1 A laptop with satellite internet and a solar charger.

2 Would the Aubrey-Maturin series count as one book?

3

WILSON !!

4 Shelby Foote's 3-volume history
"The Civil War: A Narrative"

5 If you need to know how to skin a whale and boil down blubber, there is only on book.
If you want to ponder the fate of your eternal soul I would go with pilgrims progress, paradise lost & the divine comedy in addition to the holy bible.
Since I am on a desert island, may as well throw in a strongs.

Gonna need toilet paper so add me a crate of paper back science fiction and romance novels.

6 Papillon

7 I love that...majoring in Anguish - being a girl, I would need all six Jane Austen novels, you never know when you might need to do a quadrille...

8 Good Morning Monty; I must say I could never narrow down a small list of books for a desert island sojorn.  I would have to have my entire library.

On a different note I finished that book this week that I mention last week on the American Civil War from a British Perspective. It was written by a British Military man of the aristocracy.

His major findings were:

Although he hated slavery he thought the North was far into the wrong on the way they went about their abolitionist movement.

He detested the loss of freedoms that occurred in the North and the South as the country moved into war.

Although Britain was in favor of the South splitting off in order to reduce the power of the U.S. then and in the future, they would not take the side of the Confederacy because they were afraid the North would invade Canada and take it and at the time Britain simply did not have enough troops to fight that with all the other commitments around the globe.

The reasons the South lost the war were built in to the the same reasons the South wanted to separate. Overall reason, State autonomy built into the Confederate Constitution weakened the war fighting capability. Specifically in no specific order these are the things he said really hurt the Confederacy:

1. Although the Confederacy had the best top military leadership in Lee, Stuart, and Jackson the next layer of Southern generals were incompetent and did not adequately carry out the orders from above.

2. The problem above was exacerbated by the rule that called for Confederate officers to be elected by popular vote.

3. Jefferson Davis was not a good choice to lead the Confederacy and he micro-managed the war causing all kinds of problems particularly in the East with Lee.  Lee was not allowed to capitolize on initial victories in the East. It was his opinion that f Davis had allowed Lee free reign he would have captured Washington early in the War and at that time probably could have achieved a ceasefire and won.

4. The Confederates were always short on material. Lee lost at Antietam because he was only able to get 30K troops to the battle (with the union at over 100K) because much of Lee's infantry could not march fast enough due to being barefooted and had to be left behind. 

5. The war was essentially over when the South lost control of the mid-plains rivers.

On a personal note he said that the thing that upset Lee the most about the union taking his house at Arlington was not that they took it and turned it into a cemetery, but that they had plundered the house and carried away all of George Washington's personal possessions that were stored there, never to be seen again.

9 Dreams of my Father

10 Oooh.... this is my kind of thread! Funny, I majored in Anguish, too. Well, technically I majored in "I fell in love Freshman year and thought I wanted to kill myself when he broke up with me senior year," with a minor in "Drinking will make me happy, right?"

For me they'd be:

The "Outlander" series by Diana Gabaldon, the Bible, and the poems and letters of Emily Dickinson.

11 Gotta have a novel, a history, and a 'real life'  collection.  So - Shibumi (Trevanian), U.S. Grants Civil War Dispatches (or Sherman's), and Backgammon (Magriel).  Or Jenna Jameson's bio.......

12 I'm glad someone else likes the Fountainhead better than that other thing, the door stop.   Fountainhead is a good read, especially for a young person on the move.  It ought to dispel that angst shit.   Just skip the long speech at the end.  Why Rand thought ending every book and play with a long speech is beyond me. Bo-ring!

13

I know he's pinko symp-douche, but Gabriel Garcia Marquez wrote one of my favorite books.  "One Hundred Years of Solitude" is a strange magical epic.

The complete works of Victor Davis Hanson.

Every John Updike book because God knows I could use burnable stuff to help start signal fires.  And lots of toilet paper.

14
Steven Pinker, "How the Mind Works" - incredible insights, a blend of evolutionary psychology and the computational model.

Primo Levi, "The Periodic Table" - hauntingly beautiful memoir of a Holocaust survivor, reflections on the human condition.

Petr Beckmann, "A History of Pi" - charming and quirky intellectual history of mankind, built on the thread of how many digits of Pi were known and why.

Jared Diamond, "Guns, Germs and Steel" - how geography determines the fate of a society.  I disagree with this thesis (um, ideas matter, Dude), but it was worth reading and arguing about.

Paul Davies, "The Mind of God" - an examination of the great unanswered questions, and the possible impact of recent scientific developments.

15 Origin of Species Liege Killer Robinson Crusoe

16 War And Peace, In Search Of Lost Time, A Dance To The Music of Time, The Man Without Qualities, SAS Survival Handbook

17 Had this discussion only it involved games. Granted opponents needed would also be deserted.

Afrika by MMP

Empires in Arms by Avalon Hill

Empire of the Sun by GMT

Stalingrad II by MMP

18 For the People by GMT also..

19

Penthouse...cuz a volleyball ain't gonna do it for me

 

IYKWIMAIITYD

20 The Bible

The Complete Works of Shakespeare (also serves as source of paper for tp and firestarting from some of the tragedies)

Beyond Good and Evil - Nietzsche - One of my undergrad majors was philosophy with an emphasis on existentialism and semantics.  I agree that Kierkegaard was one of the writers who brought me closer to my faith.  But it was truly Nietzsche who did that.  I know that sounds curious but it's contemplation of the implications of a life without God that drew me back.

Sexual Personae - Camille Paglia - Oh Camille, how I love you.  I don't necessarily agree with her theory but the writing, oh the writing.  Plus it's a bit of a cheat since it contains at least snippets of other major works.

Shakespeare:  The Invention of the Human - Harold Bloom - Again, I don't necessarily accept the premise, though Bloom is persuasive, but the consideration of the idea will give me hours of thought.

All of John Scalzi's books, but especially the Old Man's War series.  The Last Colony would be very appropriate.

The Lord of the Rings/The Hobbit - Add in The Simarillion for tp usage as well.

The Norton Anthology of English Literature, Volumes 1 & 2 - Okay, okay, this is a huge cheat but it's a handy way to have a ton of great works.

US Army Survival Manual - Um.  Duh.

Also, my kindle and a solar charger to keep me in mass market mysteries, thrillers, sci-fi and YA stuff.

21

War and Peace...

...it would have a longer burn time

22 "Silent America" by Bill Whittle. From it you will gather strength and purpose, two things you'll need to get off the island.

23 The Dictionary

All the books ever written are in there I just have to put the words into the right order.

24 The Bible- in hopes that I would finally read a good portion of it.
The Killer Angels - Shaara (best Civil War novel ever)
Triumph - Harry W. Crocker III  ( an excellant retelling of Catholic history by someone who actually seems to like the Church)
Musashi - Yoshikawa
Any good survival guide

10000 copies of Earth in The Balance- because they would make fine bricks for my hut.

25

What? Did everyone wake up in an existential mood or something?

I have in my library much of what has been mentioned.

On a desert island, I would want the Bible. Apart from its religious importance, it is captivating in its story telling, and it teaches you to think. Try following the promises that God makes to Abraham in Genesis 12 and 17 (the promised land, the great nation, blessings and cursings, and the covenant) through the rest of the Bible.

One of my most enjoyable reads is Tolkein's Trilogy. I can see reading it under some tree somewhere.

Shakespeare's Complete Works.The man could turn a phrase. Plus the acting would give you something to do on those long candleslit nights. Maybe you could entertain the cannibals before they threw you into the pot.

Charles Dickens actually wrote some pretty good novels. You are on a desert island with nothing to do right?

And just to remind you of someone who actually knew how to live on a desert island, Swiss Family Robinson and Robinson Crusoe. Does the name Robinson have a monopoly on deserted islands?

 

 

26 I always laugh at the Saturday Night Live spoof of "Castaway" where Tom Hanks saves one Fed Ex package and finally delivers it to that remote farmhouse. Then the recipient opens it and there's a lighter, a flare gun and a satellite phone in the package. Heh!

27 Meditations on Hunting by Ortega y Gasset .
LOR , Tolkien
Everything by Obrien .
Keith Hernandez' baseball book , can't remember the title .

28 Keith Hernandez' baseball book , can't remember the title .

Posted by: awkward davies at June 06, 2010 08:55 AM (B4e7Q)

I think it's called  'Back...and to the Left'

29

All the Arkady Renko novels by Martin Cruz Smith.

The bible

The Enchiridion by Epictetus

Meditations by Marcus Aurelius

Dangerous Liasons by Laclos. 

All the Rolf Humphries translations of Roman Authors

1602 - the graphic novel of the Marvel universe set in Elizabethan England.

The collected works of Dave Barry

The collected works of Roald Dahl and HH Munro

Art, a New History by Paul Johnson

And a bunch of art books on the Baroque period. 

that should hold me.  

 

 

 

 

30 american small sailing craft , Chapman .

31 Catcher In the Rye .  It'd make it easier to commit suicide .

32

The more important question is

what music would you bring to a desert island?

the goldberg variations by Glenn Gouldl

Waiting for Columbus, by Little Feat

Beethoven's fifth, third, ninth and sixth

Mozart. Everything.

Everything by Ian Drury

Concerto in B Goode by Chuck Berry

the complete 2000 year old man by mel Brook and Carl Reiner

Everything by the Temptations

all my mashups.

33 The Sally, Dick, and Jane series, closely followed by The Illiad and the Odyssey.

34 Also, High Times Magazine and a starter kit.

35

Göedel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid by Douglas Hofstadter

I've owned that book for decades and have just never gotten around to reading it

For my deserted (really, Monty...) island reads, I'll list a couple that aren't the usual suspects:

Brideshead Revisited

The Alexandria Quartet:  Lawrence Durrell

36 Too sleepy to think of my desert island books, but another game that will let you see how you mature over the years is to make a list of the ten people who have had the most influence on your life - what makes it fun for me is that the list should cover all people, living or dead, including those who you never met.  So, e.g., your list might include Jesus Christ, Shakespeare, Galileo and George Washington, and you have to decide whether to bump you mom, dad, spouse or college girlfriend off the list to make room for the inventor of fire.  Try it, you'll like it.

BTW, my list now includes Ace and Megan Fox.

37 Sundy Book Thread?

38 Beethoven's fifth, third, ninth and sixth

I'd include the seventh also.

39

No offense intended , Monty, but I always thought this question a bit silly. Unless, I knew I was going to be rescued, I'm not going to be sitting on my ass reading.

There is food to be found/caught/killed. Potable water is a must.

...and I would be spending every waking hour trying to fugure out how to get out of the situation.

Ask again..only condition it by saying something like "If you were going to be put on a beach for an extended period of time..with no amenties other than having your food and water provided..which books would you take with you?"

 

 

40
When  trapped on a desert island with a herd of sheep, the only problem is deciding which one is the prettiest?

41 "Orthodoxy" by G.K. Chesterton
"Till We Have Faces" by C.S. Lewis
and this one may be strange, but "Citizen of the Galaxy" by Heinlein. Heinlein is probably who turned me into a conservative around age 10 when I read a lot of his stuff, "Starship Troopers", "Moon is a Harsh Mistress", but "Citizen of the Galaxy", particularly in how people refuse to believe what they want to believe and why freedom is important enough to sacrifice for, stuck with me as a kid. Great, great innoculation to all the liberal nonsense in my HS and college years.
And, of course, "Bored of the Rings." Yes, "Bored of the Rings" with a B. And absolutely everything by Raymond Chandler.
Great thread -- I love this, will give me lots and lots of reading to do.

42 Sundy Book Thread? Holy crap, I didn't even notice that. Still got sleep in my eyes... (And shame on the rest of you for not catching it sooner!)

43 43, Depends on the island. If it's big and has a decent abundance and diversity of plants and animals (no poisonous beasties, please), then you should have plenty of leisure time.

44 46, Just thought your accent was charming.

45 A complete book of poisonous plant life would be helpful.

46 The Hidden Face of God by Gerald Schroeder is a good, short read on things existential, and can be--should be--reread for additional insight.  Good if you find yourself alone on an island with only a soccer ball.

47 Sundy Book Thread?

Holy crap, I didn't even notice that. Still got sleep in my eyes... (And shame on the rest of you for not catching it sooner!)

I think everyone noted it but most of us aren't into spelling and typo criticisms because we are all guilty and it is not important anyway.

48 Sundy Book Thread?

Holy crap, I didn't even notice that. Still got sleep in my eyes... (And shame on the rest of you for not catching it sooner!)

Notice wut Monty?

49 Monty:

This is the book I was referencing above. It is a must read for any student of the late great war.

http://tinyurl.com/22kq9va

50 I think everyone noted it but most of us aren't into spelling and typo criticisms because we are all guilty and it is not important anyway. Yeah, I know. But still...it seems wrong in a book-thread, you know? I second the praise for Shelby Foote's epic Civil War books, by the way. They are the definitive battle-history of that conflict. They're huge, though -- each volume runs to over a thousand pages. For a single-volume treatment, James McPherson's Battle Cry of Freedom is a good choice.

51

49 A complete book of poisonous plant life would be helpful.

Ever read the book/see the movie Into the Wild? ...speaking of a college kid feeling anguish, existential pain, and being lib stoopid.

52 I agree on the Shelby Foote for the details of the battles and strategy, however I think if you are into other aspects that there are a lot more books that are better.

I am more into the politics leading into the war than the actual battles themselves.

53 Books:

The Liturgy of the Hours
Raintree County
Alexander Hamilton: A Biography by Forrest McDonald

Music:

JSB  Mass in B minor
Joseph Haydn  The Creation

54 GolfBoy, I've read "A History of Pi" and found it strange that the author disliked the Roman Empire so much. Don't know much about Mr. Beckmann to explain why he thinks that.

55

I think everyone noted it but most of us aren't into spelling and typo criticisms because we are all guilty and it is not important anyway.

Yeh, that's why I'm not telling him about the other typos.

56 The Qu'ran. OsamaHusseinIslamObama 2012Œ (the terrorist-Uighur-ACORN-media choice) -Itfs never too early to campaign-

57

Well, the first book that comes to mind for being stranded and alone...

Learned Optimism by Martin Seligman

58

Ask again..only condition it by saying something like "If you were going to be put on a beach for an extended period of time..with no amenties other than having your food and water provided..which books would you take with you?"

 Posted by: beedubya

Kinda like unlimited unemployment checks & food stamps. A lot of people are on desert islands, the just don't see it that way. Hard to see anything with the boob-tube on all day.

59
Someone once asked G. K. Chesterton which book he would bring to a desert island. He replied, "A book on shipbuilding."

As for mine:

* The Landmark editions of Herodotus and Thucydides.
* The Bible.
* The complete Shakespeare.
* The complete Chaucer.
* The Oxford book of English verse.
* Dostoyevsky's major novels.
* And, as a change of pace from the above, the collected works of Philip Jose Farmer.

60 Kinda like unlimited unemployment checks & food stamps. A lot of people are on desert islands, the just don't see it that way. Hard to see anything with the boob-tube on all day.

LOL, I am close to that now. I am retired and have all those checks coming in but no food stamps.  I used to keep the tube on to Fox with the volume down low while I read in case something came up. I don't even do that anymore.

Now the only thing I have on while I read is the computer with the current active AOS threads up.

61 DSkinner wrote:

"I've read "A History of Pi" and found it strange that the author disliked the Roman Empire so much. Don't know much about Mr. Beckmann to explain why he thinks that."

You could tell he hated the Romans.  A lot.  I think it was part of the whole anti-bureaucracy and anti-totalitarianism thingy.

_____________

On a separate sub-thread, here are my desert island music selections. 

Bach, Chaconne from Partita 2, B minor Mass
Bruckner, Symphonies 5, 8 and 9
Liszt, Sonata in B minor
Stravinsky, The Rite of Spring
Mahler, Symphonies 8 and 9, Das Lied von der Erde
Wagner, The Ring
Sibelius, Tapiola
Shostakovich, String Quartets
Beethoven, Violin Concerto, Symphony 9
Ravel, Gaspard de la Nuit
Rachmaninoff, Piano Concertos 2 and 3, Symphony 2

Oh, heavens, this will never end...

62 Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace.

63

religious books

tolkein

toynsbee history of us

works of shakespeare

classification on herbs

dictionary- so i can finally learn how to spell and speak correctly (to myslef)

sefer yetzerah, to see if mystical stuff really can occur and i could build golems to find food. heh- protect me from whatever , snakes,spiders, lions , tigers, and bears.

survivalist books. (need recommendation)

 

 

64 You know, Monty, if I were stranded on a desert island in today's political climate, I would consider myself lucky.  I'd be reveling in my good fortune for so long that I prob'ly wouldn't think about a book for awhile.  Anyway, I'd be building my hut and scavenging for the first week or so.

65 ipad, with a gazzilion batteries?

66 The Martha Stewart Chronicles by Protein Wisdom
Anything by Ace of Spades
The early works of Allahpundit, pre-castration

67 War and Peace, so I can finally say I finished the damn thing

The Iliad, for the same reason

The Divine Comedy, because you can't just read Inferno and Purgatorio

The Bible, The Koran, and The Bhagavad Gita for purposes of comparison

Everything written by Heinlein, Niven, and Niven & Pournelle

Every book in the robot and Foundation universe

The latest complete Encyclopaedia Brittanica, in the hope that they have articles on the little plant I want to eat that may or may not be poisonous

The Brothers Karamazov and Crime and Punishment

68 The Martha Stewart Chronicles by Protein Wisdom

Now that was a series for the Ages.

69

Zen and the art of Motorcycle Maintenance will teach you how to think. I read this book every year, and I'm like a f'ng Gideon the way I give dog-eared copies away.

rece

70

Disagree on the Shelby Foote as the definitive history of the Civil War. I'd rank Burce Catton's Centennial History of the Civil War (3-book series) right up there. His other books are also excellent reading, especially his two -volume series on Grant: Grant Moves South and Grant Takes Command, are teriffic.

Lee gets a a lot of credit for brilliance, but his corps commanders, especially Stonewall and Longstreet, saved him a couple of times when he overreached. Longstreet couldn't dissuade him from attacking on the last day at Gettysburg, and he damned near wrecked his army.

I'd also mark Lee down for not keeping that glory hound Stuart under control. Stuart's stunt of riding around the Union Army in the Gettysburg campaign deprived Lee of valuable intelligence.

For a top notch cavalry commander, look no futher than Nathan Bedford Forrest.

 

My $0.02, YMMV

71 The Iliad, for the same reason For Morons who find Homer tough sledding, even in translation, I recommend the Robert Fagles translations of The Iliad and The Odyssey. The Fitzgerald translations tend to be a bit dry in comparison; the Fagles translations carry over the muscularity and imperative nature of the ancient Greek poems.

72 The Complete Penthouse Letters.

73 For Morons who find Homer tough sledding, even in translation, I recommend the Robert Fagles translations of The Iliad and The Odyssey.

Oh, NOW you tell me. I bought the Lattimore translation of the Iliad and it really is a slog. Maybe I'll sell it and get the Fagles translation.

74 I'd rank Burce Catton's Centennial History of the Civil War (3-book series) right up there. My favorite Catton books are the Army of the Potomac books: Mr. Lincoln's Army, Glory Road, and particularly A Stillness At Appomattox. I still think Foote's books are magisterial as battle-histories, though. Nothing else even comes close, at least in terms of infantry battles and political machinations on both sides. I do wish more historians would focus on the blockades and riverine campaigns -- I'm astonished at how few Americans really know anything about Farragut or Porter or Foote (no relation to the writer). Can any Morons recommend good books on the Naval aspects of the civil war (not the ironclad stuff; I've got plenty of that)?

75 Seamus Heaney's translation of Beowulf is a must-read as well. It makes a great companion piece to John Gardner's Grendel.

76 Monty, the official histories are good places to start on a search for obscure historical data. Here's the Navy's own summation, where they have a link to their reading list: http://tinyurl.com/2dnwevh

77 Yes, Beowulf should be on my deserted island list too. Heaney as a poet is also pretty good.

78

Well- Catton's "Grant" series talks a good bit about the riverine aspects of the war, but on a rather general level. I don't know of any detailed book just about the naval part of the war. Most of the interest there goes to the battle of the Monitor and the Virginia (Merrimack), or the Hundley.

Hmmm possible book idea there.....

79 A guide to home brewing?

Just War and Peace.  Being stuck on an island with that one book is the only way I'll ever finish the damn thing.

Seriously, I was thinking Churchill's autobiography in addition to all of the above history books, and toss in The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich because it's been  a long time since I read it.   That book proves the existence of evil.

80 Joncelli- thanks for the link! I can see I'm going to have some reading ahead of me.

81 Of that list, only have read Zen. After, I might add, traveling around the US on my motorcycle.

Most of my finest reading comes via the blogs and commenters on AoSHQ. Everything else just seems like vanilla pudding.

82 Does anyone know of a good book explaining how West Virginia was formed? I'm interested in how the people broke away and created a new state.

83 I'm interested in how the people broke away and created a new state. Foote's Civil War books go into it. Basically, the western part of Virginia was pro-Union, and sympathizers talked Lincoln into recognizing the lesgislature of "west" Virginia as a legitimate government. The people themselves really didn't have much to say about it; the formation of the state of West Virginia was a strategic move to weaken the rest of Virginia.

84

Vic--name of that British civil war book?

Killer Angels hands down

Which is better...Catton or Foote? I'v read Catton but not Foote.

85 Thanks Monty. I knew some of the reasons why, but not the mechanics of how it happened.

86

Which is better...Catton or Foote? I'v read Catton but not Foote.

They both have their strengths. Foote is very detailed and rather dry for my tastes, but also informative. Catton is an easier read for me, and he addresses the political side of things oretty well, particularly in "The Coming Fury" which covers the beginning of the war.

I've read them both, but Foote's are hard (for me) to pick up for a reread.

87

How To Brew, by John Palmer. 

Charlie Papazian's book on brewing. 

SAS Survival Guide

And some stuff on carpentry, metallurgy, geology, etc. 

88

I've never understood how people could like thr Fountainhead more than Atlas Shrugged.

That said, Anthem was pretty bad, with the exception being the forward she wrote to to the 1946 edition. I thought that was the best part of the book

 

"Some of those who read the story when it was first written, told me that I was unfair to the ideals of collectivism; this was not, they said, what collectivism preaches or intends; collectivists do not mean or advocate such things; nobody advocates them.

I shall merely point out that the slogan "Production for use and not for profit" is now accepted by most men as commonplace, and a commonplace stating a proper, desirable goal. If any intelligible meaning can be discerned in that slogan at all, what is it, if not the idea that the motive of a man's work must be the needs of others, not his own need, desire or gain?

Compulsory labor conscription is now practiced or advocated in every country on earth. What is it based on, if not the idea that the state is best qualified to decide where a man can be useful to others, such usefulness being the only consideration, and that his own aims, desires, or happiness should be ignored as of no importance?

We have Councils of Vocations, Councils of Eugenics, every possible kind of Council, including a World Council -- and if these do not as yet hold total power over us, is it from lack of intention?

"Social gains," "social aims," "social objectives" have become the daily bromides of our language. The necessity of a social justification for all activities and all existence is now taken for granted. There is no proposal outrageous enough but what its author can get a respectful hearing and approbation if he claims that in some undefined way it is for "the common good."

Some might think -- though I don't -- that nine years ago there was some excuse for men not to see the direction in which the world was going. Today, the evidence is so blatant that no excuse can be claimed by anyone any longer. Those who refuse to see it now are neither blind nor innocent.

The greatest guilt today is that of people who accept collectivism by moral default; the people who seek protection from the necessity of taking a stand, by refusing to admit to themselves the nature of that which they are accepting; the people who support plans specifically designed to achieve serfdom, but hide behind the empty assertion that they are lovers of freedom, with no concrete meaning attached to the word; the people who believe that the content of ideas need not be examined, that principles need not be defined, and that facts can be eliminated by keeping one's eyes shut. They expect, when they find themselves in a world of bloody ruins and concentration camps, to escape moral responsibility by wailing: "But I didn't mean this!"

Those who want slavery should have the grace to name it by its proper name. They must face the full meaning of that which they are advocating or condoning; the full, exact, specific meaning of collectivism, of its logical implications, of the principles upon which it is based, and of the ultimate consequences to which these principles will lead.

They must face it, then decide whether this is what they want or not."

1946.

89
The Story of Civilization by Will Durant

Book of the Month Club use to use this set as a teaser to get new members. So used book stores usually have sets available, if not the odd volume who lost it's companions. Durant has a great voice, which seems slightly bemused at the endless parade of human folly.

90

First of all I want alexthechick on my desert island because I agree with her list. I'd also want:

Anna Karenina
something by Neil Gaiman
Anathem (maybe it improves on 2nd reading)
Wrinkle in Time (happy childhood memories)
Complete Sherlock Holmes
"If Ignorance is Bliss, why aren't more people happy"-quote book

91

Anathem, by the way is by Neal Stephenson and is a convoluted philosophy book written in fiction form. I prefer his Cryptomonican or Snow Crash or Diamond Age.

92 A Soldier of the Great War, and Winter's Tale, both by Mark Helprin. Tolkien's LOTR trilogy.

93

Roach- if you want to read about human folly- pick up Tuchman's "The Proud Tower, and "The Guns of August". "

I hope there will never be such a willful rush into the cataclysm as happened in 1914., although with the trend of events today, and the fecklessness of this administration I'm not sanguine.

 

Tuchman's a pretty decent writer. her "The First Salute" is quite good.

94 Depends on the island. If it's big and has a decent abundance and diversity of plants and animals (no poisonous beasties, please), then you should have plenty of leisure time.

Also, native island women. In particular, native island women who like to run around butt naked. Let's focus on what's important here, people.

95 Göedel, Escher, Bach: Nearly every computer and math wonk wanker what wanks wankily I've ever known loves this book.

Sorry, Mony. I was right there with you until you had to unleash that air biscuit.

Damn shame, man. Damn shame.

96 I think I would tend towards poetry for some reason.  Complete T. S. Eliot would likely make the cut and probably a compilation of Imagist poems. 

Although I am not a daily Bible reader, I would take the Bible.  I think you'd need something to help you keep perspective. 

97 Duh... 
Rules for Radicals. 

98 ugh, will narrow it down to one of each music/book:

the best book ever written: Don Quixote (ormsby translation)
the best album ever recorded: Wagner's Ring Cycle (solti recording)

99

The Meaning Of It All ~ Richard Feynman

The Demon Haunted World ~ Carl Sagan

Never Cry Wolf ~ Farley Mowat

A Short History Of Nearly Everything ~ Bill Bryson

The Hitchhikers' Guide To The Universe ~ Douglas Adams

Nat'l Audubon Field Guides to: Insects & Spiders, Reptiles & Amphibians, and whatever else is native to said island and surrounding seas.

The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg ~ Mark Twain

Ubik ~ Phillip K. Dick

God Bless You Mr. Rosewater ~ Kurt Vonnegut

Trouble Brewing ~ Henry Hawkins

;^)>

 

100 For those of you who enjoy ACW alternate history novels, Peter Tsouras has a good one titled Britannia's Fist.  Lots of military tech, naval action, Russkies, Rimsky-Korsakov, etc.  It is the first book of a three-volume trilogy.  LINK

101 Desert Island Survival and Rescue Techniques for Dummies

102

Geeze, it wasn't a criticism, just trying to let the guy know he's got a typo in the title.  Come on, it's the title. 

It's like letting someone go to a meeting or something with boogernose. 

103 American Ceasar - William Manchester All Steven Pressfield books

104 Playboy 50 Years of Photographs
Ethics
The Complete Works of HP Lovecraft
Gateless Gate
Where there is no Doctor
Le Morte D' Arthur
Illiad

105

The Riverside Shakespeare--has all the stuff.  May as well use the time wisely.

Bouquet de France--1952 cooking guide, old style, and since the French can and will eat anything, this book will help me prepare crab and coconuts many different ways.  Plus it has how to construct old cooking ways--I don't think I'll have access to a microwave.

AF Regulation 64-4 United States Air Force Search and Rescue Survival Training (Reprint)--I think the USAF would not let me down!

Swiss Family Robinson--Hey, I'll take ideas from anywhere.

Tom Brown's Field Guide--to help me make tools and maintain my zen.

And my complete guide to first aid.

I wish there was a comprehensive single volume of Dickens' collected works in hard copy.  Unfortunately, even the Japanese probably could not do it.  But his books would be great relaxation!  And I'd have time to read them all again.

I think I will need a guide to what is safe to eat (sure the French will eat anything, but there may be a poisonous plant or animal I'd better watch out for!).  Anyone know of a good one?  Thanks!

106 Oh, yes, my King James Bible and the 1920s prayer book, and my medieval cookbook.  Has original recipes for things to cook over an open fire.

107

The Stand

108 I would bring: The Sheltering Sky - Paul Bowles (and the rest of Paul Bowles works) East of Eden - John Steinbeck The Comfort of Strangers - Ian McEwan (and many of McEwan's other novels) The Chronicles of Narnia

109

(and the rest of Paul Bowles works)

Hear, hear; his short stories, like Pages from Cold Point, are some of the more disturbing things I've ever read.  A biography that I've read, An Invisible Spectator, is also extremely unusual, including his "marriage" to Jane.

110

A Short History Of Nearly Everything ~ Bill Bryson

I was rereading it and it fell completely apart.  I think I reread it too much. 

111

"The Flounder", by Günter Gras

"Thus Spake Zarathustra" , by Nietzsche

"Under the Volcano" by Malcom Lowry

"Illuminatus! Trilogy" by Roberts Shea and Anton WIlson

"Lord of the Rings Trilogy" by Tolkein

"Hitchhiker's Guide Trilogy" by Adams (yes, all five of them)

"The book of the New Sun" by Gene Wolff

 

112 +1 on Søren, I also like 'Repitition'.

113

I'd have to Have Zen and the Art etc. as well as Pirsig's sequel, Lila. Many people dislike the second book, and I can see why---it's essentially a work of metaphysics. But what insights!

Also:  Eaach and every one of Bertrand R. Brinley's "Mad Scientist Club" stories.  All of Poe and Hemingway.

Finally, The Everlasting Man and Orthodoxy by G.K. Chesterton.

114 Whenever I'm asked what books I'd want with me if I were stranded on a deserted island, I reply with titles like: "How to Find Food On Any Deserted Island" "Long Distance Swimming in 10 Easy Lessons"

115

Lord of the Rings Trilogy

Chronicles of Narnia

Parliment of Whores

Ball Four

116

I always preferredThe Fountainhead too; I think for two reasons:

1.  I self-identified better with the characters.  Don't know if this has more to do with me or the writing.

2.  Felt less like I was reading a sermon or a philosophical exercise, which Atlas Shrugged surely does at points.

117

the complete collection of Carlos Castaneda books and a trashbag full of peyote

118

I went he way of some here, thinking of the practical books that would help me survive, better my condition, and eventually escape.  As it happens, and for no deliberate reason, I can see some of those from where I'm sitting.

Dutton's Navigation and Piloting.

Bowditch's The American Practical Navigator,

The Cornell Manual for Lifeboatmen, Able Seamen, and Qualified Members of Engine Department

The U.S. Army Survival Manual.

The Way Things Work.

The Manual of Knots and Splices.

The series of Regional Forecaster's Handbooks, from th US Navy.

I winder what other one's might come in handy.

Oh, and also the full set of Durant's The Story of Civilization.  Continental drift make rescue you before you could read and fully digest that.

119

Another fan of Godel, Escher, Bach!  I just gave it to my deep-thinker 16-year old and I can't wait to see what he makes of it.  I've probably read it 6 times.  Never gets old.

Surprised nobody has mentioned Lonesome Dove yet.

120

The King James Bible. (The New American Bible is a more literal translation. But it does not sing.)

"Winter's Tale" by Mark Helprin. ( Reread this annually. Gorgeous language. Man, does it sing.)

Collected Shakespeare. Again with the language.

Collected Dickens. (I'm counting this as one. Also, the handtruck will come in handy on the island.)

The Count of Monte Cristo. Alexandre Dumas. (Not the potboiler it is made out to be. An adventure that can be reread many times.)

The Unabridged Dashiell Hammett

Collected Neruda. in the original. (with a spanish-eglish dictionay/Guide To Learning Spanish On a Desert Isle. I'm counting these as one. Have to. It would be like leaving me a case of porkn beans and no can opener.}

 

And for reading on the beach. The Master and Commander series, the Sharpe Series, and The Dresden series.

121 Lonesome Dove.

122 Two that I haven't seen listed here:
1) The First Circle, by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn. Not one of his better-known novels, but a great one just the same.  It's all about a group of prisoners in a government lab in the Soviet Union in the late 1940's. They're all afraid of getting sent back to the real gulag and they have to appear to be making progress on these inventions that they have no hope of ever completing.  For example, they have to make a voiceprint identifier. For us, that's no problem but for Russia in the 40's it couldn't be done. It follows the chain of command all the way up to Stalin himself with everyone saying, "Oh, yes sir, it's coming along great!" until the bill actually comes due. Very claustrophobic.
2) The Years of Lyndon Johnson (three volumes, so far). Everybody hates Lyndon, right? Well, you'll hate him even more after reading Robert Caro's masterful biography. Along the way, you'll learn all about the history of Texas, how the Senate works, and what it's like to live without electricity all delivered in the style that made Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York so great.  Totally recommended.

123 Pride and Prejudice The PDR Reference Book Monty I won't do windows on the island.

124 Sweet sweet Amazon affiliate cash.

125
Preach it re: Atlas Shrugged. Never did like it beyond the idea of it. As a novel...meh.

Fountainhead and We the Living far surpass it.

126 The entire collection of:

Erle Stanley Gardner/A.A. Faire novels
Jonathan Gash's Lovejoy
Diana Wynne Jones

and maybe some Clive Cussler and Michael Crichton

plus some kind of how to book on surviving on a desert island.

Seeing as there would be plenty of time to finish the above, I'd probably also bring along my collected works of Jane Austen.  Maybe all that time would make it possible to actually get past the first few pages.

127 The Dresden Files are fun to read, and if I could throw in Sense & Sensibility, I'll have that, as well.

128 Monty I won't do windows on the island. You will have plenty of other duties to keep you busy, never fear.

129 The Bible
The Count of Monte Cristo
Les Miserables
Some Dickens
Some Asimov

But if I actually wanted to survive these two would come in handy:

Back to Basics, by that prolific wordsmith Reid R Digest.
When All Hell Breaks Loose, by Cody Lundin

I'll have to check out that Goedel, Escher, Bach book.

Lately, I've been gaining some enlightenment by reading what has been wrought upon us by the slew of do-gooders, progressives and fill-in-the-blank barons in The Underground History of American Education.  I now understand my father's hatred toward the Rockefeller, Ford and Carnegie Foundations.  Never trust anyone who says their gonna "make a difference" or "make the world a better place".  You can thank them for the vast population that can't/won't read.

Thx for yet another book thread Monty.  My list is growing.  Now if only I could break this internet addiction.

130 The Iliad, for the same reason

For Morons who find Homer tough sledding, even in translation, I recommend the Robert Fagles translations of The Iliad and The Odyssey. The Fitzgerald translations tend to be a bit dry in comparison; the Fagles translations carry over the muscularity and imperative nature of the ancient Greek poems.

Posted by: Monty at June 06, 2010 10:52 AM (O3eFQ)

In my humble opinion, Fagles is the best for simply telling the story.  Some others are far more poetic.  A great place to start on the Illiad would be The Wat That Killed Achilles by Caroline Alexander.

A few of the books not yet mentioned that I would take. 

Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon.  Excellent writing, there is much wisdom there, and you are not going to be able to finish it all the first day.  There is or was a website that acted rather like a Magic Eight Ball for smart people  Push the button and a random Gibbon quote would pop up that often addressed whatever problem you were facing in one way or another.

Boy Scout Handbook from about 1965.  A lot of how to in there.  Although I haven't actually seen one, I assume the recent editions have left out a lot of knot tying and what not in favor of how to have safe anal sex and how to not offend Muslims.

131

Which is better...Catton or Foote? I'v read Catton but not Foote.

They both have their strengths. Foote is very detailed and rather dry for my tastes, but also informative. Catton is an easier read for me, and he addresses the political side of things pretty well, particularly in "The Coming Fury" which covers the beginning of the war.

I've read them both, but Foote's are hard (for me) to pick up for a reread.

Posted by: Harry at June 06, 2010 11:43 AM (jKXyv)

I personally don't find Foote dry, quite the opposite, but Foote entitled his magnus opus A Narrative rather than a history.  In my humble opinion, Catton is the better historian but Foote the better story teller.

If I may bitch and moan for a moment, one thing that drives me crazy about foot is his repeated use of the term "x number of airline miles."  It takes me completely out of the nineteenth century.  In stead of smelling wood smoke, I'm smelling engine exhaust.  It's "as the crow flies" not "airline miles."

132 I finished War and Peace several months ago and was so taken with it that I got my wife a samovar for her birthday.  Whenever the characters took a break from adulterous affairs, fighting Napoleon, contemplating God, or fighting duels, they broke out the old samovar and started drinking tea.

133 If I may bitch and moan for a moment, one thing that drives me crazy about foot is his repeated use of the term "x number of airline miles." This was a term that pre-dated aviation. Think of it as "air-line miles" not "airline miles". "As the crow flies" is the common expression. Surveyors back in the 1800's used it all the time. It just means a straight-line distance that does not take topology into question.

134 Monty, you are a pretentious git.

135 Churchill's History of the English-Speaking Peoples, three really thick history books and a dictionary.

136 Thank you for the thread, Monty, and to all for your suggestions.  Fantastic ideas, and I trust the taste of most commenters here.  Cheers!

137 The Bible and The Lord of the Rings, because I can reread them repeatedly. The Durants' series on Western Civilization, for the time factor. And Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, just because.

138

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139

Vic--name of that British civil war book?

Killer Angels hands down

Which is better...Catton or Foote? I'v read Catton but not Foote.

I have a link at post #53.

140 Wow, these lists are serious.  I've read quite a few of them in college, but remember them just barely.  I'm taking the low road with some Harry.  Harry Potter that is. LOL

141

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