I first saw The Wolf and Books do this tag and it looked fun! It seems to be (partly) made by emmie.
1. What is your favourite “academia” or “dark” book + movie?
I truly have yet to watch a dark academia movie I like (at least as I can remember right now)
2. What dead poet would you like to have a drink with?
I would say Mary Oliver, who rather recently died. But she does not seem like a person who would spill her secrets or innermost thoughts in one meeting. It would still be nice though. I could ask life advice in general, hahhha. Her life seemed calm and filled with love as she got into old age.
3. What is your favourite painting and/or sculpture?
As a norwegian I think I was over-exposed to “Skrik”/ Scream (1910) by Edvard Munch, but then I slowly also fell in love with it and the expressions through the colours and the motive.
4. What is your favourite architectural marvel?
The pyramids of Giza. I mean, they were built in 2550 to 2490 B.C. and that has always fascinated me, as everyone else. I think ancient egyptian civilization as a whole takes up a certian part of my brain just for being mindblowing and existential about how long humans have been very intelligent.
5. What Shakespeare play would you want to be the lead in?
I know too little of Shakespeare, but obviously Hamlet.
6. How many languages do you speak and which language would you most like to learn?
First language norwegian, fluent english, very much not fluent in spanish as I took it at school for five years, but truly only two somewhat-productive ones at that. I would like to learn spanish better at some point. At one point in my life I want to learn Northern Sami because my grandmother, who started her life as a sea-sami, spoke it. Mainly to learn more about that culture from sources in their own language, because that’s a barricade I’ve met researching even a small bit sometimes. Other than that, I don’t take to languages easily and while it would be really cool to know russian or something with a completely different alphabet than mine, it just won’t happen anytime soon.
7. What is your favourite quote (from poetry, prose, plays, etc.)?
Lately it’s been –
You don’t want to hear the story
of my life, and anyway
I don’t want to tell it, I want to listen
to the enormous waterfalls of the sun.
And anyway it’s the same old story –
a few people just trying,
one way or another,
to survive.
Mostly, I want to be kind.
And nobody, of course, is kind,
or mean,
for a simple reason.
Quote from Dogfish by Mary Oliver
8. Which fictional character’s death is your ideal way to go?
Immortality, of course.
9. What university/college would you most like to attend?
I am at university, so this feels like cheating. But then again my university has handled corona badly this autumn, so I don’t feel that bad. I truly considered Edinburgh university for a while, pre-corona, as exchange or further into my degree. But it was definitely more for the city than the university.
Where I truly would want to go is Bennington College back in 1982 which Esquire described as “Among the druggies, rebels, heirs, and posers: future Gen X literary stars Donna Tartt (The Secret History), Bret Easton Ellis (American Psycho) and Jonathan Lethem.” The article is fascinating, if kind of unbelievable. It’s not got the same reputation for eccentricity today, unfortunately. Or fortunately?? I think if that image was real, places like that make or break people; a few truly achieves a potential, a lot end up with drug problems and similar things.
10. What is your murder weapon or murder method of choice?
Poison is a classic
11. What mythology would you most like to apart of?
I’m guessing we’re thinking as if a god in this “universe” type of scenario; Norse, because of Loke and the shit he’s up to. I just want to see the reactions of that family as they realize.
12. If you had to do a PhD what would you choose to do it on?
I’m in physics, so hopefully physics?
13. Which fictional character would you die for?
No. Something the characters of the books I read have in common is that they often make choices that leads them to uncertain situations, and it’s most likely their fault? And they’re fictional.
Rapid-Fire: Pick One
1. Leather bound or cloth bound books
Cloth – no ethical things to research.
2. Dog-earing pages or highlighting pages
Highlighting
3. Sculptures or paintings
Paintings
4. Piano or violin
Piano – I claim to be able to play it, but none I live with have yet to hear it because I’m so out of practice.
5. Films or theatre
Films
6. Poetry or prose
Poetry
7. Museums or bookshops
Bookshops
8. Smell of books or smell of coffee/tea
Smell of tea
9. Fountain pen or typewriter
Fountain pen – I own one
10. New or used books
Used has extra charm, but I don’t have easy access to good used book stores.