# What book could you best create from memory? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 13, 2004, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-book-could-you-best-create-from-memory/269111 "2004-10-13T22:47:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![auntie\_em](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5e9695/32.png) [@auntie\_em](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/auntie_em)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2004, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-book-could-you-best-create-from-memory/269111/21 "2004-10-14T16:04:36Z")
\*Are you there God? It’s me, Margaret. We’re moving today. I’m so scared God. I’ve never lived anywhere but here. Suppose I hate my new school? Suppose everybody there hates me? Please help me God. Don’t let New Jersey be too horrible. Thank you. \* ---
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2004, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-book-could-you-best-create-from-memory/269111/22 "2004-10-14T17:27:29Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > "It was not long after dawn, when the captain of HM frigate _Lydia_ came up on deck. The first lieutenant, Mr. Bush, who was officer of the deck, touched his hat but did not speak to him. In a voyage which had by now lasted seven months without touching land, he had learned something of his captain’s likes and dislikes. During this first hour of the day, the captain was not to be spoken to, nor the train of his thought interrupted. " That is so cool. For me, it’d be Larry Niven’s _A World Out of Time_, although several others of his, such as _Ringworld_, would come a close second. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2004, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-book-could-you-best-create-from-memory/269111/23 "2004-10-14T18:01:01Z")
> [@ninetypercent](#): > > “The Giver” (forget the author) Lois Lowry. Mine’s Gone With the Wind, no question. My mom used to say maybe I could get into the Guiness book if I could recite it all at once. I think I still know it… “Scarlett O’Hara was not beautiful but few men realized it when caught by her charm as the Tarleton twins were. Too sharply blended in her face were the features of her mother, a Coast aristocrat, and her father…” aw shucks. ---
**Author:** ![yellowval](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/919ad9/32.png) [@yellowval](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowval)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2004, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-book-could-you-best-create-from-memory/269111/24 "2004-10-14T18:09:03Z")
Probably **A Christmas Carol**. I’ve read it every December for the past few years. My first instinct was to say **Green Eggs and Ham**. 🙂 ---
**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 14, 2004, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-book-could-you-best-create-from-memory/269111/25 "2004-10-14T18:24:47Z")
I can probably do most of **Heinlein’s** works, and early **Niven**. Let’s see…most of Pratchett, \*\*L. Neil Smith’s \*\* Libertarian wank-fests, and bunch more. I can’t help it…I read! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Meatros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Meatros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meatros)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2004, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-book-could-you-best-create-from-memory/269111/26 "2004-10-14T18:44:29Z")
_maybe_ green eggs and ham. My memory is about as retentive as a stick of butter. I think I could pull off adequately, from memory, Shermer’s book ‘why people believe strange things’, as I’ve read that six or so times. But even then… ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2004, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-book-could-you-best-create-from-memory/269111/27 "2004-10-14T21:00:50Z")
> [@Lobsang](#): > > What published story book do you think you would be most capable of re-creating from memory if for some reason you needed to? I presume you’re limiting this to books I didn’t write? 😉 If that’s the case, I’d have to go with: > [@](#): > > In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort… ---
**Author:** ![smaft](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c2a13f/32.png) [@smaft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smaft)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2004, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-book-could-you-best-create-from-memory/269111/28 "2004-10-14T21:24:48Z")
Every Who down in Who-ville liked Christmas a lot. But the Grinch, who lived just north of Who-ville did _not_. The Grinch \*hated \* Christmas, the whole Christmas season! Please don’t ask why; no one quite knows the reason. It could be his shoes were a little too tight, It could be his head wasn’t screwed on quite right; But I think the most likely reason of all May have been that his head was two sizes too small. ---
**Author:** ![Kiros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/439d5e/32.png) [@Kiros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiros)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2004, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-book-could-you-best-create-from-memory/269111/29 "2004-10-14T21:39:31Z")
Definitely **Ender’s Game** by Card. Read it multiple times and it has a plot conducive to that sort of recreation. ---
**Author:** ![Chanteuse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de053/32.png) [@Chanteuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chanteuse)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2004, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-book-could-you-best-create-from-memory/269111/30 "2004-10-14T22:51:39Z")
_Hooper Humperdink? Not HIM!_ by Dr. Seuss. I read this to my oldest child so many times that I can quote it! Not as fast now as I could then, but if I stop and think about each page, I can truly reproduce that book! From: \*I’m going to have a party, but I don’t think That I’ll ask Hooper Humperdink. I’ll ask Alice, I’ll ask Abe I’ll ask Bob, and Bill, and Babe…\* to: _A party big and good as this Is too good for anyone to miss! And so you know, I sort of think I WILL ask Hooper Humperdink!_ ---
**Author:** ![Random](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/57b2e6/32.png) [@Random](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Random)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2004, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-book-could-you-best-create-from-memory/269111/31 "2004-10-14T23:06:36Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > "It was not long after dawn, when the captain of HM frigate _Lydia_ came up on deck. The first lieutenant, Mr. Bush, who was officer of the deck, touched his hat but did not speak to him. In a voyage which had by now lasted seven months without touching land, he had learned something of his captain’s likes and dislikes. During this first hour of the day, the captain was not to be spoken to, nor the train of his thought interrupted. " > > Shouldn’t be hard for Dopers to recognize. I still re-read it every year or so. > > Regards, > Shodan I’m curious. What makes you rate that particular book as the author’s supreme effort in the series? ---
**Author:** ![xenonymous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de0a6/32.png) [@xenonymous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xenonymous)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2004, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-book-could-you-best-create-from-memory/269111/32 "2004-10-15T02:45:18Z")
[QUOTE=Chanteuse] \*Hooper Humperdink? Not HIM!QUOTE] I’d forgotten about Hooper Humperdink… I have a stolen copy from the library. My mum borrowed it for me when I was a kid and we moved house before she returned it. Years later I found it in the bookshelf and discovered my first library card in the back. The library card dates from when I was about 3 months old and is (sad, but true) one of my proudest possesions - how many other people can boast still having thier first library card? Aside from Dr. Suess the book I could get closest to recreating from memory is ‘The Great Gatsby’ by F. Scott Fitzgerald - I had to read it for a school assignment and for some reason it’s become my ‘comfort’ book, so I’ve read it (seriously) at least 30 times… ---
**Author:** ![rjk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@rjk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjk)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2004, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-book-could-you-best-create-from-memory/269111/33 "2004-10-15T03:40:56Z")
_Fahrenheit 451_, maybe? More seriously, it’s been a while but I too might manage _Green Eggs and Ham_. ---
**Author:** ![Blonde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Blonde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blonde)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2004, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-book-could-you-best-create-from-memory/269111/34 "2004-10-15T04:11:58Z")
Where The Wild Things Are - Sendak The Raven - Poe :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Horseflesh](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horseflesh/32/7502_2.png) [@Horseflesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horseflesh)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2004, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-book-could-you-best-create-from-memory/269111/35 "2004-10-15T04:18:01Z")
“The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe” “The Once and Future King” “Calvin & Hobbes Lazy Sunday Book” “Kama Sutra” Here’s to hoping that the last one is the one I’ll be asked to “recreate”. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2004, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-book-could-you-best-create-from-memory/269111/36 "2004-10-15T04:22:14Z")
I probably know the script for _Monty Python and the Holy Grail (Mønti Pythøn ik den Hølie Gräilen)_ better than anything else. I’ve also read _Lord of the Rings_ about 15 times. ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2004, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-book-could-you-best-create-from-memory/269111/37 "2004-10-15T04:38:49Z")
I could probably do a pretty good job of recreating just about any book I’ve read that I’ve enjoyed; I’ve got an almost photgraphic memory when it comes to reading, to the point that I can tell you the physical location of some event in the book - ie, I can say “Harry told Marcus to go kiss a fish on the left side of the page, about 5/8 of the way down the page, about 200 pages into the book.” Makes it handy for going back to look stuff up. At any rate, I’d probably be best at Stephen King, simply because I’ve read most of his stuff several times. ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2004, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-book-could-you-best-create-from-memory/269111/38 "2004-10-15T04:41:04Z")
> [@JoeSki](#): > > Without a doubt, The Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. I’ve read that book more than a handfull of times, and own the show on DVD. I’m dying to hear it on radio, but I haven’t been able to find it in stores. > > Still, I could do a decent job recreating it. At least to the point where it’s desirable to read. Thinking again, I’d have to go with this one too; I think I could create the entire series, AND the Dirk Gently series with a decent degree of accuracy. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2004, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-book-could-you-best-create-from-memory/269111/39 "2004-10-15T05:48:11Z")
_Through the Looking Glass_, (with _Alice in Wonderland_ coming in a close second.) I’ve read them both so many times, and in particular I take any opportunity to read _Through the Looking Glass_ to any child that will tolerate it. I know that I can reproduce all the poetry verbatim, and I’m pretty sure I can manage most of the prose. > [@](#): > > One thing was certain: the _white_ kitten had had nothing to do with it. It was the black kitten’s fault entirely, for the white kitten had been having its face washed by its mother for the last quarter of an hour, and bearing it pretty well, considering, so that you see that it _couldn’t_ have had any part in the mischief. > > The way Dinah washed the kittens’ faces was this: first she held the poor thing down by its ear with one paw, and with the other paw she rubbed its face all over, the wrong way, beginning at the nose. Just now, as I’ve said, she was hard at work on the white kitten, which was lying very still and trying to purr, no doubt feeling that all this was meant for its good… One of the most shocking things to me is how many people don’t recognize _Jabberwocky_ when they hear it. “I didn’t know you spoke Gaelic!” 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2004, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-book-could-you-best-create-from-memory/269111/40 "2004-10-15T06:04:10Z")
Thornton Wilder’s _Our Town_ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-book-could-you-best-create-from-memory/269111.md?page=1)