Hey...I need your help...if you don't mind.
The Source
Hey...I need your help...if you don't mind. I'm working on an article for The Source newspaper...Yeah, it's an old idea, but still a good one, I think. I'm asking folks... If you knew you'd be stuck somewhere...desert island (are there really such things?) or somewhere and could take one book with you, what would it be? Of course, chances are you've already read the book and thus wouldn't want to take it, but let's imagine that you hadn't read the book, but from what you know now, you WOULD want to read it. Could you send me a title...and author if you know it?...and any other "why" that might come to your mind? Thanks for considering this...and remember: I don't have that many friends who can read. Ken B
Marcy Patterson: The Bible.. I have always wanted to read the entire thing.. I regularly get distracted from that goal.. That would limit my distractions :) I would WANT to take a book by Richard North Patterson tho..
KB,
I have started to read Don Quixote by Cervantes about five different times in the past few years. I like to think that I inspired by brother, Ryan, to read the classics after I took a Masterpieces of Literature course at Illinois College taught by Dr. Kerbaugh. He exposed me to some great works including Crime and Punishment and Catch-22. That being said, Ryan has surpassed me in terms of his personal library. In fact, he encouraged me to read Don Quixote, but for varied reasons, I have not been able to get through the first couple chapters.
It has become a running joke in our family now: Ryan regularly asks me what book I am reading and I reply, Don Quixote, of course! Kristin Van Ken Jamison
Cindy Thomas, The Shack, by Paul Young.
Jan Terry: Along the River Road..by Isaac Morris..set in Jacksonville, Franklin, Springfield. Isaac 'Marty' Morris is an LLCC adjunct and this is the sequel to his first novel. It just came out on Kindle this week. If i could take two, the other would be a king James version of the Bible. It's the only book I've read that i understand differently every time I read it.
Boy that is a hard one. I think I would probably pick a book that I could re-visit over and over and still get something out of. So I am going to choose "Forensic Art" by Karen Taylor in which she uses the great Betty Pat Gatliff and her remarkable ability to sketch likenesses from verbal descriptions and reconstructs faces. That should keep me occupied for as long as I was "stranded". But if you are looking for a novel (or something less maccabre) I would choose one of the Michener epics, probably "Hawaii". I could re-read that. Hope this helps.
Susan Weller
Thank you for asking. If I knew I was not going to get rescued anytime soon..."The Pacific War 1941-1945" by John Costello. Randy West, Beardstown DJ.
It would need to be Gone With the Wind, by Margaret Mitchell. I have a copy of the book that belonged to my great aunt. Its a version from when the movie came out in the 1930s, complete with shots from the movie as illustrations. I'd never read the book before (seen the movie), so decided to give it a shot. So, I've been reading it for over 10 years, and still haven't made it to the end. Being on a desert island would give me plenty of time to get it done. Plus, it's a good read - vivid locations, characters, and a point of view of the old south that is enlightening. Very re-readable in case the rescue boat doesn't show up for a few months. Now a DESSERT island.... that would be even better! StevenVarble
Ann Prather, Virginia: A Prayer For Owen Meany by John Irving. It is one of the few books I have re-read because there is not enough time to read all I want to read!
GARY SCOTT: If I am looking to escape the island, I would go with SAS Survival Handbook by John Wiseman If I want to escape and stay on the island, The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings Trilogy by JR Tolkien If it's for contemplation purposes, the Bible.
Marcy: The book I would take with me on a desert island is “The Kite Runner” by Khaled Hosseini. This book gave me an insight into a country I know very little about, except through the media –Afghanistan. It’s an eye-opening view of the country’s political turmoil and heartbreaking struggles, while telling a story about a young man who comes back to Afghanistan to save the son of a childhood friend who is a slave of the Taliban. The characters seem so real, you forget it’s a novel. I didn’t want it to end. Diana Olinger
The Complete Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The matching of wits with the master of the whodunit! It would provide years of reading and rereading to try to pick up every clue in order to deduce the complete evidentiary puzzle before Mr. Holmes revealed it to Dr. Watson. It was the first book I down loaded to my IPhone. Ed Leach Manager, Division of Emergency Operations Planning D & E Technical, Inc., Jacksonville
Red: My Uncensored Life in Rock by Sammy Hagar I have a signed copy in my collection, but haven’t had the time to read yet. A desert island would be the perfect opportunity to read the story of one of rock-n-roll’s coolest stars. KevinEckhoff
I just love a good "Good vs. Evil" story! That said, the Bible would be the first choice any good Christian would make. However, Stephen King's, The Stand is one of my all-time favorites and would run a close second. He is a master storyteller of the first order, and this tale is one of which I never tire. Dianne Leach D&E Tech, Jacksonville
The dome by Stephen king .... It's an engrossing book that reminds me of my own town and makes me damn happy to be on a deserted island . Or ..... The boy Scout Survival Guide ....for obvious reasons .Sherry Hopkins
Stephanie Smith Wilke WELL, AT THE RISK OF SOUNDING LIKE MISS GOODY TWO SHOES (WHO IS SHE, ANYWAY?), IT WOULD HAVE TO BE A BOOK THAT WAS WORTH READING OVER & OVER, HOPEFULLY A LONG ONE SO I WOULDN'T HAVE TO READ IT EVERY WEEK, ONE THAT MADE ME THINK NEW THOUGHTS & HAVE NEW UNDERSTANDINGS EACH TIME I READ IT, ONE THAT HAD FAVOURITE PARTS SO I COULD RE-READ & PERHAPS MEMORIZE, ONE THAT WOULD MAKE ME GROW AS I WOULD BE ALL ALONE & HAVE NO ONE TO TALK TO BUT MYSELF SO I'D HAVE TO HAVE QUESTIONS RAISED SO I COULD DISCUSS THEM WITH MYSELF, ONE THAT WOULD MAKE ME A BETTER PERSON SHOULD I EVER REJOIN SOCIETY, ONE THAT WOULD CONVINCE ME OF THE MOST IMPORTANT THINGS IN LIFE, ONE THAT WOULD GIVE ME HOPE THAT I COULD ADJUST IF I EVER GOT OFF THE ISLAND & MAKE ME ACCEPT IF I COULDN'T, ONE THAT WOULD MAKE ME REALIZE I WASN'T REALLY ALONE, ONE THAT WOULD KEEP MY MIND WONDERING & ACTIVE, ONE THAT WAS EXCITING IN THE SAD & THE HAPPY SECTIONS....SHALL I GO ON? WITH THOSE REQUIREMENTS, THE HOLY BIBLE IS THE ONLY ONE THAT WOULD SATISFY, KEEP ME SANE, KEEP ME READING & RE-READING IT, GIVE ME HOPE, MAKE ME FEEL LOVED, NEVER GROW OLD, NEVER TEACH ME ALL IT HAD TO & ALL I HAD TO LEARN, ETC. THAT'S PROBABLY NOT THE ANSWER YOU WANTED. I LOVE TO READ, & I'LL PUT "SACAJAWEA" (horribly mispelled) ON THAT LIST BECAUSE I ALWAYS WANT TO READ IT AGAIN, BUT THE ONLY PERFECT ANSWER WOULD BE A REALLY GOOD TRANSLATION (I FINALLY FOUND ONE) I COULD UNDERSTAND OF THE BIBLE. LET ME KNOW IF YOU WANT MORE FROM ME. LOVE YOU!
Marsha Nelson also commented on Warmowski Photography's status. Marsha wrote: "Of course, the Bible would have to be #1. But let's say the desert island came equipped with a Bible... then I'd have to say "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott. It's about love and family and hard work and fun and imagination and sacrifice. It's been a life-long favorite!"
Kristan Becker Hoffman 6:53pm Jul 29 Mom would take Charlie Chan the untold story by Yunte Huang because she assumes she will be back from the island trip by the time she has to give her Wednesday Class paper in Oct. She is hoping for a vacation with your question or maybe she is an optimist.
Kristan Becker Hoffman Bobby was hoping for a DVD player and would take the movie Hoosiers. Or the book would be Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand about the true story of Louie Zamperini. Stephanie Richardson also commented on Warmowski Photography's status. Stephanie wrote: "It's a tie between "SAS Handbook: How to survive in the wild, in any climate, at land or sea" and "The new complete book of self-sufficiency". The first would be handy, but maybe not compelling reading, while the second is sort of a combo survival and cookbook and would provide loads of fun projects to try out."
Why do you make me only choose one?!?!?! So many come to mind...
I would bring Harry Potter so that, as a good Christian, I could burn Harry Potter (:-) Twilight would burn for a while too Question, is there a fresh water source nearby? If not, then I wouldn't bring a book, I would bring some water purification tablets and a box of matches.
The Bible is very cliche, so let's leave that behind. Probably not a novel, because even though one can watch Monty Python and the Holy Grail 576 times, there is a limit to how many times I can read The DaVinci Code and still be surprised at the ending.
I would probably bring my copy of J.S. Bach's "Der Kunst der Fuge" (The Art of Fugue). Yes, it is a book (even though it's full of music). I would study it and hear it in my head, then by the time I was rescued I would know it so well that I could write my own book and become famous in the Baroque Music world. Then those people would bring MY book to a deserted island and I'd be safe and never travel anywhere where there was a deserted island again.
-Jeremy
p.s. You should keep a tally of how many times people mix up "Desert" and "Dessert" p.s.s. Don't you think it's time that we just combine those two words? Like "read" it should just be one word that can be pronounced two ways and mean two different things. I'm in favor of the spelling with one "s" because I'm lazy and not including the extra letter will save space on my hard drive while I'm writing the introduction to my book about Bach. p.s.s.s. The same thing should be done with "Lose" and "Loose". However, this time it should be the one with two "o"'s, because "lose" should rhyme with rose/nose/toes/schmoes. Kristan Becker Hoffman 6:48pm Jul 29 Well I am flattered that you believe I read. Maybe it is because my entire life outside work and volunteer life revolves around my kids or maybebut if I were would like to have Shel Silverstein's Where the Sidewalk Ends. I would love to have time to memorize all of them, act them out, sing them. Ok I sent send when proofing sorry.
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Kristan Becker Hoffman 6:48pm Jul 29 Well I am flattered that you believe I read. Maybe it is because my entire life outside work and volunteer life revolves around my kids or maybebut if I were would like to have Shel Silverstein's Where the Sidewalk Ends. I would love to have time to memorize all of them, act them out, sing them. Ok I sent send when proofing sorry.