# Ten Books to Take to a Desert Island. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 30, 2002, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-books-to-take-to-a-desert-island/121604 "2002-07-30T23:21:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2002, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-books-to-take-to-a-desert-island/121604/21 "2002-07-31T18:52:29Z")
Aside from survival manual type books, I’d have to go for books that I know I can read over and over again and still enjoy. They would be: 1. Moby Dick 2. Busman’s Honeymoon by Dorothy Sayers 3. All the President’s Men and The Final Days 4. Foucault’s Pendulum by Umberto Eco 5. Drinking: A Love Story by Caroline Knapp 6. Into Thin Air by John Krakauer 7. Rebecca by Daphne DuMaurier 8. The Prehistory of The Far Side 9. The Bible (New Revised Standard Version) and finally, because the only way I’d ever finish it is if I were stuck on a deserted island: 1. The Silmarillion ---
**Author:** ![Squish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8797f3/32.png) [@Squish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squish)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2002, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-books-to-take-to-a-desert-island/121604/22 "2002-07-31T21:33:15Z")
Uh… that should have been “seed” plants, not “sea” plants. :smack: I’m going to have to replace _Holidays in Hell_ because I just remembered I want to take _The Triumph of Vulgarity_, a wonderful view of rock and roll and its ties to Romanticism. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2002, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-books-to-take-to-a-desert-island/121604/23 "2002-07-31T22:00:39Z")
> [@](#): > > The Complete Guide to Surviving On and Escaping from a Desert Island. In all seriousness, I was going to list _The Boy Scout Handbook_ as my first choice. It’s got all of the information of the Army manuals, Red Cross books, etc. that other folks mentioned, leaving me room for nine literature choices. I’d also bring _The Hobbit_, _The Lord of the Rings_, and _The Silmarillion_ (are those all available in a single volume?), The Complete Works of Shakespeare, and The Bible, of a certainty. After that, I’m not sure… We’re not just talking good books here, but re-readable books. ---
**Author:** ![FallenAngel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@FallenAngel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FallenAngel)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2002, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-books-to-take-to-a-desert-island/121604/24 "2002-07-31T23:24:24Z")
(In a perfect world) Desert Island Survival and Inventions - The Professor (In the real world) The Sun Also Rises - Hemingway Babylon Revisited - Fitzgerald The Burke Series - Andrew Vachss Mort - Terry Pratchett The Truth - Terry Pratchett The Complete Lord Byron (Maybe that way I’ll actually finish Beppo before I get distracted) Illusions - Richard Bach Generation of Swine - Hunter S. Thompson Glory Road - Robert Heinlein The Count of Monte Cristo (unabridged) - Alexandre Dumas ---
**Author:** ![Jabba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b5e925/32.png) [@Jabba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jabba)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2002, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-books-to-take-to-a-desert-island/121604/25 "2002-07-31T23:53:03Z")
As has been mentioned above works of fiction are going to have to be good enough to stand many readings, so _Ulysses_ _Finnegans Wake_ _Anna Karenina_ _The Complete Works of Shakespeare_ _Don Quixote_ _The Magic Mountain_ _Robinson Crusoe_ for possible inspiration And for some meaty non-fiction The complete works of Freud if I’m allowed; otherwise _The Interpretation of Dreams_ _The Golden Bough_ _Algebraic Topology_ by Ewin H. Spanier ---
**Author:** ![DougAB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47c2d/32.png) [@DougAB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DougAB)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2002, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-books-to-take-to-a-desert-island/121604/26 "2002-08-01T00:00:37Z")
> [@](#): > > The Odyssey ``` Looking for someone to sympathize with, are ya? ``` ---
**Author:** ![DaphneBlack](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daphneblack/32/5389_2.png) [@DaphneBlack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaphneBlack)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2002, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-books-to-take-to-a-desert-island/121604/27 "2002-08-01T01:01:30Z")
1. The Poems of Catullus (Latin) 2. The Recognitions, William Gaddis 3. Ulysses 4. The Iliad (Greek) 5. The Bible (JPS version) 6. The Soncino Talmud (hey, I’m gonna be here for a while!) 7. The Complete Works of Shakespeare (Riverside) 8. The Crying of Lot 49, Thomas Pynchon 9. Complete Poems, WH Auden 10. The Satyricon, Petronius (Latin) ---
**Author:** ![Squish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8797f3/32.png) [@Squish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squish)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2002, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-books-to-take-to-a-desert-island/121604/28 "2002-08-01T03:18:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jabba \* > _ **The Magic Mountain** _ Boy oh boy, you _do_ have a high threshold of boredom, don’t you? 😛 I wanna take Thomas Wolfe’s _Look Homeward, Angel_, but I can’t bear to drop any of mine. I’ve already made the decision to sacrifice a good collection of Greek plays. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2002, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-books-to-take-to-a-desert-island/121604/29 "2002-08-01T03:40:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jurhael \* > \*\* one of Robert Jordan’s books? \*\* If a series counts as one, then I’d just take the entire _Wheel of Time_. If they haven’t rescued me by the time that I’m finished with it, then there’s something seriously wrong with the search and rescue teams in the area. ---
**Author:** ![Pink\_Pussycat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Pink\_Pussycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pink_Pussycat)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2002, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-books-to-take-to-a-desert-island/121604/30 "2002-08-01T05:27:35Z")
**To Kill a Mockingbird** **Catch-22** The \*\*Harry Potter \*\* series (all 7, preferably) **The Egyptian** **Sun Signs** (by Linda Goodman) or **Love Signs** by the same author **A Christmas Carol** The **Happy Hooker** series **The Andy Warhol Diaries** **The Encyclopedia Brittanica** The **Boyscouts Handbook** -pinky[ ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2002, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-books-to-take-to-a-desert-island/121604/31 "2002-08-01T05:50:54Z")
:eek: You mean someone has actually _read_ Ulysses? I’d conceivably like to bring nothing but books I haven’t already read yet (I could find a few mystery titles that I’ve been meaning to peruse) but I guess that’s cheating. Okay. Here goes. 1. Rebecca- Daphne DuMaurier 2. No Night is Too Long- Ruth Rendell 3. Rosemary’s Baby- Ira Levin 4. A. C. Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes series (The OP said series…:)) 5. The Shining- Stephen King 6. Original Sin- P.D. James 7. Psycho- Robert Bloch 8. Tales of the Unexpected- Roald Dahl 9. Innocent Blood- P.D. James 10. Simisola- Ruth Rendell ---
**Author:** ![Violet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/ebca7d/32.png) [@Violet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Violet)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2002, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-books-to-take-to-a-desert-island/121604/32 "2002-08-01T06:07:12Z")
My 2 volumes of all of Sherlock Holmes comes to mind. Can’t think of anything else right now. Fading away… ---
**Author:** ![Avalonian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee7513/32.png) [@Avalonian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avalonian)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2002, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-books-to-take-to-a-desert-island/121604/33 "2002-08-01T06:14:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Winnowill \* > [ul] > [li]_Maia_ by Richard Adams (I think I may very well be the only person on the planet who’s actually read it, but I love it).[/li][/ul] \*\* You’re not, Winnowill… I love Richard Adams in general, and I named my daughter Maia, specifically after the character in the book. Beautiful name, beautiful book. As for my list… no particular order here, just as I think of them. [ul] [li]The Dark Tower series (hopefully complete with 7 books) - by Stephen King[/li][li]_Different Seasons_ - by Stephen King[/li][li]_Carrion Comfort_ - by Dan Simmons[/li][li]_The Dark is Rising_ (series, 5 books) - by Susan Cooper[/li][li]_The Handmaid’s Tale_ - by Maragaret Atwood[/li][li]_The Thief of Always_ - by Clive Barker[/li][li]_The Once and Future King_ - by T.H. White[/li][li]_The Sandman_ (series, 75 issues) - by Neil Gaiman and lots of amazing artists[/li][li]_Watership Down_ - by Richard Adams[/li][li]_Lord of the Rings_ (series, 3 books) - by J.R.R. Tolkien[/li][/ul] I could read all of these books for the rest of my life and be pretty happy. I get something out of them every time I read them. ---
**Author:** ![Squish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8797f3/32.png) [@Squish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squish)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2002, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-books-to-take-to-a-desert-island/121604/34 "2002-08-01T06:31:16Z")
OK, I’m hiding ten more in my suitcase (who really needs clothes, after all?): _The Dark is Rising_ series, Susan Cooper (thanks for reminding me of that one, **Avalonian** –and I know a pair of Welsh twins that are spookily similar to Bran…) _Look Homeward, Angel_ and _You Can’t Go Home Again_, Thomas Wolfe (the master of “plot? what plot?”) _Holidays in Hell_ and _Eat the Rich_, P.J. O’Rourke _Notes from a Small Island_, Bill Bryson _The Children of Green Knowe_, L.M. Boston _Armitage, Armitage, Fly Away Home_, Joan Aiken _Those Who Hunt the Night_, Barbara Hambly (my favorite vampire book of all time) _Lost Souls_, Poppy Z. Brite ---
**Author:** ![FordPrefect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e99b99/32.png) [@FordPrefect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordPrefect)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2002, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-books-to-take-to-a-desert-island/121604/35 "2002-08-01T14:18:09Z")
hmmm… 1. Lord of the Rings 2. The Complete works of Shakespeare 3. a reference book for the complete works of Shakespeare (I love his writing, I don’t get half of it, but I still love it.) 4. the Oddessy (sp) 5. The Masks of God (volumes 1 - 4) Joseph Campbell 6. The Divine Comedy 7. Canterbury Tales 8. Beowulf - actually this would be my first choice, but I only remembered it now. 9. The boy scout survival boot. 10. Robinson Crusoe, I couldn’t finish it the first time I read it, but maybe as an inspirational I-will-get-off-this-island-one-day piece. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2002, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-books-to-take-to-a-desert-island/121604/36 "2002-08-01T15:23:29Z")
1. The Encyclopedia Britannica, unabridged. 2. The OED, unabridged. 3. Will and Ariel Durant’s _The Story of Civilization_, 11 vol. 4. Ayn Rand’s _Atlas Shrugged_. 5. That _How to Survive and Escape from a Deserted Island_ book sounds useful. I’ll have a copy too. 6. Harlan Ellison’s _The Essential Ellison_. 7. J.M. Roberts’ _The History of the World_. 8. Dan Simmon’s _Hyperion_ series, 4 vol. 9. Frank Herbert’s _Dune_ series, 6 vol. + a smuggled copy of _The Dune Encyclopedia_. 10. John Thorn’s _Total Baseball_. ---
**Author:** ![UNIMATRIXONE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/2bfe46/32.png) [@UNIMATRIXONE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UNIMATRIXONE)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2002, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-books-to-take-to-a-desert-island/121604/37 "2002-08-01T15:56:05Z")
The five books of the Belgariad, by David Eddings. The Five books of the Malloreon, by David Eddings. The three books of the Elenium, by David Eddings The three books of the Tamuli, by David Eddings ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2002, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-books-to-take-to-a-desert-island/121604/38 "2002-08-01T16:00:29Z")
Bailey and Mary Ann. ---
**Author:** ![Ferrous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Ferrous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferrous)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2002, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-books-to-take-to-a-desert-island/121604/39 "2002-08-01T18:35:10Z")
The Encyclopedia Brittanica is a great idea, since series count as one book for this. Also the survival manual. So that leaves eight. Let’s see… 1. The Mars Trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson. (If we had to count each book seperately, I’d just take the first two.) 2. The Illuminatus Trilogy by Robert Anton Wilson. (That’s only available as a single volume now anyway, AFAIK) 3. LOTR, of course. 4. The Dune series (can I include the Brian Herbert ones too?) 5. HHGTG 6. Gravity’s Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon. (If I’m stuck on a desert island, I’d probably eventually get bored enough to actually finish the thing) 7. Ullysses, James Joyce (ditto) 8. A huge coffee table type book of art (including plenty of Van Gogh) ---
**Author:** ![Purd\_Werfect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e47c2d/32.png) [@Purd\_Werfect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Purd_Werfect)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2002, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-books-to-take-to-a-desert-island/121604/40 "2002-08-01T22:46:03Z")
1. The Ghormenghast series 2. The Ender Wiggins series 3. Infinite Jest 4. Richard Feynman’s lectures. (Which I don’t understand, but it would be good mind work.) 5. Codex Seraphinianius 6. The Lonesome Dove series 7. The Illuminatus Trilogy 8. A complete encyclopaedia 9. The Risk Pool 10. The biggest book of pornography I could find. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ten-books-to-take-to-a-desert-island/121604.md?page=1)