What Other Books Not Survivalism Related ?

[Prep007]

2 related books I've read recently and recommend 'the stranger in the woods' by Michael finkel (about a chap who lived alone in wilderness for about 20yrs) and 'the originals, the secret history of the birth of the SAS' by Gordon Stevens.

[jansman]

I have many law books in my collection, also trying to learn morse code, basic sign language (finger-spelling) and other areas of interest.

Nothing major, maybe even not necessary, but you never know what situations will be in the future, so even basic learning as an adult on numerous ‘skills’ outside of Survivalism, could be built on as the events dictate...things possibly having to start mostly from scratch again, but in a different world.

All skills are ' Survivalist '.The Neolithic tribes realised that an agrarian,mutually agreeable ,societal system,worked rather well.we have to have mutually agreeable skills to make a society work.

[Deeps]

All skills are ' Survivalist '.The Neolithic tribes realised that an agrarian,mutually agreeable ,societal system,worked rather well.we have to have mutually agreeable skills to make a society work.

Yup,you'd have to be some machine to know all the skills required to live on your own indefinitely. Even if you know how to work metal, do you know how to mine and refine it (for example) ? Assuming you do, what about growing crops, again, if you do, who's going to harvest them while you're doing your metal work or whatever.... While its easy to say that we've gone too far the other way and have become too specialised, unless you want to live hand to mouth (with the perils of a bad season) then we're going to need others to thrive. Even if the only skill others have is a willingness to do the donkey work if someone else is the brains to start with. As a race we work best together, then there's the 'companionship' angle, generally we do like someone to cuddle into and if you're young enough that can lead to other mouths to feed. Rinse and repeat, its how the species clings to survival.

[jansman]

All skills are ' Survivalist '.The Neolithic tribes realised that an agrarian,mutually agreeable ,societal system,worked rather well.we have to have mutually agreeable skills to make a society work.

Yup,you'd have to be some machine to know all the skills required to live on your own indefinitely. Even if you know how to work metal, do you know how to mine and refine it (for example) ? Assuming you do, what about growing crops, again, if you do, who's going to harvest them while you're doing your metal work or whatever.... While its easy to say that we've gone too far the other way and have become too specialised, unless you want to live hand to mouth (with the perils of a bad season) then we're going to need others to thrive. Even if the only skill others have is a willingness to do the donkey work if someone else is the brains to start with. As a race we work best together, then there's the 'companionship' angle, generally we do like someone to cuddle into and if you're young enough that can lead to other mouths to feed. Rinse and repeat, its how the species clings to survival.

Deeps,that is a perfect ,almost profound way,to describe Society.

[grenfell]

All very good points . I'd add some fiction to this post apocalyptic library . Reading about a future space adventurer or a gritty detective might not teach any practical skills but they very often have a moral message running through them in the same way as biblical stories do and to have an avenue for escapism that isn't drink or drugs would also be valuble.

[Arzosah]

For fiction relating to a moral message, there are two series I'd recommend, The Galactic Milieu by Julian May, about individual development hand in hand with community on social, sexual, political and spiritual levels ("what will there be when you've done this?" .... "A song." Thats a paraphrase). And the Dragonspell books, by Katherine Kerr (where the name Arzosah comes from ) its a mishmash of Buddhist and Gaelic, with a few bits of other stuff thrown in.

[Deeps]

For fiction relating to a moral message, there are two series I'd recommend, The Galactic Milieu by Julian May, about individual development hand in hand with community on social, sexual, political and spiritual levels ("what will there be when you've done this?" .... "A song." Thats a paraphrase). And the Dragonspell books, by Katherine Kerr (where the name Arzosah comes from ) its a mishmash of Buddhist and Gaelic, with a few bits of other stuff thrown in.

I loved the Many Coloured Land series by Julian May, I re-bought them all a few years back as I was keen to have them.

To be honest, if it was some post apocalyptic library, I'd be having as much in it as i could. I used to be an avid reader before being seduced by screens, I'm a very slow reader these days but if I've no telly, I'm sure I'd get back into the swing of it.

[grenfell]

I suppose we get the bible and the complete works of Shakespeare as they do on desert island discs ? I'd add Pratchets Disc World novels . Quite often a moral theme and a comment on the world we inhabit now plus humorous and can appeal to anyone from probably 12years old onwards.

[Arzosah]

For fiction relating to a moral message, there are two series I'd recommend, The Galactic Milieu by Julian May, about individual development hand in hand with community on social, sexual, political and spiritual levels ("what will there be when you've done this?" .... "A song." Thats a paraphrase). And the Dragonspell books, by Katherine Kerr (where the name Arzosah comes from ) its a mishmash of Buddhist and Gaelic, with a few bits of other stuff thrown in.

I loved the Many Coloured Land series by Julian May, I re-bought them all a few years back as I was keen to have them.

Nice one Deeps I found one abroad, and then started from the beginning. By the time the series got to Diamond Mask, I was buying the hardback during the first few days of publication

To be honest, if it was some post apocalyptic library, I'd be having as much in it as i could. I used to be an avid reader before being seduced by screens, I'm a very slow reader these days but if I've no telly, I'm sure I'd get back into the swing of it.

Yep, also agreed - I sort of do that now, with electronic books anyway. I do read more slowly than I did, but I'm better than I was at skimming, so it evens out