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Favorite book

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savage_henry

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You get shipwrecked on a desert Island. You can only have ONE book. which book do you take? I know this does not have to be your favorite book but give it a shot.

For me, I would take The Lord of the Rings. For one, it is quite a long book, second, I have re-read it alot and always gotten something new out of it.

Mike
 
It would have to be a long book with a solid plot and lots of detail to absorb. Lord of the Rings is a good choice. Lots of detail and can be re-read several times to take it all in.
 
Only ONE??? OK. I would take Into The Wilderness by Sara Donati. It is a period piece set in the American Frontier circa 1745. It is rich in descriptive detail of the American wilderness of that time, bursting with little known facts concerning the time period from social mores to native American customs , and action/adventure abounds from cover to cover. Thrown in the middle of all that is a nice romance. Overall a good read (if you like history) that can easily be read many, many times.

Chris
 
Originally posted by Holger
I think I would take a survival book with me! ;)
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Well said, Hol. I think your posting highlights the fact that the last thing you're really going to need on a desert island is a thundering good read.

That said...
originally posted by by SilveryChris
I would take Into The Wilderness by Sara Donati.
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Completely new to me, this one. It's enviable that US writers are still in pursuit of the Great American Epic Novel, whereas equivalent attempts in the UK sort of fizzled our after Dickens (and even he can't really be counted, as he wrote in instalments). Must be something to do with the priorities and cultural attitudes. I do think there are a lot of very good contemporary British novels. But our modern writers do tend to rather shun the size and scope of your Tom Wolfes, Don DeLillos, John Irvings and Jonathan Frantzens.

If anyone wants to challenge me on this, I am quite ready to be proved wrong.

Tobytook
 
How about a set of encyclopedia? Or is that cheating? :)

I've loved browsing through encyclopedias since I was young. I'd start by looking up a topic, then end up reading the next few topics as well.
 
I'm ashamed to say I started reading The Hobbit but got stuck after the first few chapters. So I decided not to bother with Lord of the Rings. I watched the film however, and thoroughly enjoyed it.... so I'll wait for the next 2 movies now!
 
How about The Unabridged Shakespeare. I've had it since college and still refer to it occasionally.

It would come in handy. I could commit all the plays and sonnets to memory and entertain myself for years.

P.S. Hi, everybody. I've been away for a while. Good to see more action on the boards.
 
What was your favorite book this summer?

Hi, everyone. I've gone through my pile of must-read books, and need some new suggestions. To that end, I'm wondering what peoples' favorite books were that they read this summer. I'll start: Three months ago, I read a brand-new book called Beneath a Marble Sky: A Novel of the Taj Mahal. This book tells the beautiful story behind the creation of the Taj Mahal. In many ways, it reminded me of Memoirs of a Geshia. I read it cover to cover over one weekend, and have not been so moved by a book in years. It's powerful, gripping, enlightening, etc. I simply can't say enough good things about this book. If you like historical fiction at all, this is an absolute must read.

I also liked Bel Canto quite a bit. Bangkok 8 is a gritty, good book worthy of a look.

OK, I've made my suggestions. Any for me?

Thanks! - Sarah
 
i read several this summer, i think the ones i really enjoy were captains and the kings by taylor caldwell, which was pretty good its basicly a family story (like archer's ones) but also its about this conspiracy theory about the new world order.
and then i rediscoverd agatha christie with murder on the orient express, which i really enjoy
 
Two must-reads for me were: The Preservationist by David Maine, a retelling of the Noah flood story, really funny sometimes, others times very moving in a surprising way. (I'm not a big Bible lit fan but this was definitely left-of-center and very worhwhile. Way better than The Red Tent if you read that.) The other was a Pakistani book that I got in London but is coming out in the US in October (hey, that's today!) called Trespassing. The writer is Uzma Aslam Khan. It's a big book, 450+ pages, with lots of storylines that all weave together in and out again. Some sex, some politics, some violence, some romance. Overall really good. It got me interested in writers from India/Pak again. The politics are pretty provocative which is fine by me.
 
Sorry--I should've also mentioned The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffennegger. Great book! Takes a sci-fi premise but does so much more with it than your average nuts 'n' bolts sci-fi story. Really it's about a relationship, and takes an unorthodox approach to it. Emotionally wrenching.
 
Probably Banvard's Folly by Paul Collins. It's non-fiction, but very compelling in an odd sort of way.
 
zackariah2000 said:
Sorry--I should've also mentioned The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffennegger. Great book! Takes a sci-fi premise but does so much more with it than your average nuts 'n' bolts sci-fi story. Really it's about a relationship, and takes an unorthodox approach to it. Emotionally wrenching.
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I agree - this was my favorite book this summer as well. I cried my little heart out at the ending. It was just so poignant.
 
The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath

The Bell Jar chronicles the crack-up of Esther Greenwood: brilliant, beautiful, enormously talented, and successful, but slowly going under--maybe for the last time. Sylvia Plath masterfully draws the reader into Esther's breakdown with such intensity that Esther's insanity becomes completely real and even rational, as probable and accessible an experiece as going to the movies. Such deep penetration into the dark and harrowing corners of the psyche is an extraordinary accomplishment and has made The Bell Jar a haunting American classic. ... amazon.com

Quite macabre but stunning!
 
The Named - Marianne Curley was my best read this summer, although I read Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice which was pretty amazing, too! I love the way Jane Austen writes... there's such a lot of beautiful words!
 
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