Survivor…

 I was interested to read on Bopress’s blog what books she would take to a desert island and it prompted me to wonder what I would take if I was intending to be marooned. I toyed briefly with  RL Stevenson’s Treasure Island, (I need to search for the hidden ‘idol’ after all)

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(obviously in hard copy, not kindle)

David Cooper’s Silence, Spirituality and Solitude, (I’m the last one standing in the game…)

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(ditto!)

Michael Keneski’s Survivor: The Unofficial Bible of the Greatest Reality Show Ever Made. (hmm… may be a good choice!)

And then decided that beyond learning how to make a fire ‘because fire represents life’ that I needed true entertainment for the long soulful hours when I tired of listening to the waves, swimming, catching fish for cooking on my ‘life’ fire, and watching the stars drifting across the heavens above my head.

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I would have been marooned wearing bra and knickers under my swimsuit. Over the top of that, shorts and t-shirt. Over that, a long sleeved shirt and a polar-fleece jacket and over that a storm-jacket, my head swathed in a beach towel and my sunglasses on and my reading glasses stashed in a pocket.

By the time I had made shelter from timber and tree fronds, and had stacked as many coconuts and green bananas as I could find, worked out how to make mascara and eyebrow dye (I’m blonde) from squid ink and after I had challenged myself to ‘immunity’ by puzzling over the design made from driftwood that had to be put together against the odds of weather and loss of daylight hours, I would surely need to read to stop my mind from stagnating.

I made a list of top loved books and as I am compiling the list, I decided series could be included. Toward the end of the list, I included one or two books designed to make me happy and to ward off the Black Dog that might occur on the inevitable change from solitude to downright loneliness…

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1. The House of Niccolo by Dorothy Dunnett

2. The Lymond Saga by Dorothy Dunnett

3. The Ottoman Cycle by SJA Turney

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4. Sword at Sunset by Rosemary Sutcliff

5. The Anne series by LM. Montgomery

6. Harry Potter by JK Rowling

7. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

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8. Cranford by Elizabeth Gaskell

9. The Merlin series by Mary Stewart

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(one cover from an EXEMPLARY series called The Outlaw Chronicles)

10. The Outlaw Chronicles by Angus Donald

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11. A large blank, bound journal with a packet of pens taped to the back cover!

And as for the lighter side of life:

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12. The Rutshire Chronicles (all of them) by Jilly Cooper!

You see, the votes have been tallied and the tribe has spoken…

I’ll be fine until the marooners remember the maroonee is waiting…