Pete from
Classics Reader invented a fun bookish game called Treasure Island Books. It looks fun, so..let's
play!
You are
stuck on a ‘Treasure Island’ for 1 year, which you landed on due to a
complication during a parasailing event. You walk through the island and find a
treasure trove. Contained in the treasure are the books you will spend the next
year with. They can be books to gain knowledge, information, understanding,
spirituality or just to entertain, it’s completely up to you.
8 books
you have read of your choice.
Any 8 books
you wish to spend the next year with. Pick wisely, you’ll be spending a lot of
time with them. In principle, the books you love the most or want to spend more
time with.
My choice:
I could have
easily picked 8 books from my Personal Canon, but I think I might as well
consider what will happen if I were stuck (not deliberately) in an island for a
year. I will be depressed for being
alone in a foreign place. So I guess, my choice of book will be a bit different
from my Personal Canon.
The Book of
Psalm
Instead of
the entire Bible (which I would not have read in a year anyway), I'd pick Book
of Psalm, because it's soothing, and offers a lot of consolations for my poor
mental condition while being stuck in the island.
Because I
just have to! It's my all time favorite book.
When I feel
weak and scared in the island, I will take courage from the strong Helen
Graham, a woman who can bear all the burden in the world, and still stay
positive and affectionate.
This is one
of my comfort books. It's warm and sweet - a perfect book to read when I get so
forlorn and depressed.
Since I
would be celebrating Christmas alone in an Island, what would cheer me better
than A Christmas Carol? I just need a good fire, and my imagination, and I'll
be doing okay!
The Pickwick
Papers by Charles Dickens
I will need
a hilarious book to make me laugh all the time. And would be better than
Dickens' witty comical stories of The Pickwick Papers? A good laugh will lift up
my spirit in a minute!
In times of
homesick, I could read Rebecca, just to remind me to my mother (you need to
read my review to know why).
The best
book to transport you to another world, so as forgetting your own troubles, is
definitely Alexandre Dumas' ! The intrigues and the full actions of The Count
of Monte Cristo would be my best friend during my stay in the island!
1 book
which you have never read before.
You know,
all those books on your book shelf, that have been there for years? You get to
take one. Which one do you want to read the most?
My choice:
The Song of
the Lark by Willa Cather
Cather's
soothing and tranquil writing would fit perfectly with my mental condition
during my isolation in the island, don't you think?
1 ‘the
complete works of’.
Now, this
can add some volume to your treasure trove. Yes, pick 1 author who you get to
take the complete works of with you. You don’t have to have read everything at
this moment by the author, but enough to make you want to read everything they
have over the next year.
My choice:
You would
think I'd pick Zola, eh? But Zola's is not for a troubled mind (like mine if
I'd got to be stuck in an island), but Agatha Christie's offers the best
pastime. And her books are numerous - about 90s - which guarantee a never ending
supply for the whole year of doing almost nothing but reading.
There it is!
You want to play too? Just do your own list, and don't forget to mention/link to Pete's post,
and pay his blog a visit! :)
Of course, Germinal! : )
ReplyDeleteI'm still reading Tenant of Wildfell Hall...and I know I have to get a copy of Cannery Row. I mean, you just called a book by John Steinbeck warm and sweet! I have to read this!!!
And yes, I thought you would have gone with Zola's catalogue, but I think Agatha Christie is a good choice, too.
P.S. I added A Christmas Carol, too.
DeleteCannery Row is really a surprise from Steinbeck, Ruth! I didn't expect anything when reading it (I thought it's probably a short version of Grapes of Wrath - that one with cotton field, this one cannery), but after chapter 1 I knew this book is unusually simple but sweet.
DeleteAnd by the way, it has a sequel: Sweet Thursday - "sweet", eh? :)
I own a copy of Germinal now, because of you. I still haven't read it though. :)
ReplyDeleteYou make me curious about Cannery Row! I love Steinbeck!
YAY, A CHRISTMAS CAROL!! <3
I can wait to read your thoughts of Germinal. Hopefully you'll love it.
DeleteALWAYS A Christmas Carol! :)
Hi Fanda, sorry for commenting late on your post, I'm so grateful you linked to my original post, and I loved reading your list above. I saw your comment above and on my blog about not wanting to take the complete works of Zola because it would make you depressed. I rarely think of his novels as depressing (from what I have read so far). I think he is such a great commentator on life, that I find the novels fascinating, however they turn out. I really feel like I learn so much. And as long as the novel feels real (how the events probably would turn out naturally) then I don't really mind, if it seems tragic or depressing. Glad you would take Germinal though, it's very special novel. And the rest of your books look great. You recommended Cannery Row to me recently, and it will definitely be one of purchases soon, I really want to read it. Thanks :)
ReplyDeleteHi Pete, thank you for inventing this fun game in the first place! :)
DeleteZola - I love his works, but I found reading Zola simultaneously is a bit depressing - I always need something cheerful in between. It's not only with Zola, but with most of the great books. It's like having a book-hangover.
Have fun with Cannery Row! ;)
This is a neat thought experiment.
ReplyDeleteYour choices are interesting. I particularly like your choice of The Pickwick Papers. It really is a very comforting book.
Agree on Pickwick Papers. It's being short installments might help making it a nice book when you are depressed (it's my personal experience).
Delete