My greatest wish – other than salvation – was to have a book. A long book with a never-ending story. One I could read again and again, with new eyes and a fresh understanding each time. Alas, there was no scripture in the lifeboat. [...]. At the very least, if I had had a good novel! But there was only the survival manual, which I must have read a thousand times over the course of my ordeal. (2.73.1-2)