Thursday, February 17, 2011

One Book?

From the Blue Bookshelf,
the writing prompt for this Literary Blog Hop:

If you were going off to war
(or some other similarly horrific situation) and
could only take one book with you,
which literary book would you take and why?

Just one book?
It would have to be a horrific situation.

(I'm going to
imagine that this One Book
will be in addition to
my religious text and
a basic text that provides fundamental information
necessary for a person going to war.
Like how to operate a gun.)

What book, in other words,
would I happily read
over and over and over,
through gunfire and hunger and suffering?


Poetry.
A collection of poetry.
Definitely.

Some contenders:
Strong Measures.
Good Poems.
The Norton Anthology of Modern Poetry.

How about you?
What one book would you choose?

Posted by at

20 comments:

  1. mybillcriderFebruary 17, 2011 at 8:12 PM

    Shakespeare's "Collected Works."

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  2. MysticaFebruary 17, 2011 at 8:32 PM

    I would like something uplifting but can't think of a specific book right now.

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  3. Deb Nance at ReaderbuzzFebruary 17, 2011 at 8:42 PM

    And Shakespeare's Collected Works would serve a dual purpose: (1) Provide an amazing reading experience and (2) Offer a rather thick shield against bullets.

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  4. Mel uFebruary 17, 2011 at 8:49 PM

    I also considered the collected poetry of Yeats and Whitman and the works of Shakespeare-The Norton Anthology is a very good selection as you do not know for sure what you will face in the coming times-thanks for responding to the question

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  5. SharylaFebruary 17, 2011 at 9:05 PM

    I'm thinking...Good Omens. It's my favorite, and I can get lost in it so easily.

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  6. LaurieFebruary 17, 2011 at 9:24 PM

    Stellar blog here, Ms. Nance. And, as you read, I too would select poetry. The Norton would suit me best of your three, I believe, for it breadth and heft.
    I'm wondering about your choice of centered text and your inclusion of the tree-fern photo here too.
    Off to ponder,

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  7. AnonymousFebruary 18, 2011 at 4:46 AM

    I really want to make an attempt to make friends with poetry this year. Do you have a good title for a complete beginner?

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  8. Deb Nance at ReaderbuzzFebruary 18, 2011 at 6:26 AM

    Thank you, Laurie.

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  9. Deb Nance at ReaderbuzzFebruary 18, 2011 at 6:34 AM

    It's so nice of you to ask me for recommendations, BookBelle. Some collections that I keep on my shelf and that you might like are: Billy Collins (Sailing Alone Around the World); Good Poems collected by Garrison Keillor; and Poetry 180

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  10. AmyFebruary 18, 2011 at 6:37 AM

    Poetry is a tempting choice, just because you can get something different out of it each time you read it, thus making it good for lots of re-reading.

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  11. LauraFebruary 18, 2011 at 7:46 AM

    I think this is about the one time where poetry would be useful! (I actually engineered my part-English degree to avoid as much poetry as possible lol). I didn't even think about having an all useful warfare manual though- perhaps that would be best!

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  12. SayethFebruary 18, 2011 at 10:20 AM

    Good choices. I'll shamelessly link to my review of one of Billy Collin's poems, since the poem is available as a free audio download.

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  13. Roof Beam ReaderFebruary 18, 2011 at 11:55 AM

    This is great. You're the second I've seen to pick poetry - and I wouldn't have even thought of it, because I'm not a huge fan of poetry in general BUT in this situation, I can see how it would be enormously comforting and helpful. I can definitely see myself with a volume of Keats or Byron - or Poe or Whitman. It would definitely give my mind someplace else to go, and help me stay creative and positive as well, despite all that was going on around me. Great idea!

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  14. MelodyFebruary 18, 2011 at 12:16 PM

    I so wish poetry did it for me...I'm still working on it, haven't given up yet! The idea of a "How to Operate a Gun" book when on the front lines has me giggling...a fabulous visual there.

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  15. EmFebruary 18, 2011 at 3:38 PM

    I can really see how one would bring an anthology of poetry and I actually thought about it. The problem is that poetry scares me a little.

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  16. @parridhlanternFebruary 18, 2011 at 3:53 PM

    I also went with an anthology of poetry, mine - The Rattle bag.

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  17. Deb Nance at ReaderbuzzFebruary 18, 2011 at 4:54 PM

    The Rattle Bag is a fantastic choice. I used to have a copy on my shelf. Must scrounge around and find it.

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  18. gautami tripathyFebruary 19, 2011 at 11:21 AM

    I went with poetry too. Thirst by Mary Oliver!

    Here is my Literary Blog Hop post!

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  19. AnonymousFebruary 19, 2011 at 4:02 PM

    Thanks for stopping by my blog, Deb!

    Omgosh, ONE book?? Just ONE? I guess I'm going to have to say "A Prayer for Owen Meany". I've wanted to read it for a long time, but every time I look at it on my bookshelf, I'm intimidated by its thickness (and teeny-tiny type). I suppose if I only had one book it should be one that would take me awhile to read!

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  20. TrishaFebruary 20, 2011 at 11:22 AM

    I didn't really think about it, but that operations manual for a gun idea is probably a really good choice for me too!

    Thanks for stopping by eclectic / eccentric!

    ReplyDelete

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