It's the apocalypse, and you can only save one book. Which one?

The first Foxfire book.

https://www.amazon.com/Foxfire-Book-Dressing-Building-Moonshining/dp/0385073534/ref=sr_1_2?crid=13YMKFMJZBL18&dchild=1&keywords=foxfire+book+1&qid=1600457814&sprefix=foxfire%2Caps%2C311&sr=8-2

 

Oh man, my dad told me about those as a necessary guide for the post-apocalypse (I think in the context of Lucifer's Hammer) so one year I conspired with the family to get him the whole set. Cool stuff.

 

I'd say either Anna Karenina by Tolstoy or I am the Messenger by Markus Zusak. Honestly, it's difficult to choose just one, but these two were the first ones I thought of when I saw this question.

 

The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe!

Or if it's close by I'll save my Kindle, that way I save loads of my favourite books.

 

I would be used the Lost Book of Herbal Remedies. Like in this review https://cronicasportiva.com/ct-the-lost-book-of-remedies-review

 

I'd take my copy of Handbook for Boys, the official publication of the Boy Scouts of America. Mine is circa 1940 and, unlike the later ones, is chock full of all sorts of information on plants, first aid, camping, finding your way, and so on. It's the closest thing to the Junior Woodchuck Manual that was mentioned in the old Donald Duck comic books. Huey, Dewey, and Louie would consult it because it contained information on absolutely everything.

 

Now that my book is published the answer to this question has become painfully simple:

Mine!

 

The Bible or Atlas Shrugged. Both are long books, and Atlas Shrugged can be used as a melee weapon if I maintain fitness.

Beowulf is a good one to save.

Personal faves? The Song of Achilles and Willful Machines are both amazing, but perhaps short.

Honestly though, I'd likely pick a naughty book .

 

Very well played.

 

The Karamazov Brothers. Even though I prefer Demons/Crime & Punishment to it.

 

This is a good question. Honestly, I don't know. I'd probably either pick the KJV Bible, the Divine Comedy, the works of Virgil (I have all his work in a single book in Latin), or The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann translated by John E. Woods. Practically, if I was to pick the works of Virgil and wanted to pass it on to others I'd have to teach Latin. Pretty big task, so that'll be reluctantly out. Thomas Mann's book is one I absolutely love, and it's pretty wise (if very somber). Dante ... I have a few translations, and the Italian - go with a translation and you'll miss out too much for my taste - and in Italian, which I also have, that has much the same problem as the book of Virgil.

It would be a very hard choice, but ... I think I'd go with the Bible. I'm (honestly) not really sure why.

Edit: maybe a big collection of the writings of Aristotle. Even though he was wrong about a lot of empirical stuff, not many people can claim to have invented formal logic.

Edit edit: No, I've decided. None of those, I'd pick The Oresteia by Aeschylus.

 

The Bible.

 

'Taliban' (Ahmed Rashid).

 

A blank notebook. Better yet a notebook computer, but that probably violates the rules.

Of course this necessitates also having a few pencils or pens, or possibly a bamboo bicycle I could rig up as a charger.

 

The Bible (King James Version)

 

Hitchhiker's Gide To The Galaxy. I've got a fancy hardcover omnibus of the five part trilogy, so that'll keep me busy when the inevitable moment comes that I once again grow tired of people.
Plus, in keeping with the practical theme, it too, can be used as a bludgeon, provided you wrap it in your towel.
On the other hand, so would a rock. The book will me mainly for entertainment purposes.

 

I recall (which is already enough reason for doubt) reading it described as such somewhere, some time ago. Though it was referred to as a four part trilogy. The omnibus (is that the right word, by the way?) I have has five books in it.
But yes, a five part trilogy would definitely be a Hitchhiker-thing.
I should look it up when I get home, but I believe the fifth wasn't really a planned book. I do remember it being of lesser quality than the rest.