Which One Book On A Desert Island?

James Joyce, when asked this question, replied, “I would like to answer Dante, but I would have to take the Englishman, because he is richer.”

For me, and I am excluding the Hebrew Bible—not because I wouldn’t want it, but because I would like to see diversity in our choices—it would be Montaigne’s Essays.

And so for you, oh castaway, Which One Book On A Desert Island?

45 responses to “Which One Book On A Desert Island?”

  1. Meredith Dunn Avatar

    I’m torn between “The Relentless Tenderness of Jesus” by Brennan Manning, which literally life changing, and “Jane Erye,” because I’m a hopeless romantic.

    1. Randy Elrod Avatar

      @Meredith Dunn, I LOVE hopeless romantics. I suppose because I “are” one!

      Thanks, Meredith!

  2. Mark Jaffrey Avatar

    Randy, did you know there is a long running programme on BBC Radio 4 in Britain called Desert Island Discs? The scenario is that a celebrity is washed up on a desert island, and along with the Bible and the complete works of Shakespeare, they are interviewed about the twelve pieces of music they would take to play on the gramophone, and which one book they would take to read. It was a staple of my childhood listening, but I’ve never been able to answer the question for myself.

    1. Randy Elrod Avatar

      @Mark Jaffrey, Oh my goodness!! That sounds incredible! I wonder if it’s on Netflix?

  3. Chuck Harris Avatar

    i would have to say my copy of The Complete Works of e.e. cummings.

    or any compendium of poetry. My second choice would be The Complete Works of William Shakespeare

    1. Randy Elrod Avatar

      @Chuck Harris, Very nice, Sir Chuck. I need to check out e.e. cummings!

      1. Chuck Harris Avatar

        @Randy Elrod, i’ll bring my book of poems in February, but until then.

        i carry your heart with me(i carry it in
        my heart)
        i am never without it(anywhere
        i go you go,my dear;and whatever is done
        by only me is your doing,my darling)
        i fear not fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)
        i want no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)
        and it’s you are whatever a moon has always meant
        and whatever a sun will always sing is you

        here is the deepest secret nobody knows
        (here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
        and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows
        higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)
        and this is the wonder that’s keeping the stars apart

        i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)

  4. Matt Odmark Avatar

    True true on the Complete Calvin and Hobbes. Excellent choice. Since that is taken I would offer The Brothers K by David James Duncan. Will be reading that one once every few years until I die.

    1. Randy Elrod Avatar

      @Matt Odmark, Another new book for me! wow! That is quite a recommendation!

  5. James Castellano Avatar

    The one book I’d take is the complete works of Sherlock Holmes,

    1. Randy Elrod Avatar

      @James Castellano, Oh, the works of Sherlock Holmes would be perfect. Conundrums would help pass the time. Those volumes were a treasure to me as I grew up!

  6. Ryan Szrama Avatar

    Unabridged Count of Monte Cristo. But I’d want it in French so I could kill two birds with one stone… never read it unabridged (though I’ve read a lengthy version) and I really want to learn French. I’m guessing the solitude and absence of internet would afford me the time to do both.

    1. Randy Elrod Avatar

      @Ryan Szrama, Ah, yes! A lofty goal and a desert island affords the luxury of that choice! I love that book!!

  7. Mandy Avatar

    The Little Prince.

  8. Terri Ware Avatar
    Terri Ware

    Eudora Welty’s book of short stories

    1. Randy Elrod Avatar

      @Terri Ware, Eudora Welty is awesome!! I have a great story about her, I must tell you when we are there in Jan!!

  9. Keith Jennings Avatar

    Randy, everything in me wants to say The Complete Calvin & Hobbes. Life on a desert island would be way too serious. And this is coming from a Literature major!

    My being-a-good-sport answer would be Jack Kerouac’s The Dharma Bums. I’ve read it so many times over many years that it’s like listening to old songs from our youth and the feelings they bring back.

    1. Randy Avatar
      Randy

      @Keith Jennings, Ha! Okay. I don’t know the Dharma Bums. I must get it also. Wow. This has given me a lot of exciting reading!! thanks. Love, love, love Calvin & Hobbes.

  10. Michelle George Avatar

    hmmm my answer would change day to day….for now my book of choice would be Gone with the Wind …. mind you I’ve just read Blue Like Jazz for the second time,…I reckon I could read that several more times and still feel the freedom it speaks……….jsut one book? seriously? hmmm

    1. Randy Elrod Avatar

      @Michelle George, My wife Chris would totally agree with you. Her fav book in the world!

  11. Brett Avatar

    jc what you mean by Hebrew Bible…to me that means just the 39 books also known as the Old Testament to Christians (maybe better called the First Covenant…). Not the (written-in-)Greek Bible?

    1. Randy Elrod Avatar

      @Brett, Ah. Thanks for the clarification, I actually meant the entire sixty-six-books—but you are correct, fine sir!!

  12. McNair Wilson Avatar

    Since you’ve “banned” the Hebrew Bible (smirk)…I grab ORBITING THE GIANT HAIRBALL (Gordon MacKEnzie) or WALKING ON WATER (Madeleine L’Engle)—I’ve read both several times all the way through and am still learning and being inspired by them.

    1. Randy Elrod Avatar

      @McNair Wilson, Yes, Walking on Water has been a pivotal book in my life. L’Engle not only knew when others write with layers, but she did a darn good job of it herself!

  13. James Cohen Avatar

    I’ve been pondering this for the lasr several hours. Would it be one of the great ancient scribes Plato or Plotinus? Then I jumped to Milton and Dickens, next I thought about Dostoevsky;s Crime and Punishment, the life of inward spiritual pain and of course contemplated C. S. Lewis…I moved onto Merton’s brilliant Seven Storey Mountain and even considered Dr Zhivago.

    But hands down my choice would be Joyce. His own life may not be a great model but he is possibly the greatest novelist of the last several centuries.

    1. Randy Elrod Avatar

      @James Cohen, I agree. I love Joyce. His works have challenged and inspired me.

  14. Rocco Capra Avatar

    Gee, you are all picking incredible works of literature, of which I really haven’t read any (unless reading the first few pages of the introduction to Mere Christianity and thinking, “Crap, this is over my head!” counts)

    So since I haven’t read any of those, what I would take is Sacred Romance by Brent Curtis and John Eldridge. Mainly because that book changed my perspective of God’s love for me, thus changing my life.

    Although I like what I’ve heard about Nouwen, so I may have to pick up one of his books.

    1. Randy Elrod Avatar

      @Rocco Capra, Rocco, you will love Nouwen. His book “The Dance of Life” has been a life saver to me. “Sacred Romance” is a great book also.

  15. Diana Avatar
    Diana

    I would take my Kindle – I need a desert island or a minimum of 6 months being snowed in somewhere with no wifi (or WhisperNet).

    1. Randy Elrod Avatar

      @Diana, Ha! Now that is a clever answer. So you consider your Kindle a book? Hmmmm. Very smart!

  16. Diana Avatar
    Diana

    I would take Mere Christianity. Everytime I read it I get something new out of it.

    1. Randy Elrod Avatar

      @Diana, Yes, it has layers.

  17. Kyle Reed Avatar

    now that I see it is a desert island I might take Nouwens The Way of the Heart

    1. Randy Elrod Avatar

      @Kyle Reed, Ha!! That is awesome!

  18. Kyle Reed Avatar

    @Kyle Reed,

    Definitely did not mean to put that in there. sorry.

    My real answer would be a bit cliche but honest. I would go with lewis mere christianity. I could read that book for years

    1. Randy Elrod Avatar

      @Kyle Reed, I don’t feel that is cliche at all. It is a modern masterpiece. Lewis has “layers” as Madeline L’Engle would say.

  19. Jonathan Rogers Avatar

    Pickwick is one of the funniest books ever. That’s an excellent choice. I guess I would say Paradise Lost, but it’s not all that funny. Maybe Dante…I’ve never read it, but I’d have plenty of time to get around to it if I was on a desert island.

    1. Randy Elrod Avatar

      @Jonathan Rogers, Thanks, Jonathan. Any choice of yours would be a choice of mine. Your writing is awesome!

  20. Jonathan Jones Avatar
    Jonathan Jones

    As you probably know Chesterton’s answer to this question was “Thomas’ Guide to Practical Shipbuilding.” Apparently his real answer was Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens. Has anyone read that one?

    1. Randy Avatar
      Randy

      @Jonathan Jones, Ha! I didn’t know that-and I haven’t read Pickwick Papers. But I will now! Thanks, Jonathan.

    2. McNair Wilson Avatar

      @Jonathan Jones, I have read everything I could find by Mr. Dickens. (I even have the cast recording of the musical “Pickwick.”) Along with DIckens, Mark Twain is why I learned to love reading as a child. Before being introduced to those authors I found words-on-a-page un-enticing. (I even wrote a full length stage adaptation of “A Christmas Carol” to get Dickens’ words and brilliant storytelling to a wider audience.

      1. Randy Elrod Avatar

        @McNair Wilson, Ah, yes. Mark Twain also taught me to love reading!