DC Public Library discussion

You are alone in a desert island-like scenario for a year and you can bring one book. You don't need it for survival purposes, it is just your entertainment for the next year.

What would you bring, and why?
(And a fully loaded Kindle doesn't count).

I got into a somewhat heated debate with an acquaintance about this yesterday. He asked me this question then didn't like my answer :P

I was thinking that I'd bring a very long book that I had previously enjoyed but thought I could get more out of with closer reading. Maybe The Brothers Karamazov or Don Quixote.

My friend insisted that the Bible was the right choice for religious and nonreligious alike since the many varied stories and lessons can be applicable to any situation, and the variety of writing styles would ensure you wouldn't get bored.

may we bring a thick, one-volume encyclopedia? One written in an engaging manner, with color photos, diagrams, etc.

I'd have to pick The Lord of the Rings. I've read it many times and it never gets boring. Every time I pick it up I find something new in it that I missed previously.

I do like the idea about an encyclopedia and long as it wasn't dry :)

This is hard. I'd want to drive myself nuts, so I'd probably take Heidegger's Being and Time, which I've never, ever had the brainpower to finish!

I will probably bring one of George R. R. Martin's Game of Thrones as it is complicated enough that I can see myself rereading the book.

July, July by Tim O'Brien. Every time I reread that book I get something else out of it. The intricacies in the characters are amazing.

Interesting question. I think I would pick a book that is both a captivating story and from which I have always wanted to memorize quotations. Exactly which book that would be is a harder decision. If the plane was about to depart and I was still dithering, I would pick The Enchanted April by Elizabeth von Arnim. It isn't a particularly deep book, but it is a comforting read and has fun passages to memorize. Or perhaps Swann's Way. But, see, now I'm up to 2 books. I'm sticking with The Enchanted April.

Torn between the Bible, a one-volume edition of Grimm's Fairy Tales, and (although this is sort of cheating) Lord of the Rings in one volume.

Or maybe a collection of several ancient epic poems.

The One Thousand and One Nights. But which translation...!?

I'd either go with Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (along the lines of the encyclopedia idea) or with Good Omens, which is my go-to reread book. I can flip to any page and something will make me laugh.

Erin, I like the poetry idea! I feel like memorizing poetry and reciting it would be a good & fun use of desert island time. And then you could show off upon your return to civilization. So I guess I'd go with a Norton Anthology of poetry or something along those lines.

I would never take a book owned by DCPL to a desert island because it would be filled with sand by the time I returned it; we all know how awful that is! But I would support a local bookstore and buy a book of poetry. I totally agree with Erin. Poems would give me something interesting to read. Since I'm technically on a vacation from life I wouldn't want anything too heavy to read that might distract me from the nice weather and warm sand.