THIS POLL IS NOW CLOSED!
If you could take only ten books with you to a desert island, which ones would you take? Assume that you will be exiled there for five years and have already been provided “The Idiot’s Guide to Desert Island Living”.
Pick up to 10 of the 30 books listed below. They are the ones which received the most nominations from commenters on this blog:
Thank you for voting!
On January 1st I will do a post on the ten winners.
Then, on the first of each month thereafter, I will do a post on each one of the winners, starting with #10 in February and reaching #1 in November, reading those I have not read yet – and maybe rereading some that I have.
See also:
- Nominations: Desert Island Books
- Alex Haley
- Bible
- Cheikh Anta Diop
- Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
- Dante
- Kerouac
- Muhammad
- Orwell
- Tolkien
- Toni Morrison
Voted. (Almost) all of my nominations got into the poll. I tried to pick different authors (so I picked my favourite book by them and not all. So i voted for Animal Farm but not 1984, even though I like them both, and I voted for Lord of the Rings but not Hobbit or Silmarilion).
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Wow! I liked that poll! I picked five books I know I could reread over and over again, like “Lord of the Rings”, and five that I have never read before but want to, like Cheikh Anta Diop.
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Mira:
The poll did allow me to limit the number of choices to ten.
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Hmmm… I must admit I only voted for the books I’ve read. The poll has some interesting books I’ve never read (or haven’t heard about before), and I’d probably take some of them to a desert island. However, I just had to vote for my favourites.
Just curious… Which of these books you’ve never read before?
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I have never read the ones by Hochschild, Diop, Adichie, Quinn, Poe, Martin, Hesse, McEwan, Rowling, Follett, Takami, Morrison and Martel. The two books I have read of Morrison’s are not on the list: “The Bluest Eye” and “Beloved”.
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I can only recommend those I’ve read and liked.
Ian McEwan is of of the two living authors I admire the most (the other one is Toni Morrison). McEwan’s “Atonement” is one of those books that are beautiful to read, but that don’t seem like a big deal… Until it hits you. And you realize it’s not a story about love or what not, but about something else. Also, the character of Briony Tallis is one of the most intriguing ones I’ve read in a while.
I am not an expert on Toni Morrison because only a few books have been translated here (and are difficult to be found), but Jazz is… Like Atonement, one of the best books I’ve read in a long time. What I love is not just Morrison’s distinctive style, but the way the novel was shaped… It is, quite literally, shaped like jazz is: you have a main theme and improvisations. I quite liked that.
(An interesting thing to note, though: when I first read the novel I had no idea Toni Morrison was black… or a woman for that matter. I also didn’t realize, till quite late in the novel, that all of the characters were black: I thought that “light skinned girl” meant she was white. lol)
“Steppenwolf” is, well, distinctive in its themes and philosophy. It’s one of the books you either love or hate. Also, the ending is quite open to interpretation. But when you’re in your early 20s and still finding yourself, this book can virtually change your life.
“The Pillars Of The Earth” are a wonderful book, and yet, you can’t call it a serious literature. The style is often way too modern for the time and Follett is simply not a good enough writer. Still, it’s an amazing book that you simply can’t stop reading until you finish. I first read it when i was 15, and some of the scenes were so powerful I still remember them (if you read the book you’ll know what I mean). Also, I am into history, I’ve always been, and my mother is an art historian, so it was definitely a book for me.
Harry Potter is… well, Harry Potter. But there is something weirdly unique about it.
PS- Does this mean you’ve read Jane Eyre? Did you hate it? (Somebody here said all men hated Jane Eyre. Arguably, it’s far from the best novel in existence, and it’s dated… But I still like the first part a lot, the one in the orphanage school).
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I did not care for “Jane Eyre”. I was disappointed because I loved “Wuthering Heights” by her sister.
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I only voted for a few books. Books that sounded interesting. I don’t like to reread books, even those I haven’t read in forty years; there were many on the list I’ve read.
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Arrgh! I should have suggested, Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, and Anthem by Ayn Rand.
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I did not care for “Jane Eyre”. I was disappointed because I loved “Wuthering Heights” by her sister.
So it’s true, then? All men hate “Jane Eyre”.
I wasn’t crazy about “Wuthering Heights”. Not sure why. It’s sure the most popular of the Bronte sisters work. Maybe I was just too young to understand it (it’s non-linear and I found it way to complex at the time to read… I was 10 when I read it, just like Jane Eyre, which I loved).
Trivia: Heath Ledger was named after Heathcliff, and his sister after Catherine.
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Wuthering Heights was nearly the end of me in high school. I had to literally force myself to read each page. Maybe it was just the time of life… but I struggled to get through it.
However, it didn’t stop me from endorsing the Bronte Sisters action figures.
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lol, King!
There was something truly unexciting about Wuthering Heights. In comparison, I couldn’t put Jane Eyre down. Another book I really liked was The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte.
I am not into romance novels, not at all, but to my 10 year old self, Jane Eyre was, well, a mystery novel (don’t laugh!) and like I said, the first part (at the school) is amazing.
Wuthering Heights was… I don’t know. All over the place.
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Nice reading list. Thanks for compiling it. Now I can add this to my New Year’s goals for 2011 🙂
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I can’t believe Harry Potter makes it on!
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I actually liked Jane Eyre. It was kind of weird towards the end though. Animal Farm is pretty good too.
I would’ve suggested Lord of the Flies and Death of the West. And House of the Scorpion even though it’s for younger readers.
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aiych,
If it’s not too personal to ask… Are you male? (We’ve already concluded many women liked the book, but the guys hate it!)
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Since the Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin made it to the list (surprisingly) I should say that it is a series of so far 4 books, each close to 1000 pages. If it wins and you choose just one to read, I’d suggest the first, A Game of Thrones, otherwise the other books will make little sense. However the third book, a Storm of Swords, is the best in my opinion.
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As far as the Bronte’s go, Anne is my favorite. I haven’t read Agnes Grey, but I loved the Tenant of Wildfell Hall. I merely liked Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights.
Abagond if you read a Song of Ice and Fire, you’ll probably get through each novel in about a week.
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Aargh! I should’ve suggested Eragon.
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C’mon, Koshoun Takami: Battle Royale! I’m counting on you!
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@ Mira– female, so I guess I fall in line with that presumption lol
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@ Rimbambo and Llama
Thanks for the advice on Martin.
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This poll will close on January 1st, probably at like 06.00 GMT (1:00 am in New York) – unless of course there is a tie for tenth place at that point, in which case it will keep going till the tie is broken.
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Mostly I voted for stuff I know – although I passed on some familiar things. I picked That Thing Around Your Neck, an unknown, but I like the mystical sounding title. I demand mysticism.
I chose Homer because those works would give you a lifetime of things to think about – as well as the Bible for sure. Orwell: uh uh. He’s good but on a desert island all those concepts of fascism and tyranny are obsolete and irrelevant. This is definitely a time to look for more cosmic, transcendent themes. Like Steppenwolf.
I picked the Koran too, and Dante, and Shakespeare. Jane Eyre, although Pride and Prejudice is a more perfect novel. I picked Life of Pi without knowing anything about it, but if it’s math related it’s certainly going to give you stuff to occupy your brain for a long time.
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The poll will close in 12 hours (unless there is a tie for tenth place, in which case it will close once the tie is broken).
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