Can't read 100 this year? Try 5!

BenBanned · 05-02-2012, 03:44 PM

While skimming through a book about modern day hermits I came across an interview with an American poet Robert Lax.
The interview made its way to the subject of possesions and eventually, books.

"Take the five books you'd take to a desert island and keep re-reading them."
-Robert Lax

I thought it would be interesting to share top five lists, not for a desert island but just one year of reading.

My hypothetical list:
1. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
2. Lilith (George McDonald)
3. Fight Club
4. Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy
5. House of the Dead (Dostoyevsky)

I don't know if I could go all year without some non-fiction, I was considering the Bible but then I wanted to put a bunch of other texts along with it. I tried to choose books that had alot of depth to them and rich characters over more plot driven titles.
There you go, Im curious to see what books others would choose to "study" for a year.

*Sharing*

BeccaPrice · 05-02-2012, 03:49 PM

Can't limit it to 5 - gotta have my kindle and a solar charger!

I'd take the complete works of Lois Bujold, to start.

Barty · 05-02-2012, 08:23 PM

My 5

Portrait of a lady
Jeeves and Wooster omnibus (yes cheating)
Foundation anthology (cheating again)
Emily Dickinson
How to get off this f$&@ing island for dummies.

xg4bx · 05-02-2012, 08:50 PM

hmmmmmm....

1984-orwell
The Long Walk-king
God's Demon (great novel by sf/fantasy artist Wayne Barlowe)
a Lovecraft omnibus (cheating

)
Biohazard by Tim Curran

elemenoP · 05-02-2012, 08:58 PM

1. Cloudstreet
2. To Kill a Mockingbird
3. A Prayer for Owen Meany
4. Life of Pi
5. Watership Down

(the first I have read several times, but I could still read it again, the rest are on my personal "to be re-read" list)

Synamon · 05-02-2012, 09:11 PM

Nevermind.

tecweston · 05-02-2012, 09:33 PM

1. Sherlock Holmes omnibus (cheating, don't care)
2. The Demon-Haunted World by Carl Sagan
3. The Lord of the Rings
4. The Shining
5. 1984

djulian · 05-02-2012, 10:13 PM

1. Canoe Building

Kidding of course...

1. The Bible
2. The Iliad/Odyssey
3. On Moral Fiction
4. Moby Dick
5. Sense & Sensibility

Edit: Though, I might try to squeeze the whole "Game of Thrones" cycle and "The Lord of the Rings" in there too.

JSWolf · 05-02-2012, 10:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Barty

My 5

Portrait of a lady
Jeeves and Wooster omnibus (yes cheating)
Foundation anthology (cheating again)
Emily Dickinson
How to get off this f$&@ing island for dummies.

You don't need #5. All you need is enough duct-tape. I saw a Mythbusters episode where they survived on a deserted island with nothing by duct-tape. They eventually made a boat and got off that way.

ala380 · 05-02-2012, 10:46 PM

Wow, this is really hard!

1. Jane Eyre
2. Wicked
3. Tao Te Ching
4. Les Miserables
5. Complete Works of Edgar Allan Poe

BookCat · 05-03-2012, 12:44 AM

The Complete Works of Shakespeare.
Nicholas Nickleby
A Fine a Private Place, Peter Beagle
Book of Edible Island Plants and Where to Find Fresh Water
Castaway, Lucy Irvine

Perhaps I should take a large book about cats, I would miss them so much. Can I smuggle them onto the island? In which case, I'd also want:

How To Care For a Cat on a Desert Island, by U. R. Hapi

JSWolf · 05-03-2012, 01:27 AM

Since cheating seems to be allowed, I'm going to have a server farm with unlimited storage and every book ever written as an eBook and I'm going to have unlimited solar & wind power to run the servers and devices to read what I want when I want. So I'll be all set for reading for life.

BenBanned · 05-03-2012, 01:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Since cheating seems to be allowed, I'm going to have a server farm with unlimited storage and every book ever written as an eBook and I'm going to have unlimited solar & wind power to run the servers and devices to read what I want when I want. So I'll be all set for reading for life.

I wouldn't consider an omnibus cheating, so long as it is all contained in one binding.
I think the whole idea is to become more familiar with your favorite works. Personaly, when I read I dont make it a point to understand EVERYTHING that is going on simply for the sake of flow. I imagine I miss alot of foreshadowing, metaphors, and all that other boring stuff from High School because I rarely re-read something.
Right now I have nowhere near the amount of discipline it would take to focus on five books all year.

xg4bx · 05-03-2012, 04:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BenBanned

I wouldn't consider an omnibus cheating, so long as it is all contained in one binding.
I think the whole idea is to become more familiar with your favorite works. Personaly, when I read I dont make it a point to understand EVERYTHING that is going on simply for the sake of flow. I imagine I miss alot of foreshadowing, metaphors, and all that other boring stuff from High School because I rarely re-read something.
Right now I have nowhere near the amount of discipline it would take to focus on five books all year.

i don't really think about what i read either. i may pick something up on the rare occasion i re-read a book but generally i just let it flow.

on a side note all that breaking down of books in school truly made reading a chore.

HomeInMyShoes · 05-03-2012, 06:27 AM

If in one binding isn't cheating...

Douglas Adams - The More than Complete Hitchhicker's Guide to the Galaxy
Italo Calvino - Italian Folktales
John Steinbeck - The Short Novels of John Steinbeck
The Orphan's Tales: In the Night Garden - Catherynne M. Valente
is there some sort of complete Terry Pratchett collection?

05-02-2012, 03:44 PM	#1
BenBanned Groupie Posts: 168 Karma: 1326166 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: NJ Device: Paper	Can't read 100 this year? Try 5! While skimming through a book about modern day hermits I came across an interview with an American poet Robert Lax. The interview made its way to the subject of possesions and eventually, books. "Take the five books you'd take to a desert island and keep re-reading them." -Robert Lax I thought it would be interesting to share top five lists, not for a desert island but just one year of reading. My hypothetical list: 1. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland 2. Lilith (George McDonald) 3. Fight Club 4. Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy 5. House of the Dead (Dostoyevsky) I don't know if I could go all year without some non-fiction, I was considering the Bible but then I wanted to put a bunch of other texts along with it. I tried to choose books that had alot of depth to them and rich characters over more plot driven titles. There you go, Im curious to see what books others would choose to "study" for a year. Sharing

05-02-2012, 09:11 PM	#6
Synamon Lunatic Posts: 1,691 Karma: 4386372 Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Land of the Loonie Device: Kindle Paperwhite and Keyboard, Kobo Aura, iPad mini, iPod Touch	Nevermind. Last edited by Synamon; 05-05-2012 at 04:02 PM. Reason: Apparently the topic is quantity not quality.

05-02-2012, 10:13 PM	#8
djulian Evangelist Posts: 408 Karma: 1786912 Join Date: Nov 2010 Device: Kindle Voyage	1. Canoe Building Kidding of course... 1. The Bible 2. The Iliad/Odyssey 3. On Moral Fiction 4. Moby Dick 5. Sense & Sensibility Edit: Though, I might try to squeeze the whole "Game of Thrones" cycle and "The Lord of the Rings" in there too. Last edited by djulian; 05-02-2012 at 10:16 PM.

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05-02-2012, 03:49 PM	#2
BeccaPrice Wizard Posts: 2,145 Karma: 11174187 Join Date: Jan 2011 Device: Sony 350, K3-3G, K4SO, KPW	Can't limit it to 5 - gotta have my kindle and a solar charger! I'd take the complete works of Lois Bujold, to start.

05-02-2012, 08:23 PM	#3
Barty doofus Posts: 2,521 Karma: 13036221 Join Date: Sep 2010 Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kindle Voyage	My 5 Portrait of a lady Jeeves and Wooster omnibus (yes cheating) Foundation anthology (cheating again) Emily Dickinson How to get off this f$&@ing island for dummies.

05-02-2012, 08:50 PM	#4
xg4bx Are you gonna eat that? Posts: 1,633 Karma: 23215128 Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: Phillipsburg, NJ Device: Kindle 3, Nook STG	hmmmmmm.... 1984-orwell The Long Walk-king God's Demon (great novel by sf/fantasy artist Wayne Barlowe) a Lovecraft omnibus (cheating ) Biohazard by Tim Curran

05-02-2012, 08:58 PM	#5
elemenoP Wizard Posts: 1,717 Karma: 3790058 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: NYC Device: Kindle Paperwhite, Sony 650	1. Cloudstreet 2. To Kill a Mockingbird 3. A Prayer for Owen Meany 4. Life of Pi 5. Watership Down (the first I have read several times, but I could still read it again, the rest are on my personal "to be re-read" list)

05-02-2012, 09:33 PM	#7
tecweston Comic book artist Posts: 553 Karma: 1760679 Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Detroit Device: Nook Glowlight, iPad, iPhone	1. Sherlock Holmes omnibus (cheating, don't care) 2. The Demon-Haunted World by Carl Sagan 3. The Lord of the Rings 4. The Shining 5. 1984

05-02-2012, 10:46 PM	#10
ala380 Junior Member Posts: 2 Karma: 10 Join Date: May 2012 Device: Nook Tablet	Wow, this is really hard! 1. Jane Eyre 2. Wicked 3. Tao Te Ching 4. Les Miserables 5. Complete Works of Edgar Allan Poe

05-03-2012, 12:44 AM	#11
BookCat C L J Posts: 2,912 Karma: 21115458 Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Birmingham UK Device: Sony e-reader 505, Kindle PW2, Kindle PW3, Kobo Libra2	The Complete Works of Shakespeare. Nicholas Nickleby A Fine a Private Place, Peter Beagle Book of Edible Island Plants and Where to Find Fresh Water Castaway, Lucy Irvine Perhaps I should take a large book about cats, I would miss them so much. Can I smuggle them onto the island? In which case, I'd also want: How To Care For a Cat on a Desert Island, by U. R. Hapi

05-03-2012, 01:27 AM	#12
JSWolf Resident Curmudgeon Posts: 73,970 Karma: 128903378 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Roslindale, Massachusetts Device: Kobo Libra 2, Kobo Aura H2O, PRS-650, PRS-T1, nook STR, PW3	Since cheating seems to be allowed, I'm going to have a server farm with unlimited storage and every book ever written as an eBook and I'm going to have unlimited solar & wind power to run the servers and devices to read what I want when I want. So I'll be all set for reading for life.

05-03-2012, 06:27 AM	#15
HomeInMyShoes Grand Sorcerer Posts: 19,226 Karma: 67780237 Join Date: Jul 2011 Device: none	If in one binding isn't cheating... Douglas Adams - The More than Complete Hitchhicker's Guide to the Galaxy Italo Calvino - Italian Folktales John Steinbeck - The Short Novels of John Steinbeck The Orphan's Tales: In the Night Garden - Catherynne M. Valente is there some sort of complete Terry Pratchett collection?