I’ll admit it. I’ve been putting off writing the second part of this post. I am completely and utterly indecisive. I’d chosen my four obvious choices, and here comes the difficult bit. I *think* I’ve decided now; but at the point of island drop off, I do reserve the right to change my mind and demand a last minute Katie Fforde.
Without further ado…
William Shakespeare, The Complete Works (Or if I have to choose one, Hamlet)
Well, I mean, how could I not? It’s Shakespeare. I don’t think I even need to explain why I’d want to take this with me. If nothing else, than the sheer variety in the texts will keep me entertained until help is sent.
And why Hamlet in particular, I hear you ask? Okay, I don’t, but that’s not going to stop me. Hamlet is the play I have studied most extensively, so I should be able to muster a few words about it. It’s a dramatic play, but it’s also a play about language and words. Important plot details are frequently communicated to us through a character’s narration, and even things that we’ve seen on stage are then relayed to us by characters. You can’t trust anyone’s words, which gives the play layer after layer. And I really, really love words, so I think this one is particularly clever
I’ve been lucky enough to see it performed several times (my favourite, so far, being Rory Kinnear as Hamlet), and it truly is a play where a director’s interpretation can completely redesign it. Perhaps because so much action happens off stage, or perhaps because it addresses themes that remain quite topical (corrupt politicians in this day and age? I hear you ask, aghast. NEVER), but I’ve seen it re-imagined in so many different ways, and never thought ‘Hmmm, I’m not so sure about this’.
Plus, it doesn’t hurt that it’s the inspiration behind one of my favourite comedy sketches of all times. (Ahhh, Victoria Wood).
Favourite Quote: hmmmm…
“There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”
Eva Rice, The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets
I will forever be indebted to the friend (Hi Becky!) who introduced me to this cosy, comforting, beauty of a book. It has many things in its favour: it’s set in the 1950s (a decade I’m fascinated with), around Bath and London (two of my favourite places), with an abundance of interesting characters (always a plus for a book).
To say the plot is sweet is to do it a bit of a disservice. It is sweet, there is no malice and it does seem like quite a safe world – but that’s not to say the characters don’t experience worry, heartbreak, sadness and everything else which characters are want to experience. It is the characters really, who elevate this from a book I enjoyed, to a book I’d happily be stuck on a desert island with. Eva Rice has created a world that you want to disappear into, and characters who you want to be friends with. It’s heart-warming. Romantic. Lovely. Harry, Charlotte, Penelope – they’re so real, so well developed, so delightful.
The only thing that irritated me the first time I read it, was that Penelope, as a student, seems to do absolutely no essays whatsoever. That just didn’t seem fair. Still, I have a feeling the whole reason I was reading it in the first place was to put off some university work that I didn’t fancy doing at the time, so I can hardly hold that against it. You do see these characters develop, and form friendships – Charlotte, for example, bursts onto the scene, seemingly the most confident girl in the world – but you soon learn that there’s so much more to her than that initial impression. So many books concentrate on plot and leave you with some rather two dimensional characters, but not this one. It’s truly refreshing.
I’m not doing a terribly good job at describing why I love this one so much, but trust me. It’s wonderful.
Favourite Quote: “There’s never any warning that something extraordinary is about to happen, is there?”
For my last two choices, I have decided to stray away slightly from the books I’ve thumbed through, and chosen ones that I have read, but not necessarily re-read. Books that I’ve enjoyed, of course, but ones which I am not quite so familiar with.
Philip Pullman, His Dark Materials
Please let me take the whole trilogy! If an edition of them all together doesn’t exist, I’ll superglue my copies together.
I read these a long time ago, and they did take me a little while to get into. They certainly weren’t like the Harry Potter series – where I was hooked almost as soon as I picked the first one up. But with a little perseverance, I found myself in love with Lyra’s world, her Oxford, the North…and so much more.
This was, in part, due to the excellent play put on at the National Theatre, which I saw just as I was really starting to appreciate these novels. It was an extraordinary production, using some of the cleverest puppetry that I’ve ever seen. Those who are familiar with the books will know that characters in Lyra’s world have daemons – representations of their souls which take on animal form – and that as children these daemons change form regularly. I don’t even know where those who staged the play started with a challenge of this magnitude, but they certainly rose to it.
Pullman, it is fair to say, wrote a children’s novel in an adult way. It is a more difficult read than many of a similar nature, and it is for that reason that these are the books that I’d want to be stuck with. I’m currently listening to the audio book (of course I am), and already I’m noticing so many nuances that went over my head as a somewhat precocious teenager. Characters face truly difficult challenges, they put themselves on the line, and you see the hard consequences of their mistakes. Alongside this of course, many wonderful things do happen to them too, but it is a very dangerous and – at times – frightening world they find themselves in. There is so much depth to these books, so many themes and issues which are addressed – and I want to have the time to really explore them properly again.
Favourite Quote: “Tell them stories. They need the truth. You must tell them true stories, and everything will be well, just tell them stories.”
Arthur Conan Doyle, The Complete Sherlock Homes
Well, if anyone is going to give me a clue about how to get off the island, it’s probably be Sherlock Holmes.
I have dived in and out of the Sherlock Holmes adventures time and time again. I studied them at university. I’m an avid Sherlock fan. After an interview in London once, I took myself off to the Sherlock Holmes museum. We even own a game called 221b Baker Street. It’s safe to say, I’m a bit of a fan.
Perhaps I’m just a bit stupid, but no matter how many of these I read, I still can’t get the answer before Holmes spells it out to me. And I suppose that’s why I want to take these books with me. I think I’d learn an awful lot – not just about detective work, but also about how to construct a story, how to plot, and plan and leave enough clues to get people giving, but not enough as to make it so obvious.
Holmes and Watson have inspired so many spin offs, and have this enduring quality that remains just as popular today as it was back in Conan Doyle’s day. They’re characters that everyone feels they know well even if they’ve not read much or any of the stories.
Plus they’re all quite short, so it might be a bit of light relief in between all the other books I’m taking with me..!
Favourite Quote: “Excellent!” I cried. “Elementary,” said he.”
(Because, as we all know, the world famous ‘Elementary my dear Watson’ quote isn’t actually in the text anywhere).
So there we go, a little later than planned. That’s my 8 books. There were some very other close contenders to this list. Terry Pratchett could easily have made up all eight choices – but I thought I needed something that wasn’t a comedic novel. Equally the Harry Potter books (I’m hoping that if stranded on a Desert Island I will still be able to recall most of the story). Jonathan Safran Foer’s Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is not on here because, although a wonderful piece of literature, on balance, on a desert island, I don’t think I’d want to dwell on something so tragic. Similarly, books like Anne Frank’s Diary, which have had a profound impact on me, just didn’t seem appropriate to bring to an island.
What would your choices be?
