Literary critic Harold Bloom asked a perplexing question in his article, “The 3 Books You Want on a Desert Island.” Bloom answered the “Desert Island Question” to readers with “authentic judgement”: “The Authorized King James Bible”, “The Complete Shakespeare”, or Miguel de Cervantes’ “Don Quixote”. Coincidentally, these are the same three I chose before reading Harold Bloom’s article. If you had just one of these classics, what would it be?

Widely known as the “King James Bible”, published in 1611, this book was the culmination of England’s most educated translators working together to form a new Bible that could be read by the entire population of England. Religious factions could not accept any of the four Bibles printed and distributed during the 16th century. This translation was overseen by the new King of England, James I, who believed that the creation of an entirely new Bible would provide religious harmony in the churches and homes of most English Christians. The translation project began in 1603 and 1611. Today, it remains the most accepted and widely read Bible of all other Bibles, including modern ones.

The works of William Shakespeare are undoubtedly the best known in English-speaking countries. Born in 1564, Shakespeare’s theatrical masterpieces have been collected in many books and are widely available. All include his 39 plays, 154 sonnets, and 4 epic poems in complete volumes. You can find this collection in Internet bookstores. You can search using many title combinations, such as: “Complete Works of William Shakespeare” or “Complete Works of William Shakespeare.”

Spain’s most famous writer is Miguel de Cervantes, whose life ironically was always full of economic difficulties. He was born in 1547 and struggled in his efforts to be a successful writer, but always fell short of readers’ expectations. While he was not writing, he made up for it with a life of exciting adventures, in which he spent much of his life in jail. military campaigns against the Turks in the Mediterranean, the Spanish were captured by Barbary pirates and taken to Algiers. There he was kept as a slave for five years. When he returned to Spain, he too was imprisoned for stealing counterfeit money. However, after being released from prison for the last time in his life, Cervantes’ poor literary talent was far surpassed by his novel, Don Quixote de la Mancha, whose plots were influenced by his adventures. in jail. In fact, by 1605, Cervantes had spent enough time in jail to create and build most of the adventures of Don Quixote that he parodied in his masterpiece. It became an immediate great success among Spanish readers from the moment of its publication. The book’s fame spread so widely across Europe that it kept translators busy due to its popularity. Even Shakespeare, no doubt, read Cervantes’s novel. Interestingly, Cervantes never saw a “real” Spanish corner of sales. In 1615, a second part of Don Quixote was published before the author died in 1616, the same year as Shakespeare.

Two of the three masterpieces were published in England in the early years of the 17th century: the King James Bible and the works of Shakespeare. Don Quixote was written in Spanish, but unless you speak Spanish, you have to choose between a couple of modern English translations in paperback, like: Edith Grossman or Tom Lathrop.

If you get marooned on a desert island with no way to reach the outside world, I’d take all three of the big books. Although these classics are four centuries old, one can save your soul, “brush up on your Shakespeare,” or burst out laughing at the adventures of Don Quixote.

Wherever you travel and end up in a deserted place, always be ready with a backpack to store your books.