Boxall's 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die discussion

Simon Mayo of BBC Radio 2 asked Ian Rankin what were his Desert Island books

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b080jpr6

What are yours? I thought it would be interesting to see what LIST books people would take. (You already get a Bible and a copy of Shakespeare.)

I'd insist on JANE EYRE, PRIDE & PREJUDICE, THE COLLECTED WORKS OF H.P. LOVECRAFT, DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS, WAR OF THE WORLDS.

So I can pick five? I sorted the list by page numbers. I would like

In Search of Lost Time (À la recherche du temps perdu #1-7) 4,211 pp
The Man Without Qualities, 1,774 pp
Jahrestage, 1,703 pp
Three Kingdoms, 1,690 pp
(Skipping: Clarissa, or, the History of a Young Lady, 1,534 pp
Skipping: Joseph and His Brothers, 1,492 pp
Skipping: A Suitable Boy, 1,474 pp)
Les Misérables, 1,463 pp

And please make that island a tropical one.

If I'm going to be stuck on a desert island it makes sense to take things I'll reread or at the very least enjoy debating.

The Bible
The Tolkien canon
Complete Works of Shakespeare
Harry Potter canon and side reads
Agatha Christie canon
Dickens canon

My major must have would be pen and paper.

If you had to pick only list books?

Sarah wrote: "If I'm going to be stuck on a desert island it makes sense to take things I'll reread or at the very least enjoy debating.

The Bible
The Tolkien canon
Complete Works of Shakespeare
Harry Potter ..."

You automatically get a Bible and the Complete Works of Shakespeare... then 6 more.

J_BlueFlower wrote: "If you had to pick only list books?"

I said that so this post would fit this group.

Yes, it is a good question. My comment was to Sarah, who picked books like Harry Potter. Not currently on the list ;-)