Lonelygirl15

DeepBlueRug wrote:I'd memorize "A Prayer for Owen Meany" and "The Catcher in the Rye", love em!

Same here! I love both of those books!

Kasdeja wrote:

gogo wrote:Kasdeja:
banned, banned, banned!

Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath- banned for language and depictions of migrant life and viewed as socialist propaganda
Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn- banned for people’s misunderstanding of Twain’s view of race
Kafka’s The Metamorphosis- banned for political/nationalist objections, mainly in Europe

These are some amazing works.

I know. I think it's sad when things like this are not promoted reading in school. I had to read them for my advanced literature and my reading for college courses. I always shop at the banned book table, I find some great works there.

The first two we read in high school, so I'm surprised to find out that some schools aren't allowing kids to read them. We had a bunch of tests on both, even.

Anyway, I would probably memorize The Scarlet Letter, just because of the lessons this proposed society could learn from it. That, and it's one of my favorite books of all time.

C'mon guys..I know this board is littered with avid readers..what book would you choose?

lordgreystoke422 wrote:C'mon guys..I know this board is littered with avid readers..what book would you choose?

I hinted at my easy answer earlier (Neuromancer by William Gibson, for those who don't know where "Wintermute" comes from) but I'd probably go with something like Beowulf... Actually, I should go read Beowulf again... Hated it in school (because I hated reading) but now that it's no longer required, I'd probably enjoy it

'mute

Ummmm... oh man...

The Catcher In the Rye - JD Salinger

What Dreams May Come - Richard Matheson

An Ordinary Man - Paul Rusesabagina (the movie Hotel Rwanda was based on his story)

To Kill A Mockingbird - Harper Lee

A Child Called It - David Pelzer

But If I had to choose just one - and since DeepBlueRug is memorizing The Catcher In the Rye - I think I would pick What Dreams May Come and then ban the creation of a movie version *blech*


Edit: DAMNIT! 1984!! I knew I forgot something... If I can't memorize it then someone else should!

This one is a thinker.

Candide Voltaire
Picture of Dorian Grey Oscar Wilde
Winnie the Pooh A. A. Milne
Demian Herman Hesse

I would have to pick from that list.

Mine's not classic or anything, but i believe someone should save the fun stuff too. I'd memorize the entire Harry Potter series... of course if J K Rowling was still alive, she'd probably have that handled...

If not HP, then a couple of Dick Francis novels.

ack. theres too many i'd want to save.

heyiknowsyou wrote:Mine's not classic or anything, but i believe someone should save the fun stuff too. I'd memorize the entire Harry Potter series... of course if J K Rowling was still alive, she'd probably have that handled...

If not HP, then a couple of Dick Francis novels.

ack. theres too many i'd want to save.

"If JK Rowling were still alive"? I hope you're talking future, because she had better be working on the last book!

Harry Potter would be a fun book to memorize...try doing all seven. That'd keep you busy.

Alimaria wrote:The bible.
That would be intence but totally worth it.

You beat me! What an exceptionally important book for so many, with so much history behind it. It would be essential, along with other religious texts. However, I am certain that any religious group with a holy book would come together to ensure that their texts were committed to flawless memory.

However, you've rid me of the burden, so I choose to memorize a few cautionary tales:

1984 George Orwell

Brave New World Aldous Huxley

brain food (for the Everyman):

Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid Douglas R. Hofstadter

A User's Guide to the Brain: Perception, Attention, and the Four Theaters of the Brain John J. Ratey (but perhaps only because I am currently reading and enjoying it.)

Poetry:

Pablo Neruda, Sylvia Plath, and Poe.


Anyone willing to memorize Discworld for me?

Edited: for clarification.
Edited again to mention that now I am forced to read through this thread, note the books NOT in my library upstairs, and add them to my purchase list. I really must stop buying books. I have a mortgage, ya know.

I never thought of memorizing compilations of poetry. That would be awesome--because most poetry sounds better spoken.

Tale of Two Cities. Favorite book, and love authors who got paid by the word.

I'll let you save the English literature, I'm taking care of the french. And definitely, I'm going for poetry. I would try to memorize these 3 books:

Les chants de Maldoror - Comte de Lautreamont
Une saison en enfer (A season in Hell)- Arthur Rimbaud
Les fleurs du mal (The flowers of Evil) - Charles Baudelaire

because with the three them, I believe a lot of other books could be rewritten. (BTW, these three books have been banned in their time also.)

Invisible Man, Ralph Ellison.

Its really hard to say which book(s) I'd memorize. Where The Sidewalk ends of course (who doesn't love kids peotry about boogers and such ). But when I get to a "big-kid book". I'm really torn. do I go for something deep and meaningful that will help the betterment of the human race, or do I just memorize the entire Anne of Green Gable series, cause they remind me of much simpler times?

The Oxford English Dictionary. That would keep my mind bizzy...