Off the Cuff / My Other Journal

Three Books and an Island

A desert island is an uninhabited island for shipwrecked people. As I am deadly afraid of cruises, with the last disasters people faced while cruising the high seas, the chances of my being shipwrecked is little to none. Let’s say, for the sake of argument, I did get shipwrecked. Maybe I was kidnapped by an alien spaceship and that ship fell into the ocean. Possible? Probable?

In which case, I might plead, “Excuse me, Mr. Alien, can you wait a sec until I get my three books before we take off?”

If so, how would I know which book to take with me? Can I take my Kindle or Nook, to save me from carrying an entire library?

All right, I’ll skip that, as the prompt is frowning.

I’ll also skip my choice of the kind of an island to be shipwrecked in, although I wouldn’t want an atoll, since there is no immediate fresh water on any, unless I dig a deep well for it. Not me. On top of being shipwrecked, I am not risking a bad back, too.

Now the three books:

Definitely, The Diwan of Shams of Tabriz, by Jalaluddin Rumi. My mother used to read it to me when I was a tot. What I like about this book is that, each story (call it a fable or parable, if you wish) has a multi-faceted viewpoint and the poet looks at a situation from all sides, unlike any of the Western literature. Most of the questions it asks, if in a nutshell –even though there is nothing nutty about them-, why did anyone do anything and what was the backstory and the driving force behind their actions? Also, the way Rumi questions anything righteous appeals to me. Okay, enough of me salivating over this huge volume…

Second, I have to have The Complete Collection of Shakespeare, as it involves the entire human eccentricity, drama, and situations. And the poetry is to die for.

Third one is a dilemma. I am so torn about this. I narrowed it down to three choices. The Little Prince by Saint Exupery, Webster’s Dictionary, and a huge empty journal with a pen.

Darn! Webster’s will be no good to me if I can’t have a journal to write in, and I won’t give up my first two choices; thus, it all boils down to the The Little Prince.

What the heck maybe I’ll just get the dictionary, the journal, and The Little Prince, after all he was also on a deserted place, a planet though it may be. But what about my top two loves?

On the other hand, I have to take all five books with me. The prompt will have to agree, after it hears me begging it to make allowances for my passions, as I'll plead my case through Rumi’s words:

“I don`t get tired of You.
Don`t grow weary of being compassionate toward me!
….
All this fantasy
And grief.
Let my house be drowned in the wave
that rose last night out of the courtyard
hidden in the center of my chest .”

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Prompt: What 3 favorite books would you take with you to a deserted island?