I don't read, and I am not very worldly, I need a book that will blow me away.

[A Revolution]

Hey people. I am not one for novel reading, the only reading I really ever do is for technical or money related material. I want to read a book that will maybe open my mind and perhaps inspire me.

I am very interested in say the minds of Revolutionaries or maybe Philosophers, I want to expand my horizons. I want to read something that maybe changed your life, if that has happened. Not religious please, and if it is a story non fiction would be preferred.. Basically I have no idea what I want, but the tougher and more soul shaking the better ya know?

Please recommend a book and tell me what it did for you ;) Thank you very much.

[loe]

I would recommend "Walden or Life in the woods" by Henry David Thoreau.:)

Greetings

[Riddleman]

Nice thread, I have to say!
Made me think. Books that change your life. There's not that many that truely change your life, but inspirational, now that's a different kettle of fish. Non-fiction that inspired me? Alain de Botton's the art of travel. Never go anywhere without it!
Or "The consolation of philosophy" by De Botton. It's like a fun introduction to philosophy and how it can change your life.
If you like to go straight to the source though i'd go for the essays of Michel de Montaigne. it's funny and melancholy and he's got thoughts on basically everything from cannibals to growing old. It's a good read!

[Adudaewen]

Hey Revolution!!! If you want a book that will scare the hell out of you, AND make you think, I'd recommend 1984 by George Orwell. Excellent book!

[Shea]

Welcome Revolution!:wave:

I'll second Adudaewen.

You sound like my husband. I can't get him to read fiction to save my life though he loves non-fiction. Even if it has to do with history or comments on society in some way, he'd rather I read it so that we can discuss those elements. That ends up in a frustrating conversation on my part.

1984, while fiction, does a good job of commenting on society and human nature as does Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. Personally, I prefer authors perceptions farther back in history.

One of my favorites is Les Miserables by Victor Hugo. Though you get a bit of religion with it, it's necessary to the plot because of the society that the characters live in. While circling around the French Revolution (which mirrors the major theme), the story deals more with (again) the nature of man and society and how man can fall simply because of desperation caused by society, yet is able to break societies labels when it was considered impossible. Anyway, I really enjoyed the soul traveling of Jean Valjean. Still doesn't mean my husband would read it.:rolleyes:

[Pensive]

I will suggest you to read Harry Potter series. It was actually the book that changed me the most, got me into reading for pleasure. :)

[B-Mental]

I'm preferable to 'The People's History of the United States' by Howard Zinn. The book will describe the history you aren't taught in school. It may not be what you are looking for, but except for some slow parts in the middle (robberbarons) very good read.

[Mugwump101]

I second "Les Miserables" by Victor Hugo because it's that powerful!! As well I second Harry Potter series because when I was younger it was the book that got me to love reading and etc...

[A Revolution]

Thank you all for your recommendations!

Yes, I don't have any problem with a book containing religious elements. I have seen Les Miserables in theater and it is pretty good, never really blew me away but if I recall correctly the last time I saw it I was in high school. So my mind wasn't in the zone so to speak.

I don't know what I really am looking for, it is hard to describe. I just know that literature exists in the world somewhere that can help inspire me, because out of every fictional story I have ever read none have created a lasting impression on me. These books include 'Literary Greats' so I have heard such as The Great Gatsby, Of Mice and Men, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Scarlet Letter (YUCK!!!), and those school assigned novels. While they are good stories to a point, nothing has ever really affected me. Not to say that the book has to be an actual story, I don't mind a book where the author just talks about what is on his mind heh.

Thanks again for the great recommendations, keep them coming and I will look into the books so far to see if it is something that I could get into.

[Maria L]

anything by Ayn Rand!!!!!

[EAP]

dude,

if you want your soul shaken then trawl through the internet for accounts of war crimes, genocides, peadophilia, necrophilia, collective sadism, famines and cannibalism.

[Maria L]

but that is what i want!

I've had it before.
It's awesome.

[geewiz]

Don't mean to hijack the thread, but which translated version of les miserebles do you recommend? And also, abridged or unabridged?

[Maria L]

I would never read an abridged version of anything

[A Revolution]

dude,

if you want your soul shaken then trawl through the internet for accounts of war crimes, genocides, peadophilia, necrophilia, collective sadism, famines and cannibalism.

um, no. That is not at all what I want to read lol. Maybe that does something for you, but to me thats just grose. Think inspirational not horrific :)

[seasong]

The Bible...granted at times the Old Testament is all the things described by EAP.... :D

[EAP]

Inspirational?

Maybe accounts of polar explorations and naval expiditions? Amundsen's and Scott's race to reach the south pole makes for very interesting and moving reading. Jack London's novels also emphasize the characteristic toughness and endurance of humans in face of often insurmountable hardship.

The Diary of Anne Frank? A young girl's account of the devestation wrought by wars and hatred and people's struggle to survive. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's 'The Gulas Archipelago' deals with topics like political brutality, loss of innocence, struggle for freedom and basic human rights, and both sides of the human coin: the ability to produce extreme voilence and cruelity going hand in hand with true compassion and selflessness.

[Maria L]

hey, Ayn Rand can be inspirational too:

Anthem - A man's journey to find himself as an individual, not just a part of the puzzle.

BUT, if you want something totally cheesed out and awfully "inspirational" you may want to try Wish you Well by David Baldacci. That story's full of the whole hope "life has it's hurdles" crap. Look it up if you wish.

[Shea]

Don't mean to hijack the thread, but which translated version of les miserebles do you recommend? And also, abridged or unabridged?

I agree with Maria. I hate when I don't pay attention and pick up an abridged version of a book. I've lost the copy of Les Miserable that I read from originally when I moved. I think it was Signet. I don't know if there are different translations of it. I haven't reread my new copy.

[Captain Pike]

Hey people. I am not one for novel reading, the only reading I really ever do is for technical or money related material. I want to read a book that will maybe open my mind and perhaps inspire me.

I am very interested in say the minds of Revolutionaries or maybe Philosophers, I want to expand my horizons. I want to read something that maybe changed your life, if that has happened. Not religious please, and if it is a story non fiction would be preferred.. Basically I have no idea what I want, but the tougher and more soul shaking the better ya know?

Please recommend a book and tell me what it did for you ;) Thank you very much.

The Catcher in the Rye

[malwethien]

Well I'm gonna put in my 2 cents and say.....CATCH-22. It's a great "anti-war" book that, if you really think about it, doesn't make much sense but is really meaningful....Hahaha..if you know what I mean....

Anyway....give it a go! You won't be disappointed.

[fnc]

Douglas Adams - The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy series or Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective series. Both are laden with wit and imagination. Both are easy to read. Both have a deeper philosophical insight but phrased in a light manner. Both series are excelent.

[sciencefan]

Hey people. I am not one for novel reading, the only reading I really ever do is for technical or money related material. I want to read a book that will maybe open my mind and perhaps inspire me.

I am very interested in say the minds of Revolutionaries or maybe Philosophers, I want to expand my horizons. I want to read something that maybe changed your life, if that has happened. Not religious please, and if it is a story non fiction would be preferred.. Basically I have no idea what I want, but the tougher and more soul shaking the better ya know?

Please recommend a book and tell me what it did for you ;) Thank you very much.I used to hate reading too, until I read the Sherlock Holmes mysteries by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
Therefore, that's what I recommend.

[Shea]

Douglas Adams - The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy

I laughed out loud reading that book! One of these days I'll read the others. I used to have the whole series in a beautiful large hard bound book complete with a ribbon bookmark attached. But I lent it to a friend and then I moved and forgot to ask for it back. I never saw it again!:bawling:

[ngtotd_dtrt]

Hey people. I am not one for novel reading, the only reading I really ever do is for technical or money related material. I want to read a book that will maybe open my mind and perhaps inspire me.

I am very interested in say the minds of Revolutionaries or maybe Philosophers, I want to expand my horizons. I want to read something that maybe changed your life, if that has happened. Not religious please, and if it is a story non fiction would be preferred.. Basically I have no idea what I want, but the tougher and more soul shaking the better ya know?

Please recommend a book and tell me what it did for you ;) Thank you very much.

Brothers Karamazov - by Fyodor Dostoevsky - Just a wonderful romp thru human nature, philosphical discussions (which include religion, for you can't have one without the other), personalities, amazing insight, etc., set in 19th century Russia. As with all greats, what you get out of this book changes as you do...read it once, wait a few years, read it again.

A little shorter and more frantic/nervous read (almost as good, IMO) is 'Crime and Punishment' by Dostoevsky.

For more of a 'candy' reading experience, I'm fond of the Alexandre Dumas historical series (Valois romance series, Three Musketeer romance series, Antoinette romance series)...very moving and carries some wonderful history (literary license taken by the author, of course). 'The Count of Monte Cristo' is most excellent as well, and a pretty easy read (in spite of its length).

So hard to limit this...some others which I've found moving, enlightening, and exciting...
Anna Karenina (Tolstoy)
Les Miserables (Hugo)
Scarlet Pimpernel series (Orczy)... 18-plus novels...all very good...the first one is legendary though ( etext for those here blakeneymanor.com/books.html

A more down-home, but still brilliant novel is Huckleberry Finn (Twain). Most anything by Steinbeck is very good too.

But, recomending one, it's Karamazov.

[Mugwump101]

Ah, but the theater version of Les Miserables is in no way comparable to the book!!! Because it's merely 3 hours compared to the 1460 pg book on universal truths and essays that reflect worldly issues.

I heard Ayn Rand is great too.

Yes, the stories we read in school are great but not powerful great! (IMHO, the Final Fantasy and Xenogears video games are better than this dull classics lol)

True heartwarming classics are not read in High School like Kafka, Dostoevsky, Dickens, etc...

Even Gabriel Garcia Marquez books are great too. Name some characters, plot sequences, genres that you really like i.e. kind of movies that you watch,etc...

[Neil Thomas]

I long long time ago in a coastal community far far away................Ok I will spare you . I live in Newport Beach California and I wrote a novel about what I have seen over the last twenty years or so. So you could say it is non fiction but I weave it into a wild tale. I tried to write something a girl might like because girls are more prone to psychiatirc abuse than are males. So it is kind of a fairy tale of sorts, but a brutal one. Alot of it is true. Check it out , my web site is below.

[Cien]

dude,

if you want your soul shaken then trawl through the internet for accounts of war crimes, genocides, peadophilia, necrophilia, collective sadism, famines and cannibalism.


Um? Getting off to the idea of dead people (or Lolita, for that matter) may be gross, but is no way comparable to war crimes. Sorry -- it's just that I hate persecuting people for fantasies just because it's icky and some have taken the fantasy into reality.

[Tasartir]

"Hopscotch" by Julio Cortázar would be a great start, it's the book that got ME into literature.

[Nightshade]

Scarlet Pimpernel series (Orczy)... 18-plus novels...all very good...the first one is legendary though ( etext for those here blakeneymanor.com/books.html

A more down-home, but still brilliant novel is Huckleberry Finn (Twain). Most anything by Steinbeck is very good too.


The Scarlet Pimpernel?:D Yes very good but they are all romances:D
Lets see inspertional.... books that changed my life.... I cant think of any:eek2: there was a tree grew in Broklyn of course and Ben Hur which I know is a bit of an odd read for me but one of my all time favourite books ( although Ive never read the unabridged version I must say) Mark Twain puts me to sleep except for his short stories.
Im sure Ive read somthing soul shaking... I rember putting down a book and going WOW more than once but no names are coming to mind.

Oh I know Two of usby Brendan Halpin its a bit odd, hardly literary and I dont suppose really philosophical more a funny kind of sad really seeing as it deals with sudden death etc, but I really enjoyed it and was quite moved by it.
It is also seems to be better known states side under its original title Donorboy: A novel.
Anyway I liked it.

[Wintermute]

There are so many! I guess I'll go with On The Road by Jack Kerouac. I've read it a few times. And each time I come away feeling a little happier--can't really say why, but I do...

[RouvenRamon]

I think both Khalil Gibran's "The Prophet" and Herman Hesse's "Siddartha" could be a match for what you are looking for. They are both inspirational on a somewhat philosphical level and beautiful in their language (I wouldn't know though which translation of Hese to English is good). "The Prophet" is more of a monologue wheras "Siddartha" is a more conventional story.
If you look for something more shocking, consider Dostojevski's "Notes from the Underground"...

Disclaimer: this is my first post here so please bear with me and my non-native English spelling...

[dramasnot6]

Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger

[B-Mental]

Don't mean to hijack the thread, but which translated version of les miserebles do you recommend? And also, abridged or unabridged?

I read the unabridged, and there are entire chapters describing things in the time the book was written. These chapters had little to do with the story only the setting. I would still read the unabridged version at least once.