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Desert island top 10 list
06 August 2005
If you could take no more than 10 of each of the following items, which would accompany you if you had to spend a year in a retreat, a vacation off the beaten path, or stranded on a desert island?
Sure, it's sophomoric psychology, perhaps (how appropriate on the Net!), but our choices give us insight into what we value and who we see ourselves as. What is valuable to you, what are your cultural icons and core values?
Here are my choices. Admittedly, some of these are choices-du-jour, creatures of the moment because they’re what I feel like reading, seeing or listening to now:
Books
1. The Complete Shakespeare (probably the Alexander edition; even though it lacks a few items now considered part of the canon it’s highly portable.) If I was restricted to a single book, this would probably be it. After all, it contains 37 plays, plus the sonnets and poems. That's a lot of reading material.
2. The Still Point Dhammapada. Geri Larkin’s version is so very clear and human, with segues about her life and role as a Buddhist teacher. The Dhammapada is one of those brilliant, succinct works of philosophy and spiritualism that everyone should read. I try to read it at least once a year.
3. Zen Flesh, Zen Bones by Paul Reps. After 35 years, it’s still one of my favourite books. I still have the copy I was given in 1968... a combination of stories, aphorisms, and Zen commentaries.
4. The Nag Hammadi Library. I seriously considered The Other Bible as well – both contain collections of important Gnostic works. Understanding the Gnostics helps us understand Christianity, as well as what went wrong... and you get to see into the window of alternate Christianities, see what might have been had the pro-Roman conservatives not forced on the world their particular orthodoxy. The Gospel of Thomas is a particular favourite.
5. Tao Teh Ching (Ursula Leguinn’s translation). Like the Dhammapada, this is one of the seminal works of philosophy and spirituality. While not the most "authentic" translation, LeGuinn created a readable, comfortable version that cuts through some of the density associated with more literal translations.
6. Boswell’s Life of Samuel Johnson. The first biography, written as much as a diary as a history. Johnson was a surly, cheeky rascal whose brilliant wit continues to shine today. Not the easiest read, but on a desert island I might have time to finish it.
7. David Chandler’s Campaigns of Napoleon. I really wish he had expanded it to contain the entire Napoleonic Wars - Spain especially - and not limited it to those of Napoleon, but he didn't and it's still impressive as a superb military history.
8. Middle Egyptian Grammar by Allen. Not just an introduction to ancient Egyptian writing and grammar, but a course in their culture, religion, politics and daily life. It was this or a textbook of Spanish. I want to have to do some mental work when I'm on that island and learning a language is a good way to do it. I considered something like Tibetan or Sanskrit, but ancient Egyptian is equally difficult.
9. Three Pillars of Zen by Philip Kapleau. Lots of practical stuff here. But am I getting too Buddhist in my choices? I seriously though about
10. The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin. Like the Life of Johnson, it’s one of those books I probably will never finish until I’m free of other distractions. I sometimes wallow through it, but at every page I am shaken by Darwin's insights.
Possible alternatives (if I could trade other items for more books):
11. Ulysses, by James Joyce. I have read a good deal of it, but like Darwin, it takes time free of distraction to complete.
12. Homer – the Illiad and the Odyssey (the Fagles’ translations, counts as two books, however)
13. Beowulf (the Seamus Heaney translation).
14. Chaucer, the Canterbury Tales. Possibly a dual-language edition so I can compare the middle English original with the newer language version.
15. Desolation Angels, Jack Kerouac. The third in his series that included On the Road and The Dharma Bums, but the most searching and Buddhist of the lot.
16. Wallace Stevens: the Palm at the End of the Mind. A collection of his best poems. I might have chosen just a good collection of poetry from all ages, but I still turn to Stevens for that intellectual scalpel of his.
17. The Compact Oxford English Dictionary. Everyone should have one… a contender might be the Merriam Webster’s 11th edition American Heritage Dictionary, but I prefer English over the American dialect. Not a fun read - for that I'd have picked up Shakespeare's Words.
18. Chaucer - The Canterbury Tales the Peguin edition with the orginal text but enough footnotes so a dummy like me can understand most of it.
CDs (if there is a CD player…)
1. The Beatles White Album. After the Beatles, pop music started to atrophy. This was the pinnacle.
2. Mussorgsky’s Boris Gudonov (the original version, not Ravel’s remake). Dark, searing, cheerless, and utterly moving. If there's room in the suitcase, I'd take the dual-edition with both versions.
3. Barber, Adagio for Strings. Usually part of a set of pastoral pieces. One of those pieces that can bring me to tears every time I hear it.
4. Bach’s Brandenburg Concerti. The world's best resume...
5. Stardust by Willie Nelson. Just some nice versions of great songs. It was this or a Steve Tyrell CD.
6. Let it Bleed, the Rolling Stones. They're absolutely best release (although the Licks compilation is a pretty damned good set!). After this, they never did anything so complex, so dramatic or so good.
7. A shakuhachi/Zen Buddhist CD (I have several, so I’d probably pick one at random).
8. Vivaldi, The Four Seasons (I could probably get Bach, Vivaldi and Albinoni in a set, a collection that satisfied my need for Baroque music).
9. Tchaikovsky, the Winter Dreams Symphony (Symphony No. 1). Maybe I’d find it coupled with his 1812 Symphony… I really like the second movement of his first symphony.
10. Velvet Underground, Loaded. Okay, I’d prefer to take the complete collection of their works, but if I had to pick one, it would be this or The Velvet Underground with Nico.
Contenders (say if I found a collection set that would include several of the above):
11. Paul Horn, Inside
12. John Coltrane, Ballads
13. Sonny Side Up, Dizzy Gillespie, Sonny Rollins & Sonny Stitt. The best jazz album ever recorded.
14. Chris Botti, Night Sessions
15. Jesse Cook (one of his first three).
16. Firesign Theatre… probably I Think We’re All Bozos on This Bus, but possibly All Hail Marx and Lennon. I never tire of listening to them, and I always hear something I'd previously missed.
17. Fever Tree, Another Place Another Time. Great sounds from an almost forgotten band in the great era of music.
18. Bob Dylan, Blonde on Blonde
19. Alligator Records’ 25th Anniversary Blues Collection.
20. Robert Johnson, the Complete Works.
Movies.
Of course we assume there’s a player for these… Big problem here is that there are a lot of sets – my collection of Kurosawa films, the I Claudius series with Derek Jacoby, Bondarchuck’s War and Peace, Complete Blackadder, Jeevs & Wooster, the Beatles’ Anthology, the newly-released set of Thin Man movies... if I’m counting each disk in a set as an individual item, I have to rule out most sets. But how many movies or series would you really want to watch over and over? I’d easily trade movies to be able to carry some extra books.
1. Young Frankenstein (Mel Brooks). My favourite film. We watch this one at least once a year.
2. Casablanca. The two-DVD set with the outtakes. How romantic.
3. Lawrence of Arabia. Director’s cut, of course.
4. Apocalypse Now (Redux version)
5. Fiddler on the Roof. Poignant, good tunes, historical – what more could you ask?
6. Monty Python’s Life of Brian (contender: Monty Python and the Holy Grail). I might consider Brazil, too...
7. Hunchback of Notre Dame (Charles Laughton's 1939 version). A personal favourite - great cast.
8. Manhattan, Woody Allen (if nothing more than for the superb soundtrack). Susan dislikes Woody, but I enjoy his movies. This one - all in black & white - is very well crafted.
9. Star Wars (the first one if I couldn’t fit the Trilogy into my luggage…). After the first one, the movies star to lose depth, but improve effects. After the trilogy they're simply not interesting.
10. The Commitments (the music alone is worth it!). This or the Full Monty...
Contenders:
11. Ice Age (it’s quite funny, even after several viewings)
12. The Haunting (1963, black and white; still a gripper)
13. The Thing (John Carpenter’s remake). Scary fun.
14. Caligula. Sex, violence, a good cast and a bad reputation.
15. Baraka A stunning film, moving, frightening, romantic, and disturbing.
Personal (aside from hygiene items)
1. A simple wooden-bead mala. I'm not a big one for mantras or prayer, but the concentration a mala afford can help clear the mind. I would hope I'd have the time to meditate, but the mala would give me focal point if not.
2. A PVC shakuhachi (probably one of Nelson Zink’s creations; durable, good tuning, nicely made). It's an easy musical instrument to carry but a demanding one to learn. And a lot less fragile than, say, a guitar.
3. A digital camera. To record the experience, and hone my photographic skills.
4. A deck of Waite tarot cards. I have absolutely no belief in prediction and magic - superstitious twaddle - but the tarot is an interesting study, in Jungian terms, of western psychology.
5. A diary or journal, ors ome form of notebook.
6. Pens. Some coloured ones, too.
7. A cat. What's life without cats? Hollow, empty, meaningless. Cats give us focus.
8. A Tibetan singing bowl. Just to make meditative sounds.
And what else? I can't think of more, without mentally packing up my whole house. I'm assuming I can't take a motorcycle, and my housing needs would be ttaken care of. I don't need a weapon (that's too American).
Sure, it's sophomoric psychology, perhaps (how appropriate on the Net!), but our choices give us insight into what we value and who we see ourselves as. What is valuable to you, what are your cultural icons and core values?
Here are my choices. Admittedly, some of these are choices-du-jour, creatures of the moment because they’re what I feel like reading, seeing or listening to now:
Books
1. The Complete Shakespeare (probably the Alexander edition; even though it lacks a few items now considered part of the canon it’s highly portable.) If I was restricted to a single book, this would probably be it. After all, it contains 37 plays, plus the sonnets and poems. That's a lot of reading material.
2. The Still Point Dhammapada. Geri Larkin’s version is so very clear and human, with segues about her life and role as a Buddhist teacher. The Dhammapada is one of those brilliant, succinct works of philosophy and spiritualism that everyone should read. I try to read it at least once a year.
3. Zen Flesh, Zen Bones by Paul Reps. After 35 years, it’s still one of my favourite books. I still have the copy I was given in 1968... a combination of stories, aphorisms, and Zen commentaries.
4. The Nag Hammadi Library. I seriously considered The Other Bible as well – both contain collections of important Gnostic works. Understanding the Gnostics helps us understand Christianity, as well as what went wrong... and you get to see into the window of alternate Christianities, see what might have been had the pro-Roman conservatives not forced on the world their particular orthodoxy. The Gospel of Thomas is a particular favourite.
5. Tao Teh Ching (Ursula Leguinn’s translation). Like the Dhammapada, this is one of the seminal works of philosophy and spirituality. While not the most "authentic" translation, LeGuinn created a readable, comfortable version that cuts through some of the density associated with more literal translations.
6. Boswell’s Life of Samuel Johnson. The first biography, written as much as a diary as a history. Johnson was a surly, cheeky rascal whose brilliant wit continues to shine today. Not the easiest read, but on a desert island I might have time to finish it.
7. David Chandler’s Campaigns of Napoleon. I really wish he had expanded it to contain the entire Napoleonic Wars - Spain especially - and not limited it to those of Napoleon, but he didn't and it's still impressive as a superb military history.
8. Middle Egyptian Grammar by Allen. Not just an introduction to ancient Egyptian writing and grammar, but a course in their culture, religion, politics and daily life. It was this or a textbook of Spanish. I want to have to do some mental work when I'm on that island and learning a language is a good way to do it. I considered something like Tibetan or Sanskrit, but ancient Egyptian is equally difficult.
9. Three Pillars of Zen by Philip Kapleau. Lots of practical stuff here. But am I getting too Buddhist in my choices? I seriously though about
10. The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin. Like the Life of Johnson, it’s one of those books I probably will never finish until I’m free of other distractions. I sometimes wallow through it, but at every page I am shaken by Darwin's insights.
Possible alternatives (if I could trade other items for more books):
11. Ulysses, by James Joyce. I have read a good deal of it, but like Darwin, it takes time free of distraction to complete.
12. Homer – the Illiad and the Odyssey (the Fagles’ translations, counts as two books, however)
13. Beowulf (the Seamus Heaney translation).
14. Chaucer, the Canterbury Tales. Possibly a dual-language edition so I can compare the middle English original with the newer language version.
15. Desolation Angels, Jack Kerouac. The third in his series that included On the Road and The Dharma Bums, but the most searching and Buddhist of the lot.
16. Wallace Stevens: the Palm at the End of the Mind. A collection of his best poems. I might have chosen just a good collection of poetry from all ages, but I still turn to Stevens for that intellectual scalpel of his.
17. The Compact Oxford English Dictionary. Everyone should have one… a contender might be the Merriam Webster’s 11th edition American Heritage Dictionary, but I prefer English over the American dialect. Not a fun read - for that I'd have picked up Shakespeare's Words.
18. Chaucer - The Canterbury Tales the Peguin edition with the orginal text but enough footnotes so a dummy like me can understand most of it.
CDs (if there is a CD player…)
1. The Beatles White Album. After the Beatles, pop music started to atrophy. This was the pinnacle.
2. Mussorgsky’s Boris Gudonov (the original version, not Ravel’s remake). Dark, searing, cheerless, and utterly moving. If there's room in the suitcase, I'd take the dual-edition with both versions.
3. Barber, Adagio for Strings. Usually part of a set of pastoral pieces. One of those pieces that can bring me to tears every time I hear it.
4. Bach’s Brandenburg Concerti. The world's best resume...
5. Stardust by Willie Nelson. Just some nice versions of great songs. It was this or a Steve Tyrell CD.
6. Let it Bleed, the Rolling Stones. They're absolutely best release (although the Licks compilation is a pretty damned good set!). After this, they never did anything so complex, so dramatic or so good.
7. A shakuhachi/Zen Buddhist CD (I have several, so I’d probably pick one at random).
8. Vivaldi, The Four Seasons (I could probably get Bach, Vivaldi and Albinoni in a set, a collection that satisfied my need for Baroque music).
9. Tchaikovsky, the Winter Dreams Symphony (Symphony No. 1). Maybe I’d find it coupled with his 1812 Symphony… I really like the second movement of his first symphony.
10. Velvet Underground, Loaded. Okay, I’d prefer to take the complete collection of their works, but if I had to pick one, it would be this or The Velvet Underground with Nico.
Contenders (say if I found a collection set that would include several of the above):
11. Paul Horn, Inside
12. John Coltrane, Ballads
13. Sonny Side Up, Dizzy Gillespie, Sonny Rollins & Sonny Stitt. The best jazz album ever recorded.
14. Chris Botti, Night Sessions
15. Jesse Cook (one of his first three).
16. Firesign Theatre… probably I Think We’re All Bozos on This Bus, but possibly All Hail Marx and Lennon. I never tire of listening to them, and I always hear something I'd previously missed.
17. Fever Tree, Another Place Another Time. Great sounds from an almost forgotten band in the great era of music.
18. Bob Dylan, Blonde on Blonde
19. Alligator Records’ 25th Anniversary Blues Collection.
20. Robert Johnson, the Complete Works.
Movies.
Of course we assume there’s a player for these… Big problem here is that there are a lot of sets – my collection of Kurosawa films, the I Claudius series with Derek Jacoby, Bondarchuck’s War and Peace, Complete Blackadder, Jeevs & Wooster, the Beatles’ Anthology, the newly-released set of Thin Man movies... if I’m counting each disk in a set as an individual item, I have to rule out most sets. But how many movies or series would you really want to watch over and over? I’d easily trade movies to be able to carry some extra books.
1. Young Frankenstein (Mel Brooks). My favourite film. We watch this one at least once a year.
2. Casablanca. The two-DVD set with the outtakes. How romantic.
3. Lawrence of Arabia. Director’s cut, of course.
4. Apocalypse Now (Redux version)
5. Fiddler on the Roof. Poignant, good tunes, historical – what more could you ask?
6. Monty Python’s Life of Brian (contender: Monty Python and the Holy Grail). I might consider Brazil, too...
7. Hunchback of Notre Dame (Charles Laughton's 1939 version). A personal favourite - great cast.
8. Manhattan, Woody Allen (if nothing more than for the superb soundtrack). Susan dislikes Woody, but I enjoy his movies. This one - all in black & white - is very well crafted.
9. Star Wars (the first one if I couldn’t fit the Trilogy into my luggage…). After the first one, the movies star to lose depth, but improve effects. After the trilogy they're simply not interesting.
10. The Commitments (the music alone is worth it!). This or the Full Monty...
Contenders:
11. Ice Age (it’s quite funny, even after several viewings)
12. The Haunting (1963, black and white; still a gripper)
13. The Thing (John Carpenter’s remake). Scary fun.
14. Caligula. Sex, violence, a good cast and a bad reputation.
15. Baraka A stunning film, moving, frightening, romantic, and disturbing.
Personal (aside from hygiene items)
1. A simple wooden-bead mala. I'm not a big one for mantras or prayer, but the concentration a mala afford can help clear the mind. I would hope I'd have the time to meditate, but the mala would give me focal point if not.
2. A PVC shakuhachi (probably one of Nelson Zink’s creations; durable, good tuning, nicely made). It's an easy musical instrument to carry but a demanding one to learn. And a lot less fragile than, say, a guitar.
3. A digital camera. To record the experience, and hone my photographic skills.
4. A deck of Waite tarot cards. I have absolutely no belief in prediction and magic - superstitious twaddle - but the tarot is an interesting study, in Jungian terms, of western psychology.
5. A diary or journal, ors ome form of notebook.
6. Pens. Some coloured ones, too.
7. A cat. What's life without cats? Hollow, empty, meaningless. Cats give us focus.
8. A Tibetan singing bowl. Just to make meditative sounds.
And what else? I can't think of more, without mentally packing up my whole house. I'm assuming I can't take a motorcycle, and my housing needs would be ttaken care of. I don't need a weapon (that's too American).
