Warning - On Topic Post - Desert Island Books

One of the most popular programmes on Radio 4 in the UK is 'Desert
Island Discs' where each week a guest is invited to nominate his or
her favourite pieces of music to take with them to the aforementioned
desert island.

Bearing in mind this is - allegedly - a forum in which book collectors
are supposed to be talking about, ahem (coughs), book collecting, I've
had a go at drafting my own list of top ten books. What books do other
people favour?

In no particular order:

Bram Stoker - Dracula
The 1904 Constable edition with the art nouveau covers. The undisputed
'king' of weird fiction and a fantastic story which never fails to
impress.

J.S. Le Fanu - Ghost Stories
The anonymous 1851 collection. When I'm not busy reading the stories
on a late winter's evening, I could drool endlessly over the binding.
(I would of course have a fine copy.)

William Golding - The Spire
Ideally an annotated edition with thoughtful academic notes. A
superior piece of literature in every possible way.

P.G. Wodehouse - Collected Jeeves & Wooster
I'm sure there are a multitude of these; I'd go for an illustrated
hardback with large print. Essential daytime moodsetter.

Evelyn Waugh - Brideshead Revisited
1st UK edition in dw. Although I know this book practically by heart,
I still need to read it at least annually or else I feel disloyal to
Waugh.

Evelyn Waugh - Vile Bodies
1st UK edition in dw. Extremely funny / witty / poignant and a great
personal favourite.

(I'd take Decline & Fall if I had twenty to choose....)

Samuel Beckett - Murphy
1st UK edition. Because I haven't read beyond the first couple of
chapters and have been saving it up for several years like a bottle of
fine wine to drink later.

J. S. Le Fanu - Uncle Silas
1st UK edition in triple decker. One of the best Victorian novels and
one tinged with a superlative gothic atmosphere.

Wilkie Collins - The Moonstone
1st UK in triple decker. Again, a brilliant novel fantastically told.
Like Le Fanu, Collins is a sharp and attentive writer who avoids the
exhausting meanderings of contemporary Charles Dickens.

Walter de la Mare - Collected Fiction
Because I've got all his collections in original format I don't need
the recent collected edition, but for a desert island a compendium of
his adult short stories would be essential.


Now, on Desert Island Discs, the guests are permitted one luxury item,
which can be non-musical. Continuing with that theme, I would take a
case of very good port or Talisker whisky (on the assumption that the
island would not have an electrical socket into which to plug my
PlayStation).

Once again, apologies to the group for the on-topic nature of this
post.

CB
http://hauntedriver.co.uk

"Haunted River" wrote in message
om...
One of the most popular programmes on Radio 4 in the UK is 'Desert
Island Discs' where each week a guest is invited to nominate his or
her favourite pieces of music to take with them to the aforementioned
desert island.

Bearing in mind this is - allegedly - a forum in which book collectors
are supposed to be talking about, ahem (coughs), book collecting, I've
had a go at drafting my own list of top ten books. What books do other
people favour?

At the Earth's Core - E. R. Burroughs E.C. McClurg 1922 with the cool
looking dust jacket

Babbitt - Sinclair Lewis Harcourt, Brace & Howe 1922

Elmer Gantry - Harcourt, Brace & Company 1927

Dodsworth - Sinclair Lewis - Harcourt, Brace & Company 1929

It Can't Happen Here - Sinclair Lewis Doubleday, Doran & Co. 1935

Working - Studs Terkel Pantheon, 1974

"The Good War" An Oral History of World War II - Studs Terkel Pantheon 1984

African Trilogy - Alan Moorehead Hamish Hamilton 1944

Ten Days to Destiny : The Battle for Crete, 1941 - Kiriakopoulos Franklin
Watts 1985

The tenth book should be something by Dashell Hammitt or Chester Himes or
Rex Stout but if I am stuck on a desert island

The Boston Cooking School Cook Book - Fannie Merritt Farmer 1886

All of course have to be first editions in jacket but please no museum
pieces that I would be afraid to read & reread. As for a luxury that would
have to be a 12 gauge Remington pump shotgun with a case of deer slugs. Just
the thing to assure that I will never again be a frustrated gardener.

Tim Crawford
Oxford, Ohio


In no particular order:

Bram Stoker - Dracula
The 1904 Constable edition with the art nouveau covers. The undisputed
'king' of weird fiction and a fantastic story which never fails to
impress.

J.S. Le Fanu - Ghost Stories
The anonymous 1851 collection. When I'm not busy reading the stories
on a late winter's evening, I could drool endlessly over the binding.
(I would of course have a fine copy.)

William Golding - The Spire
Ideally an annotated edition with thoughtful academic notes. A
superior piece of literature in every possible way.

P.G. Wodehouse - Collected Jeeves & Wooster
I'm sure there are a multitude of these; I'd go for an illustrated
hardback with large print. Essential daytime moodsetter.

Evelyn Waugh - Brideshead Revisited
1st UK edition in dw. Although I know this book practically by heart,
I still need to read it at least annually or else I feel disloyal to
Waugh.

Evelyn Waugh - Vile Bodies
1st UK edition in dw. Extremely funny / witty / poignant and a great
personal favourite.

(I'd take Decline & Fall if I had twenty to choose....)

Samuel Beckett - Murphy
1st UK edition. Because I haven't read beyond the first couple of
chapters and have been saving it up for several years like a bottle of
fine wine to drink later.

J. S. Le Fanu - Uncle Silas
1st UK edition in triple decker. One of the best Victorian novels and
one tinged with a superlative gothic atmosphere.

Wilkie Collins - The Moonstone
1st UK in triple decker. Again, a brilliant novel fantastically told.
Like Le Fanu, Collins is a sharp and attentive writer who avoids the
exhausting meanderings of contemporary Charles Dickens.

Walter de la Mare - Collected Fiction
Because I've got all his collections in original format I don't need
the recent collected edition, but for a desert island a compendium of
his adult short stories would be essential.


Now, on Desert Island Discs, the guests are permitted one luxury item,
which can be non-musical. Continuing with that theme, I would take a
case of very good port or Talisker whisky (on the assumption that the
island would not have an electrical socket into which to plug my
PlayStation).

Once again, apologies to the group for the on-topic nature of this
post.

CB
http://hauntedriver.co.uk

1. The Boy Scout Handbook
2. A good book of first aid
3. Robinson Crusoe
4. Swiss Family Robinson
5. Bartlett's Familiar Quotations
6. The Columbia Encyclopedia
7. A good Anthology of Great English Poetry
8. The Annotated Sherlock Holmes (The one just published although
it is really two volumes with a third to follow.)
9. The complete works of Howard Phillips Lovecraft
10. The Pearl



Tim Crawford" wrote in message
...

"Haunted River" wrote in message
om...
One of the most popular programmes on Radio 4 in the UK is 'Desert
Island Discs' where each week a guest is invited to nominate his or
her favourite pieces of music to take with them to the aforementioned
desert island.

Bearing in mind this is - allegedly - a forum in which book collectors
are supposed to be talking about, ahem (coughs), book collecting, I've
had a go at drafting my own list of top ten books. What books do other
people favour?

At the Earth's Core - E. R. Burroughs E.C. McClurg 1922 with the cool
looking dust jacket

Babbitt - Sinclair Lewis Harcourt, Brace & Howe 1922

Elmer Gantry - Harcourt, Brace & Company 1927

Dodsworth - Sinclair Lewis - Harcourt, Brace & Company 1929

It Can't Happen Here - Sinclair Lewis Doubleday, Doran & Co. 1935

Working - Studs Terkel Pantheon, 1974

"The Good War" An Oral History of World War II - Studs Terkel Pantheon
1984

African Trilogy - Alan Moorehead Hamish Hamilton 1944

Ten Days to Destiny : The Battle for Crete, 1941 - Kiriakopoulos Franklin
Watts 1985

The tenth book should be something by Dashell Hammitt or Chester Himes or
Rex Stout but if I am stuck on a desert island

The Boston Cooking School Cook Book - Fannie Merritt Farmer 1886

All of course have to be first editions in jacket but please no museum
pieces that I would be afraid to read & reread. As for a luxury that would
have to be a 12 gauge Remington pump shotgun with a case of deer slugs.
Just
the thing to assure that I will never again be a frustrated gardener.

Tim Crawford
Oxford, Ohio


In no particular order:

Bram Stoker - Dracula
The 1904 Constable edition with the art nouveau covers. The undisputed
'king' of weird fiction and a fantastic story which never fails to
impress.

J.S. Le Fanu - Ghost Stories
The anonymous 1851 collection. When I'm not busy reading the stories
on a late winter's evening, I could drool endlessly over the binding.
(I would of course have a fine copy.)

William Golding - The Spire
Ideally an annotated edition with thoughtful academic notes. A
superior piece of literature in every possible way.

P.G. Wodehouse - Collected Jeeves & Wooster
I'm sure there are a multitude of these; I'd go for an illustrated
hardback with large print. Essential daytime moodsetter.

Evelyn Waugh - Brideshead Revisited
1st UK edition in dw. Although I know this book practically by heart,
I still need to read it at least annually or else I feel disloyal to
Waugh.

Evelyn Waugh - Vile Bodies
1st UK edition in dw. Extremely funny / witty / poignant and a great
personal favourite.

(I'd take Decline & Fall if I had twenty to choose....)

Samuel Beckett - Murphy
1st UK edition. Because I haven't read beyond the first couple of
chapters and have been saving it up for several years like a bottle of
fine wine to drink later.

J. S. Le Fanu - Uncle Silas
1st UK edition in triple decker. One of the best Victorian novels and
one tinged with a superlative gothic atmosphere.

Wilkie Collins - The Moonstone
1st UK in triple decker. Again, a brilliant novel fantastically told.
Like Le Fanu, Collins is a sharp and attentive writer who avoids the
exhausting meanderings of contemporary Charles Dickens.

Walter de la Mare - Collected Fiction
Because I've got all his collections in original format I don't need
the recent collected edition, but for a desert island a compendium of
his adult short stories would be essential.


Now, on Desert Island Discs, the guests are permitted one luxury item,
which can be non-musical. Continuing with that theme, I would take a
case of very good port or Talisker whisky (on the assumption that the
island would not have an electrical socket into which to plug my
PlayStation).

Once again, apologies to the group for the on-topic nature of this
post.

CB
http://hauntedriver.co.uk

You'd take a complete Lovecraft to a deserted island? Then you'd better
take
a case of sleeping pills, a gallon jug of
holy water, an electrified fence (plus
generator and gasoline supply) and, just
to be on the safe side, an obsidian knife
and a copy of The Necronomicon....
Now, me, I'd take my Robinson-edited Chaucer, a complete Shakespeare,
Gawain and the Green Knight, Andreus
Capellanus, and a sprinkling of porn....
Best,
Dcon

"1. The Boy Scout Handbook
2. A good book of first aid"

Excellent first two choices!

CB