Great idea. One thing that the movie (horrible boring movie) did was to emphasize that the people began turning into the books, presumably because they were concentrating on it so much. I knew a famous Hungarian poet (George Faludy) who was thrown into a concentration camp, and his friends who were also in the camp all memorized his poems so they would not be lost if he died. There was a reunion some years ago, where all these 70 year olds stood up and finally recited their memorized poems to the poet on his birthday. I was not there, but I was told by someone who was that the men sat there gasping and wheezing -- not because they were drunk (though they got drunk later) -- but because, as one of them said, our hearts were so full that we could not breathe, we all thought we were going to die of heart attacks or too much crying for our pride before the night was out.

My problem is that the song I would pick would have to have the original accompaniment and players to really work. So I guess I would have my body micro-implanted or something. I would pick "She Loves You" by the Beatles for sheer exuberance, and the outbreak of something new in the world. If someone told me I could never hear it again, I am sure I would sit down and cry like a baby, and if other people never got the chance --

My dutiful second choice would be Beethoven's Ode To Joy, just because if that was lost, it would be a sin against humankind. I don't even like it that much anymore. But still, duty calls.

I think it was Anton Rubenstein who when he knew he was going blind in the last years of his life sat down and read Ulysses and one or two other books.

I wonder what this competition would be like if you said: O.K. you will be permanently deaf starting tonight midnight. What would you listen to in the few hours remaining, for the last time (I don't mean to thread creep, just doing some variations)? Now that is scary.

yours, Peter T.