The high school youth group for which I’m an advisor seems to consistently like answering questions from The Book of Questions by Gregory Stock.
I first encountered this book in maybe 1990 when I toured a house rental share in Cambridge that was looking for a housemate. The charming older guy who showed me around (by older, I mean probably age 34) was Gregory Stock, a Harvard Business School student. He told me about this book he had written. I looked it up and found the questions too vexingly ponderous as to be unanswerable. Now, that I’m older, I’m not sure why I felt that way.
Here’s an online PDF of the book: https://hellomalavika.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/ef922-thebookofquestions.pdf
But, really, it’s easier to use the published book, which is not expensive: https://www.powells.com/book/the-book-of-questions-9780761177319
And here’s another list of ponderous big questions I happened upon on the beautiful blog, Beauty Everyday. Proust’s questionnaire arrives at your table at a cafe next to the famous Paris bookstore, Shakespeare & Company.
Some questions:
1. what is your present state of mind?
2. what is your favorite way to spend your time?
3. if you were an animal, which one would you be?
4. what book makes you want to live in a different era?
5. what’s the craziest thing you’ve ever eaten?
6. what is your favorite journey?
7. who is your hero in real life? who is your hero in fiction?
8. which words or phrases do you most overuse?
9. what is your idea of perfect happiness?
10. if you could spend the rest of your life with a character from a book, who would it be?
11. what is your theme song?
12. who are you three favorite writers?
13. where in the world would you most like to live?
14. on what occasion do you lie?
15. if you could only eat one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be?
16. which poem makes your spine tingle?
17. what is your favorite smell?
18. if you could ask the leader of your country to read one book, what would it be?
19. what’s your favorite hiding place?
20. what do you consider your greatest achievement?
21. which book do you have on your nightstand but know you’ll never read?
22. if you could have any superpower, what would you choose?
23. what was your favorite book as a child?
24. do you have a recurring dream? if so, what is it?
25. what to you is the most beautiful word or words?
26. what’s the worst book you’ve ever read?
27. who would play you in the movie of your life?
28. what’s your motto?
29. what’s the most romantic experience you’ve ever had?
30. how would you like to die and in what form would you chose to come back?
