# All books are to be burned except for one you choose. Make your choice. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 20, 2008, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-books-are-to-be-burned-except-for-one-you-choose-make-your-choice/468757 "2008-10-20T16:45:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2008, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-books-are-to-be-burned-except-for-one-you-choose-make-your-choice/468757/41 "2008-10-20T19:23:05Z")
> [@Lightray](#): > > No prob. I’ll just use _Ulysses_. That will kill _anything_. > > crap. **Wargamer** has it out. Oh, well. Ayn Rand it is, then. Violates the Geneva conventions, I’m sure, but such is war. I am very, very, pretend-I-typed-very-1000-times confused. Why are you savng Rand? ---
**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2008, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-books-are-to-be-burned-except-for-one-you-choose-make-your-choice/468757/42 "2008-10-20T19:27:19Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > I am very, very, pretend-I-typed-very-1000-times confused. Why are you savng Rand? For which to clobber flying &tc. monkeys, of course. We’ll need some weapons-grade writing for that. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2008, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-books-are-to-be-burned-except-for-one-you-choose-make-your-choice/468757/43 "2008-10-20T19:32:51Z")
Sorry I got here a little late. If \*\*QtM \*_is taking care of rescuing the **Red Book** _ (Lord of the Rings), I will ensure the \*\*Silmarillion \*\*survives. If someone has that and we are living under a ruthless dictator I would shoot for either the \*\*Anarchist’s Cookbook \*\*or **The Moon is a Harsh Mistress**. However as I see my esteemed colleague \*\*Silenus \*\*has covered the vital cookbook, I then ensure the Hobbit survives. Jim - I have the actually Red Book single volume version at home if needed. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2008, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-books-are-to-be-burned-except-for-one-you-choose-make-your-choice/468757/44 "2008-10-20T19:34:55Z")
> [@Lightray](#): > > For which to clobber flying &tc. monkeys, of course. We’ll need some weapons-grade writing for that. They can’t read, dude. They’re monkeys. (Why is no one grabbing anything by Asimov? Or, better yet, Heinlein’s The Moon is a Harsh Mistress? That’s something that you could put use to and yet would fall through the cracks more easily than Anarchist’s Handbook). ---
**Author:** ![Stauderhorse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@Stauderhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stauderhorse)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2008, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-books-are-to-be-burned-except-for-one-you-choose-make-your-choice/468757/45 "2008-10-20T19:34:59Z")
Since 1984’s taken care of, I’ll go with _Pet Sematary_. Just in case we ever develop powers that can raise the dead, I’d like a reminder of why that’s a bad idea. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2008, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-books-are-to-be-burned-except-for-one-you-choose-make-your-choice/468757/46 "2008-10-20T19:38:09Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > …Or, better yet, Heinlein’s The Moon is a Harsh Mistress? That’s something that you could put use to and yet would fall through the cracks more easily than Anarchist’s Handbook). Got you by two minutes and almost word for word. See, we can stop this despot at least! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2008, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-books-are-to-be-burned-except-for-one-you-choose-make-your-choice/468757/47 "2008-10-20T19:38:45Z")
Stupid simulposting. > [@What\_Exit](#): > > I have the actually Red Book single volume version at home if needed. Being a right bastard, FabC would obviously have already put your home library through the wood chipper while you watched and forced you to use the empty space for Buffy the Vampire Slayer DVDs. The movie, not the TV series. Dozens and dozens of copies of the movie. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2008, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-books-are-to-be-burned-except-for-one-you-choose-make-your-choice/468757/48 "2008-10-20T19:41:50Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > Got you by two minutes and almost word for word. > > See, we can stop this despot at least! 😃 Occasionally I have to stop posting to do my job; I have a training class I’m giving an arithmetic test to. How do you graduate from high school and have a year of college without understanding the difference between “least common multiple” and “greatest common factor”? ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2008, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-books-are-to-be-burned-except-for-one-you-choose-make-your-choice/468757/49 "2008-10-20T19:42:06Z")
Nobody is picking the Good Doctor because his work is of lesser value when preserving the means and will to overthrow our Hated Oppressor. Of greater immediate use is material with practical applications, along with works to keep the imagination and fire alive. Maybe we could get a group of people together, and each one picks up a volume of a 1936 Britannica. ---
**Author:** ![SanibelMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@SanibelMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanibelMan)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2008, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-books-are-to-be-burned-except-for-one-you-choose-make-your-choice/468757/50 "2008-10-20T19:44:15Z")
Carl Hiaasen’s _Nature Girl._ What? I’ve got like 50 pages left to go. ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2008, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-books-are-to-be-burned-except-for-one-you-choose-make-your-choice/468757/51 "2008-10-20T19:44:46Z")
Robert Ludlum’s “The Matarese Circle”. I find something new to enjoy every time I read it. A tale of cat and mouse skullduggery where you are never sure who is which, for at least the first half of the book. ---
**Author:** ![photopat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e95f7d/32.png) [@photopat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/photopat)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2008, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-books-are-to-be-burned-except-for-one-you-choose-make-your-choice/468757/52 "2008-10-20T19:47:45Z")
> [@Lightray](#): > > No prob. I’ll just use _Ulysses_. That will kill _anything_. And disable any robots that are ordered to diagram the sentences. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2008, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-books-are-to-be-burned-except-for-one-you-choose-make-your-choice/468757/53 "2008-10-20T19:47:47Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Stupid simulposting. > > Being a right bastard, FabC would obviously have already put your home library through the wood chipper while you watched and forced you to use the empty space for Buffy the Vampire Slayer DVDs. > > The movie, not the TV series. Dozens and dozens of copies of the movie. Well you better line up an industrial grade wood chipper, it can take a while to chop up my library. I would be very tempted to save one of the two volumes that make up the [Outline of History by H.G. Wells](http://www.amazon.com/Outline-History-Set-H-Wells/dp/040303082X). I just discovered the full 1920 version is available online as one book. Perhaps I could simply print and retain that one. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2008, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-books-are-to-be-burned-except-for-one-you-choose-make-your-choice/468757/54 "2008-10-20T19:53:56Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > Well you better line up an industrial grade wood chipper, it can take a while to chop up my library. I would be very tempted to save one of the two volumes that make up the [Outline of History by H.G. Wells](http://www.amazon.com/Outline-History-Set-H-Wells/dp/040303082X). I just discovered the full 1920 version is available online as one book. Perhaps I could simply print and retain that one. If you’ll tell me where you found that online, I’ll promise to use my influence over the God-King to make sure you get to save TWO books. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2008, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-books-are-to-be-burned-except-for-one-you-choose-make-your-choice/468757/55 "2008-10-20T19:58:26Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > If you’ll tell me where you found that online, I’ll promise to use my influence over the God-King to make sure you get to save TWO books. Try this link, it should work: [Outline\_of\_History](http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/docs/books/sherwood/Wells-Outline/Outline_of_History.htm) ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2008, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-books-are-to-be-burned-except-for-one-you-choose-make-your-choice/468757/56 "2008-10-20T20:20:57Z")
Tres kewl! My copy is all of 2 feet from me as I type this (1940 printing, 2 volumes). Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2008, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-books-are-to-be-burned-except-for-one-you-choose-make-your-choice/468757/57 "2008-10-20T20:27:50Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Tres kewl! My copy is all of 2 feet from me as I type this (1940 printing, 2 volumes). > > Thanks. I have to check the date on mine, it is probably the same edition as yours. It is a wonderful little mini-history class all in itself and I think the primary reason I still love world history. It game me my love of history. I’ve read it cover to cover three times and it gave me a decent framework for my knowledge of history. I am probably do to read it again. I should be read once a decade I think. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2008, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-books-are-to-be-burned-except-for-one-you-choose-make-your-choice/468757/58 "2008-10-20T20:28:12Z")
_People’s Plants_ - a guide to useful plants of South Africa. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Credible](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a8b319/32.png) [@Justin\_Credible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Credible)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2008, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-books-are-to-be-burned-except-for-one-you-choose-make-your-choice/468757/59 "2008-10-20T20:28:22Z")
Watchmen trade paperback. And, when the flying monkeys aren’t looking, Id tuck my Planet Hulk hardcover in my pants. Who am I kidding, “tuck.” That’s where I always keep it. ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2008, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-books-are-to-be-burned-except-for-one-you-choose-make-your-choice/468757/60 "2008-10-21T01:29:09Z")
I can’t decide between _Joy of Cooking_, and _Watership Down_… but I do suddenly have a hankering for braised rabbit… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-books-are-to-be-burned-except-for-one-you-choose-make-your-choice/468757.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/all-books-are-to-be-burned-except-for-one-you-choose-make-your-choice/468757.md?page=4)