Books for a Desert Island
Categories: Staff Picks , Poetry
When I was a small girl, my brother made me angry for one reason or another and I decided to run away. I grabbed a jacket and my favorite stuffed animals, and then got together the books that I absolutely couldn't live without. When I was finally ready to leave, there was one small problem; I couldn't lift the pile of books.
It's difficult as a book lover to narrow down your collection of essentials. It took me many years and several occasions of moving house before I minimized my own collection. I love books, but having now lived in a variety of places, most with lots of stairs, my back finally overruled my brain.
There are a few books I think I will always keep, the ones I dip into again and again. I've even managed to come up with a list of my top five "desert island books": the titles I'd want if I were stranded on a desert island. This isn't a new idea, there have been several desert island booklists, there's even a social networking website based on it. In the end, I think everyone's choices are a bit different. Here are mine:
- The complete poems and plays, 1909-1950 Eliot, T. S.
- The collected poems of William Carlos Williams Williams, William Carlos (and if you're really going to be a stickler and only let me have one volume, I want volume 2.)
- SAS Survival Handbook John Wiseman (I can read the poetry again and again, but this one promises to be a little more practical.)
- I had trouble in getting to Solla Sellew Dr. Seuss
- Interesting Times Pratchett, Terry (since it begins on a desert island)
What are yours?
