Love the desert island question!!!
It has to be the right kind of book, right? Something you wouldn’t mind reading thousands of times. Do you opt for weighty or fun? Something that’s challenging and needs unpacking or something that will lift your spirits when the rescue boat fails to arrive? Which type of book best rewards repeat reading?
So.
If you could have one book as you’re stuck on a desert island, which one would it be?
I’m going with Moby-Dick. Not only is it long and rewards repeat reading, but it might be useful for whale sightings. (Thanks to Kerri-Ann for pointing out that the title is hyphenated. Sorry Herman!)
What are you taking with you?
If it can be counted as one book, I would take Martin's Song of Ice and Fire. If not, I would take the Lord of the Rings.
Possession by A.S. Byatt
or
Gravity's Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon
It's hard to choose. . .
– Rena
In re the BBC radio programme, the guests aren't allowed to swap their Bible and Shakespeare for anything else.
I'd be torn between two: the complete poems of John Donne, which one could then learn by heart; and John Fowles' The French Lieutenant's Woman, in the hope that, by some obscure osmotic process, one might learn to write prose like the master.
Definitely the Bible with Jane Eyre tagging along.
Took the liberty and added an [s] to your [book] question.
How did I get on a deserted island anyway?
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
Jane Eyre – the best book ever
'Watermelon' by Marian Keyes, the scripts for 'Fawlty Towers' or 'A Spot of Bother' by Mark Haddon. Shakespeare? The Bible? I'd want to LAUGH on a desert island, not ruminate or reflect!
Forever Amber. 972 pages, a plague, a great fire, numerous marriages, several pregnancies, Newgate debtor's prison and the palace at Whitehall. That should keep me going for a while.
I'd like a Dummies book for not only how to get off a desert island, but how to survive while on one while you plan you escape.
Jodi
Norton Anthology of Short Fiction–its fattest book. And can I bring a pen? (Am I actually bargaining with the Desert Island question?)
Definitely not Lord of The Flies. Would have to be something funny I think, as distraction from the hard work of the everyday and to ensure I kept my sense of humor. The inane ridiculousness of the everyday in Franzen's The Corrections might do the trick. But if I were stuck there forever, perhaps The House on Pooh Corner by A.A Milne.
Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. Everyone needs a good laugh when they think it's the end of the world, even on a desert island.
Pride and Prejudice, definitely. I re-read it bi-yearly as it is, anyway.
Mine has to be The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins. Said to be the first novel that fully embraced the detective genre, leading the way for Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Homes et al, this book has it all – adventure, mystery, murder, love unrequited and requited, multiple POV and much much more.
Hands down it would be the Bible.
If I can't have that solar-powered Kindle, then I'd really want my dictionary. I'd have to make up my own stories.
Here's a great "survival" book I just read: "The Bag Lady Papers" by Alexandra Penney. She was an executive at Conde Nast. One of her best friends advised her to invest her life savings with Bernard Madoff. This is the story of how she survived — financially and emotionally. Very uplifting.
Hmm, Nathan. I will say…any book where the rum (both in the plot AND in my secret stash in the palm fronds) ISN'T gone.
(This question also reminds me of the survey question I always get asked on MySpace. You know, the one that says, "If you were stranded on an island, what one thing would you bring with you"…To which, because CLEARLY I have the option of bringing something essential, I always reply: "a boat." …it's SO obvious!!)
https://www.amazon.com/Applause-First-Folio-Shakespeare-Modern/dp/1557833338/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1268920272&sr=8-2
Total theatre geek choice, but it has to be the first folio in modern type. Of course, I'll be totally missing Crystal's Shakespeare's Words, and if I have get rescued my spelling and punctuation will be horrible, but they weren't that good to begin with. 😉
Confessions of a Shopaholic. Would love to have the main character on the Island with me.
We could make cute little grass skirts and high heels from coconut shells.
V by Thomas Pynchon.
If I had to choose one book, it wouldn't be a novel, but if I had to choose a novel it would be "The Brothers Karamazov."
Atlas Shrugged.
the dictionary
I was going to say Shakespeare's The Tempest but I think it would be annoying to be stuck on a desert island reading about other people stuck on a desert island, so I'll go with Pride and Prejudice to keep my hopes up.
Mmmm…I'm a sap. Pride & Prejudice.
I've read Ursula LeGuin's THE BEGINNING PLACE many times. It's a simple story. There's a portal into another world, a fight with a dragon, first love, etc…
The complete Sherlock Holmes.
Not only is it filled with a ton of great stories, but inspiration from Holmes's deductive reasoning may prove valuable at getting off the island.
Definitely The Lord of the Rings Trilogy in a single volume if that kind of thing was allowed.
If not it would have to be 1984. I already know how to make a coal with a bowdrill so being stranded wouldn't be too bad but still having something worse to think about would help.
Night Watch by Terry Pratchett. It has everything I love about books, and if Sam Vimes doesn't go crazy with despair in being stuck in the past, then surely I can avoid going crazy when stuck on an island.
And y'know what? I just realized it's the 2nd, just-in-case-I-finish-the-first book I've always packed on overseas trips. Maybe my subconscious was preparing me for the possible plane-crash, desert-island scenario…
“¿Nomas uno, Nathan?” No se me hace que pueda seleccionar nomas uno, but I’ll try.
The Complete Works of William Shakespeare…No, wait. Dickinson…all of them…No, wait. Carpentier…ARRGGGGHHHHH. Donne. No. Herrick…And yet, no. Gide…or maybe Proust…No…Darwin, but if I select Darwin I also have to chose Hemingway. I can’t read one without the other. That’s one too many, right?
Wait, the question was book not author. See what you did? Now I sound like I’m ranting.
“Thanks, Bro.”
By the way, I see your MOBY-DICK and raise you a Dickens-HARD TIMES.
Also, I have perused my manuscript and have removed most of the overuse, use, use.
Thanks for the heads up.
the oxford unabridged dictionary of the english language from which i'd write my own book.
or a survival guide.
Probably Pride and Prejudice. It's got romance, drama, and humor. Plus, the prose themselves are elegant and well-crafted, so I could probably study it for ages.
James Joyce's _Ulysses_.
Hey Nathan,
Did you have a good St.Patty's day?
J.S.
Housekeeping, by Marilynne Robinson 🙂 Beautiful prose, poetic, can read it over and over.
Infinite Jest
No hesitation…Lonesome Dove.
Engaging characters, a complex and multiple plots, never get tired of reading about WF Call.
Also, thanks for the mention of my blog (puborperish.blogspot.com) the other day, I posted more on the iPad release today, a post called, iDifficulties.
Captain Corelli's Mandolin by Louis de Bernières.
I love the idea that if you hold onto an idea for long enough it may just happen. Nice and inspiring if you're surrounded by sea, sand and loneliness'.
Time & Again by Jack Finney.
A classic that I love.
A short history of nearly everything (Bill Bryson). It got a lot of criticism but it would give a whole lot of perspective to that desert island, and maybe enough time to re-read until I finally understand quantum physics…
John Masters' Trilogy: Heart of War.
Now, God Be Thanked – Heart of War – In The Green Of the Spring.
Yes, it's three volumes because it's hard to print 1900 pages in one cover. I read it once or more each year. Every time, I learn a little more about life/people and a lot more about writing.
I might take The Leopard by Lampedusa since I've had it forever without making a dent…but it has a lot of death in it, so it might be a downer. Better yet, one of the Words without Borders anthologies with translated works from around the world. The excerpts and poetry would keep me entertained.
I'm taking Watership Down by Richard Adams. No idea why, but it's the one book I've read year after year and never gotten bored with. Very strange phenomenon (but enjoyable!).
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. Huge read, and one of my alltime favorites (which is saying alot because generally I don't pick favorites). Or maybe I'd take The Fountainhead by her…. tough call. They're both fascinating reads though. I can get lost in them and forget that I'm stuck, which I think is the idea… 🙂
Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged" always makes me fill empowered.
Since no one's mentioned it, "A Prayer for Owen Meany" by John Irving. And if you haven't read it, please do.
Always and forever, The Picture of Dorian Gray.