by Shannon Fox
As always, TTT is hosted by The Broke and The Bookish. This week’s topic: Top Ten Books I’d Want on a Deserted Island. One caveat: if I could have all these books in French (which I can read, though slowly) so much the better. Ten books will last me a lot longer that way!
1) Thus Spoke Zarathustra by Friedrich Nietzsche
-Might actually finish this one.
2) War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy
-And this time I’ll read all the war parts, not just the peace ones…
3) IQ84 by Haruki Murakami
-It’s just so long…
4) Ulysses by James Joyce
-Maybe I can parse this apart with unlimited reading time.
5) One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
-Kind of appropriate…
6) The Divine Comedy by Dante Aligheri
-One of those books I want to read, but sure I never will
7) Paradise Lost by John Milton
-Same. Though I enjoyed the excerpted sections I read. Just kind of intense.
8) Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
-I always forget I want to read this.
9) Don Quixote
-Read this in high school. Felt like it took my whole life.
10) Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
-I STILL really need to read this.
Shannon Fox - Author 
Such good picks! I wish I’d thought of “1Q84” and “One Hundred Years of Solitude” when I was writing my own list this morning. “1Q84” for the length, like you said. And “One Hundred Years” because it’s one that I’ve heard a lot about, expected to love, and then (summer ’11) I tried and failed at reading it. A deserted island would be the perfect place to pick it back up again. I still think I’d like it if I could just make it through.
How far you’d get? The first two chapters in my opinion are rough going, but then I was hooked. I also loved that you chose wilderness survival guides for yours haha. So practical!
I know next to nothing about wilderness survival, so I figured it might be a good idea 😉
I got 150 pages in, but that took about a month of arduous reading. I really enjoyed his language and style, but I often felt confused/overwhelmed with the plot and all the characters. I will definitely pick it up again someday though! I just have this feeling that if I finished it, I’d love it.
Mmmm…I feel like it’s one of those books where you gotta go…okay I’m taking a trans-atlantic flight, this is the only book I’m bringing, here we go…sometimes, some books are best enjoyed in as close to one sitting as you can get…I think it’s one where you have to get over the hump and it’s smooth sailing…I remember I read this one in probably 3 or 4 days…but I also have this issue where I don’t like to read a book for too long…it makes me antsy
A very good collection of books you have to take with you on a deserted island… 🙂
I really like your blog! Is there anyway I can contact you about possible review titles. Please email me kenya(dot)walker@us(dot)penguingroup(dot)com