 Derma Kaputfrom Possum Grape, Arkansas Associate, 2156 posts |
the power and the glory - graham greene rookery blues - john hassler maus I & II- art spiegelman (okay, not really fiction and in comic form, but it's a keeper) beowolf - seamus heaney's translation amphigorey - edward gorey amphigorey also - edward gorey the dream songs - john berryman (poetry, vaguely autobiographical, but it's also a keeper) the sound and the fury - william faulkner (though I'd have a hard time picking it up again!) suite francais - irene nemirovsky (because I haven't finished it yet, and it's good) godel, escher, bach - douglas hofstadter (I've been trying to finish this one for DECADES) |
 Dotdotdotfrom mars 466 posts |
oohh good question. assuming i'm leaving TODAY.. these are the books i'd bring. And I am taking this question very literally, that I'm actually going to an island, so I have selected these books for stranded-island compatibility, there are not just plain favorites. Run With the Hunted by Charles Bukowski (it's a compiliation thing, and I just started reading it and would like to finishhh) The Gun Seller by Hugh Laurie (YES THAT HUGH LAURIE) Again, cuz I am currently reading it and would like something to remind me of him in my time of abandonment. the complete hitchhikers guide series (I have it in one book-form, so it counts as one) by Douglas Adams Catch-22 by Joseph Heller The Man Who Turned Into Himself by David Ambrose (just finished, hella good) The Beach by Alex Garland (cuz i can read it over and over plus, it will remind me not to be silly and form a desert island society with the other stranded, b/'c it will definitely turn into a dystopia and all dyspotias end the same (not great)) The Collected Stories of Amy Hempel by Amy Hempel Fup by Jim Dodge American Gods by Neil Gaiman A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, in case I get really desperate and want to literally bore myself to death.
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 Shannon McEwenfrom Canada 463 posts |
I would being the following: 1. All I need to know I learned in Kindergarten - by Robert Fulgram becuase this wisdom and humour have brought me through many rough times 2. The complete Calvin and Hobbes Collection - becuase it reminds me of my own imaginary friend, and makes me laugh. A lot. 3. The bible. Becuase I've never read it and I think it would be an interesting read. 4. 1984 - by George Orwell, loved that book 5. From the Outside Looking in - by Shannon Hallam - I figure I myswell work on it if I have the time 6. Light My Fire - by Shannon Hallam - I figure I should actually finish writing it. 7. a trashy romance novel - I love to escape into a good romance at the end of a long day 8. A sunday edition of the Vancouver Province newspaper - it has good funnies and works well to light the fire 9. Surviving on a desserted Island for dummies - 'cause hey, I'm no dummy 10. Mr Brown can moo can you - by Dr. Seuss, becuase I figure if I'm gonna go crazy, I myswell do it in style.-----Life is what happens while you wait for great things. Life is what happens while you wait for great things. |
 Leanne Hansonfrom Just west of the lounge room Associate, 3708 posts |
The Ultimate Hitchhikers Guide (Douglas Adams) -- like Shannon, I will cheat and take the single volume version. Unlike the traitorous Shannon V, I will make sure that I put this most important work first on my list. 1984 (George Orwell) -- just in case it's not a real island but a conspiracy of Big Brother. Siddhartha (Herman Hesse) -- journeys of self discovery are always handy when you're the only person to discover. Collected Poems (Philip Larkin) -- for scathing commentary on the people and society I'm not likely to ever see again. The Rubaiyyat (Omar Khayyam) -- just because it's awesome. And beautiful. And handy if I find an oasis populated by goatherders. The Great Gatsby (F. Scott Fitzgerald) -- to remind myself that people who disappear without explanation for many years can come back and be successful... And to prove that although it's possible to live without alcohol, it's very dangerous. The Lord of the Rings (J RRRRRRR Tolkien) -- I might even read all the appendices. That's all I can think of without making stuff up... though I've liked plenty of other books I certainly wouldn't want to have them as the only thing to read for the rest of my life. And I'm so not taking Robinson Crusoe. Also, may I recommend self-cannibalism. To paraphrase Brillat-Savarin, "you eat what you are".
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 Laurie Blumfrom Cloud 9 Associate, 2074 posts |
And if I could sneak in a nonfiction… SAS Survival Handbook: How to Survive in the Wild, in Any Climate, on Land or at Sea - John Lofty Wiseman |
 Paradiso, Tracey Associate, 1902 posts |
1. The Shipping News by E. Annie Proulx. I've read this several times. There's something about the grittiness of the characters and the believable transformations that take place that gets me every time. 2. The Bible. I mean no offense if you take the Bible literally. I see it as a lot of metaphors, and a lot of material that I can refer to in my own writing. 3. The Brothers Karamazov, Fyodor Doestoevski. Richly layered fiction. I love FD's understanding and rendering of the nuances of human behavior. 4. The Corrections (Jonathan Franzen) and/or A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius (Dave Eggers), because I haven't read either one yet. 5. The Ultimate Hitchhikers Guide by Douglas Adams, because Leanne told me I must read it. 6. A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole, because I remember it made me laugh. 7. One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, or a book by another excellent Latin writer. 8. The Red Tent by Anita Diamant. The writing isn't great, but something about this book really helped me change my life for the better. 9. As much poetry as I could get away with bringing. I have a lot to learn, a lot to enjoy. |
Derma Kaputfrom Possum Grape, Arkansas Associate, 2156 posts |
edit: I'm leaving "the sound and the fury behind" and opting for "the tent" by margaret atwood. I just bought it and it looks absolutely fabulous. |
 Joe R Associate, 313 posts |
And just to slip into fantasy and assume I have found a "hatch", electricity, and means to play records... (and a lame excuse to hijack a thread!)
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| Josie |
1. The Hours by Michael Cunningham. Madness and beauty. Is there anything else? 2. Amy Hempel's Reasons to Live-I don't know how she does it. Plus she survived Gordon Lish. 3. Remembrance of Things Past - all 6(is it 6?) volumes. Can that count as one book? I don't know how he does it either. It's as if he's simply breathing. I've never seen such effortless writing. 4. The Tempest -William Shakespeare. Not all desert islands are the same. If I'm alone on the island I need to remember that magic exists or else I'll go crazy from boredom. 5. Madame Bovary-Flaubert said, "I AM Madame Bovary." No, I am! 6. Something by Philippa Gregory-Reading trash without guilt because there's a history lesson in there somewhere. 7. Ariel by Sylvia Plath-I don't know if she's a great poet (perhaps someone could write about that) but she saved my life many, many years ago and I owe her. 8. Some Tolstoy-anything. It's like watching an epic. 9. Dr. Seuss or Chris Van Alsberg (not sure of the spelling there). 10. Harold Bloom. Any of his books. I love his mind. I think he would be a great companion. If not him then Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes. I love his mind too. He makes me feel safe.
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Paradiso, Tracey Associate, 1902 posts |
(sound of a low quality pen scritching across a page) ...adding some of your faves to my "must read" list... |
Dotdotdotfrom mars 466 posts |
Josie, you have Amy Hempels Reasons to Live? I can't find it ANYWHERE. Except online, and I've been too lazy to order it. I've wanted to buy that book for a while because of the "In the Cemetery Where Al Jolson is Buried" story. Though I have her collected works instead. She is super rad. |
| Poetrydog 15 posts |
1. surviving on a desert island - a practical guide, by R.Crusoe 2. learning to love sand, by L.O. Farabia 3. Urine - the water of life, by K Moss 4. Boat building for beginners, by A Onassis 5. Fly fishing, by JR Hartley 6. How to build an inflatable woman from driftwood, by H Heffner 7. The joy of sex - singles edition, by W. Anchor 8. Encyclopoedia Britannica - the edible edition 9. Coping with delerium, by Wilson 10. I bet the Bitch is shagging someone else, by T Hanks
----- yes, we have no bananas. yes, we have no bananas. |
Leanne Hansonfrom Just west of the lounge room Associate, 3708 posts |
I am fairly sure you'll find that T. Hanks is the same person as W. Anchor. And you can never trust anything written by that bloody Wilson. |
| Poetrydog 15 posts |
I find he's more trustworthy than Mssrs Spalding, Mitre and Addidas. ----- yes, we have no bananas. yes, we have no bananas. |
 Jerseydanielgibson 51 posts |
hmm, only ten? The Oddesy - Homer The Death Of a Salesman - Henry Miller Shadow of the Wind - Zuron (spanish name) 1984 - Wells Brave New World - Huxley A Collection of Ro0bert Frost poems hmm.... think of more later
----- Wot, no tea? I'm standing in the corner of Winslow, Arizona, and whoops! I'm in the wrong song! -Tissi Germain |
 Jones, Paganinifrom Hyde in Cheshire 385 posts |
To clarify - is poetry fiction or non-fiction? Only on ebay it counts as non fiction and if that's the case I'll be stumped to come up with 10... |
Leanne Hansonfrom Just west of the lounge room Associate, 3708 posts |
How on earth can poetry be non-fiction? Is there a poet born who's not a liar with a pen? |
Paradiso, Tracey Associate, 1902 posts |
Good point, Ms. H. Funny, I'm looking at my list now and thinking, "Nah, I'd change that up quite a bit." What a fickle reader I am. Right now I'm reading Animal Farm. I figure a dose of that and 1984 will do me some good considering the times. ----- ~~~t~~~ |
| 13 posts |
An unknown period of time...hmm... 1. lluminatus! by Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson (I've given away about 5 copies of this and I keep buying more). 2. Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, by Bill 3. The Count of Monte Cristo by Dumas 4. Speaker for the Dead by Card 5. The Silmarillion (sp?) Tolkien 6. Robinson Crusoe by Defoe (might have some ideas!) 7. The Iliad by Homer (Chapman's translation of course). 8. The Glass Bead Game by Hesse 9. The Foundation Trilogy by Asimov 10. The complete works of John Keats (or is that non-fiction?)
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| 13 posts |
Leanne: And if the wine you drink, the lip you press end in the nothing all things end in, yes... Then fancy while thou art, thou art but what Thou shalt be - nothing - thou shalt not be less. |
 Kath Abela Wilsonfrom after the dance 290 posts |
I'm packing.
So far these are in the bag. (I always pack books appropriate to where I am going!
Desert Island Wine The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne Turtle Island by Gary Snyder
more soon, before the boat leaves! ----- please write back |
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You're stuck on a desert island for an unknown period of time.
You can bring ten works of fiction with you.
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