hey, look at that k/c, we have a lot of the same books in our island luggage.

Which means I guess, two things: marooned together, we would have a lot to discuss about our fave books, but, on the other hand, we wouldn't have much variety either.

we need a third castaway with some reading from the last 10 years ha ha......

I noticed that. I almost didn't post my list, because its so damned repetitive.

I don't suppose I've read anything in the last 10 years that has spoken to me in the way that the listed books did. The "life changing" books were all books that I read between the ages of 14 and 24. It may be because I read the "classics" when I was quite young, or perhaps we are just more malleable when we're younger.

There also seems to have been a literary trend in the last 20 years (paralleling similar trends in music and art) toward the ironic, and even snarky. Infinite Jest, by DF Wallace being the best example I can think of. I enjoyed it, but it didn't move me. And therein lies the problem, imo, with irony in fiction. It demands a certain distance from the reader. You are, by design, in on the joke. It keeps you from fully identifying with the characters, because you are allowed to remain superior to them.

With your love of Victorian lit, have you ever read The Quincunx, by Charles Palliser? A loving recreation of Victorian literature. Think Dickens and Collins all rolled up into a 700+ page confection.

Yes k/c, you make a very good point about the ironic trend in literature, which is so often sterile, and afraid of genuine, straightforward emotion, and thus I also have failed to connect with a lot of modern lit in the same way as the classics.

I have seen the Palliser novel in the shops, and wondered about it. I got burned on the modern take on Victoriana with 'The Crimson Petal', but 'Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell' absolutely won me over.

I will check out The Quincunx some time when I return to civilization, ha ha.

May I ask why you both chose the King James version of The Bible?

Can't answer for ish, but, from a strictly literary p.o.v., the KJB is generally held to be the standard. In addition, when it comes to literary allusion, most writers are alluding to the KJ. Not for any theological reasons, obviously.

I think I remember reading somewhere the word "Lord" did not appear in the Bible till the KJV.

Pursuit of Beauty.

After perusing different editions of the Bible, I found the King James to be the most beautiful translation. It is the Bible I read most for sheer love of language.
Curiously, a number of my Christian friends won't read it, as they find it too 'difficult.'

As k/c said, it is also the text that is used most often in literary allusion.

That being said, the copy I have here in China is the English Standard Version. It follows the legacy of the King James translation, but operates in a more modern context.

On my second trip to the island I'm going to bend the rules a bit and squeeze some voluminous works into a few ginormous tomes.

Our Mutual Friend - Charles Dickens
La Comedie Humaine - Honore de Balzac
The Zohar
Magister Ludi - Hermann Hesse
The Magic Mountain - Thomas Mann
The Sybil - Par Lagerkvist
Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind - Shunryu Suzuki
The Essential Rumi
Tao Te Ching - Lao Tzu
The Dark Night of the Soul - St. John of the Cross

I toyed with bringing Remembrance of Things Past(hey, what the hell else am I going to do?), but I was afraid the island might start to sink.

I know this would be mega cheating, but has anyone decided to bring the Encyclopædia Britannica!? (As one book - imagine that! It would have to be thousands upon thousands of pages long!)

The World Almanac should work!

Can I take an eBook!? They hold, like, 150 books!

Here comes the future....and they seem to have solved the issue of direct sunlught on the screen, as I was reading the other day.

Pretty soon no one will own a physical book...here comes the death of life as we know it...or at least books as we know them.

I disagree. Until they can reproduce the sensual, tactile experience of holding the book, and turning the page, I think dead tree literature will continue to exist. I buy hardcovers when I can, because the pleasure of holding and owning the book is so great.

Of course, I may have felt the same way about vinyl music at one time...

Lets all hope those lovely paper and ink wonders last..

I hope so, but I doubt so. eBooks will be embraced by environmentalists (saves a massive amount of paper), lazy people will love it (don't need to leave home to buy books ), and...um. For once, I oppose the environmentalists. Hah.

Whoa. Desert island top ten? Sheesh. Lemmethink ...

10. Mickey Spillane's I, THE JURY
9. Raymond Chandler's THE BIG SLEEP
8. Dashiell Hammett's THE MALTESE FALCON
7. Jim Marrs' ALIEN AGENDA
6. Nick Cook's THE HUNT FOR ZERO POINT
5. Gaston LeRoux's THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA
4. Frank Miller's SIN CITY
3. John Keel's THE MOTHMAN PROPHECIES
2. Glendon Swarthout's THE SHOOTIST
1. TBD

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Trekscribbler,

Somebody is a fan of classic crime stories...

Nice choices...

quote:

Originally posted by Ishmaels coffin:
Somebody is a fan of classic crime stories...

Nice choices...

Thanks. Yeah, I gravitate toward vintage crime novels and conspiracy stuff.

Love a good crime story.

A bakers dozen which, once read, should make me paranoid enough to wanna stay on the island forever...

Jim Thompson The Killer Inside me
Agatha Christie Evil Under the Sun
Arthur Conan Doyle A Study in Scarlet
Michael Connelly The Poet
Thomas Harris Red Dragon
Edgar Allan Poe The Tell-Tale Heart
Barbara Vine A Dark Adapted Eye
Philip Kerr A Philosophical Investigation
Graham Greene The Comedians
James Ellroy American Tabloid
Ian Fleming Dr. No
Carl Hiaasen Native Tongue
Eric Ambler Journey into fear