Castaway Culture – on my deserted island

If you were alone on a deserted island, what culture would you crave? This month Valley lawyer Robert B. Howe shares his favourite books and music.

I am destined to be a castaway on a deserted island.  The island has fresh water and sufficient food to sustain my body – but what about my mind and soul?

What literature and music shall I bring along to feed them?

What five or six books shall I bring?

I am a Christian and so will pack my Holy Bible.

I should have some Shakespeare and some poetry.  I shall combine the two and bring a collection of Shakespeare’s sonnets.  (Love that iambic pentameter.)

As for something closer to entertainment, I will pack John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath.  A good story, beautifully written.

And, for old times’ sake, one of John Buchan’s detective novels featuring Richard Hannay as the hero.  One of Buchan’s books, like Steinbeck’s, was made into a movie bearing the book’s title: in Buchan’s case, The Thirty-Nine Steps.  By the way, he was one and the same person as Baron Tweedsmuir of Elsfield, the fifteenth Governor-General of Canada.  As a very young boy, I once had a ride in the open McLaughlin-Buick automobile that was used to tour Baron Tweedsmuir around parts of Ontario.

I think I would also want to have along one of James A. Michener’s massive historical novels, perhaps Hawaii.

Turning to music, with what tunes shall I load my IPod?

A rousing classical piece to get me going in the morning would be essential.  I think I shall bring Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture; perhaps the Boston Pops Orchestra’s rendition complete with cannon fire finale.

I could not be without some Eric Clapton; in fact, I think I shall download two of his solo CDs, “Me and Mr. Johnson” his collection of Robert Johnson covers and his “Unplugged” album.  Or perhaps instead of one or other of them, Clapton’s first recorded vocals and some of his rawest guitar work with John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers (recorded in about 1966).  My affection for Clapton dates back to attending a Cream concert at Massey Hall in Toronto in 1968.  Oh yes, I must bring along some Beatles music, too: at least Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band and possibly the White Album as well.

And for something spiritual for bedtime, I shall bring along an album of the bluesy gospel stylings of The Blind Boys of Alabama.

Click HERE to watch The Blind Boys of Alabama perform “Amazing Grace”

Now all I will need is a device to re-charge my IPod using solar power, and a large knapsack!

About the author: Robert  Howe has been practising law in Barry’s Bay for almost 40 years. His three sons graduated from MVDHS. He is married to Lynn and has four grandchildren.