A meme, according to Wikipedia is “a unit of cultural information transferable from one mind to another… A meme propagates itself as a unit of cultural evolution and diffusion”. In the web they tend to be a set of questions like this that people then invite their friends (or “tag” certain friends) to answer, and the meme goes forth and propagates.

Another example of a silly one can be found here in my Flickr photostream. I don’t think anyone I tagged reciprocated, and I wouldn’t actually do that now

LIFE CHANGING BOOK
So many, too many to choose from. The first one? Definitely something of Orwell’s, either 1984, Animal Farm, or Down and Out in Paris and London. He taught me the political power of language and thought and the value of critiqued experience… then again, maybe it was the Communist Manifesto which I read as a 19 year old and probably contextualised my understanding of Orwell as well as my wider understanding of the world we live in

LAST BOOK I DIDN’T BOTHER FINISHING
My tastes do range from the sacred to the profane… I started a book two years ago called the Man Who Ate the 747 by Ben Sherwood and it just didn’t sustain my interest… though it still languishes hopefully on my bedside table

BEST BOOK FORCED TO READ AT SCHOOL
There were too many… MacBeth, 1984, Wake in Fright, the Lost Honour of Katarina Blum, Brave New World, Animal Farm… we were so unappreciative and ignorant, I rediscovered all these in my 20s and still treasure them

MOVIE ADAPTATION
The Door in The Floor was an inspired adaptation of John Irving’s A Widow For One Year, that wisely didn’t try to tackle the entirety but just a section, and did it beautifully. Also Adaptation was a masterpiece that overcame serious obstacles to be a real gem. And, at the risk of sounding populist (though simply a Tolkein fan from way back), I thought Peter Jackson brilliantly captured the spirit of the Lord of the Rings despite having to dump half the content in order to fit it into a dozen hours.

The Dark is Rising was about this eleven year old boy Will (I was probably in love with him – hmmm, better him than Vernon) who was the seventh son of a seventh son and acquired some magical powers on his eleventh birthday and had to find things, or something like that. I’m sure you’d remember the cover!