writer’s puppet; you have final responsibility for your actions.
Bea Ledesma and Celine Lopez Speaking of favorite books, goes my strange segue, National Book Store and the Philippine STAR through our indomitable editor Millet Mananquil organized a Favorite Books panel discussion last Jan. 22 at Glorietta 5. STAR columnists and friends talked about the books they love most and read over and over again.
Look at the box (right) and see if you can guess the panelists’ favorite books.
The answers are:
1-H. Adel Tamano admires the way biographer David McCullough brings the great American John Adams and his era to stunning life. “If John Adams were alive today,” we asked, “would he be elected President of the United States?”
“No,” Adel said, noting that Adams was not... telegenic. The current media require politicians to be likable personalities.
“You’re telegenic,” we pointed out. If you will recall, Adel ran for senator in the last elections.
“I’m not running again,” he laughed.
2-N. Inno Sotto looks to Bantock’s lushly-illustrated epistolary novel for inspiration. Griffin and Sabine unfolds in a series of letters; Inno himself prefers writing letters by hand to sending out emails or texts. “Often it is easier to write things down than to say them out loud to another person,” he said. “We reveal ourselves more fully in letters.”
3-M. Barbara Gonzalez is reading several books at the same time on her Kindle. “When I had a stroke I couldn’t read,” she told us. “For four years I couldn’t read, it was terrible.” Fortunately she has recovered completely and is now busy catching up.
4-B. Lizzie Zobel loves love stories, and one of the finest in print is by her compatriot, the Colombian Garcia Marquez. We asked her if anything was lost in the translation from Spanish to English. “On the contrary, Garcia Marquez says he prefers to read his books in the English translations by Gregory Rabassa. He likes them better than the Spanish originals.”
5-I. Margarita Delgado recommended The Fountainhead to her daughter, and since then they have been a book club of two. “She called me from school last December and said, ‘You have to read The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.’ I read and enjoyed it, then we talked about it. Books are a bonding experience.”
6-J. Scott Garceau is a fan of the late David Foster Wallace, one of the most innovative prose stylists of our time. Wallace’s unfinished novel The Pale King will be published this year. “There’s something very poignant about unfinished novels published posthumously,” Scott said. “You know that the author wanted to say something, but whatever it was we’ll never find out.”
7-E. “What if, on his deathbed, William Burroughs had asked you to burn all his unpublished manuscripts?” we asked Igan D’Bayan. “I would disobey his orders,” Igan replied, citing the precedent set by Max Brod, the executor who refused to burn the work of Franz Kafka.
Tanya Lara, Jessica, Barbara Gonzalez and grandson Julian 8-O. “I read a lot of books on health and diet,” Ching Alano said. “There’s one that everybody should read, about Alzheimer’s disease.”
“What is the title?” we asked.
“I forgot.”
9- D. Kathy Moran loves the graphic novels but will not watch the new TV series Walking Dead because she’s too scared. We asked her what she would do in case of a zombie pandemic. “Have you noticed how in zombie books and movies there are no zombie pets?” she pointed out. “We have dogs and cats, so I think we’ll be safe.”
10-K. Tanya Lara loves the work of David Sedaris, whom she interviewed when he came to Manila a few years ago. “If Sedaris were straight would you marry him?” we asked.
“I would marry David Sedaris even if he’s gay,” she declared.
11-L. “Do you approve of the Batman movies by Christopher Nolan?” we asked Dark Knight fan Quark Henares.
“I have to admit that I cried at Batman Begins because it got the book right,” said filmmaker Quark, who has no immediate plans to adapt Frank Miller’s books himself.
12-A. “I think the Little Prince is gay,” Bum Tenorio said, indicating the illustrations of the prince’s wardrobe. “Or maybe it’s because I identify with him so closely.”
13-C. Celine Lopez’s comfort book is a novel about a girl’s quest for the right guy. “What are the most common mistakes girls make when they’re ‘hunting and fishing’?” we asked.
“Don’t go for the older man,” she said. “He will get diabetes, as my mom is finding out.”
14-G. Bea Ledesma tried to weasel her way out of the panel, claiming that she was terrified of public speaking. This is a blatant untruth, as shown by her stirring defense of the Olsen twins. “Do you think they wrote it themselves?” we asked of their book, Influence.
“Well, it’s all in a Q&A format so they didn’t actually have to write anything.”
15-P. Ana Kalaw is a Neil Gaiman fan and was thrilled to attend his talk in Manila.
16-X. Erwin Romulo’s father encouraged him to read Brillantes’ book, which is set in their hometown of Camiling, Tarlac.
17-Q. Paolo Lorenzana prefers the work of the author of Generation X to that of the more highly-esteemed Jonathan Franzen.
18-U. Luis Katigbak explained why fans of the late Douglas Adams always carry a towel.
19-W. Fortunately Girlie Rodis has not seen the stupefyingly boring movie based on Baricco’s lovely book.
20-R. Jan Vincent Ong agrees: Frankly, we have had it with chefs clogging the bookshelves, although Bourdain does write a good memoir.
21-T. A favorite of Lai Reyes and among book clubs, The Kite Runner is banned in the author’s homeland of Afghanistan and its inclusion in American libraries is frequently challenged.
22-Y. Hornby’s novel, and the excellent Stephen Frears adaptation, is about a guy who constantly rearranges his record collection, compiles top 5 song lists, and makes mix tapes. Audrey Carpio assured us that people still make “mix tapes” — digital playlists.
23-X. Ramon de Veyra’s choice Alan Moore’s novel is told in many voices; the first narrator has a limited vocabulary of 2,000 words. It was 10,000 B.C., they didn’t have words for everything yet.
24-Z. The always engaging Tom Robbins, Enrico Subido’s choice, also has a book with a Filipina protagonist, Half Asleep in Frog Pyjamas.
25-S. Satrapi later directed the animated movie based on her graphic memoir of growing up in Iran before the revolution. Kara Ortiga likes Persepolis.
26-F. Only Wilson Lee Flores would say, “That Ernest Hemingway, he writes really well in English!”
The perk of being the moderator of the panel discussion: I got out of naming my favorite book, or else we’d still be in Glorietta 5 waiting for me to pick one. Thanks to everyone who spent their Saturday afternoon with us, and see you at the next STAR anniversary event.
See If You Can Match These Panelists With Their Favorite Books
Scott Garceau, Miguel Ramos and Bum Tenorio 1. Adel Tamano
2. Inno Sotto
3. Barbara Gonzalez
4. Lizzie Zobel
5. Margarita Delgado
6. Scott Garceau
7. Igan D’Bayan
8. Ching Alano
9. Kathy Moran
10. Tanya Lara
11. Quark Henares
12. Bum Tenorio
13. Celine Lopez
14. Bea Ledesma
15. Ana Kalaw
16. Erwin Romulo
17. Paolo Lorenzana
18. Luis Katigbak
19. Girlie Rodis
20. Jan Vincent Ong
21. Lai Reyes
22. Audrey Carpio
23. Ramon De Veyra
24. Enrico Subido
25. Kara Ortiga
26. Wilson Lee Flores
A. The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery
B. Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
C. The Girls’ Guide to Hunting and Fishing by Melissa Banks
D. The Walking Dead graphic novels by Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore, Charlie Adlard
E. Naked Lunch by William Burroughs
F. The Collected Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway
G. Influence by Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen
H. John Adams by David McCullough
I. The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
J. Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace
K. When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris
L. The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller
M. Tiger Moon by Penelope Lively
N. Griffin and Sabine by Nick Bantock
O. A book on Alzheimer’s whose title she forgot
P. Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett
Q. All Families Are Psychotic by Douglas Coupland
R. Medium Raw by Anthony Bourdain
S. Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi
T. The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
U. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
V. Silk by Alessandro Baricco
W. On a Clear Day in November, Shortly Before the Millennium by Greg Brillantes
X. The Voice of the Fire by Alan Moore
Y. High Fidelity by Nick Hornby
Z. Still Life With Woodpecker by Tom Robbins
