Literary Exploration discussion

Ruth's "Fahrenheit 451" post brought back memories...my dad and I used to play this game - if Bradbury's book were real, what book would you memorize?


He chose "Don Quixote." I picked "The Poseidon Adventure." (Hey -I was 12 at the time.)

Frankenstein for sure :-)

Can I choose the Encyclopaedia Britannica? :P

Maybe The Lord of the Rings. That story has it all. Action, adventure, romance, philosophy, language, poetry, suspense. A story to hand down through the generations.

Aischylos Orestia. It makes me wanna learn ancient greek.

the complete sherlock holmes

Depending on whether or not there would still be Google, the world may need someone with "encyclopedic knowledge" Kim.

The world needs knowledge but it also needs entertainment. The best story makes someone laugh and cry and think and feel. I've yet to experience all that in one book yet but I haven't stopped searching.

The Mahabharata

Ruth, I second that. It has all the ingredients of a best-seller,philosophy and religion to boot. I am still discovering it.

Sonali wrote: "Ruth, I second that. It has all the ingredients of a best-seller,philosophy and religion to boot. I am still discovering it."

Definitely! It has it all, every bit of humanity in one enormous work.

How I would ever memorize the longest story ever written, though, that I don't know! :D

Better get started now, Ruth.

And Kim, how's that encyclopedia thing coming?

Well I recently read The Know-It-All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World and the sheer size of the EB is massive. My memory is nowhere near good enough to remember 10 pages let alone the whole thing :P

Oh, A.J. Jacobs! His books are hilarious! I loved that one, but even more I loved The Year of Living Biblically.

Ruth wrote: "Oh, A.J. Jacobs! His books are hilarious! I loved that one, but even more I loved The Year of Living Biblically."

I'm reading that one now

"Alice in Wonderland". And a novel of outstanding beauty and depth, classics of Russian literature - "Dead Souls" by Gogol.

Excellent choices, I love Alice In Wonderland and Russian Literature

I'd choose to memorize The Baroque Cycle by Neal Stephenson. It's actually these three books:Quicksilver , The Confusion and The System of the World but all three are so incredible that I consider them to be one book.

Altogether they have story, plot, ups, downs, history, literature, art, and a wonderful wonderful writing style. Plus, they are long enough to tell in an Arabian Nights fashion if you're ever in such a predicament!

Knowledge Lost wrote: "Excellent choices, I love Alice In Wonderland and Russian Literature"

Thank you KL, if you like Russian literature, the next "First Tuesday Book Club" is going to discuss "Master and Margarita" by Bulgakhov, recommended by Marieke Hardy. This is another favourite of mine too. It'll be interesting to see what the club members think of it when they read it. I recommended this book to some friends but received no feedback, and one said she couldn't finish it. So, it's not for everybody's choice, plus I admit the humour in it is full of political subversiveness and you really have to know Russian history of the 19th century to appreciate it.
Booksy

Don't worry, I never miss a first Tuesday book club

I would choose to memorize "Gone With the Wind." It's full of such wonderful detail, and I adore the characters!