Desert Island Books #2

It's time for the next installment in Desert Island Books. This week I caught up with my good friend Jack Molloy and got an insight into his book preferences!

Desert Island Scenario

You are going to be stranded on a desert island. You'll have enough provisions to last a year, but no idea when help will come. You can only take 4 books with you to help pass the time.

What is the first book you would take and why?

The first book is How Long 'til Black Future Month, which is a collection of short stories by N.K. Jemisin. There's about 15 stories in it and the reason I chose this is because it offers escapism. A large part of the escapism you get from books is not necessarily the book or plot itself, but it dumping you in another world, scene, way of thinking, and way of things being. Because this is a collection of short stories it generates 15 worlds to immerse yourself in. I think that Jemisin's imagination is so powerful that it lets me put myself somewhere else, which I think I'd appreciate after a couple of weeks on an island. I chose it because of the variation - it's a buffet rather than a meal.

What is the second book and why have you chosen it?

For book two, I have chosen One Day by David Nicholls. I've read this once, in sixth form, and when I finished reading it, I just stared out the window for an hour just feeling these characters and their lives. I chose this because I think on a desert island, escapism is important and, whereas Jemisin's book gives you lots of other worlds to explore, Nicholls is good at sharing the world you know, sharing characters you can imagine relating to. It's a beautiful story and really well written.

What is your third book and why?

My third book is Walden, by Henry David Thoreau. For this pick, I thought about a few books - Digital Minimalism, How to do Nothing - but I wanted to choose something that makes you think more about slowing down. The pace of life is so fast and, at the minute, we're all experiencing this change of pace in the lockdown. But Walden is the original change of pace. It's about a guy who throws himself into the wilderness to experience life at a slower pace and writes down thoughts about it. Actually, to tell the truth, I haven't finished it; it's a slow book, one for contemplation and slower times. I think being on a desert island is a wonderful opportunity for slowing down, looking about you, seeing the world, seeing yourself - which is what this book is about.

What is your fourth and final choice of book and why would you take it?

My final book is Mary Beard's SPQR, which is a story of Rome - the rise and fall of the republic and the first few emperors. It charts the story of the founding of Rome up to the Emperor Caracalla, who made everyone in the Roman Empire a citizen. For this book I was thinking pragmatically: I have a year, it's a long book, one you could read over again and see more things each time. The points aren't overly laboured and it's an interesting read in what it can teach us - how people lived in ancient times, how these civilisations grew and fell. You'd come out of the desert island experience more knowledgeable about ancient Rome, which is a fascinating topic.

Quick fire questions:

What is your favourite book? That's such a hard question, there's a few different metrics you could use but the one I went with was one of the ones that had the biggest impact on me. It's one I've read a couple of times and it's called Utopia for Realists by Rutger Bregman. It's a non-fiction explore into how to make a better world, loosely exploring the idea of utopia and ways that you could get there - things like universal basic income and direct aid. How to restructure society to meaningfully improve people's lives.

Who is your favourite author? I've picked N.K. Jemisin. She's a science fiction author who wrote the Broken Earth trilogy, amongst other things. But with the Broken Earth trilogy, she was the first person to win 3 Hugo awards in a row and I thought the books were brilliant. She has an amazing imagination and is talented at creating these coherent fantasy worlds. Very engaging to read!

What's your favourite genre? A few years ago I would've struggled to pin this down, but for me, the fiction books I enjoy the most are usually sci-fi. Science fiction is not just about the science, it's how the people (and aliens, giant spiders, etc.) interact with it. Books like Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky and A Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers. Sci-fi lets you see the characters more clearly.

What is the worst book you've read? When I was 16, I was part of a school book club and I remember my review for David Walliams' RatBurger was scathing. Saying it's the worst book I've read maybe isn't fair, but it's the book I've read that I've enjoyed the least. It just wasn't for me. When I was reading it, I thought it was for little kids: it was silly and farcical, annoying and predictable. It's probably a very good book if you're 9 years old - just not for my 16 year old self!

What's your go-to reading platform? My favourite is paperbacks. Hardbacks are lovely to own but not lovely to read. But I also read a lot of books on Google Play Books. I have my phone with me all the time and can read everywhere. I appreciate reading two books at the same time and having them on different platforms helps you desegregate them in your brain.

Name a book where you preferred the film/adaptation? I'm going to say The Princess Bride. When they made the movie, they did a ruthless edit of the book and they did a good job at pacing it. I enjoyed the book and I enjoyed the film, but I think the film is better.

Name a film/adaptation where you preferred the book? I have two answers for this. First one is Eragon. I read most of the series, but the film was dire. My other answer is The Great Gatsby. The film didn't vibe with me. It was well done but got distracted in its own hedonism.

What was your favourite childhood book? I really enjoyed stories about people who are good at stuff - your Alex Riders and Artemis Fowls. But one of my examples was a series called The Ranger's Apprentice by John Flanagan. This was an alternative medieval realm with a shadowy group of people called the Rangers, who were scrawny dudes who were very good at shooting arrows. And I loved them. I read them young enough that I just thought it was cool. I think I got a lot out of them.

What are you currently reading? I'm currently reading Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell, as gifted to me by @alice_loves_books_. I've just finished Wolf Hall and I'm also reading Great Expectations at the same time.

What book are you looking forward to reading? Because of isolation, I've read through a lot of my TBR pile. But one I'm looking forward to Yo, Robot (the Spanish version of I, Robot). It's going to be a labour to work through it, especially as science fiction means a lot of non-standard words!

What book would you recommend to everyone? I've gone for two non-fiction books that not necessarily everyone will enjoy but I think they should read. The first one is Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport, which examines where you are and what you spend your time doing. I think everyone should read it to make sure they're conscious of what they're doing.  My second book is Naomi Klein's This Changes Everything. It's a book about climate change and how the world is changing. Some of it is shocking and it's enraging as a book. It gives you facts and you think "that's awful, how is that allowed?". It gives information that if people did know, they would act differently. It changes the way you see the world.