| The heart, soul, or spine of your personal library? 19:44 - Aug 26 with 1174 views | Davillin |
My grandson left the other day for his second year in college. For some time now, I have been taking steps to ensure that certain things I have valued during my life get where I want them to go after I've gone. For personal reasons, they all go to my daughter to be kept in her family. [Some day I'll tell you about two brothers I once knew, who had the most insane battles over their father's estate.]
A couple of weeks ago, I visited my daughter's family and brought with me the three books that I consider the heart, or soul, or spine of my personal library, and gave them to my grandson with the inscription in each "For a lifetime."
I had originally intended to buy newer editions of aach than the ones I have had for many years, but decided that I'd rather he had them. He was moved by that sentiment, I'm happy to say.
My question to you is what book or books do you consider the heart, or soul, or spine of your personal library? And, if you will, why? |  |
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| The heart, soul, or spine of your personal library? on 19:47 - Aug 26 with 1155 views | dickythorpe |
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach and Razzler Best of 1985.
Reasons there's tasty food and tasty birds. [Post edited 26 Aug 2014 19:48]
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| The heart, soul, or spine of your personal library? on 19:51 - Aug 26 with 1162 views | perchrockjack |
Oliver Twist, long walk to freedom, w b Yeats poetry |  |
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| The heart, soul, or spine of your personal library? on 19:57 - Aug 26 with 1159 views | swanny |
Well, I look over to by handily placed bookcase and my well thumbed favourites are....Just William books, Dickens and the complete works of Shakespeare
......and Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management [Post edited 26 Aug 2014 20:08]
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| 'Sorry, your password must contain a capital letter, two numbers, a symbol, an inspiring message, a spell, a gang sign, a hieroglyph and the blood of a virgin" |
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| The heart, soul, or spine of your personal library? on 20:34 - Aug 26 with 1139 views | Banosswan |
Chrysalids by John Wyndham
Lord of the rings
Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson |  |
| Ever since my son was... never conceived, because I've never had consensual sex without money involved... I've always kind of looked at you as... a thing, that I could live next to... in accordance with state laws. | | Poll: | How do you like your steak? |
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| The heart, soul, or spine of your personal library? on 21:04 - Aug 26 with 1116 views | Thursday |
The list is not static; it changes when I re-read books or remember the forgotten joys and lessons. Today, though:
A Walk in the Woods - Bryson
The Man who was Thursday - Chesterton
The Great Automatic Grammatizator - Dahl
Moby-Dick - Melville
The Wind-up Bird Chronicle - Murakami
The Joy of Cooking - Rombauer | | | |
| The heart, soul, or spine of your personal library? on 21:41 - Aug 26 with 1091 views | swanny |
| The heart, soul, or spine of your personal library? on 21:04 - Aug 26 by Thursday |
The list is not static; it changes when I re-read books or remember the forgotten joys and lessons. Today, though:
A Walk in the Woods - Bryson
The Man who was Thursday - Chesterton
The Great Automatic Grammatizator - Dahl
Moby-Dick - Melville
The Wind-up Bird Chronicle - Murakami
The Joy of Cooking - Rombauer |
Know ye now, Bulkington.... | |
| 'Sorry, your password must contain a capital letter, two numbers, a symbol, an inspiring message, a spell, a gang sign, a hieroglyph and the blood of a virgin" |
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| The heart, soul, or spine of your personal library? on 21:44 - Aug 26 with 1087 views | Davillin |
| The heart, soul, or spine of your personal library? on 21:41 - Aug 26 by swanny |
Know ye now, Bulkington.... |
Or call me Ishmael. | |
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| The heart, soul, or spine of your personal library? on 21:45 - Aug 26 with 1081 views | Davillin |
| The heart, soul, or spine of your personal library? on 21:44 - Aug 26 by Davillin |
Or call me Ishmael. |
Seriously, I was extremely pleased to see Moby Dick" come up on this thread. Well done, indeed, Thursday! | |
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| The heart, soul, or spine of your personal library? on 21:47 - Aug 26 with 1079 views | swanny |
| The heart, soul, or spine of your personal library? on 21:44 - Aug 26 by Davillin |
Or call me Ishmael. |
Is it too late for me to add my collection of Edgar Rice Burroughs.. | |
| 'Sorry, your password must contain a capital letter, two numbers, a symbol, an inspiring message, a spell, a gang sign, a hieroglyph and the blood of a virgin" |
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| The heart, soul, or spine of your personal library? on 22:42 - Aug 26 with 1048 views | the_oracle |
The Janet and John books. With the help of dedicated teaching, taught me to read. Will never forget those immortal words" Run John, run".
When the Lion Feeds,. Wilbur Smith. My first "grown up book" when I was 11. Wow! Learnt a lot from that, and the action was brilliant. My teacher at the time took it off me as she was concerned about the adult content.
The Shining. My favourite Stephen King. He's part of a life of reading. Where ever I've strayed its always nice to pick up one of his books and immediately fall into his small town USA world, ( which is completely different and then exactly the same as my experience of non tourist America). | | | |
| The heart, soul, or spine of your personal library? on 23:43 - Aug 26 with 1021 views | swanny |
I was just going to bed, and then I remembered J P Donleavy (Destinies of Darcy Dancer)
P G Wodehouse (Empress of Blandings) and Evelyn Waugh (Put out More Flags)
I don't think I'd be any good at all on Desert Island Disks :( | |
| 'Sorry, your password must contain a capital letter, two numbers, a symbol, an inspiring message, a spell, a gang sign, a hieroglyph and the blood of a virgin" |
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| The heart, soul, or spine of your personal library? on 00:17 - Aug 27 with 1001 views | Captain |
I have a couple of books from the ASOIAF series signed by George RR Martin, not the whole series yet (plus there's still two to be released) but I hope to complete the set one day. |  |
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| The heart, soul, or spine of your personal library? on 11:53 - Aug 27 with 929 views | Catullus |
We don't keep many books. Once read we pass them onto our sons school were they are sold at fetes or boot sales to raise funds for the school.
But LOTR and the Hobbit we kept, along with a pile of Bill Bryson and Terry Pratchett that my wife loves.
I also have a series of books about Welsh history and Celtic mythology. Wev don't really read much serious stuff. I prefer reading to be escapism so I mostly read historical fiction. I have read all of Simon Scarrows books based in/around Rome (particularly enjoyed "Blood Crows") and I have Ben Kane's "Fields of Blood" and "Clouds of War" lined up next.
I read Moby Dick when younger, along with some Dickens but don't own any. | |
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| The heart, soul, or spine of your personal library? on 14:14 - Aug 27 with 897 views | Davillin |
| The heart, soul, or spine of your personal library? on 11:53 - Aug 27 by Catullus |
We don't keep many books. Once read we pass them onto our sons school were they are sold at fetes or boot sales to raise funds for the school.
But LOTR and the Hobbit we kept, along with a pile of Bill Bryson and Terry Pratchett that my wife loves.
I also have a series of books about Welsh history and Celtic mythology. Wev don't really read much serious stuff. I prefer reading to be escapism so I mostly read historical fiction. I have read all of Simon Scarrows books based in/around Rome (particularly enjoyed "Blood Crows") and I have Ben Kane's "Fields of Blood" and "Clouds of War" lined up next.
I read Moby Dick when younger, along with some Dickens but don't own any. |
Respectfully, you should seriously consider reading Moby Dick again now that you're mature. You will find it a new book because you will read past the "adventure" and get to the core of the book and its characters.
Melville was a very popular writer with his "South Seas adventures," and went into literary blankness when Moby Dick came out, chiefly because his audience were disappointed that it wasn't like his earlier, and very popular, works. He died in obscurity, the media not even reporting his death until three days afterward, and then without fanfare.
Some years later, new readers, not being saddled with the bias of the earlier works, began to see and explain the deeper meanings, and it has become what is arguably the best and greatest American novel, and certainly one of the great classics of all literature. | |
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