Imagine This

[Emil Miller]

The world has been taken over by an anti-literature government that seeks to persecute bibliophiles with the demand that all copies of their favourite book will vanish from the earth unless they can offer up another as substitute. Which book would you wish to save and which submit for destruction?
P.S. Remember this is hypothetical so there's no need for pious statements about all books being sacred etc.

[1n50mn14]

I would save my complete works of Walt Whitman, as it is likely my favourite book, that I can read anywhere, any time, any circumstance. I'd offer up Stepher King's 'Dreamcatcher' for sacrifice. That book simply doesn't need to exist.

Hard, hard question.

[Thespian1975]

I would save "complete works if Shakespeare" and get rid of Harry Potter

[Emil Miller]

I would save "complete works if Shakespeare" and get rid of Harry Potter

You might not believe it but there are members of this forum who would use the same examples but in reverse order.

[mona amon]

No! :alien: That does not make sense, even to a rabid Harry Potter fan like me. :lol:

[Remarkable]

No! :alien: That does not make sense, even to a rabid Harry Potter fan like me. :lol:

Same here:D!

Mmmm,I'd probably throw away Nicolas Sparks or,what's-her-name...Daniel Steel I think...I'd probably keep something from Salman Rushdie,or something more classical,like "War and Peace".Hmmmm,hard choice...Although they probably wouldn't let me keep anythig with "peace" in it:p...

[LostPrincess13]

Same here:D!

Mmmm,I'd probably throw away Nicolas Sparks or,what's-her-name...Daniel Steel I think...I'd probably keep something from Salman Rushdie,or something more classical,like "War and Peace".Hmmmm,hard choice...Although they probably wouldn't let me keep anythig with "peace" in it:p...

Haha!:lol: yeah! Daniel Steel would be the first to go...:smash: In exchange, hmmm... Maybe, Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged?:D Or Paulo Coelho's I Sat by the River Piedra and Wept, or my other favorite books...:D

[Pecksie]

Save all the Russians - get rid of all the Coelhos, Dan Browns, and their ilk...

[LostPrincess13]

Save all the Russians - get rid of all the Coelhos, Dan Browns, and their ilk...

hey! Coelho's not bad ya know...:p

[Dark Muse]

Of course I would save my complete works of Edgar Allan Poe

and I would give up the Lord of the Rings trilogy. I do not think Tolkien is quite the god that so many other people seem to think.

[Taliesin]

Save all the Russians - get rid of all the Coelhos, Dan Browns, and their ilk...

All the Russians? Either you didn't think that sentence through, have a very odd taste, or are a Russian supremacist.

[JBI]

rewording the desert island question won't change the answers. Dostoevsky and Shakespeare will still be mentioned.

[Pecksie]

All the Russians? Either you didn't think that sentence through, have a very odd taste, or are a Russian supremacist.

Neither of the three. I try to think before I write, have a fairly 'classic' taste in literature, and have no specific connection to Russia :) But hey, what's so wrong with Tolstoy, Dostoyevsky, Chekhov, Turgenev, Pushkin, Lermontov, Gogol, Pasternak, I wonder???

[wessexgirl]

Gatsby can go, Shakey has to stay.

[Silas Thorne]

All the Russians? Either you didn't think that sentence through, have a very odd taste, or are a Russian supremacist.

:lol:

[Emil Miller]

Save all the Russians - get rid of all the Coelhos, Dan Browns, and their ilk...

All the Russians? Please read the original thread.

[Emil Miller]

Gatsby can go, Shakey has to stay.

Who on earth is Shakey?

[*Classic*Charm*]

Divina Comedia...can I have all three in one book?

[Silas Thorne]

Who on earth is Shakey?

Must be Bill Shakey's Big Book of Plays, Shakespeare's Complete Works, I think. ;)

[*Classic*Charm*]

Bill Shakey's Big Book of Plays

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

I literally laughed out loud at this. I still am, for that matter.

[Silas Thorne]

:)
Yes, I would keep Bill's Big Book of Plays too, and throw out a bad Mills and Boon book.

[Emil Miller]

:)
Yes, I would keep Bill's Big Book of Plays too, and throw out a bad Mills and Boon book.

Which one?

[Emil Miller]

Divina Comedia...can I have all three in one book?

Of course you can, but which book would you sacrifice to ensure the survival of your favourite?

[*Classic*Charm*]

Of course you can, but which book would you sacrifice to ensure the survival of your favourite?

oops, sorry! I'd sacrifice...Steinbeck's The Red Pony. No question.

[Silas Thorne]

Maybe 'Winter Roses' by Diana Palmer.

[windowfriend]

I'd keep The Poems of Emily Dickinson in exchange for...the Elsie Dinsmore books. :smash:

Has anyone else heard of the Elsie books? Just wondering. :-)

[wessexgirl]

Must be Bill Shakey's Big Book of Plays, Shakespeare's Complete Works, I think. ;)

:lol: Just my affectionate nickname for the great one. I just assumed everyone would know who I meant :blush:.

[kilted exile]

I'm saving Hard Times - they can have Ullyses by Joyce

[Pensive]

I would save "complete works if Shakespeare" and get rid of Harry Potter

I would say take away all Shakespearian works so we can save Harry Potter series. By now we have had too much of poor old moaning moping Shakespeare....let's not go for 'old is gold' but 'new is true'...

[Emil Miller]

No! :alien: That does not make sense, even to a rabid Harry Potter fan like me. :lol:

QUOTE=Pensive;659932]I would say take away all Shakespearian works so we can save Harry Potter series. By now we have had too much of poor old moaning moping Shakespeare....let's not go for 'old is gold' but 'new is true'...[/QUOTE]


I rest my case.

[Emil Miller]

My own choices would be to save Buddenbrooks by Thomas Mann and to sacrifice anything by J.K.Rowling, Stephenie Meyer or Dan Brown.

[LostPrincess13]

My own choices would be to save Buddenbrooks by Thomas Mann and to sacrifice anything by J.K.Rowling, Stephenie Meyer or Dan Brown.

J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter isn't that bad... *imploring look*:blush:

[Petronius]

I'd save Ada and buy matches to burn Notre-Dame from my own change.

[Virgil]

Lots to save. How about I put a good word in for William Faulkner's Light In August.

[Drkshadow03]

My own choices would be to save Buddenbrooks by Thomas Mann and to sacrifice anything by J.K.Rowling, Stephenie Meyer or Dan Brown.

If the worst books you can think of are by Rowling, Meyer, and Brown then you definitely need to read more.

I would save the seven books of Harry Potter by exchanging for seven Star Trek tie-in books.

[LostPrincess13]

If the worst books you can think of are by Rowling, Meyer, and Brown then you definitely need to read more.

I would save the seven books of Harry Potter by exchanging for seven Star Trek tie-in books.

I don't think Mr. Bean is implying that those books are the worst books ever...
I think he's just not very fond of them.:D

[Pecksie]

All the Russians? Please read the original thread.

All the classic Russian writers... what is it you didn't understand?

[Emil Miller]

All the classic Russian writers... what is it you didn't understand?

Well, I did ask for which book you would choose to save rather that a nation's literary output.

[Emil Miller]

I'd save Ada and buy matches to burn Notre-Dame from my own change.

An interesting choice but are you referring to Notre Dame de Paris ( better known as The Hunchback of Notre Dame in English speaking nations? )

[Emil Miller]

If the worst books you can think of are by Rowling, Meyer, and Brown then you definitely need to read more.

I would save the seven books of Harry Potter by exchanging for seven Star Trek tie-in books.

I didn't say they were the worst books I could think of and although I am not in my dotage yet, they are a little bit juvenile to my mind and obviously I haven't read them. However, I will substitute the worst book I have ever read in their place: Fear by L Ron Hubbard. Now I wonder how many budding scientologists I have offended with that one.

[Emil Miller]

J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter isn't that bad... *imploring look*:blush:

Sorry Princess no offence intended.

[JBI]

If the worst books you can think of are by Rowling, Meyer, and Brown then you definitely need to read more.

I would save the seven books of Harry Potter by exchanging for seven Star Trek tie-in books.

Interestingly enough though - by removing those (Potter, etc.) you would be burning quite a few copies, whereas those mediocre Trekkie books only sell a slight margin in comparison.

[kandaurov]

I must confess I can't really understand why you should consider judging J. K. Rowling by comparing her to the likes of Shakespeare. She writes for youngsters, so it's like comparing apples to oranges. Damning Dan Brown makes much more sense, and I must say I wholeheartedly agree.

I'd probably save Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment, Beckett's Waiting for Godot would be a close runner-up. As for the sacrifice, I guess I can't choose The DaVinci Code since I didn't read past page 30 (I just couldn't). I'd go for Paul Auster's Timbuktu, not because it's the worst book in History but because it was such a crushing disappointment.

[Petronius]

An interesting choice but are you referring to Notre Dame de Paris ( better known as The Hunchback of Notre Dame in English speaking nations? )

Yes, I did refer to Hugo's Notre-Dame de Paris, which to my disappointment I found to be unbearably cheesy. That, and I think sacrificing another acclaimed title makes things more interesting than simply deriding obscure titles or pop literature. :D

[Emil Miller]

Lots to save. How about I put a good word in for William Faulkner's Light In August.

OK Virgil but in order to save it from complete destruction which book would you offer up as a substitute?

[Emil Miller]

I must confess I can't really understand why you should consider judging J. K. Rowling by comparing her to the likes of Shakespeare. She writes for youngsters, so it's like comparing apples to oranges. Damning Dan Brown makes much more sense, and I must say I wholeheartedly agree.

I'd probably save Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment, Beckett's Waiting for Godot would be a close runner-up. As for the sacrifice, I guess I can't choose The DaVinci Code since I didn't read past page 30 (I just couldn't). I'd go for Paul Auster's Timbuktu, not because it's the worst book in History but because it was such a crushing disappointment.

How young?
There are plenty of adults who appear to have read her and not just to their children.

[TheFifthElement]

I'd probably save Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment, Beckett's Waiting for Godot would be a close runner-up. As for the sacrifice, I guess I can't choose The DaVinci Code since I didn't read past page 30 (I just couldn't). I'd go for Paul Auster's Timbuktu, not because it's the worst book in History but because it was such a crushing disappointment.

Aw, poor Mr Bones :(

I'd save Timbuktu and throw your Godot in the bin ;)

[kandaurov]

Oh absolutely - I'm just saying that she does her job well: make kids read, entice their imagination. She is useful to society.

[kandaurov]

Haha Element, not dissing Mr Bones there, but Auster's pedantic writing style, especially when dealing with his owner, the prototypical hungry and eccentric artist. Mr Bones's bits were the only thing that kept me going.

[Emil Miller]

Oh absolutely - I'm just saying that she does her job well: make kids read, entice their imagination. She is useful to society.

Even more useful to Random House.

[Emil Miller]

Aw, poor Mr Bones :(

I'd save Timbuktu and throw your Godot in the bin ;)

An interesting choice because I seem to recall that in one of Becket's
plays there is a character who spends much of the time in a dustbin.

[kandaurov]

Probably. But it's like what I think about the socialites who contribute to charity so as to improve their status quo: can't say I care as long as they're actually doing something good.

[kandaurov]

An interesting choice because I seem to recall that in one of Becket's
plays there is a character who spends much of the time in a dustbin.

Haha, spot on! You mean "Endgame" I think. I'd save it too :)

[Niamh]

I'm saving Hard Times - they can have Ullyses by Joyce

I would keep my complete works of J.M.Synge and also hand them over Ullyses... although now that i think of it... I would also hand them Dubliners.

[Emil Miller]

I would keep my complete works of J.M.Synge and also hand them over Ullyses... although now that i think of it... I would also hand them Dubliners.

You sound like the Playgirl of the Western World.

[promtbr]

I'd probably save Dostoyevsky's Crime and Punishment, Beckett's Waiting for Godot would be a close runner-up. As for the sacrifice, I guess I can't choose The DaVinci Code since I didn't read past page 30 (I just couldn't). I'd go for Paul Auster's Timbuktu, not because it's the worst book in History but because it was such a crushing disappointment.

At the risk of being so boring to echo kandurov, these would be the about the exact two I would have to decide from, probably in the end have to keep Godot because there is some comedy to go along with not having the words to curse the "*+%*ard that doesn't even exist" (not much grins and giggles from the " Big D").

I also would offer an Auster book but I actually diverge here, I would give them Moon Palace... wait, I can't, I already through it away.
(I am not joking, I actually did throw this book in the garbage)

[Dr. Hill]

I would plead them to let me save all my Dostoevskii in exchange for the rest of my books.

[sixsmith]

Save Philip Roth's "Sabbath Theatre" and sacrifice "Norwegian Wood" by Murakami.

[kandaurov]

Promtbr, your signature is solid gold! So Moon Place is that bad then... We seem to have similar tastes, so I'll ask you: did you like any Auster book at all? It's just that I've only read Timbuktu and now I'm afraid to try my hand at something else by him, but maybe there's still a good book or two in the AUSTER, Paul shelf?

[TheFifthElement]

Promtbr, your signature is solid gold! So Moon Place is that bad then... We seem to have similar tastes, so I'll ask you: did you like any Auster book at all? It's just that I've only read Timbuktu and now I'm afraid to try my hand at something else by him, but maybe there's still a good book or two in the AUSTER, Paul shelf?

Ah kandaurov, there are many good books on the Auster shelf :D

Moon Palace is the only of Auster's many books I haven't enjoyed. In fact I didn't finish it.

Read The New York Trilogy, which is currently being discussed in the reading group, or if not TNYT then Oracle Night, The Brooklyn Follies or Mr. Vertigo are all good. I liked Timbuktu but for Auster I think it's a fairly light read.

[Niamh]

They are reading New York Trilogy in the Forum bookclub. you could try that, and discuss it there when you done expressing why you did or didnt like it! :nod: Just a suggestion.


You sound like the Playgirl of the Western World.
:)
Why do you say that?... curious...or are you simply doing a play on words to show you know who Synge is? ;)

[Kafka's Crow]

Aw, poor Mr Bones :(

I'd save Timbuktu and throw your Godot in the bin ;)

Can't read beyond that! Coelho has to go, Raynd has to go, Dan Brown HAS to go, Timbuktu, what Timbuktu? Who Timbuktu? I will take Shakespeare, Dostoevsky, Beckett and Joyce and shove everything else in fire. We will start a new world on these four foundations.

[Kafka's Crow]

Promtbr, your signature is solid gold! So Moon Place is that bad then... We seem to have similar tastes, so I'll ask you: did you like any Auster book at all? It's just that I've only read Timbuktu and now I'm afraid to try my hand at something else by him, but maybe there's still a good book or two in the AUSTER, Paul shelf?

I have a copy of Moon Palace on my shelf, a good hard-bound one that I actually read and thoroughly abhorred! I've been thinking of throwing it away for over a decade but something kept on telling me that one day it would come handy. Now is the time, burn the @*stard!

[TheFifthElement]

Can't read beyond that! Coelho has to go, Raynd has to go, Dan Brown HAS to go, Timbuktu, what Timbuktu? Who Timbuktu? I will take Shakespeare, Dostoevsky, Beckett and Joyce and shove everything else in fire. We will start a new world on these four foundations.
Ah, but what a miserable world it would be ;)

I'll throw:
your Shakespeare and keep Simon Armitage
your Dostoevsky and keep Mikhail Bulgakov
your Beckett and keep Paul Auster ;)
your Joyce and keep Halldor Laxness

[Kafka's Crow]

Ah, but what a miserable world it would be ;)

I'll throw:
your Shakespeare and keep Simon Armitage
your Dostoevsky and keep Mikhail Bulgakov
your Beckett and keep Paul Auster ;)
your Joyce and keep Halldor Laxness

You forgot Madonna and The English Roses. Let's keep it all rosy and fluffy!

[Kafka's Crow]

Ah, but what a miserable world it would be ;)

I'll throw:
your Shakespeare and keep Simon Armitage
your Dostoevsky and keep Mikhail Bulgakov
your Beckett and keep Paul Auster ;)
your Joyce and keep Halldor Laxness

Armitage Shanks, Laxatives, and the monstrous Moon Palace for toilet paper! Yours would be a stinky world indeed.

[TheFifthElement]

You forgot Madonna and The English Roses. Let's keep it all rosy and fluffy!
No, you can keep that one ;)


Armitage Shanks, Laxatives, and the monstrous Moon Palace for toilet paper! Yours would be a stinky world indeed.

:lol::lol::lol: Moon Palace can go, but the rest can stay.

Still say Beckett's got to go ;) I went to see Waiting for Godot, at the theatre a few years ago, which my husband now terms 'Waiting for GodAwful'. I think I fell asleep :p

[Emil Miller]

They are reading New York Trilogy in the Forum bookclub. you could try that, and discuss it there when you done expressing why you did or didnt like it! :nod: Just a suggestion.


:)
Why do you say that?... curious...or are you simply doing a play on words to show you know who Synge is? ;)

Well, given that Joyce is is great favourite on the forum and you seem to be Irish it might appear frivolous to jettison him when other works would more readily come to mind.

[Kafka's Crow]

No, you can keep that one ;)



:lol::lol::lol: Moon Palace can go, but the rest can stay.

Still say Beckett's got to go ;) I went to see Waiting for Godot, at the theatre a few years ago, which my husband now terms 'Waiting for GodAwful'. I think I fell asleep :p

Then the play was highly successful, it did its job. Maybe you ate lettuce before going to the theatre. You know, it is said that the effect of eating too much lettuce is "soporific." Yes Beatrix Potter should stay, Paul Auster has to go now!

[Pecksie]

Well, I did ask for which book you would choose to save rather that a nation's literary output.

All the works by the ones I mentioned.

[Emil Miller]

All the works by the ones I mentioned.

QUOTE=Brian Bean;659244]The world has been taken over by an anti-literature government that seeks to persecute bibliophiles with the demand that all copies of their favourite book will vanish from the earth unless they can offer up another as substitute. Which book would you wish to save and which submit for destruction?
P.S. Remember this is hypothetical so there's no need for pious statements about all books being sacred etc.[/QUOTE]


If you read the original post above you will see that it asks for ONE book to be saved and ONE to be destroyed. You are, however, not the only contributor to the thread who is submitting multiple choices for both keeping and destruction.

[Niamh]

Well, given that Joyce is is great favourite on the forum and you seem to be Irish it might appear frivolous to jettison him when other works would more readily come to mind.

I am Irish yes, but i dont like Joyce hence why i tossed him.
Of course there are many other rubbish Irish writers i could toss... for example.. with modern Irish lit i'd keep Joseph o'Connor and Eoin Colfer while i would toss Cecilia Ahern and Meave Binchy.
But then this is all about personal preference. :D

[TheFifthElement]

Then the play was highly successful, it did its job. Maybe you ate lettuce before going to the theatre. You know, it is said that the effect of eating too much lettuce is "soporific." Yes Beatrix Potter should stay, Paul Auster has to go now!

Ugh! Beatrix Potter can go and I'll keep Moon Palace!

[Kafka's Crow]

Ugh! Beatrix Potter can go and I'll keep Moon Palace!

Please spare good ol' Miss Potter. We should meet in the middle ground. You keep Moon Palace and I keep Beatrix Potter. We can both burn Chuck Palahniuk on the stake along with his book. In fact that should have been already done without 'our' assistance!

[Emil Miller]

Can't read beyond that! Coelho has to go, Raynd has to go, Dan Brown HAS to go, Timbuktu, what Timbuktu? Who Timbuktu? I will take Shakespeare, Dostoevsky, Beckett and Joyce and shove everything else in fire. We will start a new world on these four foundations
Please spare good ol' Miss Potter. We should meet in the middle ground. You keep Moon Palace and I keep Beatrix Potter. We can both burn Chuck Palahniuk on the stake along with his book. In fact that should have been already done without 'our' assistance!.


Save some, but the rest,well, lets wreck it
We do not need more
With The Bard they make four
Dostoyevsky, James Joyce and Sam Beckett
But wait! Snakes alive!
They have got to be five
Or our new writers world might just totter
And what do you know?
It just goes to show
The new appointee's Beatrice Potter

[Kafka's Crow]

Save some, but the rest,well, lets wreck it
With The Bard they make four
We do not need more
Dostoyevsky, James Joyce and Sam Beckett
But wait! Snakes alive!
They have got to be five
Or our new writers world might just totter
And what do you know?
It just goes to show
The new appointee's Beatrice Potter

Thanks for sparing my life, Sir Bean
Have you heard of Peter, have you my Benji seen?
Those babes of mine will outlive the rest
Now that I rub shoulders with the best
The Bard, Dost, Joycee and the Dark One
What a great immortal company have I won.
Now to my brushes and pen I must take
On the paper and some scene on my canvas to make
While the New Literary Heretics violently burn
Future scholars will have only us five to learn
The Brave New World of the Bard is here
Palahniuk is burnt, Moon Palace gone, where?
Soporific, on the shores of Lethe they lay rotten
Lettuce or lotus, they're forgetful and forgotten!
Immortal I am like Memory's own daughter
And am faithfully yours, Beatrix Potter.

[subterranean]

It's kind of funny question, I think. So, this anti-literature government would take away my less fav books and spare my fav ones? Suppose it's not that so anti-literature at all and as a matter of fact, I probably wouldn't mind at all. I could use some space in the shelves :).

[Pecksie]

[QUOTE=Brian Bean;660986]If you read the original post above you will see that it asks for ONE book to be saved and ONE to be destroyed. You are, however, not the only contributor to the thread who is submitting multiple choices for both keeping and destruction.QUOTE]




I could no more submit only one book than I could choose only one book for the proverbial desert island. It's like being asked 'which is your favourite book?'

[Emil Miller]

[QUOTE=Brian Bean;660986]If you read the original post above you will see that it asks for ONE book to be saved and ONE to be destroyed. You are, however, not the only contributor to the thread who is submitting multiple choices for both keeping and destruction.QUOTE]




I could no more submit only one book than I could choose only one book for the proverbial desert island. It's like being asked 'which is your favourite book?'

And which is your least favourite or most expendable book also.

[promtbr]

Thanks for sparing my life, Sir Bean
Have you heard of Peter, have you my Benji seen?
Those babes of mine will outlive the rest
Now that I rub shoulders with the best
The Bard, Dost, Joycee and the Dark One
What a great immortal company have I won.
Now to my brushes and pen I must take
On the paper and some scene on my canvas to make
While the New Literary Heretics violently burn
Future scholars will have only us five to learn
The Brave New World of the Bard is here
Palahniuk is burnt, Moon Palace gone, where?
Soporific, on the shores of Lethe they lay rotten
Lettuce or lotus, they're forgetful and forgotten!
Immortal I am like Memory's own daughter
And am faithfully yours, Beatrix Potter.


:lol::lol::lol::lol::lol: Made my day. A true utopia this....

[sprinks]

Hmmm... I'd keep something by H.G. Wells. Most likely The War of The Worlds.

I'd sacrifice one of the Harry Potter books, simply because one of them gave me nightmares as a child!