If you could memorize one (1) book flawlessly, what would you

why would I want to memorize a book?

Moby dick probably

>>8877566
To weld its words to your soul.

the communist manifesto

>>8877564
Finnegans Wake

>>8877568
>>8877574
>>8877587
As much as I appreciate the immediate interest, I was hoping for some elaboration on WHY as well as WHAT. My bad for not being more clear in the OP.

>>8877564
would a book printed by me count?
if so print out every text that could be usefull and compile it into a single book

>>8877599

>Catch-22

>WHY

Don't fucking know, just answering a stupid goddamn question.

>>8877599
>>8877574
because i always want to be able to flawlessly recite it at any time at all costs (if exproprietated)

The Holy Bible

>>8877564
The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, anon. An endless source of entertainment, from musicality to literary enjoyment. Experiences and teachings.

>>8877599
I've yet to encounter a book with better prose than Moby Dick, so I'd love to be able to have any given passage permanently encoded in my repertoire, available whenever I want.

>>8877604
Sure. The more subtle purpose behind the question though is, "What information is worth memorizing in a modern day with so much freely available information?"

So your answer doesn't do much to narrow it down.

>>8877616
i only want this so i can quote random obscure lines or passages and lend momentary credibility to my essays and / or poems

>>8877807
Seems like something you could do with a little googlefu anyway. I think >>8877571 is closest to the mark when it comes to why you'd do this.

The Bible

my diary, desu

The Qaran

File: smugfrug.jpg (9KB, 225x225px) Image search: [Google]

9KB, 225x225px

>>8877564

A thesaurus

>>8877614
>>8877848
Pretty much. Every problem would have an answer.

why the fuck would you want to memorize a book? what matter is understanding it, grasping its message.

which dictionary though?

>>8877938
Why read a book if its message can be distilled into a pithy quote? Why not just write the message for people to read instead of the book? Surely that is more time efficient.

Either the Bible, The Imitation of Christ, or The Prophet

>>8877947
I hadn't given it consideration. Perhaps you have an opinion on which dictionary is best?

Some cookbook probably

>>8877938
True understanding almost requires memorization. You think you can truly grasp a book by skimming and speedreading a mere once or twice?

>>8877976
it'd be impossible because i'm not prescriptivist scum

>>8877614
>>8877848
this. NRSV. with the non-canonical books.

if not the Encyclopedia Britannica, if that counts as a singular work

KJV

>>8877564
Dictionary

>>8877564

It would be fun to choose the dictionary and be able to wield a super genius level lexicon but I'd still have to go with The Bible.

It's such an obvious choice, really.

File: 薫梢01 by ヨルノトノ.jpg (120KB, 600x600px) Image search: [Google]

120KB, 600x600px

>>8877564
Mahabharata.

Don Quijote

>>8879032
This this this. Oh, and did I mention this?

File: 1452653777126.jpg (18KB, 245x280px) Image search: [Google]

18KB, 245x280px

>>8877564
A book containing all books

The Phenomenology of Spirit.

>>8879040
Poo in loo

>>8877564
infinite jest

Hans Christian Anderson's Fairytales

My diary desu

Paradise Lost desu senpai

Mein Kampf

The book of the new sun.
A- it's full of puzzles that would be easier to solve if I could memorize the whole thing
B- The main character has a perfect memory, so it's rather fitting

File: UseOfWeaponsFrenchCover.jpg (98KB, 500x610px) Image search: [Google]

98KB, 500x610px

Use of Weapons.

File: 1451879704968.jpg (49KB, 205x300px) Image search: [Google]

49KB, 205x300px

Guns, Germs, and Steel

File: Fuso.png (140KB, 1024x1024px) Image search: [Google]

140KB, 1024x1024px

>>8879878

Excellent book my man

>>8877564
Mort à Crédit/Death on Credit.
French actor Fabrice Luchini knows it by heart but then again he recites it almost every night to an audience of sophisticated Parisians.

File: IMG_2097.jpg (46KB, 750x607px) Image search: [Google]

46KB, 750x607px

>>8877564
Guinness Book of World Records 2004

>>8877564
The Lotus Sutra

>>8879143
you mean the bible

>>8879277
I would want this only if I could memorize it in the original German
I speak no German, have never met anyone who speaks German, and live in flyover nowhere America.
I can only imagine the reactions I would get with my instant EIN VOLK EIN REICH diatribes in pure German. I would start a race war lads

probably some really advanced technical book so i could get a fancy job

>>8879891
Now I'm imagining Zakalwe returning to his homeworld, only to find that the Stabarinde was anthropomorphized as part of a popular cartoon show.

And she has Darckense's face.

>>8877612
>>8877614
Hear, Hear!

>>8877875
underrated

File: 1467546165208.gif (2MB, 320x200px) Image search: [Google]

2MB, 320x200px

A huge Chinese-English dictionary. I just undercut the entire learning process for Chinese characters I would know each flawlessly.

Goethe's Faust

Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon

The annalects of Confucius

>>8883013
Napoleon Hill was/is fantastic. His works are a must read imo and it's a damn shame that self-help books aren't discussed around here more often

>>8877564
All 20 pages of The Art of War.

>>8877564
Metro 2033 in English and russian. I could tell tales for hours.

>>8877564
The Holy Bible. Merry Christmas to all my fellow brethren.

>>8879271
That's 12 books dumbass

i'm an OED man myself

>>8877564
the bible duh

>>8882531
You can have a word for what something looks like but not for what it represents.

>>8883279
is this actually good or just genre fiction shit? I want to do some reading in Russian

>>8877564
Thus Spoke Zarathusra

>>8877564
someone just read the last chapter of Fahrenheit 451

The bible

>>8877564
Poetic Edda.

Don Quijote, both parts.