# We're all going to Mars. You get to bring one book. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 9, 2010, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-all-going-to-mars-you-get-to-bring-one-book/563573 "2010-12-09T20:05:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Anduinel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Anduinel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anduinel)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2010, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-all-going-to-mars-you-get-to-bring-one-book/563573/41 "2010-12-11T09:16:42Z")
> [@Tangent](#): > > I’m trying to decide between _Watership Down_ by Richard Adams and _Lonesome Dove_ by Larry McMurtry. If any other Doper wants to pick one, I’ll take the other and then we’ll both be covered. I was thinking _Watership Down_, so there you go. ---
**Author:** ![Carmady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f04885/32.png) [@Carmady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carmady)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2010, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-all-going-to-mars-you-get-to-bring-one-book/563573/42 "2010-12-11T09:25:16Z")
My first thought is The Three of Swords by Fritz Leiber. I know there is a rule against omnibus editions, but I think this should qualify because: 1. Any collection of short stories is a “collected works”. 2. It isn’t that long. 3. This is the way I originally read the stories and I have never read them in any other form. ---
**Author:** ![Sunshine\_and\_Smiles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Sunshine\_and\_Smiles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunshine_and_Smiles)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2010, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-all-going-to-mars-you-get-to-bring-one-book/563573/43 "2010-12-11T09:52:44Z")
> [@Svejk\_1](#): > > Nobody bringing any porn? That’ll be one loooooooooooooong trip 😃 > > actually I’ll bring the book that inspired my Doper name: Hašek’s _Adventures of the good Soldier Švejk_. Someone else please bring Catch 22! Alright, I’ll bring the **Catch-22**. I was thinking it was either that or **100 Years of Solitude** , and now that I know someone wants me to bring the catch I’ve been swayed. Also, I figured given the numbers that porn would be obsolete\*. I’ve never heard of the book you will bring, I guess I should check it out before we jet off, eh? \*as if that could ever happen ---
**Author:** ![poet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@poet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/poet)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2010, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-all-going-to-mars-you-get-to-bring-one-book/563573/44 "2010-12-11T12:05:35Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > All Dopers are going on a long space voyage to Mars. Each person gets one book. Only one. No collected works. No omnibus editions. One title only. If it’s normally published separately, it’s one book. _The Fellowship of the Ring_ is one book. _The Lord of the Rings_ is three. > > But you’ll have other Dopers to borrow from or arrange with to cover what you’re hoping to cover. Make deals if you can. If you duplicate someone else’s choice, you won’t end up very happy with yourself. If everyone brings Terry Pratchett, there won’t be a lot of variety, but it’s up to you. > > So, what book will you be bringing to Mars? The Far Side Anthology. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2010, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-all-going-to-mars-you-get-to-bring-one-book/563573/45 "2010-12-11T13:12:46Z")
I’ll bring ‘How Things Work’. And a bag of Thulium granules; somehow, I feel they’ll be useful. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2010, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-all-going-to-mars-you-get-to-bring-one-book/563573/46 "2010-12-11T13:29:35Z")
Well, it’s a toss-up between “long book that I’ve been trying to get through for awhile,” and “long yarn for comfort value and cheap thrills.” So, either _Paradise Lost_ or that Tom Clancy/Battletech crossover round-robin that’s online. Bang. ---
**Author:** ![fuzzypickles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9d8465/32.png) [@fuzzypickles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fuzzypickles)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2010, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-all-going-to-mars-you-get-to-bring-one-book/563573/47 "2010-12-11T13:36:12Z")
_Watership Down_, Richard Adams – mainly because I believe I was a rabbit in a previous life. (If such a thing actually exists, of course!) ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2010, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-all-going-to-mars-you-get-to-bring-one-book/563573/48 "2010-12-11T17:08:20Z")
Nobody else gone for Douglas Adams yet? Okay. “The Long Dark tea-time of the soul” and anybody can borrow it. You’re welcome. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2010, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-all-going-to-mars-you-get-to-bring-one-book/563573/49 "2010-12-11T17:36:18Z")
My copy of either the Illiad or Odyssey. I’ve had them for close to five years now (I remember buying them just an hour or so before I was told my daughter was born, she’s five in January) but they just sit there. Perhaps in the many months of travelling to Mars it’ll kick in that reading one or the other might be a way of alleviating things. ---
**Author:** ![Fishboy\_95](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9d8465/32.png) [@Fishboy\_95](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fishboy_95)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2010, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-all-going-to-mars-you-get-to-bring-one-book/563573/50 "2010-12-13T02:33:26Z")
Dharma Bums, Jack Keruoac. Might as well think high thoughts! ---
**Author:** ![sohvan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/96bed5/32.png) [@sohvan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sohvan)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2010, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-all-going-to-mars-you-get-to-bring-one-book/563573/51 "2010-12-13T10:50:04Z")
I’d bring Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny. I would take the Chronicles of Amber, but that probably wouldn’t count as one book. ---
**Author:** ![eenerms](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cdc98d/32.png) [@eenerms](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eenerms)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2010, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-all-going-to-mars-you-get-to-bring-one-book/563573/52 "2010-12-13T11:08:16Z")
> [@Emily\_Litella](#): > > I’ll bring Gary Jennings **Aztec**. I’d bring Gary Jennings \*\*The Journeyer \*\*instead. ---
**Author:** ![akira5822](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/53a042/32.png) [@akira5822](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/akira5822)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2010, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-all-going-to-mars-you-get-to-bring-one-book/563573/53 "2010-12-13T11:47:40Z")
Good Housekeepings cookbook… hey ya gotta eat ---
**Author:** ![willthekittensurvive](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/91b2a8/32.png) [@willthekittensurvive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/willthekittensurvive)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2010, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-all-going-to-mars-you-get-to-bring-one-book/563573/54 "2010-12-13T12:33:38Z")
I bring a deluxe copy of Middle-earth Role Playing (MERP), and some dice Oh and our book collection so far : [ul] [li]Bryan Ekers : a bound copy of all my Star Trek fanfics[/li][li]Pushkin : either the Illiad or Odyssey.[/li][li]BrainGlutton : Finnegan’s Wake[/li][li]koeeoaddi : Finnegans Wake [/li][li]Patch : NY Times book of crossword puzzles[/li][li]Morbo : The Best Of Henry Kuttner[/li][li]ENugent : To Say Nothing of the Dog[/li][li]divemaster : To Serve Man. [/li][li]Tangent :Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry[/li][li]faithfool :a bible.[/li][li]Asimovian :a collection of Asimov’s short stories.[/li][li]Annie-Xmas :a complete unabidge dictionary,[/li][li]missyounow :a Harry Potter [/li][li]The Amazing Hanna :A really good cookbook. There´s a reason why these sell so well. [/li][li]Death of Rats :Bradbury’s The Martian Cronicles.[/li][li]Carmady :Catch-22[/li][li]pancakes3 : d’aulaire’s book of greek myths. [/li][li]Fishboy 95 : Dharma Bums, Jack Keruoac[/li][li]jsgoddess : Doomsday Book, by Connie Willis[/li][li]Ranchoth :either Paradise Lost or that Tom Clancy/Battletech crossover round-robin[/li][li]silenus :Either The Complete Works of William Shakespeare or Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. [/li][li]Biffy the Elephant Shrew :Finnegans Wake[/li][li]Emily Litella :Gary Jennings Aztec.[/li][li]Švejk :Hašek’s Adventures of the good Soldier Švejk.[/li][li]ExcitedIdiot :Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. [/li][li]Quartz :How Things Work’.[/li][li]tdn :How to Survive on Mars [/li][li]mckall :IT[/li][li]Intelligently Designed :Ken Grimwood’s Replay[/li][li]Czarcasm :Lord Of The Flies[/li][li]WhyNot :Mists of Avalon or Foxfire books[/li][li]Arrogance Ex Machina :Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson.[/li][li]WordMan :Tao te Ching… [/li][li]Tom Scud :The biggest collection of Roger Zelazny’s short fiction [/li][li]Saltire :The Complete Science Fiction Treasury of H. G. Wells [/li][li]poet :The Far Side Anthology. [/li][li]chrisk :The Long Dark tea-time of the soul" [/li][li]ITR champion :The Man Who Was Thursday [/li][li]bup :The Shipping News. [/li][li]Skald the Rhymer :The Silmarillion.[/li][li]divemaster :The Stand.[/li][li]Carmady :The Three of Swords by Fritz Leiber.[/li][li]moejoe :Ulysses[/li][li]fuzzypickles :Watership Down[/li][li]Anduinel :Watership Down,[/li][li]Shovan:Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny[/li][li]Eenerms:Gary Jennings The Journeyer [/li][li]Akria5822:Good Housekeepings cookbook[/li][li]Willthekittensurvive?:a deluxe copy of Middle-earth Role Playing (MERP)[/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2010, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-all-going-to-mars-you-get-to-bring-one-book/563573/55 "2010-12-13T12:45:06Z")
Twilight? No? Okay. I’ll be the second to mention Ulysses…if only because sub-consciously, I expect all the astronauts will go insane and when that book starts making sence, it’ll be my cue to start my murderous rampage. ---
**Author:** ![Meeko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Meeko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meeko)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2010, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-all-going-to-mars-you-get-to-bring-one-book/563573/56 "2010-12-13T14:16:35Z")
> [@faithfool](#): > > I’ll bring a bible. It’ll be good for posterity. > [@Saltire](#): > > Does Wikipedia come in a bound edition? I’ll Kill two birds with one stone here. [The World Almanac And book of facts 2011.](http://www.amazon.com/World-Almanac-Book-Facts-2011/dp/1600571344/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1292249594&sr=8-1) Oh, and I think it ends up killing a lot more than that. NOTE: My pick assumes we don’t get to share books. Then again, while I would miss a few works, I would still pick the Almanac. * * * > [@ExcitedIdiot](#): > > Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. A good pick. For the obvious joke. Not so good for the fact that it is Fiction. If it was Non-fiction, _exactly what it says on the tin_, then I would go for it. I would assume the How to Survive on Mars is a similar let down. ---
**Author:** ![Meeko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Meeko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meeko)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2010, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-all-going-to-mars-you-get-to-bring-one-book/563573/57 "2010-12-13T14:20:06Z")
In case it wasn’t clear, I would pick the Almanac regardless of if we could share or not. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2010, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-all-going-to-mars-you-get-to-bring-one-book/563573/58 "2010-12-14T00:21:30Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > _How to Survive on Mars_ Ha. Excellent. I once had a well-meaning Church Lady try to pull me into an Oprah Book discussion. She actually grabbed my arm as I walked past her: “So, what’s _your_ desert island book?” My family was impressed by the lack of any pause as I shot back **“The Complete Boat Book: Constructing and Navigating a Hand-Made Wooden Boat”**. I made my escape before she processed it. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2010, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-all-going-to-mars-you-get-to-bring-one-book/563573/59 "2010-12-14T00:35:23Z")
if you can only bring one book, it should be a very long one, to give you more value. How about fiction: _Infinite Jest_ by David Foster Wallace, or _A Suitable Boy_ by Vikram Seth non-fiction: _Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid_ by Douglas Hofstadter ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2010, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-all-going-to-mars-you-get-to-bring-one-book/563573/60 "2010-12-14T01:30:29Z")
I’d bring one of Uncle John’s Bathroom Readers. It would be nice if I could turn in the just-read ones for another volume. Cause they’re basically all alike, only with different articles, if you know what I mean. Or, The Two Towers or Fellowship of the Ring (Return of the King is my least favorite ( which is like saying I like Dove Bars and dulce de leche ice cream more than grocery store chocolate - all good, but some is more good than others.) I read the whole trilogy every year and never get bored. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-all-going-to-mars-you-get-to-bring-one-book/563573.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/were-all-going-to-mars-you-get-to-bring-one-book/563573.md?page=4)