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?
Sheritha says
Hi Nathan, I saw your pic for the first time…U r gorgeous! sher
T.M. Lunsford says
The complete works of Jane Austen or C.S. Lewis
Heather says
Gone with the Wind. Man I love that book!
Shelley Watters says
Since I'm a YA author, I'd have to say the Harry Potter series. I have not had time to read the series yet, so I figure if I'm stuck on a desert island I would finally have the time to read them!
And they are long too, so at least they would keep me busy for a while.
It would be a toss up though, I'd also like to have a book on the flora and fauna of the region, so I know what I can and can't eat, and what is and isn't poisonous.
Do survive or be entertained… Quite a dilemma.
Christopher says
I actually wrote this up on my blog last year. I did more than just a book. I did movie, album, video game with it.
My book choice is Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman.
If you are interested in the other choices I made here is the link:
https://www.csdaley.com/2009/10/my-desert-island.html
Reesha says
I'd have to go with the Count of Monte Cristo as well. Not only does it have islands in it, but it's really long.
Plus, I could force myself to ration out its serialized chapters: One for every sandcastle I build!
Then it would last me even longer and I'd get a chance to stop and think about each chapter before I moved on, just like the original readers of it did when it first came out.
The Red Angel says
I was going to say one of my favorite reads like Harry Potter or My Sister's Keeper, but then I changed my mind.
I would most probably bring Pride and Prejudice or Crime & Punishment. Both are take a lot of time and energy to read since they are written very intelligently and are extremely verbose, so I'd have to work on them for a while on the desert. Plus, I hear they are very good books. 🙂
Terry says
If I were stuck on a desert island, I probably wouldn't have planned ahead.
But OK, I'd cheat like Julia, The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
Or maybe Neil Gaiman's, American Gods. That's pretty fat.
Lynne Connolly says
On "Desert Island Discs," the Bible and the complete works of Shakespeare are already there. After years of copouts the producers finally gave the castaways that concession.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qnmr
My book would be Dickens' "Bleak House." An awe-inspiring masterpiece, but also so full of life that it'd keep me going.
Catherine Gayle says
The Complete Works of Shakespeare. Maybe then I'd finally get around to reading ALL of them. I've read most of them, but there are a few that I'm missing.
Kelly Dexter says
I'd have to go with Tad Williams' The War of the Flowers. The world within the pages of that book is one I never want to leave, and Theo Vilmos is a protagonist I alternately identify with and fantasize about. Plus, it has the best platonic friendship between a male and a female that I've ever read.
AndrewDugas says
The Ingenious Hidalgo Don Quixote of La Mancha
If not on a desert island, where?
VR Barkowski says
THE HOBBIT. It's one of the few books I can read over and over and not tire of. And who knows how long I might be on that island?
Gehayi says
I'd pick SAS Survival Handbook: How to Survive in the Wild, in Any Climate, on Land or at Sea by John Lofty Wiseman, because I know that I have absolutely no skills for survival in the wild, and I'm going to need an instruction manual. Preferably with matching survival kit.
If I can have that and one book for pleasure reading, I'll take A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin. It's chock-full of plot and interesting characters, and I know that I won't get bored by it. (It's already survived a seven-month bout in the hospital with me, so I figure it's been tested in the crucible already.)
LeeAnn Flowers says
Island of the Blue Dolphins or Robinson Crusoe if we're going for useful or somewhat useful books.
Dragonsdawn for sheer re-readability.
The Silmarillion for a mind-sharpening read.
katiewalker says
Stephen King's Under the Dome. I got it at Christmas, and I keep finding new books to read. Because it's so big, it's at the bottom so the other's don't fall over.
If I've read it, definitely Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix. For some unknown reason, I just keep reading it again. And again. And again. 21 times and counting.
Jess the Reader says
I adore The Changeover, by Margaret Mahy. I read it about every two months or so, and I would never get bored by it.
That would definitely be my desert island book.
Phyllis says
One of the big ones I never finished, like Ulysses or Gravity's Rainbow. Probably Ulysses.
*makes mental note to read some survival books before being banned to an island*
John N says
A Confederacy of Dunces
30GreatBooks says
The first book that springs to mind is Possession, by A.S. Byatt. I'm not totally sure why except that it's long, complex, and incorporates multiple genres like romance and mystery. I loved it the first time around…hopefully I would still love it the 45th time around too.
Stacey says
Definitely Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice. At least I could dream about Mr. Darcy.
Anonymous says
Or Ashley's Book of Knots, it's really long, I could spend time learning how to tie many knots, and I could read the history of each one while I was at it. Some of the knots might be useful, I could make a hammock or use them to tie a raft together.
Lani Longshore says
I'll bring an introduction to psychoanalysis. If I'm stuck on a desert island with only one book, no materials to make quilts, and probably no chocolate, I'm going to need something to help me identify the ways I'll go barking mad.
Kate says
My American lit. professor in college promised to be uncharacteristically militant and take off major pointage if we failed to hyphenate the title in our Moby-Dick term papers. Herman lovers are very intense about the hyphen!
My book would be the Bible, or Pride and Prejudice, or maybe a Harry Potter book since I've never read them and, apparently, they're pretty good.
Anonymous says
Mila 18 by Leon Uris
Cyndy Aleo-Carreira says
Definitely my Riverside Shakespeare. I always know where it is in the house in case of fire, too. Second choice would be my complete Dickens. Died laughing at @Martin for his Twilight comment. I bet you've secretly enjoyed it, though. 😉
Rollie Raleigh says
Gravity's Rainbow for fun and to keep my brain stimulated. My other option is Don Quixote to explore how a man wrote a novel before there were novels (And I know the full title too, but why bother).
As for Proust, I suggest that for those with only a few days to live because like Orr in Catch 22 if you are really bored, time passes slowly and thus you seem to live longer.
Chassily Wakefield says
The Complete (75 pound) Works of JK Rowling. 😉
Short Thoughts says
"Why, A Practical Guide to Shipbuilding, of course." ~ G. K. Chesterton
Liam says
A compacted collection of Diana Wynne Jones, whom I worship.
Abby Stevens says
Can't I have three? I'd take The Bible, Gone With the Wind, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Sorry, I need all three.
😀
wendy says
The most powerful book I know, The Bible. The New Testament, especially, encourages you to eliminate negativity which I'm sometimes prone to. ('Why worry about tomorrow? Will it add an extra day to your life? Tomorrow will take care of itself.')
Oh, and the Lord of The Rings trilogy if I could carry another three. The Twilight series as well if I've thoughtfully packed my backpack with no survival gear but plenty of books.
AM Riley says
Devlin's Boatbuilding: How to Build Any Boat the Stitch-and-Glue Way
And maybe the complete 'Foundation' series by Asimov.
Tiffany says
Tess of the Dubervilles. Weird I named my mc after her. 🙂
p.s Moby Dick is brilliant. I wrote one of my last grad school papers on the novel's warning against male-only communities.
D. Michael Olive says
Robert Ludlum's "The Matarese"
Lucinda says
Sometimes my own living room feels like a deserted island, survival would not be a problem. So, if I could take all the books off my bookshelf and only be left with one for a long time, I would have to say, the Bible.
Can I choose a second one? "Discourses of Epictetus."
Michelle says
Wow, never realized how much I had in common with so many of your followers!
The Bible would be my top pick. But life without Jane Austen and Dickens? It would be a lonely island indeed. (Jane Eyre is right up there, too.) I also love the Count of Monte Cristo, but that would cause me to crave the sandwich of the same name–not good on a coconut diet!
Rebecca L says
I'd have to say Homer's Illiad or Odyssey…. 🙂 I love Greek Mythology, and you'd need all that time to re-read it, so you can understand it fully.
Rebecca LuElla Miller says
Definitely the Bible. It's got plenty of stories for the days I'd want people around, and it's weighty, giving me lots of unpacking to do. Plus it would lift my spirits. And as a bonus, it would express my fears and needs as well.
But if we're limited to fiction, I'd say The Scarlet Pimpernel, just because I haven't reread it for a while.
Martha Vega says
Practicality aside, my gut reaction would be to take my copy of the complete writings of Oscar Wilde. He's got a little of everything, poems, fairy tales, short stories, essays, letters, all sorts of plays, and I love almost all of it.
Alternately, I might be persuaded to take a dual-language version of the Divine Comedy, as an excuse to get through "Paradiso" and "Purgatorio" and practice reading Italian.
Josin L. McQuein says
Raft Building for Dummies
😛
vickachic says
Without a doubt:
The Sex Lives of Cannibals, hilarious and absurdly fitting for the moment.
Alpha-Mom says
This is a tough one, but… if I think of the book(s) I've re-read most over the years it'd have to be LOTR. Any part of the trilogy, but hopefully I'd have enough smarts to have a 3-in-one set. I wish I could be more literary or more daring than that. The other two options would be Grimm's Fairy Tales or King Arthur.
Kim Batchelor says
No question: One Hundred Years of Solitude. A long book which reveals something new every time I read it.
Joseph L. Selby says
I'm bringing my ereader. Utilizing schematics copied from the Professor on Gilligan's Island, I will construct a power supply from the indigenous coconuts to keep the reader operational. I will then be able to vary my time across a spectrum of fiction and nonfiction to give me ideas on how to survive and spruce up my island.
jef says
SON OF THE MORNING STAR
by Evan S. Connell
Paul Reali says
Assuming that "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare" does not count as one book, I choose the rich, multi-layered, prose-by-a-poet, "All the King's Men."
Of course, this question might be moot once we have the solar-powered Kindle.
Lindsey Edwards says
I agree with Chuck H. about the bible, same reasons. If the harry potter books were one book, I'd pick that, but you can't read just one! *g* I guess anything by romance author Shana Abe. Her books read like poetry and the descriptions pop with life. Just beautiful!
GerriB says
Cyteen by C. J. Cherryh
JoAnn says
My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell. Is that still in print? My paper back was nibbled on by a mouse…So hilarious, and prefect for island living. I don't plan on living on the island for too long. I have a dependence on toilet paper that would inhibit a long term residence.