15 Books

I noticed on Walter Jon Williams’ blog that there seems to be a meme going around about quickly listing 15 books that you think will always be with you. Williams suggests actually modifying the meme by taking some time to think, which is an idea that appeals to me.

In some senses it’s ludicrous–I just had a professional mover estimate the size of my library, and he put it at somewhere north of 8 tons of books. I think if I had to I could get rid of perhaps 5 or 6 percent of the contents without feeling pain. So picking 15 books that I can’t see myself not having is a bit silly.

However, viewed from a different angle, if I had to pack up the library for a move, and it might be in storage for sometime, and I could only leave out 15 books, what 15 books would I want to keep near me during the “stored library” times?

So, with a little bit of thought, here’s my list:

Non-Fiction

The Conquest Of Happiness – Bertrand Russell

I could have listed a whole bunch of Russell here–not just the ones, like this, written for a general audience, but also some of the more technical or academic ones. However, this is probably the one I’ve reread the most over the years, so I’ll pick it. Actually, it might be time for a reread of it anyway…

The Unconscious Civilization – John Ralston Saul

Many of Saul’s books are candidates, but this is one that I’ve read a couple of times now, and I think I would be interested in going through again–perhaps on more of a “notes in the margin” basis, rather than the more “compelled to read through” way I’ve read it before.

The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire – Edward Gibbon

It’s been on the shelf for almost decade now, and I keep saying that I’m going to attack it someday. And I will, too. (Also, it being an eight volume monster would make it good pick for a period when I needed 15 choices to cover a lot of reading time.)

Fiction

The Travis McGee Books – John D. MacDonald

Yeah, I know that’s cheating, but I honestly can’t imagine being without them–or really all the other ones that don’t involve McGee. If I had to pick one, it would probably be either A Tan And Sandy Silence or Darker Than Amber.

Star Of Gypsies – Robert Silverberg

For reasons that I am still not sure I understand, this is probably the single book I have reread the most often in my life. There are other Silverberg books I think are better, but this is the one I keep rereading.

Dinner At Deviant’s Palace – Tim Powers

Kind of the same story here with Powers–there are lots of his books I would say are better books, but it’s this one that I’ve read the most often. I harbour a mild suspicion that this is possibly because this is the first of his books I ever read.

One of the Jeeves/Wooster books – P. G. Wodehouse

Because, of course, nobody else is Wodehouse, and you need some every now and then, and Bertie is the most concentrated form. I’d probably take The Code of the Woosters, but any of the novels would do in a pinch.

The Book Of The New Sun – Gene Wolfe

Yeah, this is kind of cheating too, but I’m sure a one volume omnibus has been published somewhere. A library with no Gene Wolfe in it is a library with a hole in its heart.

Flashman in the Great Game – George MacDonald Fraser

I also can’t imagine a library without Flash Harry in it. That’s really the whole series (with the possible exception of the last one). This one, though, is probably my favourite, and lead to me doing a lot of reading of things like Tournament Of Shadows, etc.

VALIS – Philip K. Dick

There a bunch of Dick books from his later period that are all related in my mind: this one, The Divine Invasion, The Transmigration of Timothy Archer, and Radio Free Albemuth, and I come back to them fairly regularly. Valis was the first Dick I read, and I was the exact right audience for it at the time.

Other

Codex Seraphinianus – Luigi Serafini

Now that I finally have a copy of this, I’m not going to let it go. Also, it is something with which one can spend an almost unlimited amount of time.

From Hell – Alan Moore & Eddie Campbell

Oh most intricate of comics. Not my favourite, but perhaps the one that might yield the most rewards for a number of close rereadings. And, you know, I can spend a lot of time just looking at Campbell’s pictures.

Zen Without Zen Masters – Cam Benares

A very slim selection for my 15, but worth as much as the others. Another one that I read for the first time at just the right age, and that rewards the occasional revisit.

Blood Sugar – Nicole Blackman

I believe I have already said what I need to say on this.

The Kasîdah of Hâjî Abdû El-Yezdî – Richard Burton

I have also explained this one at length previously.

Huh. That didn’t come out looking at all like I thought it would.