booking through thursday: other worlds

Are there any particular worlds in books where you’d like to live? Or where you certainly would NOT want to live? What about authors? If you were a character, who would you trust to write your life?

I’ve given some thought to this before. I think I’ll have to echo everyone else, though, and say that ideally I’d like to live in the world of Harry Potter, if I was a witch. I love Hogwarts and the atmosphere has always been my favorite part of the Harry Potter books. My friends tell me this makes me weird, but I just really like the feel that the school parts give me. Other than that, I think I’d like to live in the Shire from Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings. In all honesty, it’s hard to say I’d want to live in most fantasy worlds because usually in books, there is a lot of conflict, and I’d just like a peaceful, happy existence. There are some utopian worlds I wouldn’t mind living in, although I don’t think Utopia is one of them, but they always seem a bit dull instead of happy. In terms of real-world, I occasionally think I’d like to transport myself back to the fifteenth century, but only if I could be nobility and ensure I’d survive past the age of five. I don’t think I’d really like to live there though, I’d just like to visit and perhaps meet Richard III. I have some questions I’d like to ask him.

There are plenty of places I would not like to go. Arthurian Britain is a definite no; I just finished Bernard Cornwell’s Warlord trilogy and there seemed to be way too much pillaging, raping, and murdering for me. Any dystopian world is a similar no. I don’t think anyone would like to live in the world of 1984, not even for a visit. Same goes for The Handmaid’s Tale. There are other dystopias, and I’ve probably read some, but they don’t spring to mind just now. I wouldn’t really like to live anywhere with lots of conflict.

I’m not sure I’d like anyone to write my life story. I don’t really want to be widely known for that, especially not now because I haven’t defined myself enough yet. If I had to pick, I’d say Kazuo Ishiguro should do it in a work of fiction. I think I’d be an unreliable narrator. I don’t give up my secrets easily.