Favorite Post Y2K Books

Remember in Orwells classic Time Machine the movie? The end scene where the character has finished telling his story, and returns to the future, yet the camera pans on the bookshelf missing three books?

Lets imagine we can all contribute to a post-Y2K community library, virtual , at the moment. Which books would you want to carry into our future? Please share 3 or more of your "must have" book collection.

Diane

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), November 18, 1998

Answers

The complete works of Shakespeare, the complete works of Mark Twain, and the History of Civilization by Will and Ariel Durant (the first two can be had in one volume each, if you are going to limit me to one volume on the last, it would be either volume I - Our Oriental Heritage or volume II - The Age of Greece).

-- Paul Davis (davisp1953@yahoo.com), November 18, 1998.

I am a spirit, with a soul, living in this body, therefore if I am limited to just three books, I choose one for each aspect of who I am:

Spirit: "The Book of Great Coversations" Louis Biancolli (This is a collection in one volume of people from Socrates to Lincoln, etc.) Soul: The Bible Body: "The Encylclopedia of Country Living" Carla Emery

Thankfully I am not limited to just 3 in the real world, because I have been doing this already in preparation for Y2K. I have been weeding my library, saving and adding, in anticipation of a very long, long winter.

-- JoB (jbabinsky@theriver.com), November 18, 1998.

Are these books we're saving for posterity or just for ourselves to read again and again?

I think I'd like to bring "The World of Pooh" and "Jane Eyre", and "Nothing by Chance"

Silly, huh? If I have to choose, my brain addles and I panic. I should be ashamed to admit this, but I will have a LOT of overdue library books on my shelves when the library's computer system goes to sleep for the Big Nap.

-- Arewyn (nordic@northnet.net), November 18, 1998.

Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire, Anna Karina, Encyclopedia of Country Living (the Bible would *be* the shelf)

-- JDClark (yankeejdc@aol.com), November 18, 1998.

Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand, 5 Acres and Independence, and Carla's Encyclopedia of Country Living.

-- Sue (deco100@aol.com), November 18, 1998.

Perelandra (C. S. Lewis)

The Lord of the Rings (J. R. R. Tolkien)

Evolution's End : Claiming the Potential of Our Intelligence ( Joseph Chilton Pearce)

And maybe smuggle in a few more...

The McGuffey Readers -- First thru Sixth

-- Tom Carey (tomcarey@mindspring.com), November 18, 1998.

I couldn't even keep it to three authors - it's a good thing you said at least three. I have a few hundred books (I think, more or less), so by category: science fiction/fantasy- authors from Adams (Hitchhikers Guide) to Zelazny (Amber series); mysteries/thrillers/adventure - Christie, Francis, Maxwell, Neville; romance/general - Hooper, Krentz, Lowell (Maxwell); non-fiction by catagory - gardening, how-to basics (I'm still working on finding these), religious/personal growth, educational and as many classics as I can get. As well I've gotten some other ideas from reading this list. Now you know why my husband does NOT want to move...

-- Tricia the Canuck (jayles@telusplanet.net), November 18, 1998.

Definately Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged; Follet's Pillars of the Earth; gardening how-to books, a basic cook-book. Those are simply the must have's of course my Jane Austen collecton, remaining Tolstoy books, Hardy, Hemingway, Shakespeare, Books on Einstein, Mozart, etc.......

-- Christine A. Newbie (vaganti01@aol.com), November 18, 1998.

I'm gonna be a wise-ass and say the books hidden away in "Lucifer's Hammer". More than 3 though - Sorry:-)

Otherwise, Hmmmmmm

1. War And Peace (never read it). Saw it on the BBC - Anthony Hopkins was good as usual:-)

2. Bertrand Russell's history of Philosophy (never read it)

3. The Idiot's Guide To post-Y2K Survival;-)

If things get really bad with no TV/Radio/Videos etc., books will possibly become extremely valuable again...

-- Andy (andy_rowland@msn.com), November 19, 1998.

I'd have to think awhile to keep the number down near three or so.

I did find a great book at Barnes and Noble this past Friday. "How to Survive on Land and Sea" (4th Edition) by Frank C. Craighead Jr. and John J. Craighead (revised by Ray E. Smith and D. Shiras Jarvis).

It looks like THE book to have if you had to suddenly leave the city with very few supplies and had to live off the land.

-- Kevin (musicmixer@worldnet.att.net), November 19, 1998.

"If things get bad with no TV/Radio/Video.." I've survived without them and no newspapers either (only specialist magazines) for 18 months. Things are really good without them! My entire "cultural" intake is self-chosen from books and music recordings. I occasionally see glimpses of TV, but now find it highly irritating for more than a few seconds.

-- Richard Dale (rdale@figroup.co.uk), November 19, 1998.

The I Ching -- Book Of Changes The Sermon On The Mount The Key To Success In Life by Emmet Fox The Complete Book Of Essential Oils & Aromatherapy by Valerie Worwood Creating Sacred Space With Feng Shui by Karen Kingston Love And The Turning Year -- One Hundred More Poem From The Chinese translated by Kenneth Rexroth

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), November 19, 1998.

Diane...You mean H.G. Wells, "The Time Machine" as opposed to Orwell who did "1984". Thanks for a good thread....I must do a me to and go with Atlas Shrugged (starting my 3rd read tonight)...just found a copy at a swap meet...Cosmos...and of course....timebomb2000!!!!

-- ronbanks (phxbanks@webtv.net), November 20, 1998.

Ron, of course you're right! (Konking self on head with hardened fruitcake). Saw the movie years ago, but I always remembered that end scene and wondered what books would be important to me. Shifts with time and the assessment of what's necessary.

Diane

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), November 20, 1998.

Atlas Shrugged (Ayn Rand) Lucifer's Hammer (Pournelle & Niven)

Human Action (Ludwig von Mises) 1984 (George Orwell) Animal Farm (George Orwell) No Treason: The Constitution of No Authority (Lysander Spooner) The Law (Frederic Bastiat) The Will to Bondage (Etienne de la Botie) Economic Sophisme (Frederic Bastiat) The Ego and Its Own (Max Stirner) Atheism: The Case Against God (George Smith) The Art of War (Sun Tzu, various interpretations and translations)

Authors: P.G. Wodehouse Wm. Shakespeare (annotated works)

Opera libretto books Mathematics, physics, chemistry, engineering texts. BOOKs of logarithms and exponentials BOOKs of interest rate tables

... this is getting too much, and I just got startedf

-- Senor Argent (francisco@danconia.com), November 22, 1998.

RE: Favorite Post Y2K books :

One of Ayn Rand's strongest views was that :

a) man needs a rational philosophy to guide his actions, and that ;

b) a society must be guided by those same philosophical tenets in order to allow the maximizing of each individuals potential.

A rational philosophy has been absent from the majority of humankind for most of his existence, and most profoundly, in this society, the past 50 - 90 years or so.

Yet, we find the potential effects of Y2K such that when asked, one of the most mentioned books at the top of most posters lists is "Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand!!!

At least, there must be some of us here who may have sufficient grounding in a rational philosophy to provide some hope for a rational re-construction after the 'big events'.

Isn't life amazing! ======================================= Allow me to add :

Man's Emerging Mind, N.J. Berrill.

The Great Thoughts, George Seldes.

The Great Quotations, George Seldes.

Thanks,

Perry Arnett.

pjarnett@pdqnet.net.

http://www.pdqnet.net/pjarnett

-- Perry Arnett (pjarnett@pdqnet.net), November 22, 1998.

RE: Favorite Post Y2K books :

how could I forget :

Foundations of Mechanical Accuracy - Wayne R. Moore.

Living the Good LIfe - Helen and Scott Nearing.

The Practical Cogitator - Curtis and Greenslet.

Thanks,

Perry Arnett.

pjarnett@pdqnet.net.

http://www.pdqnet.net/pjarnett

-- Perry Arnett (pjarnett@pdqnet.net), November 22, 1998.

Every few weeks I have been ordering 2 or 3 books from Amazon.Com to build a library of books I have always wanted to read, but never been able to get to. The list stands so far at:

Atlas Shrugged (gee...is anyone suprised?)

The complete Oz series by Frank L Baum (only have the first 6 so far, but going to finish it off)

Breakfest Of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut (I have only read Slaughterhouse Five and Galapagos so far)

Psycho (always wanted to read the book)

All the James Bond books by Ian Fleming

Cannery Row by John Steinbeck

Lolita by Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov (already started this one and all I can say is "WOW!", this man's control of the English language is amazing)

Tom Sawyer & Huckleberry Finn by mark Twain

and so on. All the books I always promised myself I would read, but yet I never get to. And this doesn't count what I already own

Rick

-- Rick Tansun (ricktansun@hotmail.com), November 22, 1998.